Witchcraft / Wicca is a positive, earthy religion dedicated to the Goddess and the God. Witches lead a spiritual and magickal life in harmony with Nature and recognize that all Life is an expression of the Divine.

Witchcraft is also called the Craft of the Wise. For the Witch, Wisdom is about interacting with everything and everyone around you in a respectful and considerate manner, it is about being humble - allowing your deeds to speak and not your words, it is about kindness, compassion and tolerance, it is about self-discipline, honor and responsibility, it is about healing, it is about thinking before you act, it is about balance, and ultimately it is about Love.

"In these eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
An ye harm none, do what ye will".

So, what will make you a Witch? In this article I hope to point you, the Seeker, towards the starting point of your journey. There are many roads leading to the proverbial Rome and as you learn, you too will find that path leading to your own spiritual fulfillment.

Getting Started

Seekers tend to believe that Witches have "powerful secrets" and "special incantations" and all sorts of "mysterious abilities" and that they will learn these once they belong to the Craft.

The truth is that each coven and each solitary will develop their own secrets, own incantations and own abilities over time. There is no universal form of the Craft and hence no universal secrets, incantations or abilities. Although the Craft predates Christianity, it has succeeded in retaining its individuality. Completely. The only universal aspects of the Craft are that the Spiritual Experience is the one shared with Deity and that the No Harm principle will apply at all times.

So, where to now?

The key to moving forward lies in Knowledge. We are in a very fortunate position today. There is an abundance of information available for the Seeker - both in print and on the internet. All it requires, is for you to be open-minded (i.e. not have preconceived ideas), to question all that is presented (this is not considered irreverent in the Craft) and to trust your intuition (gut feel).

To get you going, I am recommending the following books and internet sites:

There are two books I highly recommend to a Seeker. The one is Wicca: A guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham ISBN 0-87542-118-0. Scott wrote many books on a variety of subjects related to the Craft in his life time, all of which were practical, simple, informative and accurate. As an author he has contributed greatly to making the Craft accessible to Seekers and he was prepared to share his two or more decades of practicing the Craft in an open, honest and loving fashion. His books are recommended. The second is Solitary Witch by Silver Ravenwolf ISBN 0-7387-0319-2. This book is extremely comprehensive and contains most, if not all, of the information you will ever need to become a Witch. Silver too has been practicing the Craft for a great many years and is a Wiccan High Priestess and the Clan Head of the 28 Black Forest Family Covens in the USA.

By recommending these books, I am in no way implying that you should become a Solitary. This recommendation is aimed to assist you in obtaining the necessary Craft knowledge, before deciding on a coven affiliation.