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What was your very first exposure to the occult that you can remember and what impact has it had on your life.

My first would have to be "Friday The 13th: The Series". It freaked the Hell out of me, but intrigued me to the point where I started studying demons by name and type. From there, my interest grew. When my father learned of my interests, he made sure to steer me right. He was Wiccan and now because of him, so am I.

I was 16 and rebelling against a very awful Catholic b/g as a Satanist. I became pagan in the early 90's and have been that way ever since.

I grew up Baptist but never really fit. I'm not really into any religions. I know quite a bit about all religions but not i dont consider myself belonging to anyone.

I believe in all paths to God rather than just one. All are somewhat different from each other but in essence the same. There is never one right way nor will there be any right way. People who push their particular religion on people prove that they are close minded.

if we are counting things we watched as occult experiences then i guess watching twilight zone as a kid was my first

It surely came from the TV but I don't remember which film or serie it was. Then in my teenage years I met people who were into Wicca and Witchcraft and became interested but am not a practicant however I've some experience with the occult too.

My interest came at an early age back in the 50s. I think the word demon is used rather loosely in some things written and some of the works are suspect because of religious fanaticism. That's what propelled me in the direction of wanting to find out the history of some of those labeled with the title demon. Many gods and goddesses worshipped, became labeled demons such as Astarte who ended up being turned in the myths into a male demon called Ashteroth to discredit her. There are always things written about them but one cannot be sure any of it is more than superstitious biases and because of religious rivalries. I still find it interesting even though I don't believe in them perse. I had a thirst to know more than what adults were telling me about things. I would go to the library and copy pages from books and study them and other topics related. I became interested in magick and the histories of many of the magicikians such as Franz Bardon and of course Theosophy. Not so much Theosophy itself, but interest in the views of those who wrote books concerning aspects of this spiritual philosophy which has been described as occult and the list goes on.

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It's funny when I thing back to when I started in the occult and what my life would have been like if I'd stayed with it. I believe it was a good experience which resulted in my being pagan now

It was a combination of a number of things, Myths, Legend & Fables, Shakespear, dreams, going to the library, TV/Films.

My Dabbling in the Occult was after I had experienced a Sleep Paralysis and had sworn to myself to solve the matter. I did , I have moved on , I know that everyone dabbles in the occult, and each has a different reason for doing so, do I Believe in the occults powers? so much of that would be based conjecture, and anecdotal material.

What caused your Sleep Paralysis?

It just occurs, I suspect the stresses of the time may have triggered the episode. I was "pinned" to my bed with horror, as I perceived an apparition out of the corner of my eye. I have brought relief to many a person just by settling their "HAg Atttack" fears.

**Looks up**

Dabbling with my own awareness... then using that which was shown me, to find my own path...

going out with a white witch at one point helped.

well... a witch, she said there was no white, or black...

just... shades of grey.


and... truth be told, she knew more than most I've met, yet.

As silly as it may seem. I was drawn to The Craft. The movie just caught my interest and it grew from there. Living in a small area with not many outlets to be free as to how I wanted to live; the internet became a great place for me. I gather most of my knowledge from there and meeting people who shared my interests.

I was raised in a atheist environment. I actually became more interested in paganism while reading about my Nordic lineage.

It lead me into other avenues of religion, including world religions. I've studied with Buddhist monks, attended countless discussions, seminars, and lectures about Taoism, Hinduism, and the like.

I've always been drawn back to Nordic paganism.

I remember having a very particular "imaginary" friend as a kid. A little boy who I always told my mother was from South Africa. And I always used to see a man everywhere. No matter where we lived or went, I would see him several times. Never talked to him though. The little boy I still remember. Though I can't remember when I stopped seeing him. Then in high school while meditating I saw him again for a brief moment.

I'd always used to tell my mother I heard people talking, or knew what animals were thinking. I was a weird kid! Lol.

I believe I was always being led to my religion though at the time I didn't see it as such.

Was raised as a Mormon of all things. I had my fair share of bookshelves at the home I grew up in from 5 to 10 years of age. I won't divulge the titles of the bookshelf, but I can say that they made me want to "dig deeper".

By the time I turned 16, I was well on my way into "higher" magiks. I suddenly found myself at a crossroads and knew I had to choose a path. Thus, instead of religious ideals, I chose philosophy.

About 5 years ago, I became a Freemason after studying it for more then 10 years. I am on a new road of enlightenment and do encourage all who have a firm stance on their level-headedness to at least keep an open mind as to what the Craft is about. As it has more to do with philosophy and the Progressive Moral Sciences than one can shake a stick at.

I have chosen my path and am comfortable with it.

My first exposure to the occult was when i was a child. Back then, i was very psychic and use to see fairies while learning to read. When i learned to read, I read about fairy magick and then from then I performed a ritual which caused a blue aura to form around me for like a week. From then, I knew this was my path.

I dont know If this is considered Occult, But I was Drawn to archaeology in 4th grade which led me to Ancient Egypt, and that learning of their Gods is what I have followed and continue to Till now.
And Honestly I cant say I truely believe in Anything.
But for a civilization to last about 3,000 years, and it held together, They Had to know something!!

Thats why I believe in their pagan Gods; Thoth, Osirus, Horus, Ra, Anubis, and Isis to name a few....

I guess its Occult, and Occult uses many of the same Gods...

thinking of Raisa and those few who followed her... all they did was illustrate to me that my interests had substance... and some sort of direction.

When I saw a perfect creature hanging from the ceiling upside down and thought , now thats odd. Then I saw another perfect person up to no good, as I spied through a gap in the door he counted money faster than the eye can move. Fascinating until he caught me...oops.

I would have to say my first exposure was a series of dreams that fascinated me to delve into the possibility, and soon found myself discovering the possibility of reality...

Well from there, I found a few people of Wiccan and other "religious views". So it grew and grew, and I don't think I will ever stop learning, but I have stopped socializing with groups as ideas change... and through it all I went from Lutheran to Catholic since the Catholic Church has a lot of knowledge of the "darker" part of the world.

irks me that some devalue true knowledge; that same knowledge that others seek.

that same knowledge that some will pass on, whilst others clasp onto, crying "mine, mine, mine."

It was through my dad's paternal aunt when I was about 10 or 11 years old. She had an Ouija board that I was afraid of (LOL) and she told fortunes with a regular deck of playing cards. She was awesome!

After I nearly died at age 13 I began researching another topic and stumbled onto a book about the craft. It fascinated me. I began borrowing every book I could find on the subject to my parents dismay from the local Base Library. They thought it was just a fad and I would grow out of it. Quite the opposite happened though. Not only did I continue my studies but I joined a coven. I'm now a legally ordained High Priestess. The craft became a very important part of my life :)

just recalled bein sixteen and doin a things with cards, transpired I was a reciever, not a sender.

no real surprise there..

Do you dabble in Taro ?

My first set of tarot cards-- because they looked neat to a 11-year old version of myself.

Certainly helped that I ended up reading cards for the vice principal of the school. several times.

I would say it took place when I was about 6, my first encounter with a ghost.

My first exposure mainly came through friends at school and work. My family is mainly strict Christian but I've never identified with it.

I was baptized by fire, in a sense. After I was aware it became a necessity to try and learn what I could. I started with reference books.