Rosewicket Wicca Coven

Hello everyone!...

I am here to anounce that I have just told my mother that Im Wiccan.

My mother, and grandmother, are very much into the Christian religion. They both used to be voulenteers at churches and went there every Sunday. She would read the bible to me and brother and put us in the church academy schools. I never knew how she would feel about me being anything other than what I was raised to be.. but now I do. She didnt completely flip out on me and start yelling, but she dodged the question, "Are you disappionted?".. so I can tell she isnt to happy about it.. but I think she will adjust and become more comfortable with it soon or later. It was through {[as akward as it sounds]} a text message, for that fact that I just couldnt say it. I am glad that she knows now.. so I dont have to keep it a secret and have 100 pounds on my shoulders. But at the same time I wish I would have just kept it inside. She will probably call me whenever she has the time and tell me how she feels {[or completely ignore the subject]}.. so I am a bit nervous for that.

I just wanted to inform everyone about my break though.. feel free to comment.

I will add more when I get some information on how my mother feels about it.

Thank you,

Kohanna

Good for you Kohanna, I'm happy that it went semi-well, I'm sure after you discuss the important things with your parents, it'll work out and you'll all adjust.

More often than not, parents just haven't thought about their child 'converting' to another faith, so it just catches them offgaurd. Open-mindedness will get everyone far.

Thanks. She seems to be warming up a bit already..

Yea, I see what you mean.. I wish everyone was open-minded.

Just tell her a little bit about what Wicca is. Most ppl think that its some bad religion but if you give her more info on it she could probably warm up faster than ever. You should direct her about it. If you just have her out in the woods without a map then shes bound to run into some wolves.

I talked to her about it alittle but she had that "i dont wanna be here" type of look. I try to get more free time with her but shes busy most of the time and other times I guess she isnt in the mood. Im still trying though

Like the example, btw, DeShadara.

So what do you plan to do about her? She is your mom.... Does the rest of the fam know by now?

Kohanna, does your family often talk openly about religion? If I recall, your family is Christian (Catholic?), so your family may not be interested in talking about religion the same way you are.

That is what I tend to notice about "new" wiccans (as in, within a year or two of finding Wicca). Wicca is a huge part of their life - so much that it dictates how they see their family and they question what loved ones think of them in a way they haven't ever done before. I suppose it is the Christian equivalent of a child going to sunday school and comming back to tell their atheistic family what they learned in church- they can go on forever about what they just learned, and how it means they shoudl live... but they are, essentially, someone new and young who needs to process the information, and maybe their family doesn't share that information, and would tire of hearing it.

We are the same way. We are young, and our religion is more "on the surafce" than sunk in. Sooner or later, it needs to be what we live, every minute of every day. Not our dinner table conversations, and not something we only live in ritual - but every second of our lives. 

My guess is, your parents had never thought that they would have to see you going through this process with a religion other than their own. They are waiting for your faith to not be on the surface - perhaps because they don't care if you believe that and want to leave it alone, or maybe because they don't want it there at all - and it is an akward phase if you can't relate to it.

Imagine if one of your best friends told you they belonged to a religion you didn't like. You would probably still love your friends, but you would probably be adamant about discussing it all the time. After all, you love your friend, but not their religion. It's basically teh same equation here. 

Corlune DeShadara at 12:33PM on Jan 12, 2010

So what do you plan to do about her? She is your mom.... Does the rest of the fam know by now?

Just talk to her and to help her understand everything thats going on in my head and why I choose what I did. My step dad knows.. and James, brother. Im not sure about grandma though....

Chi at 07:03PM on Jan 12, 2010

Kohanna, does your family often talk openly about religion? If I recall, your family is Christian (Catholic?), so your family may not be interested in talking about religion the same way you are.

