It’s not easy being human and it can be even harder being Wiccan. Especially if you are a solitary practitioner.
In this post we’ll look at some of the common challenges you might experience and some ideas on how to overcome them…
Discrimination
Discrimination is one of THE biggest challenges as a Wiccan or a Pagan. In my experience it has a lot to do with where you live.
Some cities are more Wiccan friendly than others. As a general rule, the larger the city, the larger the acceptance.
Now, moving isn’t always an option, so you might have to adapt to fit in instead.
If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t go all in with your appearance. People are in general scared of what they don’t understand.
Take some time and learn how to present your lifestyle in a way that helps people understand what Wicca is all about and how it’s in fact one of THE most peaceful religions.
Show people that Wicca is a way of life that embraces all living things and with a great focus on nature. That usually goes a lot better than telling them how you do magick in the middle of the night, all nude, dancing in the moonlight.
Holidays
Another challenge is christian holidays. A lot of us don’t approve of the way Christians celebrate Pagan Sabbats as their own, without any recognition of the fact that Pagans has been celebrating these days for centuries.
How you handle this, is 100% up to you and something you need to figure out with yourself and your family.
Personally, I love the holidays. For me it’s just a celebration and even though other people tie it onto a (their) religious thing, I just relax and enjoy the company of the people I love.
Also, it’s the perfect occasion to educate people on the REAL meaning behind the holidays 😉
Being stuck
Of all the challenges you can face as a Wiccan, being stuck in research mode and having a feeling of information overwhelm is probably the worst.
You get a feeling of anxiety, stress and sometimes even slight depression.
The thing is that it doesn’t matter how far you are in your journey, if you don’t learn to handle this, it will always haunt you.
THE best way, I have found to deal with this “shiny object syndrome” and information overload, is to simply on 1 thing at the time.
I like to select a “topic” to focus on for 28 days at a time (a whole moon cycle).
For example, this month I am focusing getting to know my tools better (my altar tools, my Wiccan jewelry, Athame etc.).
All over in my house, I have printouts from The Moonlight Post hanging on my walls.
So, whenever I am cooking, sitting on my toilet, laying in my bed or even surfing facebook, I see a printout about something I want to learn about this month.
It reminds to stay on path and not stray as soon as I see something new and shiny 😉
Let me know if this helped you and also what YOU do to overcome challenges and struggles in your practice.
For more on how to overcome challenges, focus and everything else Wicca, go checkout The Moonlight Post!
thanks for the suggestion, I was feeling information overload and just getting lost. I am going to try the 28 day step.
Hi brother, You really help me alot with your information. I keep my beliefs to myself because of people who don’t understand. When I do share with any one they get freaked out. Again thank you. Susan
Just be thankful. Watch how that clears up everything.
thank you brother im also gonna try the 28 day step blessed be Pamela
The challenge is people think this is satanic or evil and it’s not I also feel Wicca has a bad rep because of Hollywood and storybooks they feel that witchcraft is evil and anything can be used the wrong way. For instance in the slavery times the slave master had a Bible in one hand and a whip in the other that’s not what Christ stands for but do you hear anyone say it’s evil…no and people remain open minded to it? I keep it 💯 always so yes I will bring up touchy subjects but its the truth and I dont judge a persons journey no matter the religion.
I used to stress.. then I was talking with this wonderful man one day and he said to me “you look a little stressed” so I told him what I was feeling. And this is what he said to me…
“When you talk to others do you go into the conversation prepared to defend your faith? Or do you just talk to them.
Do you start out defensive or informative? If they react badly to what your saying what is your reaction to them.”
Then he said “the common denominator in all religion is love and kindness. That is what needs to be promoted. If they get ignorant and mean…it just means they are not ready to learn. It is your responsibility at that point to show the love and understanding of your faith…do you?”
So that is how I handle all encounters. Much less stress on my part.
Have a blessed day.
