Coming Back to Paganism

When I was 14, I was introduced to Paganism by sister and brother-in-law(who are now Baptists), and I now know I was going about it the wrong way. I had a couple of books, a BOS(that I hardly ever looked at and that was mostly filled with print-outs), and I became addicted to Tarot and oracle cards. In between all of this, I had decided to be Methodist once and that lasted about a year, and for a while I was Gnostic, and I even considered Buddhism.

I'm now being called back to Paganism. Every time I try to do it, I get lost and confused like I'm 14 again; I am now 20. My mother, who is Methodist, does not like the idea that I want to be Pagan again because of the way I was when I was addicted to divination and such. I want to give this a chance. I live with my mom, because of my being disabled, so I really don't want to upset her. Any advice?

Would anyone give me some advice on how to go about being Pagan the right way? I seem to be a journal-aholic, so I have plenty of blank notebooks for a BOS, but I have no idea of what to fill it with. And I have no idea how to go past a title page. :( Which books are good ones? I have a few ideas of some books I'd like to get:

Everything Wicca and Witchcraft Book
Everything Astrology Book
Goddess Is in the Details
Magical Housekeeping
Llewellyn's Witches' Companion 2011
Wicca For One: The Path Of Solitary Witchcraft

Are these any good?

Also, If anyone could point me to a very good beginner's site, I'd be very thankful.

Thanks to anyone who can help! I guess you can tell I'm lost here. :P

-Perhin

What sort of paganism are you interested in? There's dozens, if not hundreds of distinct religions that fall under the headline "pagan".

As for the books you've listed, I have not read them, but from the few I have heard of on the list, they are predominantly Wiccan - which means they won't help out much unless you want to learn about various forms of Wicca.

Let me know what kind of pagan faith you're interested in and I will be happy to point you in the general direction

There's no super highway to knowledge, just paths that take time to walk. In any discipline or belief system you're not going to be a student one day, and a sage a year or two later.

Read everything that appears remotely interesting. Keep what makes sense, leave the rest. If you search for "pagan" at Amazon.com, you'll get lots of hits. Read the reviews that people leave regarding each book. That way, you'll soon get a sense of which ones are thought of highly.

There are also a fair number of pagan-oriented sites, message boards, etc. on the net. Google is your friend.

It's good of you to respect your mother's sensibilities.

Good luck to you in your search. :)

Originally Posted by Animus27

What sort of paganism are you interested in? There's dozens, if not hundreds of distinct religions that fall under the headline "pagan".

As for the books you've listed, I have not read them, but from the few I have heard of on the list, they are predominantly Wiccan - which means they won't help out much unless you want to learn about various forms of Wicca.

Let me know what kind of pagan faith you're interested in and I will be happy to point you in the general direction

Thank-you for replying. I'm somewhat interested in Wicca and cottage witchery, but every time I look up 'cottage witch' they seem to only talk about kitchen witchery; I like to bake, but that's not all cottage witchery is about from what I have been able to find about it. I'm at home a lot, so I thought it would be good to add some 'spice' to my cleaning. XD Anyway, thank-you for your help! :)

Originally Posted by eraser

There's no super highway to knowledge, just paths that take time to walk. In any discipline or belief system you're not going to be a student one day, and a sage a year or two later.

Read everything that appears remotely interesting. Keep what makes sense, leave the rest. If you search for "pagan" at Amazon.com, you'll get lots of hits. Read the reviews that people leave regarding each book. That way, you'll soon get a sense of which ones are thought of highly.

There are also a fair number of pagan-oriented sites, message boards, etc. on the net. Google is your friend.

It's good of you to respect your mother's sensibilities.

Good luck to you in your search. :)

Thank-you for your reply! I've found the section on About.com for Pagans/Wiccans and it's very helpful. I'm planning on buying some books for myself with any B&N giftcards I receive this holiday season. Thank-you also for telling me that I will not be a sage in two years or so or any time soon; that means a lot to me. :)

Thanks for the well wishes as well.

People keep recommending Ronal Hutton - The Triumph of the Moon to me if you are looking at Wicca and Witch craft.

Just make sure you get the difference between Wicca and wicca right that really gets peoples backs up as i found out today. You cant be Wiccan if you havent been initiated by a coven you can only be wiccan.....

Originally Posted by Lostgirl

People keep recommending Ronal Hutton - The Triumph of the Moon to me if you are looking at Wicca and Witch craft.

Just make sure you get the difference between Wicca and wicca right that really gets peoples backs up as i found out today. You cant be Wiccan if you havent been initiated by a coven you can only be wiccan.....

Thanks for the advice! :)

I would just like to say thank-you to everyone who has helped out here. I've realized today that religion is not for me. And it's okay. I'm still spiritual, just religion usually confuses me. Thanks again!

-Perhin

Originally Posted by Perhin

Thank-you for replying. I'm somewhat interested in Wicca and cottage witchery, but every time I look up 'cottage witch' they seem to only talk about kitchen witchery; I like to bake, but that's not all cottage witchery is about from what I have been able to find about it. I'm at home a lot, so I thought it would be good to add some 'spice' to my cleaning. XD Anyway, thank-you for your help! :)

You'd benefit from learning about various forms of witchcraft, especially European influenced, and Wiccan witchcraft. Green Witchery might interest you as well.
Like Eraser said: google is your friend

It will take a while for you to find your beat, and develop your practice. But it will be worth it. Just study everything that interests you, but just remember that not all books are created equal, so reviews are your friends lol.

Good luck.

You can always just be an eclectic Witch and take bits from every area things that suit you and your beliefs.