To keep it secret or not?

I am as open about my beliefes as I am My life style which is VERY open and honest

i keep it a secret because i live in a small christian town and i'm a little nervous about it. i do wear a pentagram necklace, and have circles outside when it's a holiday and my coven isn't fighting. but it's a little dangerous. not like life threatening i don't think. [more like in practical magic] an old art teacher of mine is a witch [generations too, she's so awesome] well, on halloween, she has to make sure her cat's are inside [especially her all black one Jack] because some people in the area kill cats on halloween to get rid of the devil or something.

on the other hand, if i moved to a city, i don't think i'd keep my vow, not sure why. guess more people are accepting and there isn't a lot of mob mentality i guess. i know it makes no sense but i've had a couple gay friends who came out in the town and they've been victimized [not physically, but a lot of vandalism] once they moved to the city, it's stopped, and they're still acting the same as they did here.

i've got a friend who, i think he feels proud or cool knowing a wiccan, so every chance he get's he introduces me as 'this is neko, she's wiccan. like a witch.' i tell him not to, but he just doesn't see why it's suck a big deal. he's atheist and he doesn't go around bragging. [sorry, went off topic] in conclusion i suppose, it's location and circumstance. like, i'll never ever tell my family, i was originally raised in a smaller poorer town where everyone was christian extremist, very close minded, [when they found out we kids knew about other religions they showed pictures of the Holocaust to keeps us from converting] i only told my open-minded cousin, everyone else, i'm afraid they'll try and expel the demons inside me or something.

Well, for me, it depends on where you are. In my case, my friends are most understanding. I am comfortable talking to them about my beliefs (even though they do make some dumb jokes about it). I have friends who are Buddhist, Catholic, Christian, Jewish, etc. However, they are tolerant of other religions. My guess would be the parents.
Parents are the ones that tell the children what's right and wrong. In my case, I've always been told that witches were complete works of fantasy and ideas of witchcraft were evil. My dad continues to hold those beliefs for those were the ways he was taught when he was a child.
Despite the fact that I was told this when I was younger, I thought it was a load of baloney. For me, hate is the reason why there is so much discrimination and violence in the world. They don't want to accept the fact that there's another religion besides their own. Not to mention COMPLETELY different from their own beliefs.
There are only certain people that I can talk about certain things, especially me being a witch. I know a friend who is now married and has a one-year-old daughter who is still brought down by her mother because she's a witch. I can't imagine being in the same situation as her when I'm an adult myself. I love my family, but I still wonder what will happen when I "come out". Will they look at me the same or shun me like they did to my friend?

I am out of the Broomcloset, now, but when my daughter was at home, I hid for her sake. I didn't dare risk losing her, which in the Bible thumper town we lived in was a very real possibility. My biggest regret, was not teaching her about my faith. I was afraid. one wrong word anywhere could have destroyed us as a family. All she knew was that Mommy was weird!

Meanwhile, she was being bombarded daily by the world's images of 'normal' and by the time she was old enough to risk telling her, it was to late. Mommy was a bit TOO weird.

I haven't seen or heard from her in over two years. I don't know where she is. Every night I pray for her safety, her health and happiness, and that one day she'll forgive me for the crime of being different. And every night, my heart aches.

Something is seriously wrong when we fear to teach our children about our beliefs even as they are being steeped in the beliefs of others.

"Mommy, Becky's family goes to church every Sunday, Why don't we?"

"Mommy, Becky wants me to go to go to church with her. Can I?"

And of course, you say yes, because after all you want her to learn about all religions so she can chose for herself when she's old enough.

I WANT A DO-OVER!

Darken Spirit

i totally knw how u feel im in a family of christians and ive tried to explain to them about all magic isnt bad(without mentioning the fact tht i practice it)and they just WILL NOT listen,and they just think tht its all about worshiping the devil!how stupd is tht?i just wanna scream!!!!but i have to keep it a secret.but im gonna carry magical things around with me no matter the critisism,but still no one will knw and until i get my own house ill practice it in secret

i am just starting to be a wiccan and am planing not to tell my christan parents for awahile they know i do magic but they think i am just fooling around but i am not

Ohh wow, I could never not teach my children about my beliefs, not force it unto them, ever. But yes create that understanding before the biased world takes over them. It must be tough, I surely would not know what to say, if they said "lets got to church".

I have been asking myself this same question. But I am in a very sticky possition - I am a member of society that is held to a higher standard (a teacher) & I think that if my student's parents or the school that I work for found out, people are going to freak out or jump to some conclusion that won't be pretty.
I also come from a strick Christian family & they would try to perform some sort of exorcism on me & try to take my kids away.
On the other hand, I have a small amount of friends that I can take to about this and they don't think I am a weirdo or are going to hex them.
So, for now I am staying in the Broom Closet, but I am completely dedicated to learning as much as possible & hopefully I can connect with some people who I can talk to about how wonderful I feel with my decsion.

Blessed Be,
Dessi

I'm not sure if she ever got very far, but I know that my mother was interested in and read into Wicca, she was the one who got me my first books about it. She knew when I dabbled in it in 6th grade, but I don't think she knows about it now that I'm actually serious about it. I think my family will be okay with it.

Now with my friends, I have to be careful with whom I tell. Quite a few of them are very Christian and would laugh at my beliefs and might treat me differently. But I think they might also be very open to my beliefs and we could have some good discussion. But I'm just following the "Don't ask, don't tell" mindset for now. If someone wants to know my religion, I'll let them know, but I'm not going to go around telling everyone, or on the other hand, lying about who I am.


And to reply to what you said about not raising your children with your beliefs. Sesa, it's just like raising your child to any other belief system. It's what most people do. Or when people say that raising your child to be vegetarian or vegan is controlling and impeding on their free-will, I just counter with "Well so is raising them to eat meat."

I have only told the people closest to me in life about my religion. People always get the wrong ideas about wiccans and think they are evil and eat children or sacrifice animals. They are too ignorant to learn more about it before forming an opinion and I feel like I have to hide half my life just to be safe. I wish we could live in a world where people wouldn't judge us on our religion and belief, but lets face it, wiccans and pagans have always been put down and we always will until some sense gets knocked into the world.
-AliRose