Tips for Living Wicca: Learn (part 3 of '13 Goals of a Witch')

Continuing with this series of Scott Cunningham's '13 Goals of a Witch':

Goal #3: Learn

Wow, it seems so simple, doesn't it. I mean, already in parts 1 and 2 we've talked about learning more. This is because life is learning. From birth to death, it's one giant learning process (or, for some people, a process of resisting learning). 

We become stagnant when we stop learning. We stop moving forward. This is probably why there is no scripture in Wicca; and why Wiccans seem to by and large have an aversion to scripture. The minute you accept that something is written in stone and can never be questioned is the minute you stop learning, thinking and moving forward on your spiritual path. To make progress requires one to be willing to continually take in new information to examine.

It also requires re-examination. After a few years you look at concepts you thought you learned, you thought you understood-- and you find there is a whole new dimension to them that you're now ready to understand with even more depth. 

Think about the way you learned in early elementary school that the English came over and met the Native Americans and established a new country. It all seemed so simple, so black-and-white. It was only later in your life, revisiting those lessons (perhaps in high school, or in your own research) that you begin to learn about the relationship between the English and the Natives. Only then do you begin considering the difficulties the English faced (their reasons for coming to the 'new world', the struggles they encountered), only then do you begin to understand how truly tragic the outcome was for the Natives. You begin to realize our forefathers were in their time committing high treason by waging war against their own country, and not everyone agreed with them or thought them noble for it. 

When we learn, we learn in layers. We grasp a concept quite simply at first, and as we grow and gain more understandings we start to understand those concepts more in depth. This is why it's never enough to say, "Oh, I read a book-- I get it. It's enough." We must always seek to learn. 

My Tip for You Today: Keep learning. 

I'm sure you've gotten a handle on learning about Wicca and Witchcraft, since these are your goals. But remember that learning goes beyond the LLewellyn books and Pagan websites. 

Learning about other topics only enhance your understanding of your spirituality and help you progress: history, culture, psychology, sociology, the physical sciences, art, literature, etc.-- it's all inter-connected. The more you learn, the more it helps you progress and grasp understanding in other areas. It all overlaps and comes together, the various subjects help support each other and build that foundation. Add some new layers of understanding. 

You don't need to go to college, you don't need to be a formal scholar-- but make learning a part of your life. 

Do you make learning a value in your life?