help me plz

[yaoinik]

im new to wicca and nead tips on... well every thing so plz write...  

[Cranium Squirrel]

I dunno if what you have there is actually Wicca. Especially if you don't know how to perform the rituals and rites - that says to me you don't have an initiation, and haven't been in contact with a coven to learn.

Perhaps the Amber and Jet mailing list would be a good place for you to begin, if you're serious about seeking? 3nodding  

[Kuroiban]

yaoinik

im new to wicca and nead tips on... well every thing so plz write...

What do you mean by "everything"?  

[Bastemhet]

Start here.  

[The Player Character]

Byaggha

I dunno if what you have there is actually Wicca. Especially if you don't know how to perform the rituals and rites - that says to me you don't have an initiation, and haven't been in contact with a coven to learn.

Perhaps the Amber and Jet mailing list would be a good place for you to begin, if you're serious about seeking? 3nodding

I dont know that the rituals/rites thing is that important, and in my opinion the initiation bit is definitely not important. When I first started practicing I spent a year studying before ever performing a self initiation but I still considered myself a pagan. Covens are not necessary either as solitary practice is perfectly legitimate.

My suggestion would be to browse the forum, do a little online research, and read some books. Most importantly, keep an open mind.
I personally like "To Ride a silver Broomstick" by silver Ravenwolf. A lot of people suggested that one to me. I also like "21st Century Wicca" by Jennifer Hunter.  

[CuAnnan]

KuraiNeko

I dont know that the rituals/rites thing is that important, and in my opinion the initiation bit is definitely not important.

I am going to be frank here.
I am not going to couch my words in "niceness". This is pure unadulturated unapologetic Truth.
Your opinion is wrong. Completely.
If you are not initiated into the fertility witchcult of priests that is Wicca, you are not Wiccan. What you are practicing, no matter how valid or spiritually fulfilling it is, is not Wicca.
That does not make it wrong, or invalid. It just makes it not Wicca.
You can say "in my opinion initiation doesn't matter" in precisely the same way that you can say "in my opinion 1+1 = 500". Opinions can be demonstrably wrong as yours is, in this case.

KuraiNeko

I still considered myself a pagan.

Not all pagans are Wiccan.
Wicca is avery specific religion.

KuraiNeko

Covens are not necessary either as solitary practice is perfectly legitimate.

That is simply not true for Wicca.
Wicca cannot be practiced alone. The rituals which make it up only work with multiple people.
Solitary eclectic paganism is perfectly legitimate when approached correctly.
There is no such thing as solitary eclectic Wicca though.

KuraiNeko

I personally like "To Ride a silver Broomstick" by silver Ravenwolf.

That would explain a lot.
Silver Ravenwolf is a proven liar with no morals. She advocates lying to your parents.
Quite frankly, if you like Silver Ravenwolf, you are a fluffy. It is that simple.
Until you do some actual research into the history of Wicca, stop talking about this.  

[The Player Character]

CuAnnan

KuraiNeko

I dont know that the rituals/rites thing is that important, and in my opinion the initiation bit is definitely not important.

I am going to be frank here.
I am not going to couch my words in "niceness". This is pure unadulturated unapologetic Truth.
Your opinion is wrong. Completely.
If you are not initiated into the fertility witchcult of priests that is Wicca, you are not Wiccan. What you are practicing, no matter how valid or spiritually fulfilling it is, is not Wicca.
That does not make it wrong, or invalid. It just makes it not Wicca.
You can say "in my opinion initiation doesn't matter" in precisely the same way that you can say "in my opinion 1+1 = 500". Opinions can be demonstrably wrong as yours is, in this case.

KuraiNeko

I still considered myself a pagan.

Not all pagans are Wiccan.
Wicca is avery specific religion.

KuraiNeko

Covens are not necessary either as solitary practice is perfectly legitimate.

That is simply not true for Wicca.
Wicca cannot be practiced alone. The rituals which make it up only work with multiple people.
Solitary eclectic paganism is perfectly legitimate when approached correctly.
There is no such thing as solitary eclectic Wicca though.

KuraiNeko

I personally like "To Ride a silver Broomstick" by silver Ravenwolf.

That would explain a lot.
Silver Ravenwolf is a proven liar with no morals. She advocates lying to your parents.
Quite frankly, if you like Silver Ravenwolf, you are a fluffy. It is that simple.
Until you do some actual research into the history of Wicca, stop talking about this.

Ah, well fine then. Despite my initial reaction to argue with pretention I will simply say I was mistaken. I forget the semantics of neopaganism from time to time. What I would be referring to is non-denominational paganism/neopaganism (whichever term you deem fit).
As far as Ravenwolf goes; though these books both use Wicca in their title by your definition they would both refer to non-denom and that is what I read them for. Again, you can bash on Ravenwolf for incorrect terminology all you'd like but the morality of her work is debatable. In certain situations I feel its perfectly moral to lie to ones parents. I did and will continue to encourage it where appropriate. Morality boils down to opinion, it is not natural nor it is provable. Feel free to bring semantics into this as well if it makes you feel better.  

[The Player Character]

Ah, and I forgot to ask; what the hell is a fluffy? I'm not up on popular terminology. You seem to be king of terms though so please define.  

