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WhiteFox
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Post subject: How-To books vs Personal Stories  Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:58 am |
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| Magicka Guardian |
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:38 am
Posts: 3232
Location: On Magicka's roof, scouting out her next tile victim
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I've noticed a lot of people have started out with some form of how-to book, like the ones from RavenWolf or Conway.
I got started in a totally different way. I read "Book of Shadows" by Phyllis Curott in 2004, which was an auto-biography rather than a spellbook. I didn't get an actual how-to book until this year.
Has anyone else started out on the pagan-ish path this way? Through a personal story rather than the standard 101 books? I sometimes wonder if my beliefs now would have been different had I read Ravenwolf's or whatever's books in the beginning.
Not that I'm complaining by any means, but I like to muse over things like this 
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Thyrael
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:52 am |
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I started with the Wicca Handbook Eileen Holland.. although its mostly a reference book, it's more about first hand experiences and her thoughts.. and I got back into paganism after reading Pagan Paths for Modern men, which is this guy talking about how theres isnt much God in wicca and too much focused on the goddess, and it shows the different sides to Men thru self experiences hes had and mythology combined.
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Torey
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:46 am |
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| Forum Admin, Moderator & Caftan King |
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Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:40 am
Posts: 10540
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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I have mostly read 'how-to' books. I really don't like reading personal stories. I don't know - I just can't get into them.
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Ravenari
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:54 am |
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| Magicka Guardian, Life Member & Ezine |
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Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:11 am
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I really enjoyed Curott's Book of Shadows; I personally feel it's a really good insight into how eclectic witchcraft can actually work and be beneficial to people even though it's being sort of 'made up as they go along.' More power to them I say. 
I didn't start my path on a personal story like this, or from a 'how to' book; but I definitely could have done. Book of Shadows was compelling enough that, if I hadn't been exposed to positive witchcraft beforehand, I probably would have taken it up or adopted some elements of it from the book alone.
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Morgane
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:33 pm |
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| Magicka Guardian |
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Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:29 pm
Posts: 3939
Location: Tir na nOg
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I will have to pick up the Book of Shadows by Curott. I haven't read anything at all along that line, and had actually steered away from those type books for some reason, although I can't put my finger on it. Hearing the two of you say that you enjoyed it is enough for me to give it a read!
I do like the "year and a day" books for beginners. I think it's a great way to get started and get a feel for the potential paths.
I read constantly. I love getting different authors views.
I think there are some great beginner books out there, but different authors resonate with different readers. From a feminine perspective, I adore Kate West.
I find Ravenwolf's books more focused towards teens, and although I did try reading some of her stuff, I quickly put it aside. I think they would be beneficial to a younger reader, though.
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With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
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She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey" ~ Drops of Jupiter by Train
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Michael
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:18 pm |
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| Magicka Guardian, Life Member & Ezine |
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Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:13 am
Posts: 4636
Location: California
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Briganta
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Post subject: How-to books vs personal stories Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:09 am |
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| Moderator and Magicka Life Member |
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Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:53 am
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Location: Running with the wolves
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The first book I read on the Craft was Gerald Gardner's 'Witchcraft Today' which I really enjoyed but that was quite a while after I had started my training. I think after that it was 'What Witches Do' by S. Farrar.
I feel very lucky to have had such an experienced, knowledgeable teacher. No matter what I read back then I don't think it would have changed my path. Of course, there were very few books out on the Craft back then.
Briganta
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Last edited by Briganta on Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Bandrui
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 4:24 am |
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| Fire Dragon |
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:09 pm
Posts: 28
Location: Outside the Magic Kingdom, CA
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My first introduction to Paganism was through Carol P. Christ's The Laughter of Aphrodite, which was an autobiography of Christ's experiences as a devotee of Aphrodite. It came as quite a shock to find out that someone in modern times was actually worshipping an "ancient" Goddess. It started me off on the road to where I'm now.
Bandrui
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WhiteFox
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:12 am |
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| Magicka Guardian |
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:38 am
Posts: 3232
Location: On Magicka's roof, scouting out her next tile victim
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This shows how tired I am right now-I read what you wrote as JESUS Christ worshiping Aphrodite 
I was like whoa, autobiography of THAT? XD
I can relate to the shock thing though, I remember feeling similar when I found out about Paganism. It was a good shock though, almost like "yay, I'm validated!"
