A Little Advice for Seekers
It is often the case that Seekers come to British Traditional Wicca, and in fact many
other religions, the firs thing they do is start wanting books and endless streams of
consciousness from the people who have 'been there'. The inference is that by
plopping down on your butt under a Bodhi Tree, that Enlightenment will settle upon
your shoulders and you will possibly be accepted by people who have 'been there' a
long time, and who aren't easily impressed in the first place.
The big problem with this outlook is that it leaves most of its adherents hidebound and
glued to chairs, computers, and things that don't really have a lot to do with Wicca. So
the first thing that seekers should be doing is getting out and having some experiences.
In my mind, when Adam or anyone else, says to get out and 'have some experiences',
we mean that you need to go out and live life, and begin to learn about the world
around you through interaction and observation of it. Engaging the Reality and world
that is boundless around you is the only way that you will be able to learn enough
about it, and yourself, to make the journey into British Traditional Wicca (or for that
matter, any other worthy religious discipline.)
You will not learn what you need to know in order to become a Wiccan, by the
standards of this list, by assuming that you can know anything about it based on what
you have been told by someone outside British Traditional Wicca. This goes double
for making endless circular queries of BTW practitioners on the basis of those
assumptions. You will especially learn nothing of value here by approaching the list and
the religion with the attitude of someone who, as a list colleague once put it, is only
here to sharpen your ego at our expense.
The correct cycle for the acquisition information is not: Read. Beg. Read. Beg. Read.
Presume. Beg. Annoy. Throw Tantrum. Be thrown off the list.
The correct cycle would be: Read. Practice. Censure.
That said, if you really want to do something useful for yourself, and only yourself, that
will put you in good stead for whatever the future may hold for you religiously, then
consider the following suggestions:
(1) Start with learning to meditate. I cannot stress enough the importance of a
successful and solid meditation capability as part of a solid foundation for later work.
Most of the problems encountered by those trying to attain the Mysteries, regardless
of religious affiliation, are simple problems caused by lack of a good meditative focus.
Much of what is available on the topic is written from the Eastern, and often Buddhist
point of view, whose focus is on the idea that all of life is suffering and therefore must
be escaped. In a religion like Wicca, where engagement with the world around us is a
major focus, a meditative technique and philosophy that is in basic diametric
opposition to that goal is likely to be a major source of frustration for a seeker.
Meditation, as it applies in one aspect to Wicca, is an act of mentally engaging a
concept, calmly holding it on focus, and contemplating it. The Oxford English
Dictionary has the most extensive set of definitions of this word, but a survey of the
unabridged dictionaries in your local library will yield a range of definitions, which will
include this one.
(2) Let go of the idea that Wicca will be learned from a book, or series of books with
Wicca on the cover. It's just not there. Wicca doesn't have a Bible, on purpose, and
the number of 'beginner' works worth buying on the religion itself can be counted on a
number less than the total of your fingers and toes. This list, several others like it, and a
handful of website, are great resources, but you are going to fail if you treat them like
the be-all and end-all. Knock it off and go out into life to find this religion.
(3) The best thing that any newcomer with an interest in the religion can do is find a
piece of land and engage in the active study and engagement of it through a full cycle
of the seasons. Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats this for preparing someone for
entry and dedication to the Gods of this religion. It can be your yard, a local park, or a
disused lot awash in weeds and scrubby plants, but there is much that you can learn
there, through simple observation.
Frederic Lamond is very fond of saying that our own body is part of that same Nature,
and the closest piece of it to you. Another point to consider when looking into the
mirror in the morning, or when you go eat that second helping or light up a smoke....
But not to be missed is that in following the cycle of seasons in those places, and
making those observations, that you will be led to other sources of knowledge. If you
are the least bit studious, you will be led to books that have nothing whatsoever to do
with Wicca. Why? In order to learn about the piece of land or your flesh, you need to
read things not the least bit about religion, which is a good way to grow as a person,
not simply as someone seeking to 'join' a religion. My first teacher, when I asked him
what I should be reading, told me to read everything I could get my hands on,
regardless of subject matter, because you just never know when a tidbit of knowledge
is going to come in handy.
(3) Stop listening to every Tom, Dick and Harriet about what Wicca is, and who
believes what, and worry more about what you believe and do. It is impossible to
count the number of people who come to Wicca because they want to keep with the
crowd or be popular. Wicca isn't a club to join; it's a family that you can possibly be
part of, if you can build the relationships with others that makes family possible.
When you stand naked before the Gods, when it is just you and Them, the folly of
living and following anyone or anything else becomes painfully apparent. Hanging
everything on the label of being a "Wiccan" is shallow and unproductive--people who
are so caught up in this practice are simply not Proper Persons. We of The Wica are
looking for Proper Persons, because among these we find our Brothers and Sisters.
But even more important, it's perfectly fine, in our estimation, to not be a British
Traditional Wiccan. It's also fine to not be a Wiccan. What you believe and do defines
what your religious path will ultimately be; sometimes that takes you away from Wicca
and into other religions. Go in Peace and find your way to the Gods in the way that
best suits you.
What is not fine is to tell us what Wicca is, because no outsider can know that. Nor,
given the tempestuous nature of Witches, are such statements going to go
unchallenged..
