Witchcraft is so much more than a religion to me, it's my way of life. I've been practicing the craft for about fifteen years and I have learned so much about myself along the way. I was seeking answers about the spirit and the soul because I felt there was something I just wasn't understanding about spirituality. I had been a Lutheran my entire life and was devoted to my religion and my church but I felt there was more and I couldn't seem to find the answers there. I started on the path of a Christian witch, praying to God and the Saints daily, lighting candles and even went so far as to say a few catholic rosaries. I read the bible every night before bed and said a new psalm every day. I guess I was just hoping the answers would fall down from above. But as someone has told me recently, the bible is only worth what you get out of it. What I got out of it was I needed to seek my answers in other places. I still go to my church on Christian holidays and I still believe in God and that Jesus was sent to teach us to love each other, however I don't believe in the concept that Jesus was sent to suffer death on the cross for OUR sins, we should pay our own way. I spent a lot of time reading over the next 7 years, books on many different religions and philosophies, and I found myself learning that I had been a witch my entire life even though I didn't know it. When I said my prayers I said them openly and honestly and believed I would be answered. When I went to church and sang I did so in celebration and homage to the blessings I had been given in my life. As I learned more about the various religions in the craft I understood that these very things I had been doing in my heart were the same things that Wiccans and Pagans do. So I read more and more about Wicca and Paganism and found that like in Christianity God has no real form, a spiritual being without body, but being a mere mortal myself I always had a problem with that. My relationship with God is just that MY RELATIONSHIP, I can put any form to God that I want in my own mind, a way to make a supernatural being more accessible to my mind. I like the many forms of the Gods in Wicca and Paganism because for each trial or tribulation I can put a face to the Goddess or God that will help me, or guide me, or just be there to listen. I also liked the fact that God could be male or female since no one has met this being and can tell me whether it is male or female why shouldn't God take form as both? We are supposedly made in the image of God and humanity is both male and female. I try not to be one-sided about my view of the Gods and not just pray the Goddess because I am a female and I can associate with a female better, like in life there are some things that men do better than women and vice-versa. I revel in the differences of the sexes and enjoy being able to do that in my religion as well. It took a long time before I was comfortable saying that I was a witch and I guess in a way I am still not all that comfortable with the word; too many people get the wrong impression of what that means. I tend to call myself An Individual Spiritualist- what that means is I am not associated with any form of religion and I, on my own, am learning to be a more spiritual person. I explore the many facets of the spirit, soul and mind. I try to expand my horizons a little every day and share what I have learned with anyone who asks. There are too many constants in too many religions to think that one specific religion is "right or wrong", I tend to believe that every religion is right for the person that believes it. There is no one right answer no clear cut path for anyone. But as long as I am seeking answers to questions of the spirit I am on the right path for me.