That's Gaelic for hello and welcome all who come. It's been many months since i joined AnD.  In this time i've seen and engaged in many discussions about religion and faith and i have been advised more than once  by some to never talk about my path. for awhile it was ok with it and when i did speak of it it was only to those who i knew would "understand" but now with Yule  coming and discussions about Christmas i began to feel like a play pagan and it begun to bother me.

 i'm from a multi-faith family. in my family with in me and my 5 siblings there are Christians, a Catholic, a Buddhist and me, the Wiccan . my parents ,who  were both of different faiths were liberal enough to believe one's path was their own choosing. so when we all were old enough to understand we were given the choice to choose our own religion. the main rule my mother had was that before we choose we had to be well informed. research, observe, form a level of comprehension but never choose  blindly.

    At the age of 12 i started asking questions and my mother decided to help me begin my search. she would put books infront of me and encouraged me to not just observe services and rituals of many faiths but to ask questions. Not just within my family but in the community around me there was so much religious diversity i had access to alot of information. so for 4 years i read,researched and asked questions.i read many relgious texts as well as debates and rebuttles (including the Torah, the Quran, the Bible,and the teachngs of Siddhartha Gutama). many times my questions were of course not welcome but i believed then and still believe :if you don't ask how will you ever learn? not all the answers are in books.

    At 15 in my readings i stumbled upon a book called "A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches Handbook" by Stewart Farrar and Janet Farrar. This sparked a whole new set of questions. Luckily just a few miles away was a huge eclectic pagan community. i went there full of questions which were not only welcomed but thoroughly answered. My researched continued and finally i approached my parents and informed them that i've decided to follow the path of Wicca. We had a long discussion filled with questions. 2 weeks after my 16th birthday i was initiated as a first degree Gardnerian Wiccan. the ritual was attended by my entire family. We observe each others holidays and respect each others paths. if you want to know why i chose Wicca just ask me.

     I've been a practicing Wiccan for over 16 years.Just like any religion there are rules and a moral codes. For Wiccans it's called The Wiccan Rede. there is also the  Wiccan Principles which also gives a explaination of the practices of the modern American Wiccan.