Hi, ----

Glad you got Drawing Down the Moon; that's one of the two I always recommend, the other being Spiral Dance by Starhawk. It'll almost certainly be at Border's in -------, if not in the library.

Something you have to be careful about is the idea that only certain things are the "right" way to do Wicca. This religion has a minimal set of "musts". The Rede is one: "An it harm none, do what you will!" This restricts your actions only insofar as you don't cause deliberate or negligent harm to other people, and (as usually interpreted) to your larger environment. The flip side of that is the realization that it's ok for other people to do whatever they want, as long as it isn't harming anyone else.

Wiccan ritual practice is tied to natural phenomena, and to the symbolic meanings which WE HAVE ASSIGNED TO THOSE PHENOMENA. This is important. The Wheel of the Year is a human creation, OUR creation to help us focus our thoughts, feelings, emotions around meaningful life issues. They attune us to our natural environment. They example phases of human relationship. They help us internalize that life and the universe are patterns of intertwined circles, or maybe spirals, affecting each other and redirecting each other.

Now we're going to get into some of my personal views of the universe. This doesn't necessarily correspond to anyone else's, but part of my main point is that that's ok...

So what about all the Gods and Goddesses floating around out there? Are they real? Should we worship them? What do they mean in our lives?

Of course they're real! We've created them, haven't we? They're as real as anything else we've built - like roads and dams and school systems and universities. There is a vast universal reality in which human beings (and everything else) are all immersed. It's too big for us; we can't deal with the total reality. But as with any other area of endeavor that gets too big, we can compartmentalize it and focus on those parts that are most important to us, AT THE MOMENT. Each avatar of Goddess or God is a focus: she or he has certain attributes, whether from historical usage or simply because that's how you choose to view and interpret her/him. I think it's vitally important to American women today to be able to visualize and relate to divinity in feminine terms - not more valid but AS VALID AS the masculine equivalents. For so long we've been immersed in the mode that there could only be ONE god, so had to fight about just who he was. No - there are MANY gods, probably more gods than there are people, since each individual tunes differently at different times of life and in reaction to different events. In forming deities around universal themes, we identify and focus ourselves. In exploring the attributes and characteristics of those dieties, we examine ourselves and our world and our place and role in that world.

In one sense, the moon is no more a goddess than is any other piece of rock. After all, people have travelled to the moon and back, and brought back pieces which anyone can see in the Smithsonian. But she IS a Goddess, symbol of power and change and beauty and mystery - bearing within herself the contrast between Dark and Light, whether in eternal struggle or in eternal yielding, one to the other.

I am RavensWing, priest of the Morrigan, who is a Celtic avatar of the Great Mother in her role as Goddess of Battle, of Sovereignty, and of aid to women in childbirth. This expresses who I am, because my own feeling is that many battles need to be fought. This tends to get me into a lot of trouble, but that's ok. She is with me, because I have come to understand WHY I feel the way I do about many things. You too, as you grow and explore and develop your relationships both to the divine and the mundane (and perhaps eventually discover that they are the same thing!) will find yourself as you are AT THAT TIME, come to terms with that self and its beauty and its problems. And then move on, to wherever ultimately you need to be.

By all means connect to the pagan community in -----. Enjoy your sisters and brothers, support them and draw strength from them. Start as a Solitary, and as an Eclectic, and get your own feet firmly planted before you worry too much about conforming to someone else's reality. You'll find people who are just playing around, or are still searching for their own Path. You'll find people who are really serious about specific gods and goddesses. You'll find people who are rigidly Gardnerian or Diannic or whatever. You'll find people who are just plain nuts. You will also find people who are well settled, or truly seeking within a settled framework, and who would love to share their thoughts, feelings, and rituals.

Keep in touch,
Brightness and Blessing!
RavensWing