OFFICIAL THANK YOU THREAD

[SoggyFox]

Or she could put )O( in her sig, like I did on the BBS.

No need to apologize - I think we all know that she's a maroon.  As I mentioned somewhere, my brother-in-law is russian [the one I like too, not the one I would cheerful deskin and soak in lemonjuice], besides, enough assholes that speak english natively....in fact, I'll apologize for those, shall I?

[Devilfish]

Or she could put )O( in her sig, like I did on the BBS.

Oh yeah, I like that one. Subtle but clear.

[Immortelle]

Heh, I don't think Decyphera has the brains to think up something like that though    I've been Wiccan for over 12 years now.  Learnt about it at uni.  Knew people who called themselves white witches before then though.  Never really knew much about their beliefs.  I did the whole 1 year apprenticeship thing (while there is a lot out there in books and on the internet, its still best to have some guidance at the beginning).  A lot of wicca is stuff that is traditionally handed down, not read in a book somewhere.  There is no real correct and incorrect, as everyone's path is different.  The best bit of advice my mentors gave me was that its not the actions but the thoughts and intentions that matter most. 

[SoggyFox]

The only guidance I've had in 20 years has been intuition and books.  Tried taking a white witchcraft course and it was fine, until there was the whole sex with someone assigned to me - no way, not in this day and age especially.  Besides, the Sacred Marriage is not for just anything, and not for a novice anyways.

But I'm also not actually Wiccan, I'm Celtic tradition, with a lot of other things picked up.  I've taken to calling myself a pantheist, since I believe all deities are real and a part of the greater whole.  I also have my level 2 Reiki attunement, and some psychic training and experience.  I've mostly just learned as much as I can and sorted it out as I've gone along.

I did have a very short bit of shamanistic training, but it was not for very long, and rather piecemeal.

[Devilfish]

There is no real correct and incorrect, as everyone's path is different.

Beg to differ. "Wicca is everything you wanted to be" and "It's not wicca if it doesn't involve ten grand worth of tools and stuff" is most definitely incorrect. But I do see what you mean. There's a lot of people who mean well enough but are just a little overwhelmed by all the half-truths, bullcrap and actual truths out there in mass quantities.
Meanie, what denomination are you? Only it sounds like you're Gardnerian and I'm interested in that

Tried taking a white witchcraft course and it was fine, until there was the whole sex with someone assigned to me - no way, not in this day and age especially.  Besides, the Sacred Marriage is not for just anything, and not for a novice anyways.

Icky. That sounds... not kosher. At all. What kind of weirdo lets a novice do that? That kind of thing should be a clear sign to run hard, fast and in the opposite direction. I seriously hope you dumped that group hard.

[SoggyFox]

Oh, I did.  I stopped sending in my lessons, and I think if we'd been closer to W.Virginia, several very upset guys would have gone and beat some people up.  I think it was the School of White Witchcraft or something.

On the other hand, both Third Road and the Green Witchcraft stuff looks much more kosher, and both deal with balance.

[Darqstar]

I'm a frisbeetarian. I believe that when I die, my soul goes to the garage roof and stays there until a strong wind knocks it down. 

[Immortelle]

lol at Darqstar.

I don't really subscribe to any particular Wiccan denomination.  The whole initiation thing was done for a more personal thing more than anything

You will have to excuse me being a little short on responses right now.  Its over 45 degrees outside and my airconditioner blew an hour ago.   I've been been through a litre of water, and have been standing in front of the fridge every two minutes.  The brilliant news is that they are predicting a hotter day tomorrow and over 40 for the next 6 days.

[Scurvy Cat]

If it makes you feel any better we are getting sleet on top of the snow we've had all day.  I've made the Spousal Unit promise not to try to get to work if the roads are too bad tomorrow.   

Oh, and one of my cats is apparently having some sort of bad reaction to the antibiotics for her bladder infection.  This probably means she'll have to have an emergency trip to the vet even if it is too bad to drive.

Where's global warming when you need it?

[ChaosInAMinor]

If the weather gets below 60 F or above 80 F, I turn into a whiney little brat. I don't envy you guys.

I used to be able to handle extremes...really, I did. Then I moved to San Francisco, where it's a steady 60-70 degrees all year round.

[Immortelle]

We got the air conditioner running.  Its still struggling to cool the place.

As for the whole Gardinerian practice, the whole concept of conducting rituals in the nude kind a freaks me out a little.  Then there is their version of drawing down the moon.  Gardiner strikes me as being absolutely obsessed with sex.
And the idea of the arranged marraige thing is so not Wicca.  Wicca is supposed to be based on the Old Religion or Pagan England.  No historical stuff that I have ever read ever mentioned arranged marraiges within that culture.  Thats more a Roman or Indian thing.  According to my research, a man and wife could be handfasted for one year.  But the couplings were not arranged in anyway

[Pescado]

As for the whole Gardinerian practice, the whole concept of conducting rituals in the nude kind a freaks me out a little.

Ah, but performing magic while naked is traditional. I mean, why do you think D&D wizards don't wear armor? I mean, sure, it has BECOME about the idea that wizards don't have time to be trained to wear armor, etc., but this justification has so many holes in it that it simply doesn't hold up under scrutiny, or any knowledge of armor! The real reason is simple: Originally, magic was performed NAKED, but they don't want to SAY that.

[Immortelle]

Pes, thats Dungeons and Dragons.  Pen and paper and d20 and may a few d6's, a Dungeon Master/ Game Master and a few certifiable Nerds to play it.  Fiction.  I'm quite sure you regard Wicca as being mere fiction as well, (just as I'm sure you regard all religions as being mere fantasy).  But there is a distinct difference between Mages in D&D and Druids and Witches in real life..  And oh, yeah.  Mages in D&D don't cast spells in the nude, either.  They still need some form of armor class - they wear Robes.

[Devilfish]

Really, there was no Olde Pagan Religion. Gardner came up with wicca in the 50s and I don't have a problem with that. And ol' Gerald was indeed obsessed with sex and knives. But I have no idea what Gardnerians get up to these days. There's none of them in my country and they keep their secrets locked up pretty tight, so who knows? I personally have no problem with the nudity and I heard several people who'd done the Great Rite in Truth and make it sound like it was the most wonderful, lifechanging experience they ever hoped to have. All between people who had been working together for years of course. Perfect love ad perfect trust and all that.

And my favourite class in D&D used to be sorcerer, before 4th edition D&D for Dummies came along. People usually assumed I played that class because I was wiccan and thought it was a hoot that I "really believed I could do all that stuff" in real life

I'm a frisbeetarian. I believe that when I die, my soul goes to the garage roof and stays there until a strong wind knocks it down. 

  Thanks for the lulz on this, a thouroughly crappy day.

[Immortelle]

The whole thing about Wiccan Secrets, or Mysteries is that you learn them for yourself in your own time.  In those sorts of covens where secrets are kept, its a shared experience rather than an individual one. They usually also practice High Magic.  I've studied up on Ancient Egyptian magic and ritual which follows a similar vein - you know elaborate rituals and chants as such with the aim of invoking the Gods and strong protection spells and such.  With Egyptian magic, you have to be careful to use the Egyptian names of Gods and such, as opposed to the Greek and Roman versions.  So its Iset not Isis etc.