Paganism 101: Getting Started
I've rewritten this page maybe about 5 times at this point because this is just really broad and I want to get into a lot of aspects of this more in depth later. I'll try my best on this. Initially, I wrote about 2 paragraphs about how many "generic" pagan resources have a Wiccan bias and I meant that as a neutral statement, since all things have some sort of bias to them. My personal bias is that I'm a reconstructionist pagan, but I'm trying to not let that influence my suggestions too much. I think it might be best to skip the several paragraph introduction and caveats and get to the point for once.
I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with this page, but I need to get it up if I'm going to talk about the topics I'm really looking forward to.
I would start by learning basic information about as many different traditions as possible and noting which ones interest you the most, then looking up resources on those specific traditions. I plan on giving some suggestions in a notes page, like I did with my introduction. I honestly suggest starting with the Wikipedia articles on Modern Paganism and List of Modern Pagan Movements, just to get an idea of what's out there.
I'd read some basic information on various traditions and note which ones interest you. Many pagans practice more than one tradition, but I'd start with only looking into one of the ones that interests you so that you don't get overwhelmed.
"Okay, I know what tradition(s) interest me? What now?"
It can be hard to know what specific information to keep track of and it's kind of hard to generalize, but here are some questions I'd try to answer:
- Does this tradition have a specific founder?
- What values are most important? (ie Xenia in Hellenic polytheism)
- Which deities do they worship (if any)?
- What rituals and practices do they have?
- What are the holidays?
- Do they have any important texts?
- Do they have a specific cosmology?
- What myths and/or folklore are associated with this tradition?
Once you have a good foundation (you don’t have to know everything right away!), you can get started with figuring out what practicing this tradition might look like for you. I'd recommend trying to find people who practice the tradition(s) you're interested in on social media to see how they approach things and what their practice looks like. You should not copy someone's practice 1:1, they should just serve as reference/inspiration. Pagan practices tend to be highly individualized.
"Okay, I know the basics, how do I actually start practicing?"
This is the really tricky part that I've been struggling with. How you choose to get started depends on your specific tradition, but there are some pretty standard things I see people do first. These are in no particular order.
Setting Up an Altar
I've discussed setting up altars on multiple occasions here and here, but those pages were more aimed towards people who are already practicing, but are still relatively new to paganism and witchcraft. Or people who just never had the freedom to have an altar and aren't sure where to start. Some of my suggestions still apply here (ie altars don't need to be permanent, you don't need to buy special altar items), I have some more specific suggestions that apply more to complete beginners rather than people who are just inexperienced or want to read somebody else's perspectives. I'll try not to repeat anything here, so I'd recommend checking those pages as well, if this feels inadequate.
I would avoid buying basically anything until you're 100% sure you want to be a pagan. If you are 100% sure you want to be a pagan, I'd still recommend either using what you have at first or buying items that are kind of generic and can be used for any type of altar, just in case you discover that a different tradition vibes better with you after a certain amount of time.
Personally, my first altar was a wooden box I already owned with a printed out picture of Apollon, glued to some patterned paper I got at the store with arrow charms glued onto it for decoration and a single tealight candle. I kept those items in the box and took them out before bed to light the candle and pray to Apollon. Eventually, I got a little brass bowl on my nightstand. Then a cheap statue I bought with birthday money, and so on.
The best approach, in my opinion, is to slowly build your altar up as you go along. You'll find out what suits your (and your deity's/deities') needs and that will help avoid wasteful spending and clutter.
Choosing a Deity or Deities
I want to talk about this in depth, but most pagan practices are polytheistic so, you'll probably be thinking about deities at some point. This part varies by tradition and I don't want to spend too much time on this because I could write about this forever, so I'll keep this relatively short.
Do not focus too much on finding your main deity. Paganism is polytheistic. You can read about, pray to and give offerings to whomever you'd like (as long as they aren't from closed traditions). I'd also recommend doing that. Learn about deities, find who interests you. Do not wait for a deity to "reach out" to you, that is not actually very common, despite what social media would lead you to believe.
Incorporating Practices Into Daily Life
This isn't to say you should jump right in with a full, super involved daily practice. What this will look like, as usual, varies by tradition. I'll try to explain what I mean though.
As mentioned in the introduction, paganism has a whole worldview associated with it and paganism is pretty inseperable from how most pagans go about their life. At the beginning, this takes a lot of effort. You will have to go out of your way to make time to think about your gods. You will have to learn how to understand UPG. You will have to reference notes a lot and actively make time to hone your intuition to understand what things are signs and which things are just...there. Eventually, a lot of this just becomes second nature. It's actually so second nature to me that I'm having trouble even explaining what I'm talking about.
I have talked about building a daily practice before (though I kind of want to rewrite it) before. Consistent (but not necessarily daily) practice kind of naturally builds these skills, in my experience.
Celebrating Important Times
At the beginning, it is easiest to just know when important dates and times are and to at least acknowledge it when it comes around. It takes time to build a solid practice and figuring out what is feasible to do on holidays and festivals can be really tricky, at least in my experience. I'll probably discuss holidays and festivals on their own.
Notes on this page will be found here.