Seeking Personal Education: Is It Realistic??

When you first encounter a Pagan system like Wicca, how does one go about starting? Well, typically I suggest to ANYONE that they should
-Read all the reliable information they can from reputable sources (so books from authors like Adler, Sabin, Cunningham, Buckland, Hutton, etc)
-Join forums to ask questions in real time with people who have practiced for many, many years.

Now, there are those who HIGHLY recommend you learn from teachers or join groups, rather than go with the suggestions I mention above. But there's a big problem with that. How readily available are teachers to novices and newcomers to Paganism?? They're about as available now as they were a century ago. There are STILL only a handful of teachers taking on students out there...and because everyone is scrambling for a teacher because of suggestions like this, they can only take on so many at a time. So, say (for example) there are 10 teachers out there and for every teacher there are 15 students, and there are 500 students looking for teachers. The number of students being taught at this time is 150, leaving 350 students without a teacher! What are THEY supposed to do? I mean, if it's SOOOO important for novices to learn from teachers, are they supposed to sit idly by while they wait for their turn with teachers?

Groups and covens are no better either. Covens don't just admit people because they asked to join or filled out an application. Covens are intimate gatherings of people. The people who are a part of covens have been part for YEARS and their fellow members are as close as family. So they're not necessarily in a rush to replenish the ranks.

You also run the risk of joining a coven with horrible ethics and ideals. Few covens practice together for the spiritual fulfillment that is supposed to come with gathering together. There are probably more groups out there with negative intentions, such as power trips...they only join so they can quickly move up the ranks and become Queen (or King) bee and dictate to their followers (talk about reeking of fundamentalism and extremism). Many also gather just so they can cast spells (of which they have scoured the internet for).

I am in no way trying to say that groups and teachers are impossible to find and therefore a waste of time utilizing. There are certainly groups and teachers out there that are more than happy to accommodate newcomers...I'm just saying that it's more practical AND more realistic for newcomers to do their homework first, especially BECAUSE it takes so long to join a group and be taken on by a teacher.

There are so many people who stress seeking a teacher and joining a group, however **I** stress that it's far MORE important for one to read all they can, so they are better prepared when they DO get the teacher or join the group they want. I only speak about this from my OWN experience as a solitary. There are so many people who were priviliged enough to find a teacher or group to join, but not all of us are that lucky. Solitaries are just as valid as group ordained practitioners...we've just had to work much harder.