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Posted by: Dade 11-Jan-2007, 10:53 PM
I just started following Wicca at the end of '06. My family is Catholic, and they don't know. Did you ever have to hide your faith? Do you still?

Posted by: Sekhmet 11-Jan-2007, 11:06 PM
Yeah, there's a few of us running around here. ::grin::

And when I was younger, I kept it pretty quiet, but my family knew. They just didn't make an issue out of it. Now that I'm an adult, it's a matter of discretion.

Posted by: Emmet 12-Jan-2007, 07:39 AM
Did you ever have to hide your faith? Do you still?

As Sekhmet observed, "it's a matter of discretion". I don't "hide" anything, but I generally don't parade it about either; there's a time and a place for everything. The central tenet of Wicca is the Rede; you're personally responsible for the consequences of your actions; you're good intentions (or rationalizations) are completely irrelevant. As they say, the road to hell is paved with them. Would the course of action (any action) you're contemplating create harm for others or yourself? Would it tend to foster harmony, community, and understanding, or animosity and antagonism to no real purpose? Pick your battles carefully.

Posted by: Aaediwen 12-Jan-2007, 11:11 AM
Moving this to the Grove. Dade, you'll find a great many kindred spirits around here. Personally, I don't hide my studies in anything. However, there are a bunch of hypocrytes out there who claim to follow Christ and yet are intollerant of anyone who doesn't believe the same way they do. People who will try to shove their interpritation of the Bible down your throat if you mention religon. In some cases that's even Christianity, but when it comes to Wicca you can be guaranteed trouble from these people. So as was stated above, pick your battles. If I have to hide my beliefs from someone, it's simply to avoid a confrontation from someone who doesn't follow what they claim to begin with.

Edit: Removed last lines which, indeed, probably were out of line.

Posted by: oldraven 12-Jan-2007, 11:34 AM
My wife studies wicca, and I am a Christian (I am a Creationist who believes in the teachings and ultimate 'message' of Jesus, not neccesarity the divinity of the man, or prophet). I just thought this point of view was needed, after Aaed's post. I understood you, man, but your post offers a definite slant that could be misinterpreted.

Those Christian 'Banner Carriers' would offer the same thumping to me, based on my beliefs. These are people who make a claim, but don't really understand the true message, or just ignore it for the sake of the ever overdone doctrines being argued day in and day out.

This is not Christianity! Not even in its most simple form. Closed mindedness and Exclusion are the opposite of the Message they claim to follow (a message written between the lines of most modern Bibles).

I understand that I may be off base entering the Grove and using the word Christian four times in three paragraphs, but what I just witnessed comes dangerously close to the same Hypocracy being denounced. Hypocrites and Zealots come in all shapes and sizes. Despite your intentions, (there's that word again), me and others like me have just been misrepresented.

But here is the point. Following a religion, or faith (as I think is the only part with any relevance) is about your faith. Not 'not his faith'. No, that wasn't a double negative. So long as you view your faith as an opposition, you will never be free in that faith.

Posted by: Dade 12-Jan-2007, 11:35 AM
QUOTE (Aaediwen @ 12-Jan-2007, 12:11 PM)
Moving this to the Grove.  Dade, you'll find a great many kindred spirits around here.  Personally, I don't hide my studies in anything.  However, there are a bunch of hypocrytes out there who claim to follow Christ and yet are intollerant of anyone who doesn't believe the same way they do.  People who will try to shove their interpritation of the Bible down your throat if you mention religon. In some cases that's even Christianity, but when it comes to Wicca you can be guaranteed trouble from these people.  So as was stated above, pick your battles. If I have to hide my beliefs from someone, it's simply to avoid a confrontation from someone who doesn't follow what they claim to begin with. 

Heh, thanks. Still getting use to the place;) My sister has a good idea that I've been folowing the path, but due to my situation I still live at home and can't dive into Wicca full on. But if you can talk to Jesus anywhere, can't the said for the Godess? So I light a candle at Mary's alter every Sunday and speak to her everyday. I hope that is enough.

