Beliefs And Practices, What do you do

I know that we all come from many different back rounds, and beliefs. I was curious to see how we practice what we believe....

Is it in specific rituals.... everyday unconsious acts... both or more.....

Lets get the ball rolling in here again!;)

Hello,
I am actually rather new to the wiccan path. I am avidly reading anything I can to learn. I am currently taking online wicca classes at www.whichschool.com. It is for the Correllian tradition. I will follow most of the teaching there but I have also decied that I will at least for now be solitary, and also incorporating celtic and faery wicca into my path. I have not really done much in the ritual sense yet as I have been having troubles meditating and until I can get that down I don't want to really start with rituals yet since I don't want to upset the balance by not being in control of my thoughts during ritual or magick. I do have my craft and magick names, but have not yet found a deity. I figure that will come when I get the meditation down. I cannot focus when trying to meditate, other thoughts keep flowing through my head. Plus, finding the time is difficult. I have even fallen asleep. I just can't figure out how to keep my focus.

I think for me and most in this house it is everyday acts and Special Rituals . My son abstains from any religious practice, which we don't mind. We encourage both of the kids to find their own paths. We have an eclectic house hold with many different beliefs

A meditational trick I found useful was to sit infront of a candle and stare just past the flame. while doing this I envision a silvery kind of bubble surrounding me. this helped quiet my mind and keep me focused, as I progressed I started visualizing Numbers in front of me. When I successfully went from 100 down to zero then I was ready to visualize pictures.

In my little world, it is an everyday, unconsious 'practice'. My thoughts are why practice it? When you can live every moment doing it.

And as far as magick goes, there are times when I will sit down and consiously 'do' magick. But magick is in everything, and can be done in everything....from coooking, to yard work, to music, to crafts.... it is everywhere.
Example, when I am not feeling well, and making dinner for m'wife and I. I will add those herbs that are good for helping with what is bothering me. And there are those little things that are done in the process that help 'infuse' the healing properties of those herbs.


Just my view... I have learned over the years that all the bells and whistles are most of the time, just that. Extras that are not needed. Cerimonial Magick......Golden Dawn, OTO etc..... yes, more elaborate. But, same results.
you don't need to spend lots of money on 'the magick wand of power' when a branch from your tree will do the same thing. If not more because you made it your own.

Same here, I am not a fan of ritual. To me it seems to be for the benefit of others, and if you are solitary, why bother? Ritual to me is daily life. I always try to take time to notice the plants around me. I constantly talk to animals, (My cat and I have full blown conversations )

I always try to be aware of what is around me, whether it is physical or metaphysical. I try top meditate, but that is hard sometimes.


I do some fire work occasionally. And when I say fire work I mean candle flame manipulation. I think it is good practice for steadying your mind.




I think my path is leading me away from Wicca. I used to be a die-hard Wiccan, but my life has evolved so much that I think I have moved beyond it. Who knows where my path will take me?

You are so right there, We do small rituals on the Sabbats & Esbats just to make it more special. We don't have fancy stuff & all of it we have been given from nature. From our Wands to the sea shells that are on my Alter to the naturally carved stone I use for my cauldron. If I am looking to do a special casting and don't have all the ingredients I figure if I really need to do it then The Gods will provide me with what I need. nothing less nothing more.

I didn't relize that you were a Kitchen & Garden Witch Bardy,Have you checked out "The Kitchen Witches Cook Book" by Patricia Telesco, there are some wonderful things in there.

RW,
I think of Wica as a stepping stone as each religion is, if it helps your spirit blossom and gives you a greater understanding than what you had before then you are on the correct path. Don't limit yourself to just wicca, I know I don't. There is too much to learn and we have just a short time in this life to learn the lessons we must. What I do know is that I am greatful to have met such wonderful people. We all effect every ones lives in a certain way. If I hadn't been so interested in Celtic Magick and Music I never would have found this site and I never would have met you & Bardy & the others. You all have helped me along my path and I am greatful for each of you. My Grandfather used to say

"If you never forget where you came from, you can never forget who you are no matter where you end up.The people who you meet in this life are the ones you can truly call Family."
I have never forgotten that. No matter where your path leads you & no matter where my path leads me, I know that you and I will always be Family.



Much Love,

I don't know that I'm qualified to post here, and my comming inquiry may belong in its own thread. I consider myself Agnostic, but I believe in the truth of the pagan religons, perticularly Wicca. Much of what I practice seems to fit, as I am seeing it, but I don't practice Wicca because I simply don't know....