It is often the case that Seekers come to British Traditional Wicca, and in fact many
other religions, the firs thing they do is start wanting books and endless streams of
consciousness from the people who have 'been there'. The inference is that by
plopping down on your butt under a Bodhi Tree, that Enlightenment will settle upon
your shoulders and you will possibly be accepted by people who have 'been there' a
long time, and who aren't easily impressed in the first place.
The big problem with this outlook is that it leaves most of its adherents hidebound and
glued to chairs, computers, and things that don't really have a lot to do with Wicca. So
the first thing that seekers should be doing is getting out and having some experiences.
In my mind, when Adam or anyone else, says to get out and 'have some experiences',
we mean that you need to go out and live life, and begin to learn about the world
around you through interaction and observation of it. Engaging the Reality and world
that is boundless around you is the only way that you will be able to learn enough
about it, and yourself, to make the journey into British Traditional Wicca (or for that
matter, any other worthy religious discipline.)
You will not learn what you need to know in order to become a Wiccan, by the
standards of this list, by assuming that you can know anything about it based on what
you have been told by someone outside British Traditional Wicca. This goes double
for making endless circular queries of BTW practitioners on the basis of those
assumptions. You will especially learn nothing of value here by approaching the list and
the religion with the attitude of someone who, as a list colleague once put it, is only
here to sharpen your ego at our expense.
The correct cycle for the acquisition information is not: Read. Beg. Read. Beg. Read.
Presume. Beg. Annoy. Throw Tantrum. Be thrown off the list.
The correct cycle would be: Read. Practice. Censure.
That said, if you really want to do something useful for yourself, and only yourself, that
will put you in good stead for whatever the future may hold for you religiously, then
consider the following suggestions:
(1) Start with learning to meditate. I cannot stress enough the importance of a
successful and solid meditation capability as part of a solid foundation for later work.
Most of the problems encountered by those trying to attain the Mysteries, regardless
of religious affiliation, are simple problems caused by lack of a good meditative focus.
Much of what is available on the topic is written from the Eastern, and often Buddhist
point of view, whose focus is on the idea that all of life is suffering and therefore must
be escaped. In a religion like Wicca, where engagement with the world around us is a
major focus, a meditative technique and philosophy that is in basic diametric
opposition to that goal is likely to be a major source of frustration for a seeker.
Meditation, as it applies in one aspect to Wicca, is an act of mentally engaging a
concept, calmly holding it on focus, and contemplating it. The Oxford English
Dictionary has the most extensive set of definitions of this word, but a survey of the
unabridged dictionaries in your local library will yield a range of definitions, which will
include this one.
(2) Let go of the idea that Wicca will be learned from a book, or series of books with
Wicca on the cover. It's just not there. Wicca doesn't have a Bible, on purpose, and
the number of 'beginner' works worth buying on the religion itself can be counted on a
number less than the total of your fingers and toes. This list, several others like it, and a
handful of website, are great resources, but you are going to fail if you treat them like
the be-all and end-all. Knock it off and go out into life to find this religion.
(3) The best thing that any newcomer with an interest in the religion can do is find a
piece of land and engage in the active study and engagement of it through a full cycle
of the seasons. Nothing, and I mean nothing, beats this for preparing someone for
entry and dedication to the Gods of this religion. It can be your yard, a local park, or a
disused lot awash in weeds and scrubby plants, but there is much that you can learn
there, through simple observation.
Frederic Lamond is very fond of saying that our own body is part of that same Nature,
and the closest piece of it to you. Another point to consider when looking into the
mirror in the morning, or when you go eat that second helping or light up a smoke....
But not to be missed is that in following the cycle of seasons in those places, and
making those observations, that you will be led to other sources of knowledge. If you
are the least bit studious, you will be led to books that have nothing whatsoever to do
with Wicca. Why? In order to learn about the piece of land or your flesh, you need to
read things not the least bit about religion, which is a good way to grow as a person,
not simply as someone seeking to 'join' a religion. My first teacher, when I asked him
what I should be reading, told me to read everything I could get my hands on,
regardless of subject matter, because you just never know when a tidbit of knowledge
is going to come in handy.
(3) Stop listening to every Tom, Dick and Harriet about what Wicca is, and who
believes what, and worry more about what you believe and do. It is impossible to
count the number of people who come to Wicca because they want to keep with the
crowd or be popular. Wicca isn't a club to join; it's a family that you can possibly be
part of, if you can build the relationships with others that makes family possible.
When you stand naked before the Gods, when it is just you and Them, the folly of
living and following anyone or anything else becomes painfully apparent. Hanging
everything on the label of being a "Wiccan" is shallow and unproductive--people who
are so caught up in this practice are simply not Proper Persons. We of The Wica are
looking for Proper Persons, because among these we find our Brothers and Sisters.
But even more important, it's perfectly fine, in our estimation, to not be a British
Traditional Wiccan. It's also fine to not be a Wiccan. What you believe and do defines
what your religious path will ultimately be; sometimes that takes you away from Wicca
and into other religions. Go in Peace and find your way to the Gods in the way that
best suits you.
What is not fine is to tell us what Wicca is, because no outsider can know that. Nor,
given the tempestuous nature of Witches, are such statements going to go
unchallenged..
