Wicca Books in between Religion and Fantasy

This is where I can find Wiccan and Pagan books at the book store... they devide the religion books and the sci-fi-fantasy books... are we not sure still where Paganism fits? Is this more than just a little ironic? Am I the only one bothered by this?

 

i have nevr seen wiccan/pagan books kept with the books on religion. even if the section carries books on more than one religion, wicca still never seems to make it in there. they put us in the "new age" section. i guess we're not preachy enough to be considered a "religion".

 

lol, but wicca is somewhere between religion and fantasy though.

LOL, im sorry just had to.

 

All paganism books (not just wicca) are in the 'mind, body and spirit' section in stores here in the UK. Generally the 'religious' section only consists of christian, islamic, jewish etc books

 

They keep them in the "New Age" section here, which is in the same isle as "Alternative lifestyles" and "Religion"

 

Yeah I've seen that.
The spiritualist, meditation, and a lot of the Eastern spirituality books are placed there too.
Though of course there in an overlap and they are put next to each other. At least that's true in Waterstones.

 

sometimes i see buddhist, hindu, and even taoist books filed in the religious section, although there are always plenty of these in the new age section too. never have i seen wiccan/pagan books in the religions section, at least not in a chain store, even when the B&N store manager was pagan himself.

 

Where would we rather see these books?

I like the idea of a "mind, body and spirit" section in bookstores, but you just don't see that in bookstores in my area.

For me, paganism has been more of a spirituality or a philosophy--a way of living--than a religion. Paganism overlaps so many categories, but the poor clerks have to put the books somewhere and people need to be able to find them.

My local chain bookstore has a "religion" section and a "Christian religion" section and the books that apply to my beliefs and practices are found in the "New Age" section. I'm sure the decision is made by a corporation, and even a pagan manager would have to conform.

Most pagans seem to have lots of books and do more reading than anybody else I know. That's one of the things I like about pagans.

 

I personally dont care where they put them. Honestly, i dont like the idea of pagan books anyway. books of the story and myth yeah, but a book on the "religions" of paganism is no good. Want to learn paganism? put down the how-to book and get in the woods.

Want to build knowledge and undertanding? Read myths, compare, contrast, read more, and study some history and anthropology.

Paganism wasnt a seperate thing like religion is for many, it was deeply ingrained in culture and habit, it was a day to day life, not an outside idea.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Our ancestors didn't view religion as an all consuming creature, demanding attention at specific times. For the most part, they went about their lives, occasionally offering thanks during the daily chores. An offering placed on the mat at night for the land wights, a prayer to Thor for strength as they lifted a particularly heavy load, and perhaps an occasional period spent in contemplation, or a blot once a month or so.
The one thing that irritates me most about organized paganism, exactly like organized "mainstream" stuff, is this: My (pentacle/cross/ankh/thorshammeretc) is bigger than yours. The want and need to show off, to be more devout than others. The sensationalism and overexxagerated nature of things done in the name of spirituality. The pomp and posturing which gets in the way of celebrating our Gods.
You don't need someone else to tell you how to connect with the Gods. If you listen, the Gods will tell you. Spend time in quiet contemplation, away from modern annoyances.Read thestories of your ancestors and let the sounds of nature fill you. In this way, you shall find the path of your life, and your faith. To find God/Goddess, you must look within, as well as without.
99.9% of the books you will find in a "new age" section are crap. Plain and simple. Remember, all those authors have editors, and ultimately, they are in business to make money. Helping others may be part of it, but I wouldn't bet on it. If what they print sounds boring or mundane, it won't sell a lot of books.
Sorry for the rant.

 

This is very true.... it's only around 50 years old, and a lot of the ideas are almost directly lifted from fantasy (sorry guys, i'm in atheist mode right now, although I still prefer wicca to christanity, or any other religion in fact).

As for books on it, if you can't find any, you're looking in the wrong shops.. I'd not bother with general book stores, they won't have a largee enough range, go to a specalist shop... I can think of two off the top of my head right now, but unless you leave near me (which i doubt), they won't be much help to you.

 

^ the term may benew the belief is ancient, did you know they found a woman with a conicle hat in a grave 3000 years old in western china?

 

WTF?

What belief is ancient? Wicca is made up of a bunch of ancient ones, and a few new ones. But as a single belief system, its 50 years old. Aside from borrowed elements, there's nothing ancient about it.

as far as conicle hats, you should have left that out of your argument, what the hell does Chinese fashion have to do with the validity of Wicca?

Wearing a pointy hat has nothing to do with the religion what so ever, lots of cultures had them.

 

they wernt chinese, they were kelt, and the woman was a priestess of some sort

 

Celts in china were just visiting, there were trade routes to china, they have even found Gaulish plaid in china, still has nothing to do with Wicca.

Conical hats were worn by the Indo-Europeans of the Alp region, which were later called Celtic, they were woven like baskets, and i believe one was found on ice man.

Still, conical hats, Celts (with a C!) and China are all unrelated to wicca.

 

I'm sorry to say this, but any wiccas who believe they're part of something ancent, you're mistaken...

 

they were not just visiting, sorry, but they lived there for very extended period.many generations .it was a national geographic speciel. and do you realy think that rome killed the gailic beliefs? they did not, they were driven into hidding, but the beleifs of these great and ancient people who spread across the world lived on. and kelt ,celt ,whatever you can find both spellings,
P.S the first writen evidence we have of the witch with the large conicle hat dates back 6 hundred years,

 

Whats your hang up on hats man? Fashion and religion are two seperate things. The only way that conical hats became associated with witchcraft was a matter of fashion, between country and city.

What does Rome have to do with wicca, and certainly, what do Gaelic beliefs have to do with Wicca? Wicca is not Gaelic , Welsh, Brythonic or any other Celtic branch.

There may be a few borrowed elements, but the same goes for Hinduism, Roman Paganism, Egyptian, Quabalah and Enochian magick. So is Wicca Hindu? no, roman? NOPE, Egyptian? Sorry, no, Hebrew? nope.

SO what if they found Jews in China wearing pointy hats? would that support your argument any more?

As far as them living there, sure a few might have, but did you know there were also Germans in china? Chinese people in german clothes buried in China, and Germans in Chinese clothes buried in germany?

OH MY GOD! Is that some secret Wicca Asatru Chinese origin connection? NO, its nomadic tribesmen and traders traveling their world.

People do it now, why not then?

 

This thread is teh funneh.

I'm a Celt and I'm fluent in Mandarin. Can I get a pointy hat? I'm also fluent in Korean but I can't find any plaid kimchee...

 

Did you check in the golf course, there may be some plaid kimchee buried there lol.

I think the whole pointy hat thing is hilarious, if i were Wiccan, i would
probably sport one just for shits and giggles.