Starting My Path Of The Witch? How?

I know very little about witches/pagans/wiccans.

Is there any witchcraft 'bibles?' Im currently reading a resource on the Salem witch trials and wanted a first hand witness and experience with the belief system as to add to my spiritual knowledge and growth. But I cant find a way to get into it without a stepping stone, I dont wanna .google everything because I find that could lead me down the wrong path very easily.
And I dont want to join a coven sect or anything until I truly know what im getting into and how it fits my life.



Im learning a lot of the persecution and intolerance of witchcraft as well as demons and spirits through this book, along with Bridget Bishop and the chronological order of the salem witch trials from the beginning of the trading post, until about late 1706. I must say, I had no idea that the witch trials entailed so much violence and actual 'magic.' I always figured the partisan church basically jsut said that some women were witches for eating without their shoes on or something silly and burned them.

So I am starting to understand history, I just don't understand where it came from; how it's practiced, where it's practiced, why it's practiced, etc. I lack very fundamental knowledge to start my journey on my own. I read that witchcraft came from voodoo, celtic origins, christianity, egypt, etc. But I cant seem to find a particular study guide for any of which.

 

ummmmmm Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry duh

 

Paganism and modern Witchcraft are very eclectic movements, with many branches and sub-branches. I'd say start by exploring the basics such as paganism at large then narrow down to what interests you most, Druidism, Elemental magick, Voodoo, Necromancy, etc. There has been some good books written on paganism and there's plenty of info online, have a look around.

 

I have this fantastic book in y apartment, "the encyclopedia of witches and witchcraft", which does a very good job of exploring the roots of most of modern paganism. I like to flip it open to a random page.

in a general sense, your research should probably start with some history stuff and some practical stuff.

 

Do goggle everything!!!!!!!!!! I did.

But as far as real history goes, unless there are citations from the anthropologist and you can verify that there is such a person with such a degree, it's probably recycled from Aleister Crowley era occultism. The up side is that Crowley and his friends(or frenemies) kicked off the revival using the best information they had, but the down side is that many of the blanks were filled in with now disproved estimations and little credit is given to the new age writer who came up with it. This doesn't make it wrong, but it is dishonest.

And historically, there was little to no paganism or magic of any kind involved in the Salem witch trials because it was all about greedy men using easily manipulated children to justify hurting and exterminating any rival or person they just didn't like. The African slave that kicked off the excuse was the closest thing to a witch in the trial, an likely not even close to a real shaman, and didn't live long enough to see the end of that mess.

Sacred Text is a good site to find old writings and translations from real non-christian history, and tends to be good with dates and bibliography. It's as good a place to start as any.

There is also an increasing number of pages being set up by native american tribes to record traditional stories, so check tribes official webpages for links.

Hit YouTube for archaeology and anthropology documentaries, but be sure to watch your source. Is it a home made conspiracy theorist film, or a nationally recognized work? Is there strong bias for only one interpretation, or are critics of a theory given interview time as well? Is it a college lecture, and if so, how well recognized and respected is the speaker?

And again, google everything, but be critical of the reference. Is it a data base or forum? Does the data base include note on the original books? does the forum have more than one point of view and are references cited? When you check the reference book or site, does it show signs of credible research? Check comment sections too, since this can include reference sites.

At the library, check your authors notes, introduction, and bibliography. If it's Norse myth and the Prose Edda isn't mentioned at all, then it's likely not a very good reference. If it's Wicca and you can't find Gerald Gardener or Alex Sanders mentioned, there need to be a good reason in the intro or notes or it's suspect. Raven Silverwolf uses references from a few old books as well as a collection of bits and pieces from all over the world in Solitary Witch and includes notations her reasoning for a pan-cultural work, but may not be what you're after if you want European paganism, so this may be a source to consider suspect due to your focus of research.

And these are general guide to help you find the history. What you do or do not believe, approve of, or wish to participate in are details that only you can find the answers to within your hear and your mind.

 

two paths. there are books and there are elders.
depends on how social you are.
spiral dance, year of moons, probably others.
there are also books to avoid, if you want to experience something real.
many books purporting to be about history among humans are written from a hostile perspective,
often little more then propaganda for major religions.
you won't get anything usefully real from them.
but ones written by real wiccan and other pagan practitioners, these do exist.

 

"the witches bible" by janet and stewart farrar, thios book has a huge amount of information, and is like a text book. the read can be boring though as it's very dry!

"the circle within" I'm not sure who the author is. I found this book very handy. lots of information, very good for those who came from Christianity.

"the spiral dance" starhawk. excellent book.

"witchcraft today" gerald gardener, pretty much anything by the gardeners are excellent.

a lot of these books can be bought used from amazon for a very reasonable price.

there are so many many good books with so many resources the help you out.

"earth power" by scott cunningham is a great hands on book, very informative for getting out in the world and getting your hands dirty. scott cunningham has a lot of good books!