I was born and raised in a Methodist household. As such, I would go to Sunday school and church every week. At first I was faithful and believed that Jesus died for our sins, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, that God loved everyone unconditionally, and so on and so on. I’d feel good after going to
church; it was spiritually fulfilling.
I can’t remember when I lost my faith. It wasn’t at a single moment, but a slow, gradual process. I think I began to lose it when the lessons from the Bible began to get repetitive, when I was ten or eleven. At that age, religion was boring to me, and I only went to church because it was what my parents wanted. But I tried to make the best of it; I gradually began to memorize the messages and parables in the Bible.
As I got older, I developed more educated interpretations. I would relate the messages of parables and lessons I learned from church to books, movies, current events, and history. For instance, in Sunday school we looked at The Matrix movies from a Christian perspective, with Neo being a Christ-like figure.
But my knowledge was to compensate for my loss of faith; I didn’t have the passion and conviction that other Christians I knew had. Then in high school I learned about Taoism (or Daoism). It had an idea that blew my mind; the idea that the world is made up of opposites (think of a Yin-Yang symbol), and that for something to exist you need its antagonist as well. Basically, for there to be good there needs to be evil, for there to be man there needs to be woman, etc. It also emphasized the natural world, which to me was something that wasn't capitalized in my studies.
It wasn’t until college that I even heard of Wicca, and when I did, I thought it was strange. Wanting to know more, I did some research online, only to find that there was so much contradicting information that I quickly became frustrated and gave up. Later, a friend recommended that I read The Wiccan Rede by Mark Ventimilgia. I borrowed their copy and found that I agreed with many of the claims it made. I was converted. There was no ceremony or anything like that; it was simply a choice I made. The Wiccan Rede provided me with a good introduction into what Wicca is, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a general grasp of what Wicca entails.
church; it was spiritually fulfilling.
I can’t remember when I lost my faith. It wasn’t at a single moment, but a slow, gradual process. I think I began to lose it when the lessons from the Bible began to get repetitive, when I was ten or eleven. At that age, religion was boring to me, and I only went to church because it was what my parents wanted. But I tried to make the best of it; I gradually began to memorize the messages and parables in the Bible.
As I got older, I developed more educated interpretations. I would relate the messages of parables and lessons I learned from church to books, movies, current events, and history. For instance, in Sunday school we looked at The Matrix movies from a Christian perspective, with Neo being a Christ-like figure.
But my knowledge was to compensate for my loss of faith; I didn’t have the passion and conviction that other Christians I knew had. Then in high school I learned about Taoism (or Daoism). It had an idea that blew my mind; the idea that the world is made up of opposites (think of a Yin-Yang symbol), and that for something to exist you need its antagonist as well. Basically, for there to be good there needs to be evil, for there to be man there needs to be woman, etc. It also emphasized the natural world, which to me was something that wasn't capitalized in my studies.
It wasn’t until college that I even heard of Wicca, and when I did, I thought it was strange. Wanting to know more, I did some research online, only to find that there was so much contradicting information that I quickly became frustrated and gave up. Later, a friend recommended that I read The Wiccan Rede by Mark Ventimilgia. I borrowed their copy and found that I agreed with many of the claims it made. I was converted. There was no ceremony or anything like that; it was simply a choice I made. The Wiccan Rede provided me with a good introduction into what Wicca is, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a general grasp of what Wicca entails.
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