Erebus
Well-Known Member
Just curious to see what led practitioners onto their current path. Was it a book bought on a whim? A family member? Something else?
Personally, my mother always straddled a line between Christian and Neo-Pagan. She believes Jesus was the son of God, but also that there are multiple gods and spirits (just one who is supreme) and that practicing magic won't land you in Hell.
She pretty much taught me the basics from quite a young age. She told me never to wish for something I didn't really want and/or hadn't thought through. At around age 11 she taught me about auras and energy work. She bought me a book on the subject. A few years later, she bought me an intro book into a very Wicca inspired form of magic.
For a while in my teens I became a hardliner atheist. When I came back into the fold so to speak, she taught me tarot and runes.
Since then I've branched out and explored principles of magic that she'd never touched. As I've aged, I started viewing magic as primarily psychological with maybe 10-15% "something else" to it. I believe she's more 50/50.
We still have discussions about the different ideas about what magic is, how it works and how its used. We've even discussed the appeal of the light for her and the dark for myself.
I've taken both an academic approach and a hands-on approach to magic over the years, depending on what else is going on in my life. I've often wondered though, If this hadn't been passed down to me, would I have ever started? Would I be another uncompromising atheist?
I found it interesting to reflect on the journey so far.
Personally, my mother always straddled a line between Christian and Neo-Pagan. She believes Jesus was the son of God, but also that there are multiple gods and spirits (just one who is supreme) and that practicing magic won't land you in Hell.
She pretty much taught me the basics from quite a young age. She told me never to wish for something I didn't really want and/or hadn't thought through. At around age 11 she taught me about auras and energy work. She bought me a book on the subject. A few years later, she bought me an intro book into a very Wicca inspired form of magic.
For a while in my teens I became a hardliner atheist. When I came back into the fold so to speak, she taught me tarot and runes.
Since then I've branched out and explored principles of magic that she'd never touched. As I've aged, I started viewing magic as primarily psychological with maybe 10-15% "something else" to it. I believe she's more 50/50.
We still have discussions about the different ideas about what magic is, how it works and how its used. We've even discussed the appeal of the light for her and the dark for myself.
I've taken both an academic approach and a hands-on approach to magic over the years, depending on what else is going on in my life. I've often wondered though, If this hadn't been passed down to me, would I have ever started? Would I be another uncompromising atheist?
I found it interesting to reflect on the journey so far.