Getting Witchy With It- A New Hope
It’s no huge shock that I found Wicca. My brother had become a self-proclaimed Wiccan, so I was exposed to some beliefs through him. Wicca seemed to bring out a gentler side to him, and I couldn’t help but be attracted to that.
Wicca was also incredibly appealing because it didn’t make me feel like a whore.
Really though, my Wiccanism started with a dream that I had about two married people guiding me. I don’t remember all of the dream details, but I told my witchy friend, and she thought it was this couple that owned the local witchy bookstore/coffee shop.
I found my way to said bookstore, and I was absolutely in awe. I was intimidated, and so impressed. I loved every smell, every texture, every color. I loved the trinkets, and stones, and oils, and incense, and clothes, and books and coffee.
I wasn’t looking for very long before one of the owners approached me. I told her the story and she said she had been expecting me. Of course she had.
Nevertheless, she directed me to “Helping Yourself with White Witchcraft,” and made me a coffee and this became my regular hang out any time I got out of the house.
They had game nights, and open mic nights, and drum circle nights. I loved that store so much.
Now, anytime I’ve ever introduced anyone to Wicca I’ve started them on Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham. That’s only because “Helping Yourself with White Witchcraft” is a very hokey sounding title.
It was actually a very useful book, because it gave me lots of thought exercises. It helped me think beyond the scripts. It helped me think critically, and creatively. It helped me understand personal discipline, and building discipline within myself.
I really needed this book.
In the time since, I’ve studied religions from around the world. I was very very lost, and wasn’t finding a lot of truth in the beliefs I had come from.
Teen years are rough, yo.
At the time, Wicca gave me a piece of myself that I desperately needed. It planted a seed of autonomy within me. It made me feel like maybe someday, I could be enough.
It also helped me to feel powerful when I felt helpless, and rewarded me for rhyming.
And the clothes are so sexy!
Survivor Literacy 
What do you think?