Welcome to Gaia! ::

Wicca is Nature.

Your power is limitless.

If you understand your connection to nature, and those around you; friend and foe, the atmosphere - you'll understand that the Goddess is you, and you are put here to do great things.

I'll elaborate when my time isn't so precious. Right now i'm limited...

Just remember you are connected, loved, and belong.

And don't feel like your worship is insufficient if you aren't some kind of divination master. You don't need to use tarot, reiki, runes, or tea leaves to worship and practice Wicca.
In fact, if you're new, I'd suggest expanding your knowledge of Nature before diving into these tools; for when the time comes that you want to master Tarot or palm reading, or whatever, information will come to you clearer through your divine connection to the Earth and Atmosphere.
I've known many Wiccans of the older age who never even laid a hand on a tarot deck, or spell book. The best form of worship is from the mind, body, and spirit.

Wicca doesn't have go hand in hand with Witchcraft.

I think that the most useful book I have come across in a long time for getting started in wicca is
The Real Witches Craft
by Kate West
she gives you a year and a day worth of practical exercises to help you get more connected with yourself and the world around you. there's everything from element work, to astral work, and even working with your usual 5 senses so you can better understand them and develop your sixth sense more effectively.
If it's just understanding you want,
I suggest looking for any non-fiction books by
Silver Raven Wolf
stray away from the teen witch books as they are novels, not guidebooks.
I suggest
To Stir a Magic Cauldron
To Ride a Silver Broomstick
To Light a Sacred Flame
Those three books are very helpful to beginners. ^.^

I believe that's a matter of opinion. If you wish to inform her of the beliefs you have been taught, then do so. I just ask that you please not undermine the beliefs that others have. That's what caused that whole mess in the crafty forum. I know that you have a very strong view on what Wicca is and is not, but not everyone shares those views, thus how other traditions develop.
You may not feel that what I believe in is not Wicca, but attacking people based on what they believe is not the way to help people to understand what your traditions teach. I'm not trying to argue, I'm only asking that you leave us eclectics to be wrong in peace. We are not hurting you to believe as we believe.

I did read the articles, and found that much of it was misunderstood or taken out of context. Certainly, she does make a fair few errors, but that's why I gave her another author to cross reference it with.
All people make errors. including authors, publishers and most especially readers. Certainly, I take everything I read from her with a grain of salt, but I can not deny that some of the information she publishes is actually accurate and useful. You may disagree based on your more structured teachings, but for eclectics such as myself, some information does help us.
Moreover, what I had written was in regards to an issue that had arisen within another forum or guild where we could not settle that any other tradition but the Brittish Traditionals was actually Wicca. Duly noted, I did say some things I shouldn't have and certainly allowed my frustrations to get the better of me. However, there are newer traditions of Wicca known as Neo-Wiccans and we still refer to ourselves as Wiccan simply because it's easier than to explain how BTW is different from NW.

I recommend Scott cunningham. He helped me with alot of questions so his book might be able to help you as well.

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner