How did you know?

I suppose it's a straightforward question, though with many nuances. Paths are not always set in stone nor do they come with a lot of clarity for some of us. But, I was just wondering, when / how did you know your current path was the right one? Was it slowly and through much study? Did you have an Aha! sort of moment in meditation like the calling of a God or Goddess?

Coming back to the pagan path after years I find myself feeling out new paths. I haven't chosen a specific pantheon or symbolic language yet, though I do think that it will help me in my practice to pick something more definitive in the future.

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I started with the basic training, I have a very large collection of books, and Tarot decks, I could never find a specific pantheon, that I could relate to across the board, so I just call myself a eclectic Pagan, I use many traditions, if it feels right, ill use it, if not I wont. I do work with Hecate, she is my Patron, but I also have a Guardian, (Demon, sent to me by a friend) who aids me when needed, He actually claimed me, but I don't work in the Satanism traditions, (not my thing) That doesn't make a lot of since I know, but that's just what happened, so that's how it is. I believe he will always be around, but not in the since that one might think. Gosh when I think about it ive done this so long, its just a part of me and comes as natural as if id been born into it.

by time and aquisition ...

It is true at first you kind of just look into everything. I think that is important and very necessary.

Agreed. Honestly the more time I spent looking forward for a path to follow, the more confusex I got and the more lost I felt. In the end I found my lath by first having the epiphany that knowing my path or not, I'm already walking it. So instead of looking forward, I started looking at where I was in the present. I asked myself what I liked to do. What made sense to me. What things I had read or learned that came naturally. Where the information felt more like reminding me of things I didn't realize I already understood.

Then, I looked backwards over the things I had already done. Footsteps already behind me in the path I had been following all along. I compared my past experiences with what I learned I wanted in the present. And while the directions I have taken since have varied some as I learned new things about myself, I was able to keep finding my bearings whenever I felt like I was spinning in circles again.

Started out by learning the Basics of Magick and building a foundation upon which I would work. My beliefs sorted themselves out over the years, which is what, along with my interests, have let me to my path.

I always knew there was more out there than what was commonly taught. I found kabbalah at about 16, and joined the Golden Dawn when I was 21. I was trained in a temple and now serve as chief adept of our local temple.

For me, it started off as a path introduced to me by my kin when I was young. I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, and therefore I took time to learn about it on my own as I got older. The more I learned, the more interested in the path I become on my own accord. I began to have my own experiences that furthered my interest and it took off from there.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their replies! It's great to hear some of the various ways we've discovered ourselves and our paths. I'm not new to witchcraft but this is really the first time I've reached out to others to hear their sides. Keep em coming if you are so inclined!

I can't say for sure that my path is the right one. It is only the right one for me in this moment. My path has progressed slowy sometimes and quickly at other times. I started out studing traditional, secular witchcraft which was introduced to me by a mentor of sorts. I suppose that my first big "Aha!" moment was sometime in there. The next being when I found heathenry and the norse deities and the runes.

I agree that it doesn't help to try and define your path as one thing or the other. Labels, for all the good intentions we use them for, only end up pigeonholing our own practices and limiting ourselves to narrow perceptions of our own paths. I feel that it is better to remain vague and open rather than specific and narrow sometimes.