I have a 9 year old daughter who is showing an interest a lot earlier than I expected. I'm not sure where to go with this or when and how to begin guiding her. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I would start small and help her understand the basics/simple things since she is 9, when I first started studying it was nothing like I imagined it would be, make sure she knows what she is getting into. When she is older you may get into bigger things.
Definitely start with the basics. Personally, I stumbled across the basics first, and I think that's been a big part of my practice. Make sure she knows exactly what it is you do, rather than just the ceremony and circumstance and wonderment. It's easy to look at the stars, but harder to build a telescope, if you get my meaning.
I completely agree with the previous comments. You should start from those things you find easier to understand for her age and that will gave her the foundations to construct her own practice once she is older.
As a suggestion, one of the first things I made by myself was cleansing the house from stagnant energies with incense. I found it very simple to understand although I was a couple of years older than your daughter when I first made it.
well Ostara's coming up, you could have a more Wiccan themed celebration. don't go all out, but if you wish you could tell her the story about how a rabbit painted an egg for the spring Goddess [if you've never heard the story the short version is a rabbit came across an egg and decided it give it as a gift the the Goddess Estro. after decorating it in her colours he presented the egg and she loved it so much she asked him to share it with the children] you could look into fun activities to do with kids at Ostara as well.
i would also ask questions, like if you're out on a nature walk ask her how she feels about this time of year, or what she thinks of a particular plant. you could also help her make a wand and teach her a bit about it. [my point is basically if she seems interested teach, but don't go 'this is what we're doing because Wicca' you wouldn't want to force her] and of course, you could always ask her what she thinks of [or knows about] Wicca and depending on her answer, if you feel she's mature enough you could start her on the year and a day teachings.
you could also look into books on the subject. in her book The Goddess is in the Details, Deborah Blake has a chapter on raising pagan children and includes a couple books to check out. [i haven't read them but you could check them out]
Raising Witches: Teaching the Wiccan Faith to Children by Ashleen O'Gaea
The Family Wicca Book: The Craft for Parents and Children by Ashleen O'Gaea
Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions by Starhawk, Diane Baker and Anna Hill
overall while i'm sure it's tricky, you know your child and i'm sure you'll do just fine. i would just try and make it fun for her and focus a bit more on the religious/spiritual side of Wicca over the spell casting [though a fun little spell wouldn't be so bad] perhaps get her a very pretty/cool notebook and tell her it's her very first Book of Shadows and she can write/decorate/do whatever she wants with it.
Just start by telling her the stories (Goddess/God) mythology's
Like bedtime story's. Id ask if she wants to practice, some kids don't, even if their parents do.
But for all those parents struggling with this situation, just think of the Christian religion, we are taught as soon as we can talk taken to church, Sunday school, ect. so think of it this way "this is your path and it should be theirs" if you intend to follow it, your kids should be taught as they grow, rather than growing up and then learning from scratch with no knowledge to fall back on. That's a struggle, I know I wish id been raised in a Pagan household.
