Beginners to Paganism - Pagan Newbies

New to Paganism? Where do you start? When I first discovered paganism and wanted to find my own spiritual path, I didn't know where to begin. I stumbled across a pagan on MySpace, and pretty much bugged the person with questions. Then I went and joined a pagan forum, posted on there, asked lots of questions, and learnt a lot. Thankfully I found patient people on the forum willing to answer my questions and point me in the right direction. Not all people are as patient, and no doubt will get sick of answering the same questions over and over. So I will try to give you a basic head start here.

Don't think you have to learn everything at once, and that you must start practicing being a pagan and buying all the 'gear' immediately. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. You must learn first.


The best advice I was given, was to read. Read lots of different books on Paganism. It's the best way to start and get an idea of what paganism is all about. The first thing you need to learn is that not all pagans are the same, they generally follow an earth based spirituality, but there are many many different paths. I would start by reading a general paganism book on the main different paths as an introduction, and to help you get an idea of which path you might want to investigate to see if it is a path you want to follow. My personal favourite books for doing this is The Everything Paganism Book by Selene Silverwind, and Pagan Paths by Pete Jennings.


There are more of course, these are just my choice. One great piece of advice I got from one of Scott Cunningham's books, is to question everything you read. Do not assume that what the author says is right, or more specifically, that it is right for you. We are all different, which is perhaps why there are many paths leading to the same thing - spiritual fulfilment.

Some people, like myself, choose an eclectic path. One person recently described this to me as a pizza. He said:

• You got your base beliefs, like maybe reincarnation,
• Then you got your cheese and tomato sauce, your Gods and Goddesses, maybe, or spirits and animate 'inanimate' objects,
• Then you add your other beliefs and practices as toppings...

I really like this analogy, as you can imagine the pizza, which can have any combination of ingredients, and it's still a pizza. Just like you can draw the ingredients for your own personal path and set of beliefs, from any religion or spiritual path you like. Some people advise that if you wish to honour a specific God or deity, that you do so in the style and tradition of the path that you borrowed it from. For example, if you chose to honour a Norse God, you would probably honour that God with a Norse style blot (blessing). And if you chose to honour a Celtic God, you would probably do that in a Celtic Reconstructionist tradition. Likewise, if you chose to honour a Hindu God, you would probably do so in a manner in keeping with Hinduism.


I do enjoy learning about different traditions, and I recall learning that Hindu's happily add anything they discover and like about another religious tradition, and incorporate that practice/belief into their own tradition. I think all religions should be as open as this and willing to learn about other beliefs. Even though we may not always agree with them, it is definitely worthwhile learning about them, and always respecting others beliefs, as you would like your beliefs to be respected too.

I hope you enjoy your first steps into Paganism, and remember not to panic or rush into anything. You have all the time in the world. Live as if you only have today, Learn as if you will live forever.