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Trying to decide if you should make your Pagan beliefs public is a hard question to answer. When you decide to come out of the Broom Closet and let people know that you are following an alternate religion you have to consider many factors. I’ll list below some questions to ask yourself before taking those first scary steps on your Pagan Journey….
1.What age are you? If you are a minor technically you need to follow the rules of the household you are living in. If your parents or guardians are Christian, you may cause yourself unwanted grief by proclaiming that you are Pagan/Wiccan/Witch/Sahaman. I am not saying to ignore or not follow your beliefs, just don’t flaunt it until you are old enough to support yourself.
2.What sort of community do you live in? Are you likely to be outcast by friends or neighbors when you make your announcement? When I didn’t hide my beliefs I am happy to say that my friends saw no difference in me, in fact I had other people say to me, “Oh I knew there was something different about you, but not in a bad way!” All of my friends have been very accepting.
3.How do you plan to come out of the broom closet? I have to admit, wearing a huge sign that denounces Christianity and buying the largest pentacle you can find, may rub people the wrong way. Think of those fundamentalist Christians who have to witness their faith. Being in someone’s face isn’t always the best way to go about being taken seriously.
4.Are you going for the shock factor? Part of teenage rebellion is wanting to be different from everyone else. You watch movies like “The Craft” and see “Charmed” each week on TV, but it’s not really like that. Your cat won’t suddenly be able to talk to you like “Sabrina’s”, you can’t wiggle your nose and the housework is done as in “Bewitched”. Witchcraft, Wicca and Paganism are more a way of life, than a label or party trick.
Telling my family that I didn’t consider myself Christian anymore was interesting. My mother was convinced I had become a member of a cult and had been brainwashed. My stepfather was convinced I was into Satanism (nothing against Satanist mind you) and was sure that someone else had put me up to “it”, no matter how I tried to explain myself. My sister was perturbed, she currently is a very devout Christian, though at the time was more borderline. My brother laughed and said he always knew I was a witch, though he preferred to replace the w with a b!
When I didn’t hide my beliefs I found some friends who either their other half was Pagan, or they themselves were Pagan. There are more of us out there than you think. If you do decide to come out of the broom closet, you may be in for a few surprises, some good and some bad. |