Posted by: oldraven 12-Jan-2007, 11:36 AM
Oh, did I post that durring an edit? If so, thank you for clearing up your post, Aaed. Cheers.

smile.gif

Posted by: Aaediwen 12-Jan-2007, 05:26 PM
QUOTE (oldraven @ 12-Jan-2007, 12:36 PM)
Oh, did I post that durring an edit? If so, thank you for clearing up your post, Aaed. Cheers.

smile.gif

No, you didn't post during an edit. I edited in response to your post, actually. I hope it reads a bit better. If need be, I will delete my post.

Posted by: Dade 12-Jan-2007, 06:15 PM
QUOTE (oldraven @ 12-Jan-2007, 12:34 PM)
My wife studies wicca, and I am a Christian (I am a Creationist who believes in the teachings and ultimate 'message' of Jesus, not neccesarity the divinity of the man, or prophet). I just thought this point of view was needed, after Aaed's post. I understood you, man, but your post offers a definite slant that could be misinterpreted.

Those Christian 'Banner Carriers' would offer the same thumping to me, based on my beliefs. These are people who make a claim, but don't really understand the true message, or just ignore it for the sake of the ever overdone doctrines being argued day in and day out.

This is not Christianity! Not even in its most simple form. Closed mindedness and Exclusion are the opposite of the Message they claim to follow (a message written between the lines of most modern Bibles).

I understand that I may be off base entering the Grove and using the word Christian four times in three paragraphs, but what I just witnessed comes dangerously close to the same Hypocracy being denounced. Hypocrites and Zealots come in all shapes and sizes. Despite your intentions, (there's that word again), me and others like me have just been misrepresented.

But here is the point. Following a religion, or faith (as I think is the only part with any relevance) is about your faith. Not 'not his faith'. No, that wasn't a double negative. So long as you view your faith as an opposition, you will never be free in that faith.

I adore my family and I hold Christ's messages deep in my heart, but it seems as if his word has been perverted by men who 'speak for him' and 'fight in God's name'. I tried to be a good Catholic man, and went to CCE and what have you, but I never felt anymore at peace leaving mass then when I walked in. I never felt closer to our creator. In Wicca, I've felt more at peace. I would never use it to spite them or Him or Her. God has many faces in my mind. I love God. It is the men who abuse His gifts that I can live without.

Posted by: oldraven 12-Jan-2007, 10:49 PM
QUOTE (Aaediwen @ 12-Jan-2007, 04:26 PM)
No, you didn't post during an edit. I edited in response to your post, actually. I hope it reads a bit better. If need be, I will delete my post.

I wouldn't ask you to, man. smile.gif I understood what you were saying, but I just wanted to make sure you weren't misinterpreted. Skimming past one word could have meant a blanket statement, rather than a precise point about a particular type of person. I've been making the same argument for quite some time, trying to convince people that being a Christian doesn't mean being an intolerant stonewall. Yeah, it's common, but not 'true', so to speak. That's a view that seems to be the common one portrayed lately.

Just as anyone in here, for a time I wouldn't even mention my beliefs with people, to keep them from viewing me as the stereotype. Have you ever had someone avoid you, so they wouldn't have to endure the conversion speech? Then I realised that my faith has absolutely nothing to do with other people. Now that's a weight off the shoulders. Free to seek answers for myself, rather than be told how it is because it is what this group says is true, this decade.

My trinity? Peace, Love, and Life. So far all the questions I ask lead to these. smile.gif

Man, I sound like a hippie. rolleyes.gif

Posted by: Emmet 13-Jan-2007, 08:31 AM
QUOTE
I still live at home...if you can talk to Jesus anywhere, can't the (same be) said for the Goddess?


Another central concept in Wicca is that other religions are to be accorded respect. If Divinity is indeed infinite, it must also follow that it is ineffable. Therefore, within the parameters of the Rede, I cannot in good conscience say that your experience of the Divine is in any way less legitimate than mine; to diss your God is by extension to express contempt of my own. There are many paths up the hill, all leading to the same place. Your parents, and their faith, are entitled to your respect. That others are often unwilling or unable to extend the same courtesy to you in no way absolves you of that responsibility.
Another tradition of Wicca is respect for elders. As long as you're living under their roof and sharing their bread (not to mention their love, nurturance, and support), you owe them, and they're entitled, to your fealty. Once you're paying your own mortgage, car payment, and taxes, you can set the rules of your own house according to your own lights.