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Bandrui
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:40 am |
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| Fire Dragon |
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:09 pm
Posts: 28
Location: Outside the Magic Kingdom, CA
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WhiteFox wrote: This shows how tired I am right now-I read what you wrote as JESUS Christ worshiping Aphrodite LOL. If it makes you feel better, when I first read the book, I was still "a good Christian girl" (as my mother would say) and part of me was quite offended that someone with the last name of Christ was running around worshipping a Pagan Goddess. On my second read through though, I started having what my mom refers to as "blaphemous" thoughts...i.e. if someone named Christ can worship a Goddess without getting struck by lightning, could someone like me "get away with it"? From that point, it was about two years until I was a practicing pagan.
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WhiteFox
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 4:59 am |
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| Magicka Guardian |
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:38 am
Posts: 3232
Location: On Magicka's roof, scouting out her next tile victim
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Lol, I think the lightening strikes are more of a Zeus thing than a Yahweh thing anyway, so no worries there
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Asphodel
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:48 pm |
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| Forum Admin, Mod, Life Member & Torey's Little Helper |
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Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:57 pm
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I started out with Ann Moura's "Grimoire for the Green Witch" as a gift from my brother when religion and faith issues started coming to the surface, and an Encyclopedia of Witchcraft that I borrowed and have since returned (Geez, I'd hope so by now ... lol).
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Ancestral Celt
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 7:00 pm |
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Joined: Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:25 am
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When I started formal training, the first book I was told to read was "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.
Way back when (the 80s), however, my first book on witchcraft and/or paganism was a auto(?)biography, or so I think, but I can't remember whose or what happened in it. It was fascinating and I held onto the book before mistakenly lending it to a friend. I've never found another copy, mostly because I can't remember much about it.
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Dark Moon Lilly
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:00 pm |
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| Moderator and Magicka Life Member |
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Location: Captive to a inundation of perpetual crafting…
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Though I'd done some library research into ancient religions, magic, and witchcraft -- this was in the late 70's early 80's before the internet... The first books that I bought on the subject were Margot Adler's 'Drawing Down the Moon"; "Magick in Theory and Practice" by Aleister Crowley; and two of Dion Fortune's novels: "The Sea Priestess" and "Moon Magic". It was on my first ever trip to a 'magic store' -- and I bought all four books at the same time. I had barely even heard of 'Wicca' -- the people I'd met who practiced magic called themselves magicians, witches, priests, and priestess. I'd been studying for almost two years after that initial purchase before I met anyone who claimed to be Wiccan. He later gave me my first initiation into a Wiccan coven, but I'd already had a dedication and was working in a ceremonial magic group. So, I studied both paths simultaneously for awhile... In those days most 'learning' was done one-on-one in person... books were few and hard to find, at least in the mid-western US...
Drawing Down the Moon surveyed individuals and groups that were just emerging in the 'Neo-pagan' movement and provided several biographical anecdotes from those practitioners while Theory and Practice outlined the hows and whys of ceremonial magick. So, while these were the first books to influence me it was only after I'd had personal conntact with other magick users.
Personally I learn't more from Crowley's book than Adler's; but if Curott's book had been around earlier I'm sure it would have been an inspiration, I thik it is a very good book and reads more like the Dion Fortune's novels and they proved to be very inspirational... she wrote the rituals and workings in the books using the knowledge she'd gain in her personal theosophical studies.
Blessed Be,
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Sage SilverPhoenix
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:26 pm |
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| Air Dragon |
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Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:30 pm
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Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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I started off with Wicca for Beginners, Fundamentals of Philosophy & Practice, by: Thea Sabin. How I got the book is a funny story...I've always been fasinated by the supernatural as a kid. I did my first spell when I was in Grade 5. I watched horror movies and shows like Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, and Charmed (my two favorite shows, by the way). As I got older, I started reading books by Silvia Browne (whom I still love). One day I was in the book store, looking for one of her books and couldn't find the particular book I was looking for. Then in the corner of my eye, I saw it; my first book on Wicca. Not knowing what to expect, I bought it anyway. Five years later, and I've been on the ever since. After Wicca for Beginners, I started reading Silver RavenWolf's books. She is another author I hold dear in my heart. I respect her, even though some people like to say she is a "fluffy bunny". Yes, she writes for teens, and she does a good job doing it too.
That's how I got into Wicca. How-to books. But, I love reading personal stories as well.
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