Frequently people ask it because they are intrigued or interested in practicing magic or switching to a different form of spirituality than the one in which they were raised.
However, there are other reasons that a person might ask this question. S/he might simply be curious about how someone abandons their birth relitgion to embrace another one.
Finally, there is one more reason. The individual asking the question wants to get a handle on WHY someone left Christianity. If s/he understands that, then s/he might learn how to witness to someone and bring that person back into the flock of the faithful.
Whatever, the question deserves to be answered.
Long answer: Recently someone raised Christian specifically asked four questions. According to that person, it was due to an "interest" in witchcraft and a desire to learn about other relitgions, including Wicca. These are those four questions.
1) How do you know you want to be Wiccan?These were good questions, so below was my response. Since you profess to be interested in learning about other religions--including Wicca—I’ll give you some answers. I won’t attempt to answer these questions for anyone else, but myself…thus, here are my answers:
2) Once you have decided to become Wiccan what is the first thing you should do?
3) Do you tell your family or not?
4) If you decide not to tell your family, is that a sin?
1) How do you know you want to be Wiccan?
Though I was raised in a family that sometimes went to church and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, I found much of Christian theology puzzling. No, seriously. I did not think it made much sense.2) Once you have decided to become Wiccan what is the first thing you should do?I did—however—have a sense the numinous in the natural world at a very young age. Around age 4, I felt the immanent presence of the Divine in “Mother Nature.” My heart longed for the seasonal rituals which involved dancing in circles—singing, chanting, etc. Later, around age 13, I learned Mother Earth was also called “Gaia” by the ancient Greeks. I read Greco-Roman mythology. I became fascinated by folklore and folk customs involving luck, good fortune, and well-being. Eventually, I learned about a Nature religion that honored a Goddess and God of many names. It was called “Wicca” or “Witchcraft.” I sought out books on the subject. I read many books...many, many books.
In the early 1980’s, I was in my 20s and was interested in finding some folks into this Goddess-oriented, Earth-based religion. I finally located people in the community in 1984. [This is a very, very short synopsis.]
That’s how I knew.
Well, aside from reading an awful lot of books on history, ecology, mythology, western occultism, folklore, charms & spells, I wrote to Circle Network News (now Circle Magazine) and got some information on locating groups. [We didn’t have the internet back then; it was the “Age of Typewriters and Smoke Signals,” as a friend humorously called it]3) Do you tell your family or not?
By that time, I was moved out of my parent’s house, married, had a job, and had a car. Eventually I brought it up to my parents . I began by mentioning I was looking into "alternative religions." To my surprise my parents--who had always said (a) one religion was as good as another and (b) nobody could tell another person what to believe or think--told me NOT to explore “alternative religions.” They preceded to explain why it was a bad idea for several reasons that seemed to make very little sense. Then, they forbid me to do it. Pretty funny, because I was age 25 at the time.4) If you decided not to tell your family, is that a sin?I never brought up the subject again. Neither did they—and I suspect that they thought I simply obeyed them.
Actually, if you read #3 I did tell them, and they gave me their $0.02 on the subject. They never brought the discussion up again. Neither did I.I still celebrated the family holidays with them: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc. (To be honest, my parents had largely ceased attending church services sometime when I was age 9 or 10—unless it was a marriage service or funeral service for someone they knew.)
You ask if it is it a “sin” not to tell one’s own family. Gosh—well--I think that would depend on lots of things.
The two most important are:
Is s/he over age 18?
Does s/he still live rent free in her/his parent’s house?Your use of the word “sin” implies that you believe a child must be open and honest with her/his parents about everything.
YES, a child should do that, BUT an adult does not have to discuss every aspect of her/his life with her/his parents. An adult can keep private things private--and it is not immoral for her/him to do so.
Personally, I accepted a value that my parents had impressed upon me as a child: “When you grow up to be an adult and take care of yourself, it’s nobody’s business what you think and believe.”
8/18/2019 addition:
I have provided this addition to this FAQ because of a question that related to the questions above.
FAQ: How did you know which you identified with? Wicca, wiccan, or witchcraft? What I’ve read is confusing.
Answer: I am Wiccan, and have been for more than 3 decades.
A Wiccan follows the religion of Wicca. Wicca involves a perception of the Divine as manifesting as Feminine and Masculine. (There is more to Wicca than that—but that is one of the things that attracted me.) Way back in the 1970’s, the terms “Wicca”, “Neo-Pagan Witchcraft”, and “witchcraft” were often used synonymously.
Yes, these terms are not exactly synonymous. There are shades of meanings. I suppose the following is how I could best define some key points:
Now, this explanation is very over simplified. To make it more confusing, you might run into Pagans who call themselves Heathens (specifically focuses upon Norse deities), Kemetic Reconstructionists (focuses upon ancient Egyptian deities), and Nova Roma (focuses upon ancient Roman deities and spirits).
Now how did I—eventually--know that I identified with Wicca?
I grew up in a family that nominally was Christian. We celebrated the Christian holidays. Though I initially identified as “Christian,” by the time I was a teen I realized that I did NOT believe the theology. (See FAQ's above.)
As William Wordsworth wrote:
...I’d rather beI already believed that the Divine could manifest as either male or female. As I said, this concept aligns with the Wiccan perception of the Divine manifesting as Feminine and Masculine. I felt the presence of the Divine in Nature.
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
I also wanted the option to cause change, improving the circumstances of life. Wiccans do practice magic(k). When I found Wicca, it was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
Caveat: I know there are people who disagree with me—some might even identify as Wiccans. They can do that, if they choose. The Mysteries are something each individual must explore personally.
FAQ: Isn't Wicca more of a magical or mystical practice rather than a religion?
FAQ: Is Wicca a Cult?
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