One of the questions I have now is, is my perception of magick and spells correct? Prime example from work, and one I do use quite often:

User calls in, Irate, and flustered that their computer isn't working, or that they are getting transferred around, or whatever ruffled their feathers.... In the process of helping them with their technical problem, I take various actions, say things a certain way, etc... all with the express purpose of calming them down and having them laughing with me by the end of the call.
Would this be considered casting a spell on the caller? Or am I just ingorant of what a spell really is? Please help inform.

One of the things I like MOST about this forum is the broad range of beliefs represented here.

Yeah, I have it. I used to be producer of a pagan oriented radio program, here in Cincinnati. And also ran a corrispondence network for the 'magickal' community. During that time, we interviewed Trish many times, and she wrote a few articles for the network, when I was trying to transform it into a magazine/journal. She is a really nice lady! I haven't talked with her in years. But when our paths did cross, it was nice to talk with her.

I really enjoy her Victorian Grimore book. Neat stuff.....

I would say you didn't cast a spell, but you may have used a little magick. Prayer in itself is a form of magick.

I will agree that Wicca is a good 'stepping stone'.
I personally find it a little too fluffy for my liking. I don't know, maybe it's just me, or the realist in me. I can not see pre christian pagans holding crystals and rambling off ' I take ye crystal of power-- blah, blah, blah.....' Is it JUST ME!
It was about survival, and balance with your natural surroundings. And unfortunately most of us are SO far removed from nature that it loses something.

If you read things on folk practices/ customs of the past you'll see that many of the songs, and stories that were sung and told all have a specific purpose. Example- During planting time there are many old folk songs that speak of the spirits( faeries, gods etc....) aiding in the coming season. THAT IS MAGICK! And those practices were handed down from generation to generation.

But as Christanity ( not slamming) began to flourish, these ways were frowned upon. Sometimes names were changed in these tales and sometimes they didn't. But with that and a smaller demand for families to provide food directly for themselves each season. They started losing their meaning. Make sence?

I'll stop for now.... then we can discuss later

I will agree that Wicca is a good 'stepping stone'.
I personally find it a little too fluffy for my liking. I don't know, maybe it's just me, or the realist in me. I can not see pre christian pagans holding crystals and rambling off ' I take ye crystal of power-- blah, blah, blah.....' Is it JUST ME!
It was about survival, and balance with your natural surroundings. And unfortunately most of us are SO far removed from nature that it loses something.

If you read things on folk practices/ customs of the past you'll see that many of the songs, and stories that were sung and told all have a specific purpose. Example- During planting time there are many old folk songs that speak of the spirits( faeries, gods etc....) aiding in the coming season. THAT IS MAGICK! And those practices were handed down from generation to generation.

But as Christanity ( not slamming) began to flourish, these ways were frowned upon. Sometimes names were changed in these tales and sometimes they didn't. But with that and a smaller demand for families to provide food directly for themselves each season. They started losing their meaning. Make sence?

I'll stop for now.... then we can discuss later

*sigh* I am starting to frrl the same way.



There were no burning times for Wiccans. Wicca is a 50 year old religion. THat is why I like being and eclectic solitary.

Hi all,

RavenWing, I agree with you - prayer itself is a form of magic! It's just that it's never presented as such by Christian ministers/leaders. I imagine there are many reasons for that. Spontaneous prayer is the strongest and most appreciated, simply because it is spontaneous, sincerely heartfelt communication rather than dry, rote, almost automatic responsiveness to (sometimes stale) ceremony.
Those short but heartfelt prayers are the ones that I've had answered, almost never the ones given during a worship service!

Something else I've always believed very strongly follows Pagan thoughts about sanctity. The minister I always felt closest to used to teach that God was always with us, He was constantly around us and inside us, His presence was in the trees, rocks, birds, wind, sun, rivers, ...all of our world as well as in Heaven and we didn't have to be inside a church to talk with Him and receive an answer from Him. I've never heard another minister give that message, and he gave it to us in a very soft-spoken, grandfatherly way, very gently reminding us of God's presence in our lives. I realize now that this message is a strongly Pagan point of view as well, and I believe its truthfulness.

Dreamer1

The Christian mystics called it living life as a prayer. Some of the nature religions call it living in the now. Other groups call it living with intent. It all means being aware and focused all the time. No autopilot! And it's the hardest thing I ever tried to do.......but it gets better with practice.