i'm glad you wish to become Wiccan. many people learn on their own though, there's plenty of help here, with articles and the forums. books you should read are:
Wicca for Life by Raymond Buckland
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham
[the book is in google books]
The Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar
there's a slew of others, personally i'd avoid Silver Ravenwolf for your first year, and D.J. Conway, but that's me. there's many other books, and really good ones depending on what you wish to study, but i think you'll hear about those the most.
To begin with, a religion isn't something you drop after a year.
As for the question itself...
It is good to hear that you have chosen a new path to follow, I hope that you will be happy with what you do and follow.
First of all I would recommend you to study about you path to depth. This is the best way to start out and know your religions, by basically getting introduced to it. This is the best way to start out with everything, by being introduced with it and knowing about it to depth and also about what it is in general. There are many books and websites to study and get great knowledge of the religion. I recommend to read "Scott Cummingham" books, he has many books about Wicca. Learn as much as you can. The standard study time is a year and a day. Before I even started following my traditions I studied for few years and then stared to experience stuff.
After you learn about it, all you need to do is to simply follow the religion and its traditions, which build the religion itself. If you know about it deeply as I recommended to you with my first tip, you will probably know what the religion talks about, what the beliefs and traditions are, and what you probably need to follow and do.
Secondly, get introduced to the wiccan way of life ; what they do, how they act, behave, etc and then you will know how to start out with the wiccan religion very well.
To sum it up, the wiccan way of life is about everything that wiccans do and think about, deeply.
I would like to quote Lark's ( a member of our community and also a wiccan for over 30 years) word here for a bit, it talks about the wiccan way of life. I couldn't explain it better than here, so I chose to let you see what she said before:
" For instance, as a Wiccan we are concerned with the welfare of this planet we live on. So perhaps you could include recycling into your daily practices. Or work with or support conservation groups. Avoid buying products that are harmful to the environment..for instance, stop buying bottled water because those plastic bottles are filling up landfills and trashing the oceans all over this planet.
Eat a healthy diet because your body is also sacred to the Gods. Avoid foods that are heavily processed, or those that support industries that use less than ethical harvesting practices...for instance, avoid net-caught tuna because it kills so many unintended sea mammals. Look for cans that say line-caught or dolphin friendly.
Treat others with respect and kindness. Remember that as Wiccans we believe that there is a bit of the Divine within each of us, so each is a reflection of God and Goddess. When you treat others less than well you are doing the same to the Divine.
Become aware of important political issues that effect our planet and put your support behind conservation efforts. Perhaps you could find or form a group that picks up trash along a stretch of road
It's all very well and good to keep the Sabbats, meditate, do spells, etc. But to truly be Wiccan it has to trickle down into every mundane corner of your life. So when you are thinking about doing something ask yourself, what does Wicca teach me about how to respond to this situation? "
I hope that you will love and enjoy your new religion, and congratulations for starting out. =)
Dancing with dragons was a good book :D and with Wicca, it's better to think hard about why you want to be Wiccan. You'll have to be dedicated and you have to fully want to be Wiccan 100%.
What magickal aid said is great! There is one thing i would add to be wiccan or be considered truely wiccan you have to study for 1 year and 1 day then commit yourself to Spirit and becoming a wiccan. You are not a wiccan till you complete that "appertenship" basicly.
Hi there, I?ve been practicing Wicca for a good many years now and one of the first questions that comes up is the one about where to start. My suggestion is always to start by doing some reading and studying to make certain that you understand what Wicca is really all about, and so that you can then decide whether this is truly the path that you want to follow. So with that in mind I thought I would offer some books and websites that are full of sound I information which can help you get started on your path.
To start with, here are some books that I would suggest.
''A Witch Alone'' by Marian Green
''The Elements of Ritual'' by Deborah Lipp
''Witchcrafting'' by Phyllis Curott
''21st Century Wicca'' by Jennifer Hunter
''Before You Cast a Spell'' by Carl McColman
''When, Why...If'' by Robin Wood
''Practical Pagan'' by Dana Eilers
''Wicca; A Year and a Day'' by Timothy Roderick
You can also find the recommended reading list that my coven uses at: http://www.tangledmoon.org/reading_list.htm
Here's some websites that you may find useful in helping you with questions.
http://www.tangledmoon.org (this is my own coven site.)
Hope this helps you get a good start on your studies. And feel free to ask me, or the others here on the board if you have any specific questions we can help you with.
