Newbie and want to learn

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Newbie and want to learn
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Post # 1
(no hate) But I'm new and I want to practice magick. But since I'm new (and 14)I don't exactly know what pagan and Wicca is. I have an idea but I really don't know, and I don't want to be a pagan or wiccan without actually knowing what it is (because that's wrong) Can someone please help?
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Re: Newbie and want to le
By: / Novice
Post # 2
You spelled magick correctly (well, debatably more correctly.) How did you know? ;-)

Okay, to my understanding, "pagan" is any religion that isn't one of the monotheistic major world religions, and (most importantly) has people who self-identify as pagan. It's a descriptor, like...an adjective. It's not a religion. It used to mean "country hick" (no, seriously) but nowadays you can find urban pagans too. As I mentioned, one of the definitions is that it's not Judaism, Christianity, or Islam...but, some people manage a sort of Christo-Paganism, so, it's easy to be pagan but can be complicated to explain. If someone says they're pagan, I believe them.

Wicca is a pagan religion (remember, paganism is a description more than a religion in and of itself). Actual Wiccans can explain this much better.

Magick is a completely other thing from either paganism or Wicca, but they can all combine. They don't have to, but they often do. Magick can be all Hermetic and not at all Wiccan, for example, which if I recall correctly is the magical tradition where the extra "k" comes from, and that makes Google searches much easier! Thank you, Hermeticists! (I do magic but I cannot do card tricks.) (I also don't usually spell it with a k at the end anymore, though, since...well, the changed spelling must go deeper into the belief system than "hey let's make Google searches about magic less confusing for people" and you know what kind of magic I mean anyway, right?)

So, Wicca has a magical tradition, but there are other magical traditions: western ceremonial, shamanism, seidhr and galdhr, onmyodo, roscanna...some of them part of a larger belief system or religion, others more secular. Psionics is one example of a more modern and secular magick path.

I hope this helps. Feel free to message or if you have follow-up questions, of course.
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Re: Newbie and want to learn
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Post # 3
Wicca is division of Paganism. Wicca is a religion with specific beliefs and values. Magick by itself, is not a religion but a practise and an craft. Many religions use it however. If you would like to be a Wiccan, I would definetly reccomend reading more about the religion. There is a moderator on this site named Lark who I would reccomend talking to. A great book is "Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin". Hope this helped, and if you have any additional question I would be happy to try and help :)
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Re: Newbie and want to learn
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Post # 4
Wicca is a religion diverted from paganism. It has certain rules like harm none, and believer's in the three fold rule, paganism is a combination of very culture combined into it, of still has the basic's like ritual, magic and stuff like that except it's more open in concept, Wicca on the other hand has certain deities like the horned god while paganism can have a set of deities due to a set of different pantheins. They ate a lot alike but wicca is a more earth based religion with very traditional roots. Wicca additionally named wicce or wica was first made from Gerald gardner . He made it avaible so because of him wicca has been really popping up, as long as solitary practice is made easier due to others like silver ravwnwolf and so fourth!
I suggest you look at the religions for a year and a day and learn the basics, ur you can experiment with being an eclectic witch/wiccan because you take everything that draws to you, like I'm wiccan but I combine the Hellenistic path into mine, hope this helped!!
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Re: Newbie and want to learn
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Post # 5
Thank you for the help, I have been doing as much research as I can. I have a question though.
What is Hellenistic?
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Re: Newbie and want to le
By: / Novice
Post # 6
Hellenism = pertaining to the Ancient Greek pantheon, the Olympians, Zeus, Hera, Artemis, etcetera.
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Re: Newbie and want to learn
By: / Novice
Post # 7
Raymond Buckland, Scott Cunningham and Janet and Stuart Farrar are also well known sources. Be careful with Silver Ravenwolf as she can be a controversial source of information.

Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardener based on ancient religions. It is polytheistic worshiping a Goddess and a God. It is rooted in nature but it is a fertility religion primarily. There are many branches to Wicca, as everyone puts their own spin on it, believing as long as they follow the Rede [As in Harm None do as Ye Wilt] they are Wiccan. Kind of a hit or miss really. Dianic Wicca worships only female energies and only recently aloud men to join, however we are made up of both male and female energies, the union on the Lord and Lady makes the wheel of the year turn. Focusing on one throws this out of balance so some feel Dianic isn't a Wiccan path.

It can get very confusing. I would start with one really good book on Wicca and learn its history and basic teachings before gobbling up everything you can read.
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