QUOTE
I light a candle at Mary's alter every Sunday and speak to her everyday. I hope that is enough.


What is within your heart is of vastly greater importance than whether you wear a crucifix or pentagram around your neck.

QUOTE
Man, I sound like a hippie.


In a country where plastic armchair patriots gleefully cheerlead the brutal invasion, occupation, and subjugation of other countries, carefully cultivate profound ignorance, and proudly espouse racism, bigotry, xenophobia, and utter contempt of democracy, and the only response Congress can come up with to impending cataclysmic environmental disaster is to make the biggest, heaviest, and most profligately gas-guzzling SUV's on the planet tax deductible, I can hardly see where that could possibly be a bad thing!

Posted by: Aaediwen 13-Jan-2007, 11:07 AM
QUOTE (oldraven @ 12-Jan-2007, 11:49 PM)


Man, I sound like a hippie. rolleyes.gif

Peace, brother!

For all the reasons Emmet mentioned and then some, is being a hippie a bad thing? Just the drugs I can do without. The next time I go running across the country with friends and jamming to Peter, Paul, and Mary won't be the first time smile.gif And man was that a blast! Just needed the microbus. Although my 04 Corolla was probably considerably more eco-friendly than said microbus, so it may have been a good thing I had it instead. Ohh, and all three of us had long hair at the time too.

Experiences like that can help one feel closer to God/Goddess too you know wink.gif

Posted by: stoirmeil 13-Jan-2007, 12:00 PM
Emmet's right, except that I would say in addition to choosing your battles, you can also choose your kindnesses (which I think he's really also saying anyway). You could choose to keep your practice close to your heart for now (especially because it's so new) out of fear of being criticized and preached at by people who don't understand it, or you could choose to keep it close out of concern and love, so as not to cause upset and a temptation toward anger to people who don't understand. Same thing, from the outside -- same action, but totally different from the inside, because of how you view and intend it.

I think it might be good to remember that although spiritual practices very often have community involved, and it's a strong and wonderful addition to a life when you have and want such a group, there are also many who prefer to practice in solitude, for at least a part of their lives, and carry only the humane results out into the world without professing anything. There's nothing wrong with that.

Posted by: Shadows 13-Jan-2007, 12:28 PM
Stay firm in what you believe, even if it is not the road most take!

Remember the cread!

Whatever you send out returns to you 3 fold!

Tolerence is a virtue and lost to most religions today... Tolerate and try to understand.

The message is the same for most.




Posted by: Emmet 13-Jan-2007, 06:03 PM
QUOTE
in addition to choosing your battles, you can also choose your kindnesses (which I think he's really also saying anyway). You could choose to keep your practice close to your heart for now (especially because it's so new) out of fear of being criticized and preached at by people who don't understand it, or you could choose to keep it close out of concern and love, so as not to cause upset and a temptation toward anger to people who don't understand.


Precisely.

Posted by: Dade 13-Jan-2007, 06:24 PM
Thanks for the kind feedback you guys:)

Posted by: nitelilly 14-Feb-2007, 06:11 PM
Greetings Everyone! I have just joined and wanted to say hello. I am a solitary Wiccan and have been for seven yrs. I noticed that no one has posted on here in a while, but, no matter. Just dropped by to say Hi. Blessings

Posted by: sisterknight 15-Feb-2007, 08:56 AM
we cannot change how the world thinks but we can make gentle changes in the web of all life if it is done to harm none -dealing with plants/herbs is mine and it all takes time, patience and knowing that what you do for yourself must help all not just some.
i can still sing to god for beauty and thank the goddess for all that is good, there is good about life and we must respect it...fighting about religion never solves anything and all that's left at the end is dead bodies and broken families and dreams.

Posted by: Emmet 15-Feb-2007, 04:17 PM
QUOTE
Greetings Everyone! I have just joined and wanted to say hello.


Merry Meet!