That is what I tend to notice about "new" wiccans (as in, within a year or two of finding Wicca). Wicca is a huge part of their life - so much that it dictates how they see their family and they question what loved ones think of them in a way they haven't ever done before. I suppose it is the Christian equivalent of a child going to sunday school and comming back to tell their atheistic family what they learned in church- they can go on forever about what they just learned, and how it means they shoudl live... but they are, essentially, someone new and young who needs to process the information, and maybe their family doesn't share that information, and would tire of hearing it.

We are the same way. We are young, and our religion is more "on the surafce" than sunk in. Sooner or later, it needs to be what we live, every minute of every day. Not our dinner table conversations, and not something we only live in ritual - but every second of our lives. 

My guess is, your parents had never thought that they would have to see you going through this process with a religion other than their own. They are waiting for your faith to not be on the surface - perhaps because they don't care if you believe that and want to leave it alone, or maybe because they don't want it there at all - and it is an akward phase if you can't relate to it.

Imagine if one of your best friends told you they belonged to a religion you didn't like. You would probably still love your friends, but you would probably be adamant about discussing it all the time. After all, you love your friend, but not their religion. It's basically teh same equation here. 

Well, this is just a thought of mine, but here-goes:

So, if you were a divine being, and you created the universe, do you think if every being in the universe saw you the same way, that it would have the same effect? Would you have different peopel see you differently, so that they each could connect with you in a way that works for them? A bible might work for some people, but would a fish be enlighetned by it? Or what about a hawk, or a horse? What about just different people? Doesn't divinity need to let other creatures make up their minds for themselves, so that they can know divinity in teh way that is best for them?

Why not explain that it is the same way for you. Your family has the blessing of being comfortable with their faith, and knowing it works for them. But for you to be able to understand Divnity (which they see as God), you need to picture it differently, and you are still the same moral person you were before, but now you know how to feel closer to the divine.

Basically, that is one way I would try to explain it to them.

Thats a great point to make and I believe it would make her understand better.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome, hope all goes well.

I know I don't keep this a secret, so many of you may be sick of hearing this - but people really need to wake up to the fact that Satanism is very misunderstood and dramatized ... Satanism is as Evil as Wiccans fly broomsticks. It's just another path. Whether people are responsible enough to be mature about their path varries by person, not by faith.

Saying, "Oh no, Wiccans are cool because we're not Satanist" is offensive to Satanists. Imagine if someone said "Oh, you don't have to worry, my path is fine because I'm not in any way Wiccan". Wiccans would be offended by that.

I met this Satanist guy and he was actually kinda nice.. he was open with it and didnt hide it from anyone.. some people accept it, and well most others dont. I dont think its right to be rude or hold a grudge to any religion because its like stereotyping people.. not all Satanists are evil and up to no good. Just like not all Wiccans wear all black and listen to hard rock music.. Satanists arent bad at all just because of what they believe. I mean think about if you were a Satanist.. you wouldnt want everyone to stop talking to you and thinking youre evil.. right?

You have a well thought out subject to defend, Chi.

Since the new age and modern Pagan movement, Satanism has gotten the worst name ever. It's like the media said "Okay, so we can't pick on Wiccans now...who else is there?".

The way I think of it, there are three kinds of Satanists. (1) A symbolic Satanist, who basically believes in not depriving yourself of pleasure, with 'Satan' being the symbol for what you want, and worshipping the God within yourself. Then there's Theistic Satanism (2), or people who worship Satan as a God, and to clarify they worship the Satan that existed before Christianity, and he is just as loving as any other kind of God. Then there are wackos (3), Wackos aren't actually Satanists, but they think they are because they are in over their heads and they may hurt people as a result.

But there are Wiccan "Wackos" too, so I respect people that identify as Satanists and belong to either of the first two catigories.

And I'm not trying to scold or judge anyone, but the fact is the modern Pagan movement has a lot of hate - more than we like to admit (Ironically, most of it is towards Christians and Satanists). And hate comes from ignorance, and we can't have ignorance here, especially to other paths that deal with the same acceptance issues Pagans do.