The Paths We Weave

If you're not flying by the seat of your pants and completely weaving your path out of thin air, you could be following one of these:

Wicca – The most recognizable pagan faith in non-pagan circles. It emerged in the 1950s and 1960s with Gerald Gardner at the helm, but has evolved into a rich diaspora of faiths including Alexandrian Wicca, Dianic Wicca, Kemetic 

Wicca and Judeo-Paganism. Some of the major components of Wicca include rituals, ceremonial magic, and the celebration of Sabbats.

Druidism – A pagan faith with a large following. It is build on practices of Celts from the Iron Age. Like Wicca, Druidism includes ceremonies (rites) and the celebration of seasonal changes.

Ásatrú – Also called Heathenry, this is a modern reconstruction of Nordic/Germanic Paganism. Jax has discussed Heathenry in an earlier post. It includes ancestor worship, offerings (called Blots), and feasts (called sumbels).

Hellenism – This faith is a reconstruction of Greek religion and practices, including the Twelve Olympian Greek gods. Hellenic practices include ceremonies and offerings.

Kemetism – This faith began as a reconstruction of ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices, but has evolved to include components from other African religions. The practices are too diverse to summarize here.

Native American faiths – Traditional faiths practiced by Native Americans are also extremely diverse. Many share several components, including a connectivity between the natural and spiritual worlds.

I am 1/8th Chocktaw so I do mix in some native american spirituality in my path.  Otherwise I keep it pretty much green.  For a short time I was "Eclectic Wicca" until I realized what bullshit that is and focused solely on the green path with my smatterings of NA spiritualism.  I think GreatGrandma would approve :).

As far as being 'just a witch' goes, you can be a kitchen witch, a hedge witch, a witch of family tradition if you were raised in it, or a number of other traditions.  A completely eclectic path is fine, as long as you don't throw an established path into it, such as Wicca, Druidism, etc.  That is just my opinion but it's shared by a large part of the magickal community.

This is what Laurie Cabot says on the subject:

I pretty much agree but seriously, there are people, people like me, who have severe trust issues.  So connecting with people and learning from people is very difficult, so learning from books is the best way to go.  I DO agree that people can help, that is where the internet comes in and pagan-based chatrooms.  Our chatroom,  WitchesChat  , is an excellent source to connect to people who KNOW and people who are willing to help, when respectfully approached.

Blessed be!