Advice I Was Given, and By Whom
When I first started studying Paganism in 1995, I read about three books and was convinced I knew everything I needed to know. I based everything I did off of these three books, for a couple of years, until finally a friend who was also Pagan -- and a lot older than me -- said, "You know, there are so many things to learn that aren't in any books at all. You might want to try putting them down, and seeing what you can experience and discover on your own."
Why They Gave it To Me
She gave me this piece of advice because honestly, I wasn't able to think outside the box. If I attended a ritual as a guest, I evaluated the ritual based on what I had read in those three books. So I sat there and said, "Well, you're not supposed to cast a circle this way, and you did this wrong and you left out that part." It was time someone reined in my judgementalness.
Lessons Learned
- You can learn a lot from books. But there are so many more things that you can learn by doing, and experiencing, and practicing, and looking inside yourself. Don't lock yourself into one way of thinking, or you'll never grow past it.
How This Advice Impacted My Life as a Pagan
I began spending more time on experiencing, rather than just copying notes out of books. I learned to write and craft my own spells and rituals, rather than just using someone else's words. Most importantly I grew as a person, and expanded my world view.
