Out of curiosity, I ask you, brothers and sisters, which traditions do you follow? How did you decide which was right for you? Were you born into them or did you discover your place after searching within? I myself haven't chosen a tradition yet, so I'd really like to hear your thoughts and experiences.
I thank you in advance for your responses, blessed be!
well I started Seax-Wiccan because my first book was by Raymond Buckland, but over time i became more Eclectic, but my path is still similar to Seax Wicca so i guess you could call me that. personally i just go with 'Wiccan'. Seax was what i started in and i spent a few years following the book down to the letter, then life got busy, practice went to the back burner for a few years. when i returned i decided to read some different beginners books and i found some different opinions i started cherry picking from but no one path ever felt like 'the one path'. [i feel once you find an actual Wiccan Path you should find a coven to worship with and talk to even occasionally] eventually i found The Goddess in the Details by Deborah Blake and it really opened my eyes to shaping my own path. while a lot of my views are still very similar to Bucklands, i have added a few, like Cunningham's 13 Goals of a Witch and i've defined the Threefold Law [the whole 'extreme karma' thing never sat well with me. i now view it as effecting your mind, body and soul]
i wasn't born into the religion, i was Anglican [Christianity] then i lost my connection with that path and began soul searching. a few years later i discovered Wicca and it felt right. told my mom and she was surprisingly chill about the whole thing [i asked her a few years later and she said she thought it was a phase so there was no reason to freak out, but now she sees it's right for me]
you don't really need to choose a tradition, i would read all you can and start forming your own [or at least keep a list of things you feel are true to you] one day you might find the right tradition, or coven. one day you might form your own path. whatever's fine, just keep studying and things will work out.
I was initially trained in the Oak, Ash, and Thorn Tradition of Wicca back in the 1980's. Oak, Ash, and Thorn, or OATh as we called it, was an oath-bound, initiatory Tradition but also rather eclectic in its practices. The Tradition began in California in the 1960's with roots in British Traditional Wicca, but it had evolved through a stay in New Orleans.
Back in those days it was very difficult to find groups to be part of. The internet had not yet started so it was pretty much a matter of luck to find a good group. I had become acquainted with a lady named Grandmother Owl and very much liked what she had to say, but her group was way to far from me to be reasonable to train with. So she introduced me to the High Priestess of the closer OATh coven. I attended a couple of circles with them and decided that the coven felt very much like family to me. Feeling like family is the most important criteria, in my opinion, of the group for you.
I was eventually initiated into OATh, then later ran a daughter coven named Tangled Moon for some 12 years. I am now the High Priestess of the OATh Tradition with three daughter covens under me.
In 2008, after Tangled Moon was closed because my husband and I relocated, I began my training in a Gardnerian Coven. Gardnerian Wicca is the oldest and original of the Wiccan Traditions, having been founded by Gerald Gardner in the 1940's. I now hold a 3rd Degree initiation in Gardnerian Wicca. Gardnerian Wicca is a very strict Tradition in its practices and it is entirely oath-bound and initiatory.
I compare OATh and Gardnerian Wicca as being like the difference between being a parish priest or being in a cloistered order. In OATh our emphasis was on preparing "caring, competent, Wiccan clergy" to serve in the greater community. After many, many years of such service I felt the need to work more with my personal spiritual life, and that's what Gardnerian Wicca has permitted me to do. In my opinion, there is need for both forms of practice at different times in our lives.
When I started in Wicca no one was "born into it" as Wicca wasn't old enough to be serving a second generation. Further, in the original foms of Wicca no one who was not an adult was even taught that such a thing existed. It was, and still is to some extent, felt that if Wicca was the path for you you would find your own way to it.
These days the vast majority of self-proclaimed Wiccans practice Eclectic Wicca largely based on books they have read. There is nothing at all wrong with that. However, I do feel that there is much to be gained from working with an established coven in an established Tradition. Such things include a magical family, formal training, established practice etc. However, not everyone feels drawn to such a setting, and that's OK too.
