Category: philosophy/religion topics
I'm a nervous newbie to this. I was brought up seventh day adventist and would like to become more comfortable with and...um...maybe try it? Any helpful advice or resources will be appreciated. Also if you're like me, come on in and share in the discovery.
Welcome to the internet! Since you're clearly new here, I am goin to suggest a site to you called Google. That's www.google.com You go there, and you type in words, and it offers you handy links so you can teach yourself some things.
Here, I'll show you how. By typing "wicca" into Google, I got the following results. These should help you in your curiosity about the religion most closely associated with "magic," although it's not really magic like you're thinking of.
http://www.wicca.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca
Although Wicca is connected with the idea of Witchcraft, generally it's not as epic and spooky as people would like to think it is. In fact, the religion itself is fairly new - only around since the early 1900s. It's based on pagan religions that existed before Christianity reached the UK.
Lol thanks google is my home page and I have done searches. This is the first time however I've decided to have a discussion about it.
There are already a few posts on the religion board talking about Wicca.
I don't really want to join anything. I'd really just like more info on the subject, and maybe to meet others who like me are coming from Christian backgrounds who are interested in it so I don't feel so alone!
Awww Chippie. I'm certainly feeling that too. Christianity's very blinding, it dulls the mind too much for my comfort, so I got out of it...
I've learned my modest skill from knowledgeable friends and guides. One of the first things I was taught by my guide was that one strong enough in their magic will need little to no ritual at all, because their main use is boosting the power the person(s) performing the magic give off. However, another use, at least for some elemental and crystal-based rituals, is to direct your energy and intent better.
Also, magic is all about being mindful of balance. One immersed in such a balance does magic when it serves that balance--a spell of justice against someone who does wrong, a healing (people have been known to be able to heal many things, to aid in emotional healing, actual physical healing, healing of the earth and healing of balance) and such things. Almost no spell to do with money and wealth and material gain are made to effect things; those are imitations of magic. However you could do a spell to increase the balance in your life or the luck you can have.
I've got a few good sites lying around; let me see if I can't dig them up for you.
Thank you so much princess (please spell your name for me?) When did you decide you had it with Christianity and what interested you in magic? For me I pretty much forgot about religion after going through this site pocm.info
I'm glad you understand where I'm coming from. If any of your friends know anything about this please ask them to post here as well. Would love to hear what they have to say.
chippy, i think that magic and christianity are not mutually exclusive. to me magic is feeling awe and excitement over something that is truly wonderful or out of the ordinary. when i see the ocean i feel magic. when i hold my god baby the same goes. i don't know about the wica and stuff like that. i just know that the only reason christianit dulls the mind and closes out the reality is that the practitioners thereof sometimes put themselves in a box. god will not and should not be wrapped up and shrunk to our convenience. am i making sense?
Oh yes. I can definitely see where you're coming from with that. Love is like that for me too. I've always thought there was no way we could even begin to identify with this greater power. We can barely understand each other lol. Thanks for posting. Tell your friends!
Yes, Turricane, what you say makes perfect sense, and I agree with you. Also, given the direction this is going, I am moving it to the religion board.
Verry interesting stuff... Someone said that god cannot be understood by man, therefore we do not know the face of god, or something to that effect. So It makes some sense.
I'm a pagan, but not a Wiccan. I practise Hellenic Polytheism, the religion of Ancient Greece. It, like other ancient faiths, is seeing a revival. In any case, there are various branches of the religion in which magic is practised. These are usually more mystical ones and, many times, require initiation. I don't know much about them. Druidism is another ancient tradition with lots of magic in it. I believe Religio Romana (the ancient religion of Rome) has some as well. There are also sects of Christianity with magical undertones, sometimes breaking completely with today's established teachings. Many are from the early days of the religion.
http://www.sacred-texts.com
is a wonderful site, full of texts from all different religions, including Wicca. They try to collect as much as they can from everywhere so are unbiased. Also
http://www.belief.net
has communities, links and facts about many religions and has a large selection of things about Wicca. Hope this helps.
Thanks everybody for all the info. I have a question. Is it true you're not suppose to talk about the magic you do?
I guess not! haha!
Hey there! I love what everyone here is saying so far, and the links posted are good ones. To answer your last question, I know there are some tradditions that, for one reason or another, are secretive about their workings and structure, and I'm not sure, but I think there's a belief with some people that to talk about particular magic they are doing will lessen it's affectiveness. This is different to individual people or tradditions though, and I don't hold that belief.
As for Christianity and other religions though, they do also have magic within them, even if they don't currently practice or even acknowledge it. Even those religions that say it's forbidden, or the work of the devil or the like, wouldn't say so unless they believed in it and feared it on some level. And isn't fear just a negative form of respect?
Awesome post Kathleen. I once read this article about a guy who a magician was trying to harm with a spell. It was some test of faith or whatever. The most deadly rituals were performed and the dude remained unharmed. When it was all over they said, "You must be a man of great faith."
"I'm an atheist." was his reply lol.
I know this does not apply to everyone, but I can only speak from my own experience. The Wiccans I've known only talk about their magical workings with other Wiccans they are close to. Be it a coven, or simply close friends, sometimes they'll talk about it. But my Wiccan friends seem not to talk about it with those they don't know well, even if they are other Wiccans. It seems mostly a very private and personal thing, unless it's meant to be a shared ritual of some kind. They've described some of that to me, though it seems like what they write in their Book of Shadows is meant only for them, and that's cool.
Are you suppose to ask permission to put a spell on someone?
Yes! You should never ever put a spell on someone without their permition, even if you mean well.
guys I did something really stupid just now and if anyone knows anything about this magic stuff please tell me if I'm gonna be ok. I filled out a form on this site I mean I didn't pay anything but seconds after I filled it out I got an email and I felt this flash and I'm just very nervous right now nerves are shot and I'm tired but i can't sleep please for God sake if you can help me out please do.
wicca is one type of what many people call magic, but it really falls under the what i loosly dub nature centered religion. it falls under the umbrella of paganism...
but that's me.
for magic, i use,
ladyoftheearth.com
or was it .org, i think it's the first one