My SoM Advice for Newbies

Hello everyone,

Tonight, I'd like to share my own homemade advice for magick and SoM newcomers. This article here will cover a vast variety of topics, but I'll try to keep it short, sweet, and on point.

For those of you who are very new to magick, congratulations! You've found a lifestyle path that offers much knowledge and new perspective about many things in life. I'm sure that if you may be feeling confused on where to begin, who to talk to, and overall what to do now that you're acting on your interest in magick and/or Pagan religion. You've come to a great community, but I'm sure you still have questions. You're probably wondering, "What do I read about first?" "Can I cast a spell?" "How do I write my first spell?" I'm here to tell you about that, but with some other advice as well.

"What do I read about first?" First, reading the basics of magick is very crucial to your success on this magical journey (pun intended!). Instead of asking on the forums, go to the Articles tab and scroll around through there for a general idea of what you're looking at. Go to the search bar and type in "basics of magick." That will help you you out! It's best not to go around and ask many people to help you with the basics. Learning for yourself is key here; many people frown down upon mentorship, because to be a mentor, they'd need to teach you in person.

As for casting your first spell, you must practice the basics first. Everyone serious here will tell you that and it's important. Hold off spell casting until you know the basics. Also, research about how magick is said to work. But, don't ask much. You have Google and any other search engine as a resource as well! For writing spells, that is all about using creativity and symbolism in your actions. You must have full belief that your written spell will work.

Once you read a bit, I'm sure it'll all make sense. But, my main advice is to not go asking around until someone spoon feeds you all the information. That will not help you learn on your own. You need to learn on your own so you can think for yourself, especially when it comes to when you become more experienced and you want to read about a new topic. You may become used to being spoon fed information. Magick allows you to think for yourself. It is the ultimate freedom. Take it as a blessing and utilize it. You may need help or advice along the way. I am not condoning the ability to receive advice. I'm only saying don't overdo gaining answers from someone else, because truly the answers and solutions to your questions and/or problems are sitting somewhere in yourself. I can't stress this enough! Use the SoM forums, artcles, videos, spells, Google, or another site to gain more answers instead of constantly asking around. It will help you to accomplish learning more freely.

As for advice when interacting here, don't roleplay. It gets people extremely aggravated, especially the full blown Pagans. I feel roleplay on a Pagan related site offends Pagans because we are very misunderstood by society. If you come for roleplay only, take it somewhere else. Same goes for fluffy stuff. A fluffy is someone who either believes or claims to be something mythological. This will severely hurt your SoM reputation. I also can't stress this enough.

If you are interested in converting to Paganism, take all the time you need. Instead of learning about one Pagan sect, learn about a multitude so you can see what you connect with the most. I recommend starting out by researching Wicca. You can also look at Native American religion (Shamanism), Druidism, Satanism, and more! Try picking up books from a library as well. There are so many paths you can walk along! Again, take your time with this and be honest and open with yourself.

Don't worry. Being a beginner isn't as hard as you think! :) Many blessings to you all. I hope you find your way and have fun during the process. Please feel free to comment about my article and to begin discussion.

Welcome! :)

Thanks for the tips . Good to know that I'm in the right path.

Thank you so much for the tips I've know about magic for years but cloud never do anything and ive studied and practiced a lot and I think I'm doing well thank you

I will be sure to take this into consideration :D

Thankyou for your honest 411, I'm off to do my research! Much respect...

Hands down the best comment I ever read on SOM. forums. Everyone should read this post.
Unfortunately, the people that need to read it the most probably do not read much at all. They ask all those questions because they like it the easy way, being spoon fed, like you say.
I will be sending question askers to this post from now on.

Many thanks. There is a lot of acquisitions to be made and info to be learned and thanks for your advice.
Blessed be

Beginners will find these reads to be helpful:
Forums/ General Info/ Basics Expanded and Starting out.
This is more for the magick side of it. Religions, if you choose, can come later. Wicca is a religion, so to say to study that first is wrong, when it comes to magick. Research, study, learn, then practice. One cannot do something until they know how.
Just my thoughts. Blessed Be...

Thanks for taking the time to read my rather lengthy post, everyone.

I've been an on/off member for seven years. I've seen a lot of transformation with how the SoM society is, so I definitely wanted to write about my observations because they would benefit newcomers.

Ravenlord,

Thank you for the compliment! I appreciate it a lot. :)

What you said about the people that need this advice not reading this post will probably happen, but that is their choosing. Hopefully, they'll find their way. No one's perfect.