[CuAnnan]

Wicca was created, not rediscovered not popularised not made accessible but created, by Gerald Gardner.
There was no religion that matched Wicca before Gardner.
It is simply untrue that people were calling themselves Wiccan before Gardner.
The word does not come from the Saxon word for "the wise" it comes from a Saxon word meaning "curse slinger", "hag" or "hex binder". It was an unpleasant word and not used to describe the village healer. The Saxons did not use it that way, it is not a product of some grand christian conspiracy to slur witches. We can read their literature and see how they used it.
So. With the fact that Gardner created the religion established and not open for debate without the extensive proof needed to fulfil Burden of Proof, let's discuss it's properties.

Wicca is

• Orthopraxic meaning 'right practice', not right belief. What you believe is irrelevant. As long as you do the rites correctly.
  
• Initiatory meaning initiation is one of the rites that must have been performed on you. Not initiated, not wiccan
  
• Oathbound meaning that you swear oaths when you enter. Oaths of secrecy, oaths to protect the Craft, oaths to the Gods of Wicca
  
• Gender polarised from initiation to general practice, it works off a dynamic polarity between male and female. A male Wiccan is initated by a female who was initated by a male who was initiated by a female, all the way back to Gardner
  
• Priesthood to a single specific God and a single specific Goddess. The God and Goddess of Wicca have specific names. They are known to the outer court as Aradia and Cernunnos, but these are not their names.
  
• Mystery tradition meaning that there are specific experiential mysteries that cannot be explained in words, only by experiences
  
• Witchcult what it says on the tin
  
• Fertility based not earth worshipping
  

If you do not match any single item in the list, then you are not Wiccan.

This is not my opinion. This is the cold, hard, uncaring truth.  

[CuAnnan]

KuraiNeko

Ah, and I forgot to ask; what the hell is a fluffy? I'm not up on popular terminology. You seem to be king of terms though so please define.

Someone who displays willful ignorance.  

[The Player Character]

CuAnnan

Wicca was created, not rediscovered not popularised not made accessible but created, by Gerald Gardner.
There was no religion that matched Wicca before Gardner.
It is simply untrue that people were calling themselves Wiccan before Gardner.
The word does not come from the Saxon word for "the wise" it comes from a Saxon word meaning "curse slinger", "hag" or "hex binder". It was an unpleasant word and not used to describe the village healer. The Saxons did not use it that way, it is not a product of some grand christian conspiracy to slur witches. We can read their literature and see how they used it.
So. With the fact that Gardner created the religion established and not open for debate without the extensive proof needed to fulfil Burden of Proof, let's discuss it's properties.

Wicca is

• Orthopraxic meaning 'right practice', not right belief. What you believe is irrelevant. As long as you do the rites correctly.
  
• Initiatory meaning initiation is one of the rites that must have been performed on you. Not initiated, not wiccan
  
• Oathbound meaning that you swear oaths when you enter. Oaths of secrecy, oaths to protect the Craft, oaths to the Gods of Wicca
  
• Gender polarised from initiation to general practice, it works off a dynamic polarity between male and female. A male Wiccan is initated by a female who was initated by a male who was initiated by a female, all the way back to Gardner
  
• Priesthood to a single specific God and a single specific Goddess. The God and Goddess of Wicca have specific names. They are known to the outer court as Aradia and Cernunnos, but these are not their names.
  
• Mystery tradition meaning that there are specific experiential mysteries that cannot be explained in words, only by experiences
  
• Witchcult what it says on the tin
  
• Fertility based not earth worshipping
  

If you do not match any single item in the list, then you are not Wiccan.

This is not my opinion. This is the cold, hard, uncaring truth.

Did you miss the part where I admitted that I was mistaken in the terms I was using? I dont give a flying ...hoot what Wicca is, I personally dislike the overly pretentious and structured nature of Gardnerian crap. I got halfway through a book by him and gave up. Its not of interest to me, though little you say at this point is. If you feel the need to get comfort by attacking others who have already admitted to having made a mistake then you can find someone else. Unfortunately for you I have plans at the hookah lounge.  

[maenad nuri]

I already spoke to Cu about dropping it for right now, but Kurai, you might want to ditch the attitude right now too. That's going to help you a lot -- you've seem to got a good thing about learning from good sources and backing up points, so you can go real far here.

(And you aren't going to find any great love for Ravenwolf here at all -- she's not even that good at generic neopaganism 101 -- we recommend Yasmin Galenorn instead)  

[TeaDidikai]

KuraiNeko

My suggestion would be to browse the forum, do a little online research, and read some books.

The quality of said books is important- as is the quality of any source.

Quote:

Most importantly, keep an open mind.

I would rather people be thoughtful, than open minded for open minded's sake.

But that's because people tend to use the term closed minded and open minded as an "us v. them" tactic to attack individuals who disagree with them, rather then critically examining the objections their critics make.

Quote:

I personally like "To Ride a silver Broomstick" by silver Ravenwolf.

I don't. But that's because liars who encourage minors to abuse hospitality while lining their pockets with their marks money are repulsive to me.

Yasmine Galenorn is good when it comes to Nuri's earlier suggestion. Standing Stone is rewarding for a lot of people, even if it mislabels itself.
I also enjoy Telesco a fair bit, especially her stuff once she got away from being required to misuse other people's terms in her book.