| So you picked up a book, you did the self-initiation ritual, and now you’re a Witch. Well, not quite. There are plenty of books out there for teens interested in Wicca, and to be honest, not all of them are very good.Many will tell you what Wicca is and how you can fit it in between cheerleading practice and seeing your boyfriend.The truth is, Wicca needs to become a part of you, and your life. Not your lifestyle. There’s a huge difference. Think of a Wiccan as being similar to a vegetarian. The latter doesn’t wake up every morning and think “Right, another day, must remind myself not to eat a burger for lunch.” It just becomes a part of life, a part of who you are.This is how you should experience your religion. Although there’s nothing wrong with books that take you by the hand and dilute concepts down to make them more “manageable”, they are a fairly new concept, and generations before us had to search and strive to find even a patch of information. They had to piece together sometimes irrelevant pieces of data, and create out of this their own idea of Wicca, and how it ought to be lived. It’s not your fault you have websites on Wicca two clicks away. Just bear in mind that sometimes, it’s not enough to just read five books and strap on the pentacle jewellery. It needs to be a state of mind. Maybe this sounds preachy. After all, Wicca is meant to be fun, and it IS great fun. It’s also, however, a serious religion, and as such needs to be shown a bit of respect. It’s great you like Wicca. I like it too. I wish the whole world liked it even as half as much as I do.But there’s no point in going round shouting it off the rooftops. No-one gives a shit what religion you are. Even people who know nothing about Wicca are bound to take you for a fool if you’re going around preaching and trying to convert. And that reflects badly upon the Wiccan community. As a small community, and as a religion that is still hidden in a fair amount of shadow, you are responsible for the way people around you perceive Wicca. Just take time out to think about that. You’ll find there are people who are ignorant, people who are cruel, people who don’t know anything about Wicca, who don’t want to know anything about Wicca, and would rather no-one else did either. You’ll come across people like that, and they’re going to set your teeth so badly on edge, you’ll wish you could just up and leave. Maybe you will. Hopefully, you’ll keep a calm head, smile, and just let them rant and rave, showing themselves up as the morons they are.It’s important to let people get on with their lives, and keep your own to yourself. Let me now address the newcomers: maybe you read “Teen Witch”. Maybe you saw “Charmed”. Maybe you were surfing the ‘net and came across a site on Wicca. However you were drawn to the Craft, just remember a few things. Firstly, don’t jump right in. Step back, read a lot, ask a lot of questions, think about what this is all about. Then make an informed decision on whether to keep walking, or learn more about the mysteries of Wicca. If you’re new and under 20, you might experience bad attitudes from other Wiccans, but bear in mind the attitude is a defence mechanism, nothing personal. Don’t tell your whole school you cast spells when there’s a full moon. No-one cares. It’s not cool. Just get on with your life and live it, stop looking over your shoulder. You’ll find it works best that way. To those of you who have been practicing for a while: can we have enough of the hatred? How do you expect any outsiders to accept us, if you can’t accept those who are in your community? I’ve had enough of coming across message boards, where Wiccans bitch on and on about “Fluffy Witches”. In other words, teen Wiccans who were drawn to Wicca via a TV series or one of those crappy SRW books. A lot of the bitching is coming from other teens. Just get over yourselves. It may be sad, it may make us look a little bad, but hey, everyone has to learn. Did you come shooting out the womb complete with BOS and wand? We all had to learn at some point, and even if these “Fluffy Witches” came to Wicca through an unrealistic medium, they’ll soon enough learn what Wicca truly is and how it works, and then either they’ll wise up and accept it, or they’ll walk away. Instead of complaining, why not take them under your wing and teach them? Being a teen Wiccan isn’t always easy, and is sometimes even downright hard. But if you respect yourself, and others, stop looking over your shoulder and continue to learn, I think you’ll find life isn’t as bad as it seems. Visit Elverlith's website - hannah-doyle.tripod.com/index |
| A General Guide-line for Teens by Elverlith |
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