I am new to Wicca. And I need help, how do I tell my Christian family I'm a witch. And no, I'm NOT being rebellious because I'm at that certain age, or, I'm not just going through a phase. I KNOW this is my destiny. Please, anyone, I need the information.
Autumn...
Re: how do I tell my family By: Aeons_Wing / Novice
Post # 4 Aug 24, 2014
Welcome.
Coming out of the broom closet isn't for everyone, and doesn't usually need to be immediate.
Ideally, if you've got a place of your own, a steady job, in a community that won't shun you into poverty or have you arrested or committed to an asylum or nunnery if they find out...then, that would be ideal to tell your Christian family that you're a witch.
Even if there's nothing they can practically do to ruin your life, can you bear the irritation of constant, "Oh, Hespera's just being rebellious...at 'that age', you know..." from your family? Or are you willing to speak their spiritual "language" maybe referring more to Joan of Arc's or Kat Kerr's holy visions and spiritworking ways than expressing straight-out paganism?
I'm not saying "Don't do it" by the way, I'm just saying that there's no written steps to follow on how to do this because the situation is going to be unique to everyone. Maybe you could gauge the reaction by introducing them to a Christian witch, not literally but just as an idea and seeing how they react: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2cSu3Jm5R4
If they must know, and they must know it all, no sugar-coating, and they must know now , well, I can only wish you luck.
Wow this is exactly like me. Anyways about a year ago i was going through the same thing as you, my family christian mennonight so it was really hard telling them. Anyways, at first when i told them my dad got so mad he started ignoring me, called me satan, and shit like that. Luckily it only lasted for a day but i realized i should have not told them, finally they read a book and asked me why i liked wicca and magic, i told them why and knew every single fact. Finally after seeing me read for a year again they told me they don't like it, but they know about it. Anyways my parents thougt it was a phase, but now they don't really care anymore.
Here are a couple ideas. 1) one night on a full/half moon do a ritual. Make sure your family is home and have a picture of your 2 gods, then have 4 element candles light them in a circle round you, then play some music and sing a witchy song (the goddess chant) sing it really loudly and tap on the floor when your parents come up and ask tell them and if they freak out or think its a phase give them a book, tell them why you love it, and so fourth.
Another way is that you can easily leave a book on the dinner table and if they ask...again tell them why!
I could not be anymore grateful to you guys, thank you so much! Also, one last thing. What books would you recommend, I've heard about some of these witches "bibles" and such, but I've never been able to find one. Where could I find one?
~Blessed Be~
Autumn...
Christopher Penczak is my favorite author, although I read his books more for the psionics-theosophy take on it than the Wiccan take on it, he has been Wiccan-initated (mixes his practice in with shamanism and reiki and "ascension") and I think any of his book titles with "temple" in it are probably his how-to-initiate guidebooks.
Gerald Gardner and Dion Fortune are good classical resources for Wicca, too, although because they were members of initiatory Wiccan covens, there were some things that I guess that they wasn't allowed to write about because that's supposed to be passed on from people in the organization only.
Some still have their copyrights, some--I think Dion Fortune's books?--have copyrights expired so you should be able to find the texts free online, or at any bookstores with a New Age section.
I enjoyed Starhawk's "Spiral Dance", I know she's written a few more books--but I don't know if that's Wicca or if she's like an Akkadian Reconstructionist pagan or something different than Wicca.
Also note that Wicca is not the only path to witchcraft. There's shamanism, seidhr and galdhr, roscanna, onmyodo, western ceremonial traditions (such as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), the more modern psionics, chaos magic, and "ascension magic" (which Penczak has also written about)... None of these are going to have one big book about it that all practitioners agree to reference, which was probably why it was so easy for the older crafts to die off with foreign conquest, leaving modern revivalists to depend on what we'd call "personal gnosis" and publications by non-practicing academics who disagree with each other about how the ancients did it.
I think that best way to go about telling them is as direct as possible and followed with good explanation.
Or you can start by slowly educating them on magic and your chosen path or paths(this may take some time) and then just say it and go for a long walk(about an hour or two) so they can digest information properly.
But in both cases there will be rather uncomfortable talk and a lot of questions that you will have to give answers to, so just stay calm and think before you answer.
Who is the "lunar goddess"? Is she a goddess of the moon, or is she like God, but only a woman? And should I choose her as my main goddess, or should I choose another? Let me know!
~Blessed Be~
Autumn...
Re: how do I tell my family By: Lark Moderator / Adept
Post # 10 Aug 24, 2014
Who you work with in terms of deities is largely up to you.
In the various Traditions that are considered British Traditional Wicca (BTW) the deities are a Moon Goddess and a Horned God. Their names are oath-bound and never revealed to non-initiates.
In any other form of Wicca it is entirely up to the individual as to which deities they choose to worship, other than that the work with at least one god and one goddess. In that case the person will often find that they develop a personal relationship with specific deities and these are the ones that they will call upon in ritual.
As an example, in my Gardnerian coven I will call upon the Moon Goddess and the Horned God. But in my personal practice (not BTW) I honor Sekhmet, Anpu, Tehuti, and Menthu, all from the Egyptian pantheon.