Posted by: Shadows 15-Feb-2007, 04:58 PM
This topic area has died down more then just some!
I personally can not keep posting to keep it alive.
I can only hope that those of you that are in the know will keep things alive.


Posted by: Nightchild 17-Feb-2007, 08:29 AM
I'm back, once again. Unfortunately being absent made me miss your discussion. sad.gif
Yet there's something I wanted to add, because I myself feel it important to be mentioned:
Someone already said, there were a lot of religions that don't tolerate other believes nowadays. As for me, I mostly feel it's Christans who don't tolerate us. Mostly, not exclusively.
Some of you might remember I'm living in Berlin, Germany. So I don't know what it's like somewhere else, but I do know what it's like here. And I dare say there's also a lot of people following some kind of pagan belief who don't tolerate any belief that varies only a nuance from their own. Which I personally find is pretty sad.
As for Christians: A friend of mine tends to say it's not us who have a problem with them, it's them who have one with us. Meaning as long as they don't have one we don't have one either.

I hope, I didn't forget anything... unsure.gif

Posted by: ShadowDarkFyre 19-Feb-2007, 11:35 PM
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and guess that Nightchild's saying that the Pagan mainstream has become as intolerant as the Christian mainstream. Correct me if I'm wrong. However, if I hit the mark, it is sadly true. I, myself, have been bashed by the pagan minstream in the past over here in the States. As well as the Christian mainstream, seeing as how my beliefs are sort of all inclusive.

Posted by: oldraven 20-Feb-2007, 06:25 AM
QUOTE (ShadowDarkFyre @ 19-Feb-2007, 10:35 PM)
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and guess that Nightchild's saying that the Pagan mainstream has become as intolerant as the Christian mainstream. Correct me if I'm wrong. However, if I hit the mark, it is sadly true. I, myself, have been bashed by the pagan minstream in the past over here in the States. As well as the Christian mainstream, seeing as how my beliefs are sort of all inclusive.

I'm right there with you. Not mainstream in my faith, and that urks both sides. Though it seems like it is acceptable to discriminate against Christianity, but not any other faith out there. Being Christian is like being English, I suppose. (I hope you get what I mean by that).

I recently was reading a forward in my wife's book, Wicca, The Complete Craft, and found an outright distain for anything Christian. For a Polydeity faith such as that, which borrows its influences from so many different religions, it seems like a jab in the ribs to be looked at as the only unfit faith on earth. The author even used the word Discrimination in a positive light, in that context. I was quite turned off by that.

Some things are universal. Religious persecution isn't what it was in the days everyone chooses to remember. Some people tend to forget that Christians were Persecuted against on a large scale by the Romans, who were Pagan at the time, just as the Romans later laid waste to Paganism under a Christian guise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian#Persecution_of_Christians

A faith cannot be intolerant. It's like a pencil being jealous. But if people are prone to persecute, they will do so, no matter what flag they wave.

Posted by: Nightchild 20-Feb-2007, 10:06 AM
QUOTE
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and guess that Nightchild's saying that the Pagan mainstream has become as intolerant as the Christian mainstream. Correct me if I'm wrong. However, if I hit the mark, it is sadly true. I, myself, have been bashed by the pagan minstream in the past over here in the States. As well as the Christian mainstream, seeing as how my beliefs are sort of all inclusive.

I'd rather not say that it's the mainstream. Yet there are groups that pretend being mainstream, that pretend being the majority, where you can find more intolerable people than in other groups. And of course there are those who walk the world pretending their belief is the one and only true and right one. Some of those grow and learn, some just don't. Yet those mainly are the ones that make themselves heard.

QUOTE
Some things are universal. Religious persecution isn't what it was in the days everyone chooses to remember. Some people tend to forget that Christians were Persecuted against on a large scale by the Romans, who were Pagan at the time, just as the Romans later laid waste to Paganism under a Christian guise.

