spiritually inclined
Active Member
What could one expect in a Wiccan coven? Are there non-Wiccan covens?
James
James
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What Could One Expect in a Wiccan Coven
- Thread starter spiritually inclined
- Start date
Mike182
Flaming Queer
if it's a Gardnerian coven, then you can expect a few things to happen:
1) to be given a complete BoS containing all the coven rituals, laws, charges, rites, incantations, associations, herbal remedies, and some auntie's recipe for nettle soup. when i say a complete book i mean a complete book, it will contain everything you will need to be an active member of the group. everything. you will be commanded to copy the BoS word for word.
2) you will make oaths and promises to the Coven to not reveal any of their secrets, or indeed to reveal to anyone outside of the Coven that you are in the Coven, or who any other members are.
3) you will be initiated via ritual. you will be initiated by someone who will recite his initiator, and who initiated him, and who initiated him, and so on and so forth, all the way back to Gardner himself. you will be expected to learn that exact line, as that would be the line of your own initiated tracing back to Gardner.
after that, the group will hold rituals for the Wiccan wheel of the year, help each other on an individual basis to grow and achieve within your own powers, swap literature, compare notes etc. a Gardnerian coven is a very educational one, not a social one.
Gardnerian covens are the ones i know the most about simply because a good friend of mine who i chat to a lot is an ex-Gardnerian. other than that, when i was Wiccan, i was a solitary practitioner... well, mostly anyway. i was involved in one small group, myself and two others, but we were certainly not what any of us would have called a coven... and we were mostly either down the pub drinking or in a field invoking.
1) to be given a complete BoS containing all the coven rituals, laws, charges, rites, incantations, associations, herbal remedies, and some auntie's recipe for nettle soup. when i say a complete book i mean a complete book, it will contain everything you will need to be an active member of the group. everything. you will be commanded to copy the BoS word for word.
2) you will make oaths and promises to the Coven to not reveal any of their secrets, or indeed to reveal to anyone outside of the Coven that you are in the Coven, or who any other members are.
3) you will be initiated via ritual. you will be initiated by someone who will recite his initiator, and who initiated him, and who initiated him, and so on and so forth, all the way back to Gardner himself. you will be expected to learn that exact line, as that would be the line of your own initiated tracing back to Gardner.
after that, the group will hold rituals for the Wiccan wheel of the year, help each other on an individual basis to grow and achieve within your own powers, swap literature, compare notes etc. a Gardnerian coven is a very educational one, not a social one.
Gardnerian covens are the ones i know the most about simply because a good friend of mine who i chat to a lot is an ex-Gardnerian. other than that, when i was Wiccan, i was a solitary practitioner... well, mostly anyway. i was involved in one small group, myself and two others, but we were certainly not what any of us would have called a coven... and we were mostly either down the pub drinking or in a field invoking.
spiritually inclined
Active Member
Interesting.
Mainly I am interested in what types of rituals occur in the coven, magical and otherwise.
James
Mainly I am interested in what types of rituals occur in the coven, magical and otherwise.
James
MaddLlama
Obstructor of justice
Generally speaking, in a Wiccan specific coven, you'll celebrate the 8 Sabbats (Samhain, Mabon, Yule, Imbolc, Beltane, Ostara, Midsummer, and Lughnasadh), and the 13 esbats (one full moon for every month, and an extra for the "blue moon"). Other rituals vary widely, but include rituals/group spells for healing, or for a specific purpose of someone in the group in need of something, and some milestone rituals, such as an initiation, Wiccaning (similar to a naming or baptism), croning, and coming of age.
Alva
Member
My last activity in my Coven was a Council ritual that served to debate and resolve a few problems/issues that had we've been noticing/feeling for some time. If it is to be a familly, you must be prepared to deal with the god stuff and the other stuff 
Before any kind of magical, this group of people must live (try never the less) by the "In perfect love an perfect trust" law
Before any kind of magical, this group of people must live (try never the less) by the "In perfect love an perfect trust" law
Naya
Somnio, ergo existo.
Please do not make the mistake of thinking that Wiccan == Witch. There are many, many witches who are of various faiths, including no faith at all. Witchcraft is a /practice/, Wicca is a /religion./ A coven of Witches could gather together to work magic or just celebrate with no religious connotation whatsoever.
freewebs.com/nonwiccanwitch has some good information on this.
Regarding what to expect in a coven... that is as varied as the people involved. If it were a Wiccan coven, you could expect pretty much as was posted above. If it were a Pagan or non-Wiccan coven, you could likely expect a close sense of family among the members there, group study into magical and spiritual practice, and gatherings for the group's holidays.
freewebs.com/nonwiccanwitch has some good information on this.
Regarding what to expect in a coven... that is as varied as the people involved. If it were a Wiccan coven, you could expect pretty much as was posted above. If it were a Pagan or non-Wiccan coven, you could likely expect a close sense of family among the members there, group study into magical and spiritual practice, and gatherings for the group's holidays.