We live in a generation where if you don’t know something, just Google it. This works well for information like Lady Gaga’s birthday or movie showings, but when it comes to maters of a religion with no true, set doctrine or scriptural text, information found on the internet is not always reliable.
Here is a list of ways that I have used the internet to my advantage during my long, long years of study with out any books or teachers.
1.Take notes! If you find a relevant piece of information copy and paste it into a word document as well as the html source of the info. That way when you find the same bit of information somewhere else you can compare it to see how it stands up and make informed decisions. This is also good for starting a book of shadows.
2. Read as many different sources as you can. When looking up a particular God or Goddess look at multiple sources and take notes on the information that tends to come up the most. it is most likely that there is some truth to these bits of information. Look for sites that have a high recognition. Also don’t be ashamed to look at Wikipedia. It can put things in perspective but not take everything as “gospel”. Remember to keep those notes of everything you find.
3. Look for feedback messages or comments. Sometimes thoughtful discussion can go on there where one reader may have found a factual error in the information. Sometimes the writer will weed out those that contradict what they said but for the most part, the pagan community is up for discussion and debate.
4. Look at forums. There are some crazies, uninformed and buckets of drama in forums but most likely some question you have may have been answered there for you already. Searching though old posts can be very helpful.
5. Do some shopping. One of the easiest ways to get your hand on a book is though the illegal downloading. I do not endorse this but I have used this as a tool. I find a book I’m interested it, look it up for download and skim though it to find out if the book is for me. Then if I want the book, I search it down on half.com, one of the best places on the web to get cheap hard copies of books. Its easier then finding a hard copy of a book like a library or a store copy.
6. Reviews Reviews Reviews. You want a book to buy? look up reviews. Always to see if the author is on the up and up. Look up multiple blogs to see if its a good good with good information. Chances are, there is a review somewhere.
7. RSS Feed connection are your friends. Every blog I can find that has a good bit of information, I subscribe to RSS feeds or follow on my WordPress feed. This is how I like to keep up on pagan community info and useful blog posts. Sometimes I find a post that I like but I have something to add to it that end up parking a new blog post.
I hope this helps you in your journey. Tanks for reading and please leave a comment. Love all of you.
-Kaida-
The Internet Witch 