I would like to find my pathfinder animal but I do not know the ritual. Please give me detailed instructions or directions to a helpful website or book. Also if you know any really good spell or potions books please let me know.
Wicca is passed from initiated Wiccan teacher to students in 3 levels of elevation. It is a structured, mystery-based religious Tradition (set of Traditions, actually) that is not self-taught. I realize that there are a bunch of folks who identify as solitary Wiccans and that it’s a big trend now to ignore the fact that 90% of Wicca is oathbound and therefore not available to the uninitiated, but in fact there is no book on Wicca that tells any more than 10% of what makes Wicca what it is.
It’s fine to create your own eclectic Neo-Pagan practice and you can have a very rewarding spiritual life and relationship with the Gods by doing this. However, that’s not Wicca. For instance, in Wicca, there are 4 officiants in every circle, and a large part of Wicca is learning to create meaningful spiritual rituals for large groups of people, learning to provide professional level spiritual counseling, and many other things. Wicca is not just about the self. Wicca is about becoming clergy for others and for yourself. No amount of "you don’t need instruction to be Wiccan" from the uninitiated makes what I’m saying untrue. You can call a grilled cheese sandwich a plate of spaghetti, but it won’t make it so. Again, not saying that being an eclectic Neo-Pagan is a bad thing. I think it’s a fine thing. It’s not Wicca, though.
Further, potion and spell books are not used by Wiccans because part of the training given in Wicca is learning to write your own spells and create your own potions. Now, let me clarify that Wicca is a religion and spells and potions are a tiny, tiny part of the practice. Mostly Wicca is about the Gods and creating rituals to help us interact with the Divine. However, in Traditional Wicca, energy work for outcome, also known as spell work, does constitute part of the oathbound Tradition.
Regardless of what you call yourself or how you relate to the Gods, I do think that the following books are good and I encourage my own students to read them:
"Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions," by Higgenbotham
"Ethics and the Craft," by Coughlin
Anything by Buckland
Anything by Grimassi
Penzcak is pretty good
Deborah Blake is good for beginners
If you want simple "spells," although I cringe when I think of getting this from a book, Dorothy Morrison’s "Everyday Moon Magic" doesn’t suck, however it’s "Wicca Kindergarten Lite."
Cunningham also is good for basics but is "Wicca Kindergarten Lite" and doesn’t even mention the Great Rite.
"A Witch’s Bible," by the Ferrars is good but remember not all Trads practice ritual nudity.
I advise you to stay away from Silver Ravenwolf (unethical and just plain wrong…sorry), McCoy (horrible scholarship), and Andrews (whatever a person who calls himself a Wiccan does is Wicca…that’s his philosophy and it’s not factual). However, even horrible books have some value, so if you want, read them all!
Best of luck on your path, whatever it is, whether you choose to create your own Neo-Pagan solitary practice or pursue a Traditional education in Wicca. It’s all good if it works for you.
Oh, another thing. Never heard of a pathfinder. Not part of any Wicca I know.