Make it easy on yourself. Jesus (and I don’t call myself a Christian) said it well, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine.” Be discriminating about who you share your wisdom with. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way. If you live in an area where your views are not accepted, stay under the radar and do your work secretly… as our ancestors did out of necessity. – Let go of the need to control the beliefs and experiences of others. If they don’t “get” that Christmas was originally a pagan feast, just love them where they are and enjoy the party in your own way. You can still have a heart connection with others who don’t share your views. It is not us against them. – If you feel stuck, go deep. Connect with your ancestors, power animals, deities, Earth, Nature, and the wisdom of your own soul. You already have all the answers you seek. Just allow that you have it all and relax into being. There is nothing outside of you that needs to be found.
Thanks James. I have been following this path inadvertently for most of my life, but only now really digging in. I once wore an onyx pentagram ring to a community event, and a man and woman loudly noted it was satanic. Not surprised really, but I find that I must study and practice in secret due to the prejudice and ignorance of many. Bernadette put it beautifully for me.
Thank you I really enjoyed this blog. I am stuck when it comes to the holidays and how to celebrate them just because of how I was raised and what I have learned so far so I guess what I need to do right now is to learn more about the wiccan holidays before trying to follow how to celebrate since not all of them do I complete understand them and why it is celebrated the way it is. Thank you now I have a focus on my studies and I will go from there. Blessed be
Hi Amante, we actually have a guide on how to celebrate Lughnasadh. It’s free right now and you can grab it here: https://themoonlightpost.com/free-lughnasadh-guide
It’s all up to what you believe. It’s not my place to convince anyone who is right or who is wrong – it’s my place to just let it be. The main thing is being comfortable in who you are no matter what you believe – and not interfering with others belief systems.
My challenge is not having any Wiccan or Pagan friends at all to relate to & hang out with around the area I love in, I’m a Solitary Wiccan & my husband is Christian so we don’t share any religious or spiritual interest of the same kind. So that’s my challenge & struggle, Blessed~Be that I have Wiccan Facebook Friend’s.
Blessed~Be
This is the same challenge i face. My husband lets me do my own thing and so do my grown children,but when i set time aside for a ritual they dont understand how important it is to me. Sometimes im referred to as being kooky! They like to tease me about being a witch. I have been thinking about doi g a spell to teach them acceptance. But since im on my own i dont always have the time to embrace wiccan as much as i want. It would be nice to have someone to talk to that fully grasps what im talking about.
Lol, anyone saying shit about me being wiccan, I just musta up some make up words and put on a known illness at the end and say to thoes people they are now to be cursed with the illness, how many quickly shut up, and others quickly move on not making eye contact. some have muttered under their breath freak to me. and I said to them bigot thumper. they wanted to say more thoe my look says anything else to say to me. not suprise they just walk out of the room and I carry on what ever I was doing making it look like nothing happened. that is how to deal with people like in the above picture the first one
Thank you for the information. I just started as a solitary and yes, sometimes it is difficult. I have no friends with the same interests and the people in my city are Christian or non believers in general. I have to hide my tarotcards and tools. My husband accepts my belief. I do not know if I am a Wiccan; I have everything Wiccan, and read everything I can find.
That tip about being stuck? Thank you!
I just started to become interested in witchcraft, can someone tell me the first things I need to learn?
Where you start your path and which direction you follow is truly up to you. There is no right way or wrong way and there is no rulebook that requires a checklist-type of study. Some begin with learning the history and doctrine, some start with the altar and tools, and some even jump right into the magick, but the one thing that is common to all is that they chose their path based on what was best for them. My suggestion is to take a moment to think upon your path, “meditate” if you want to call it that, and in your mind ask what is the best place for you to start – your intuition, your “spirit guide” if you want to call it that, will lead you in the direction that is best for you.
the last one is especially helpful for me, i’ve always been the kind of person to read the whole textbook in school on the first day, and ever since i’ve started wicca, i’ve turned to the kind of person to overload myself with every possible piece of information my mind can(or, more honestly, can’t) handle. so yes, i will try focusing on one topic and tying my learning to it unto the moon cycle!
I’m doing a speech for my eighth grade language arts class on Tuesday and i was going to list some major problems i face for being wiccan. This article helped me alot and i can also relate to it. THANK YOU!!!