Sylvan Circle

But enough about me. Let's talk about YOU...

If you've been led to these pages because you're interested in exploring Wicca or some other Pagan path, then I humbly suggest that you spend plenty of time looking within YOURSELF for the answers you seek. It seems to me that most people (myself among them) spend far too much time looking to OTHERS for answers.

And just because something gets published is NOT proof positive that it's not a big steaming pile of horseshit. So don't believe everything you read. I've found it's far better instead to trust in what your heart and mind and gut instincts tell you.

Likewise I encourage you to beware the tendency to ascribe wisdom to something just because it's old. Someone who lived 50 or 500 or 5000 years ago doesn't necessarily have insights that are any more wise than the thoughts that occurred to you last time you were contemplating your bellybutton in the bathtub.

YOU are the captain of your own spirituality. No one else.

Gwydion's Suggested Reading

Web Sites

If you've explored Wicca at all thus far, you're probably already aware that there are scads of books, web sites, etc that are now available. Unlike the day when our pioneering Wiccan elders struggled to find ANY information, today we are instead faced with the challenge of having to filter out all the DRECK to find something worthwhile.

FWIW here are a few of my suggestions that I hope will help you find your way along your own path...

• The Witches' Voice - excellent source of easily digestible information. Also the best resource (bar none) for finding and connecting with Wiccan-friendly resources in your area (circles, teachers, shops, individuals, etc).
  
  
• US Army Chaplain's Handbook: Excerpt on Wicca - if you want a concise, objective, no-nonsense description of Wicca... the army chaplain's handbook does a remarkably good job.
  
  
• Encyclopedia Mythica - comprehensive mythological resource. You can find something on just about anything here. What it lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in breadth -- in other words, an excellent site to look up a quick blurb on less well-known Deities, etc.
  
  
• The Mabinogion - tales of Welsh mythology.
  
  
• Kabalarian Name Analysis - trying to decide on a new magickal name? This is a nifty resource for looking up meanings associated with just about any name under the sun.
  
  
• Internet Medieval Sourcebook, by Paul Halsall - outstanding resource for all things medieval.
  
  

Books

(Please note: Most of the books described here include links to Amazon.com. This doesn't mean that I'm necessarily encouraging you to buy from Amazon, especially if you have a local Pagan/Wiccan friendly shop in your neighborhood more in need of your support. The links here are provided simply as a handy way for you find out more if you're interested.)

• "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner", by Scott Cunningham. Yes, almost everyone recommends this book as good starting point. There's good reason. I've yet to see anyone else do it better.
  
  
• "21st Century Wicca: A Young Witch's Guide to Living the Magical Life", by Jennifer Hunter. A good introductory book, comparable to Cunningham's "Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" in scope.
  
  
• "A Book of Shadows", by Tarostar. I think Tarostar would be among the first to point out how dramatically the face of Witchcraft has changed in the USA in the last quarter of the 20th century and since -- and his books echo resoundingly of a time when it was not nearly as easy to study and practice. So besides being great practical guides of their own merit, his books also share a heritage and perspective that I fear are often not given due respect and appreciation.
  
  
• "Keepers of the Flame", by Morganna Davies and Aradia Lynch. This book is a tremendously valuable resource to any serious student of Wicca. It includes interviews with pioneering elders of the Craft in Wicca (including several from the same lineage as Sylvan Circle) -- many whose words have never been published in print.
  
  
• "Mastering Witchcraft", by Paul Huson. This is a relatively older book (first published in 1980) and is somewhat dated. However, if you find the more recent introductory books a bit too "light and fluffy" for your taste, you may very well enjoy Huson's approach and information more suitable to what you're looking for in an intro to Witchcraft book. (This used to be the "go-to" book frequently recommended before Cunningham's was more widely available.)
  
  
• "Drawing Down the Moon", by Margot Adler. This is widely considered one of the best histories of the Neo-Pagan movement -- and I agree that it's a good starting point. It's very important to bear in mind, however, that Adler herself admits that the book is a reflection of how she WISHED the Pagan community to be rather than strictly how she actually FOUND it to be... and saw this book more as a vehicle for shaping the movement than reporting on it.
  
  

Brightest blessings to you on your path -- whatever that may be -- and to discovering the spiritual universe you live in... as well as the spiritual universe that lives within you!