While not myself a Wiccan, I am greatly familiar with their philosophy and general views, and I find myself agreeing with many of them; and I am very knowledgeable on the Wiccan religion's history.are there any wiccans here because i'm thinking about converting to wicca and i would like some advice on how to find a coven from a wiccan
I know a few Wiccans, and they seem to be far kinder, and more balanced people than most Christians that I know.
I may be able to help. I can ask my Wiccan friends if they know of any websites that can help you find one near you.
Although, you don't necessarily need to be in a coven, nor do you need to be ordained by a Wiccan cleric to be considered a Wiccan. Most Wiccans in today's world, actually, are lone practitioners, and the Eclectic Wiccan movement, which is aiming to move away from the secretive traditionalism of Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, is growing within the Wiccan religion.
Not really. It's quite an accurate term.Pagan religion is a flawed term, esentially meaning non-christian-religion.
"Pagan" literally means "rustic" or "country", so Pagan religions can be taken to be a broad term for any religion which seeks to find a more fluid, nature-based system of ethics, aesthetics, and belief than the strict, organised and doctrinal religions in other parts (i.e, Abrahamism).
Paganism is divided into three main things:
Palaeopaganism, which are the oldest polytheistic and animistic religions of the world, their date of origin ranging from before 200,000 BCE to around 200 CE. Various African native religions, Hinduism, Shinto, and the various European bronze- and iron-age polytheisms can be grouped into here.
Mesopaganism are pagan religions who originate from around 200 CE to about 1920 CE. These often integrated monotheistic or henotheistic ideals into their polytheisms, and usually had a more structured or organised system of belief than palaeopagan systems. Some Hellenic Mysteries can be considered part of this; Norse polytheism, although heavily based from Germanic palaeopaganism, is considered mesopagan. A few neodruid and Celtic reconstructionist faiths, and some Germanic reconstructionist paths, can be grouped into there as well.
Neopaganism is any pagan or nature-based religions originating from 1920 onwards. These often attempt to reconcile palaeopagan ideas and beliefs with modern, and later New-Age, values and societal ideals and with modern scientific study and information. These include, among others, Wicca, most Germanic reconstructionist religions, such as Asatru, and most of the varuiys Celtic reconstructionist groups, as well as most neodruid groups. Also included is Kemetic Orthodoxy, which is Egyptian reconstructionist, as well as the modern Eclectic Movement, which seeks to make a more "general" or "multi-purpose" Paganism.
Not necessarily. Wicca takes many ideals and beliefs from Proto-Indo-European religion, and could, like most other Neopagan religions, be considered a religion which seeks to reconcile an ancient belief system with modern social values.Imo wicca is a new religion which has taken some themes from the old "pagan" cults, some from christianity , some from eco movement, and some from hippies, and also a few fairy tales. Put it all together and voila! It's a recreation of an old idea, but it's not the same thing, not at all.
While palaeopagan and mesopagan ideas have a considerable influence, Wicca is firmly in the realm of neopaganism, being an integration of old ideas with modern ideals.