The ways that people come to the Craft are many and varied...these days. Books, videos, magazines, TV shows, open circles, workshops, friends who happen to be Witches...the ways that people can make "first contact" with the Craft could cover a book in and of itself.

However, it hasn't always been this way. Many of the ways listed above have only come about in the last 15 years or so. In the days before home videos, when TV shows were almost always sensationally gaudy in their depiction of the Craft, when magickal magazines were few and far between, when open circles and public workshops were considered "too risky" for so many
broom-closeted Witches, and Witches revealed themselves to few friends save the closest...there was but one way that was common for people to come to the Craft...the occult.

The earliest modern Witches had one thing in common: an occult background. They were people with a lifelong interest in the occult, and (in many cases) had been exploring its secrets for years. After exploring a myriad of occult topics, they would stumble upon modern Witchcraft, most often through books. They would find that it filled a void in their lives, one that would enrich their studies of both the occult and the world.

This common background in the early days of the Modern Craft would shape its future. Ceremonial magick, elabourate divinatory systems, and scientific parapsychological terms and ideals that were never a (common) part of the ancient Craft would gradually take a place in it's modern practice. The very Craft we practice today is a result of the paths that our predacessors took to get there.

Today, however, things are different. As I mentioned before, the ways that people can make their "first contact" with the Craft...the thing that piques their interest, drives them to find out more, and eventually leads to their walking the path of the Old Ones...are as wide and as varied as Witches themselves. No longer does the initiate have to stumble in the mysted and shadowed underworld of the occult to dance in the moonlight. And, turgid and traditional as I sometimes can be, I am not entirely disappointed by this turn of events. After all, the world of the occult community is littered with marginal personalities that I would wish on *no-one*, lest of all a future sister/brother in the Craft. Different types of contact produce different types of Witches, and diversity enriches us all.

However, there is one thing that this change has effected for the worse, and that is the state of occult knowledge in some areas of the Modern Craft. The current state of occult scholarship within the Craft is sadly lacking. There are more and more new Witches who have studied little of the arcane arts outside of their current spirituality. Indeed, I have met those who's first brush with the occult at all was an open Wiccan circle. This is not that bad in and of itself...after all, we all start somewhere...but many never seem to go beyond this point. They willfully ignore thousands of years of occult study and evolution in favour of whatever "feel-good" booklet they're raiding for circle chants this week.

The reasons are many. One thing that amazes me is just how many people we've got calling themselves Witches/Wiccans these days who are AFRAID of the occult! Yes, they may be dancing under the full moon tonight, but they'll be trembling under their bedsheets tomorrow if they think they see an earth-bound spirit (commonly called a "ghost") in their house. And some are positively puritanical in their admonisions against traditional areas of the occult. Ouija boards, spirit contact, enochian workings, various ceremonial magickal practices...throw these subjects out into any open pagan arena these days, and you will probably get a multitude of advisories against looking into any of them. Some will even go beyond the verdict of foolhardy, calling them evil.

People, what the hell have we become here? Closet Christians? Did someone find a secret part of Gardner's Book of Shadows talking about a Wiccan Devil when I wasn't looking? The finger wagging that I see sometimes makes me feel like I'm back in Sunday school. Any first-year student in the Occult should be able to remind you that tools and techniques are NOT evil, ONLY the intent behind their use.

Take the often-maligned Ouija board, for example. To listen to some people, you'd think that you'd be swept away by evil spirits into the abyss the moment you pick one up at you local Toys-R-Us. This is absurd. Now, do I think that they should be sold at a toy store? Of course not. Do I think that people who misuse them may get some results that they don't like? Sure. Those who come to a Ouija board with cocky attitudes, a body filled with alcohol, fear, or pre-concieved notions of possible (which, in a fear-filled mind, become probable) negativity, may very well get a nasty knock.

But should we use the hangups of others as an reason to shoo people away from that unique blend of paper and plastic that is a commercial Ouija board? I think not. Warn cowans away if you wish, but do not poison the minds of other Witches against this innocuous tool. It is a tool, with things one should (and should not) do in its operation. If one approaches it with respect, clarity, and a little common sense, then there is no reason why it can't be used with wonderful results.

Ah, but it is no wonder that some would have a knee-jerk reaction against using this tool. After all, we have all "heard" some awful stories about people fooling around with Ouija boards and having dreadful results. And with no other experience, what we've "heard" is all we have to go on. Now, when you consider just how hostile the mundane world from which we come is towards the occult in general, its no wonder that some in our community have such baggage about areas of the occult that aren't immeadiately relevant to the day to day workings of the Craft.

However, shed this baggage we must. Not only can we gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of our own Craft by understanding archaic and modern occultism, but we will also be in a much better position to provide assistance to the community as clergy by a deeper understanding of occultism. (And yes, Witches are clergy to any who wish to call on us, Pagan or cowan.)

For example, what are we to do if someone comes to us with stories of a poltergeist infestation? It's not common, but a possibility nonetheless. Would we be ready to help the person deal with the problem, or would they have to go running to a Catholic priest, no matter how much they might not wish to do so? What about peoples' delusional fantasies of demonic possession? If you're ignorant of the basics of demonology, then you will be in a sad position to help this unfortunate person stop abusing themselves in this way.

Outside of delusional mundanes, there is also another excellent reason to study occultism. Like it or not, the unseen world extends outside the bounds set by modern Pagans. In fact, we take up a very small corner of the magickal community. If the Craft and Paganism are to evolve, we must look without for new areas of inspiration. To be a true student of the mystic, a partial education will not suffice.

Likewise, there needs to be a vast overall improvement in the study of Witchcraft history. I'm not talking about just the pre-burning and the duration of the burning times, but also of the history of the modern Craft.

A culture, religious or ethnic, that does not know of it's history is a doomed culture. Doomed to repeating past errors. So many of the Witch Wars I see today look like carbon copies of the Witch Wars of the past. How many of these could have been avoided had the potential combatants known the cost of such conflicts in the past? How many times have conflicts started over the same stupid misunderstandings and fears? We are a growing religion. We have no time or energy to waste on beating each other about the head and neck. If we are ever going to grow up as a formidable religious force, then we are going to have to stop acting like adolescents! We must live and learn. But how do we learn from the past if we do not know the past?

A culture that is ignorant of it's history is also doomed to forget past glories. There has been
much hard work done in the Craft, and in the larger world of the Western Occult Tradition, already, and it is waiting to be tapped. If we have the glories (and lessons) of the past at our disposal, then looking towards the future will be much more
exciting. How would our ancestors have ever invented the horse drawn cart if every generation had been expected to re-invent the wheel?

We need to encourage (and, if we are running a coven, make sure that the coven training includes) a comprehensive Occult and Historical Witchcraft/Pagan education. If we want to have a literate, evolving Craft instead of some fad for bored college students, then we must not be afraid to learn.