In making contact with others, there are several very important things to keep in mind...

• First of all, always seek the guidance of your Inner Self. Listen to your inner feelings in deciding whether or not to pursue study, magickal work,or other relationships with those you encounter. If you get bad vibes, don't get involved! If you get good vibes, gradually allow a relationship to unfold. If you get mixed vibes, or feel somewhat uncomfortable and unsure about a group or individual, delay getting more deeply involved until you can identify where your feelings are coming from and what they are trying to tell you. Feeling uncomfortable may stem from several things: it might mean that those you have contacted are involved in harmful practices of some sort; or that you are shy about being with new people; or that the people are just not right for you. Meditate on your feelings. Seek out your inner guidance and follow its direction always.

• Second, beware of those who try to convince you that theirs is the ONLY proper way of development. Such narrow-minded thinking reflects a lack of spiritual wisdom as well as an unhealthy perspective of reality. There are many traditions and many paths of Paganism and Magick, no one of which is right for EVERYONE. Groups vary in size, structure, methods of working, cultural roots, and many other ways. You should try to connect with the path or paths that seem to harmonize most closely with your own vibrations, needs, and interests.

• Beware of those who are overly quick to initiate you and make you part of their path or group. This is often a sign that they want to use you, your money, or your energy to feed their own power trips and ego games. Getting involved with them can bring you much trouble. Beware, too, of those who flatter you and feed your ego more than your Spirit. They may be trying to control you for their own purposes and care little, if anything, about your spiritual needs. Similarly, beware of teachers who constantly point out how wise and powerful they are and how ignorant and weak you are. Teachers who are truly wise do not have to proclaim themselves this way nor build themselves up by putting others down. Actions will speak louder than words.

• And finally, beware of those who try to control you with intimidation, guilt, and fear. Beneficial spiritual paths are founded on Love and Trust, never on fear, deceit, and domination.

Don't let your desire for contact with others and your hunger for knowledge and magickal experience over-ride your own inner sensibilities. Each of us has a knowing, magickal, spiritual Self within us which can sense what energies are right for our own life's development at any given moment. Listen to this Inner Self, grow in awareness, and you will know who of those you contact will be the most helpful to you.

It is important for you to realize that the bonds which form among those involved in magickal study go much, much deeper than normal friendship bonds, and once formed are very difficult to break. This is especially true concerning involvement with a group. Joining a group is like joining a family, and has many of the same responsibilities and commitments. So, always proceed carefully in forming new relationships with other magickal people.

If you desire a group working experience, don't commit yourself to the first group you encounter just because it meets close to where you live. It may not be right for you, and you may not be right for it. Also, don't be upset if you connect with a group of people you really like and feel comfortable with, but they do not include you in rituals right away. The group-mind of an effective group is very sensitive and the timing and energies must be right before a new member can be integrated into an already existing structure without unbalancing those energies. Most groups require prospective members to undergo some kind of training before admission -- during this interim, both the group and the seeker can gain a better understanding of whether or not they are right for each other.

Very beautiful, healthy relationships founded on mutual support and sharingcan and do develop between individuals and groups of harmonious vibrations --relationships which can bring happiness, good energy, and inner growth to allinvolved. By working and sharing with others on harmonious spiritual paths and by developing relationships that allow us to maintain our individual freedoms, we all can better connect with that Energy, that Spirit, that Force that flows through us all and all the worlds around us, and thus evolve to Higher Consciousness.