That's definitely a true one. But when talking about persecution one shouldn't forget about christian groups being persecuted by other christian groups for their differences in belief. It's not as if Christianity equals Christianity. It's not now and it never was. Well, okay, maybe, but only shortly after its creation. wink.gif

Posted by: oldraven 20-Feb-2007, 10:54 AM
QUOTE (Nightchild @ 20-Feb-2007, 09:06 AM)
That's definitely a true one. But when talking about persecution one shouldn't forget about christian groups being persecuted by other christian groups for their differences in belief. It's not as if Christianity equals Christianity. It's not now and it never was. Well, okay, maybe, but only shortly after its creation. wink.gif

Good point. smile.gif If you look at that link, it touches on this. I guess the best example of what you're talking about is the Protestants in Europe trying to rid themselves of the Catholics in the 16th century. The battle that is still raging in Ulster(I don't know if it's PC to use that name or not). Then we have everybody's favorite party posse, the Jesuits. Inquisition in general.

Posted by: stoirmeil 20-Feb-2007, 01:37 PM
It really can be a bit discouraging. Having been raised Episcopal and converted to Judaism, I finally found, after a long gradual examination of what really called spontaneous wonder and gratitude out of me, that I am a natural born -- what? Pagan is the word that probably covers it. But honestly, most of the public forms and trappings appeal to me no more than those of the mainsteam monotheisms. There is a place for individual or solitary practice, but so much is possible in community, humanly and spiritually.

I suppose the point is that whatever your practice is, part of what it serves to do is make you more able to put up with the imperfections of our kind -- even within the practice itself.

Posted by: Celtic cat 22-Feb-2007, 04:03 PM
Hi Dade and Nitelilly, good luck with your journeys and welcome to CR. OldRaven, just wanted to thank you after reading your posts. My faith is in the middle and I am having trouble accepting it. But your comments help me to see that it is okay. smile.gif

Posted by: sisterknight 26-Feb-2007, 09:46 AM
i don't know if your newspapers covered this or not, but on the weekend there was a very large article done about wicca and a priest who switched and was kicked out of the army...there is a wiccan church and most of the members are military..the paper this called the montreal gazette and it was in the saturday edition

Posted by: saddoggirl 17-Mar-2007, 02:58 PM
Hello! I hope you don't mind me jumping into this also. I have been restless with "religions" since childhood. I was raised in a God fearing church in which I saw my fill of hypocrites. Yes, I know they are everywhere but I had quite my fill there. Off to college I went and became Catholic. It was that individual church that was wonderful and that led to my conversion. Unfortunately after college life went on and I found myself living in a nice but very closed minded small town. The catholic church there just didn't make me comfortable and the priest seemed very cold so I quit going. I had always been curious about wicca and I finally decided to learn more and dive in. I didn't care what anybody thought in the area and eventually I found a few others of common ground. I finally learned acceptance and for the first time in my 36 years, I was ok with myself. Since I began following wicca, many beautiful things have happened and continue to happen. I have since moved to Austin,TX from PA and ironically I go to a church with a friend. This church has been wonderful and is very non-condemming. Actually, everyone has made me feel quite welcomed even knowing I follow wicca. (Yes I am pretty new with wicca). No matter where I am, I have found it pretty good to just live by example, and I have had no problems. I have been fourtunate and when or if a problem arises I will also deal with it too according to the teachings. I guess I see it like being an embassador for my religious beliefs.
Blessed Be to all,
Saddoggirl

Posted by: Dade 17-Mar-2007, 03:48 PM
Very cool story, and welcome

Posted by: marthien 15-Feb-2009, 01:00 PM
I a Wiccan, have been since "02". Also, I hadn't told any one for awhile, wasn't sure how my family would take it... But then one day when my Mother came to visit me in prison I told her, at first she was shocked, but when I continued to explain it to her and how it had changed me to the person I am today she has grown to except it more.

Posted by: Patch 15-Feb-2009, 07:10 PM
I knew a lady who was interested in Wicca but have lost track of her over the years. She was an unusual individual but I remember little of Wicca.

Slāinte,    

Patch    

Posted by: Sėmeag 26-Feb-2009, 04:36 PM
QUOTE (Dade @ 12-Jan-2007, 04:53 AM)
Did you ever have to hide your faith?

Do you still?

I've never had to hide my faith. My family (mostly Catholic) and even my work colleagues are aware.

I've never encountered any problems.

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