coven rituals
Perfect Love and Perfect Trust
In 1951 Gerald Gardner announced to the world that he was a Witch in the pages of the Sunday Mirror newspaper. Gardner was the first public, self-identifying Witch, and the Witchcraft he shared with the world was based around coven rituals. For him, Witchcraft was something to be practiced ideally with others. Gardner also thought covens should generally have a maximum of thirteen people, six couples and one High Priestess to oversee the rituals. Gardner even specified the ideal size of a magick circle, nine feet in diameter, a size that severely limited covens from growing beyond the suggested thirteen members.15
The system of Witchcraft that Gardner revealed to the world, along with its many variants, became the dominant form of Witch ritual among self-identifying Witches. Anyone who casts a circle, calls the quarters, invokes deity, and participates in some sort of seasonal or magickal working owes a debt to Gardner. The covens of Gardner’s time were also choosy too; to join a coven, one had to be accepted by that coven’s leaders and then undergo an initiation. Initiated Witches were also prohibited from sharing their coven’s rites with outsiders. All of these rules made Gardner’s style of Witchcraft very hard to practice for many people, and until the early 1970s there were no readily available books that contained Witch rituals.
There have always been solitary practitioners of Witchcraft, and most of us who practice with others engage in solitary rites as well. Witchcraft is not something that has to be experienced with a coven or any other sort of group, and many of the most personal things I engage in as a Witch I do alone. However, the ritual system most of us associate with Witchcraft (circle casting, calling the quarters, etc.) was originally meant to be done with a coven. It’s a system designed for four to maybe twenty people (how many people a coven can handle is often debated), which is why solitary and large group rituals are often so challenging.
In addition to being small, covens as articulated by Gardner were also selective to the point of being exclusionary. This does not mean that people were (or are) excluded from covens for homophobic, racist, transphobic, or classist reasons. There are all sorts of legitimate reasons a person might not be admitted into a coven. The members of a successful working coven generally approach ritual and theological ideas in a similar matter. A very loud and proud atheist Witch is probably not going to be a good fit in a coven that makes connection with deity a priority in their work. If the coven calls the watchtowers and a potential covener finds this upsetting, there are bound to be problems. Sometimes certain personalities and people just don’t get along, and there’s nothing wrong with being honest about that.
Today the word coven gets thrown around with a great deal of frequency. Online I often read about people “forming a coven,” and there’s a group in my area with eighty members who call themselves a coven (at least according to their social media pages). I’m not the coven police, and people are free to use the word coven as they want, but I’m of the opinion that such usages dilute what a coven was originally meant to be: a chosen family. I have an intimate bond with my covenmates. In the magick circle, we are free to be our true selves and seek out magick, mystery, and the gods.
There’s an oft-repeated phrase in Witchcraft circles in regard to covens: “in perfect love and perfect trust.” Perfect love and perfect trust is probably an unobtainable ideal, but at least it’s one to aspire to. Is it possible for eighty people to exist as a chosen family in perfect love and perfect trust? Maybe. Can ten strangers operate that way? Perhaps. But I don’t think either scenario is likely.
It’s the ability to operate in perfect love and perfect trust and exist as a chosen family that makes the coven experience unique. It’s also one of the reasons covens sometimes turn down people who want to join them. I have Witch friends who live nearby that I absolutely love, but I know that for whatever reason they just wouldn’t be a good fit in my coven. As with most families, there are squabbles even in the best covens, but if people are serious about their work and their commitment to perfect love and perfect trust, they are problems that can generally be solved.
Historically, covens were not just selective and small but also autocratic, and they came with a three-tiered degree system. At the top were the High Priestess and/or High Priest. These individuals generally led the rituals, trained other Witches, and decided who would and would not be initiated. Second-degree Witches followed the High Priestess/Priest, with that degree serving as a training ground for future coven leaders.16 The first degree functioned as a gateway, introducing people to Witchcraft and the rituals associated with it.
Today there are covens with degree systems and covens without them. A coven can be led by a specific person or persons for years, and some covens elect their leadership, changing who is at the top annually. Some covens are governed by consensus and some are run by “benevolent dictators.” There are hundreds of different ways a coven can be run, and they’re all acceptable, generally. What’s most important is that everyone in the coven is comfortable with how the group is run and every coven member is being respected.
If someone suggests that sex is necessary for coven membership, they are full of shit and should be called out in the community for being a sexual predator. If the people in a coven ask for money beyond what’s necessary to pay for ritual supplies, they’re also full of shit and trying to take advantage of you. If the members of a coven are emotionally manipulative or threaten others with physical violence, they are not practicing Witchcraft. No reputable coven takes advantage of its members or suggests they do something that might make them uncomfortable.
It’s important to understand just what a coven is and how it ideally operates in order to appreciate what makes coven ritual special. I’ve had amazing experiences with large groups of people in ritual and some extraordinary moments as a solitary Witch. But the best and most consistently rewarding rituals have been with covens, and there are reasons for that.
What Makes Coven Ritual Special
Because a coven is a chosen family and its members are generally familiar with one another, its rituals are different from those of large circles and public (open to everyone) sabbat celebrations.
Shared Experience
Many covens use the same ritual structure over and over again. While this might seem boring to some, it’s actually a very powerful trigger that makes its own sort of magick. One of my friends once described using the same opening for ritual at most sabbats as a form of trance; familiar words and gestures will transport a person immediately into their ritual headspace.
Even simple things such as using the same type of incense at every ritual can be transformative. When we light our coven’s incense, I immediately know that I’m out of the mundane world and in a magickal one. Even when I burn that incense when I’m alone, I find myself drawn into a ritual and magickal state of mind. This type of thing is even more powerful when coupled with the same quarter calls and circle casting at every coven ritual.
A common ritual experience also takes the guesswork out of ritual. By using the same ritual pieces over and over, everyone in our coven knows what’s coming up, and everyone feels that much more comfortable participating. It’s hard to be active in a rite when no one is sure what’s coming next. The same ritual structure remedies that. It also makes writing ritual much easier, because the only thing that really has to be figured out is the working in the middle.
Most covens also develop their own unique quirks and ways of doing things during ritual. Even covens that are a part of the same tradition don’t always do things exactly the same way. The little idiosyncrasies that develop over time in a coven create bonds and make each group more unique. For many years my coven had a habit of giggling at the start of cakes and ale because I always forgot the words to it (and I wrote it!). This evolved into them starting it for me and eventually reciting the whole thing with Ari and me. I don’t know of any other coven that approaches their cakes and ale like this. I love having something that evolved organically and is ours.
No two covens will ever feel the same because a coven is the sum of all its parts: rituals, members, energies, and deities. What a group creates together is a powerful shared experience that can’t be replicated. A coven’s unique energy is what makes it such a treasured and valued part of the Witchcraft experience.
Group Mind
I don’t know exactly what everyone in my coven is thinking at every moment, but we work together pretty seamlessly. When we start working with energy, there’s no need for long explanations about what we’re going to be doing; we simply do it. We don’t have to spend time thinking about ritual roles because we all know what we most likely will be doing before the ritual even begins. Often we find ourselves suddenly doing the same thing together without any prompting.
We don’t all think alike, but because the coven has its own energy, we get swept up in its individual power and we all know how to best utilize it. We pick each other up without thinking about it, and keep certain people grounded when they need it. Even at public rituals, we sometimes find ourselves falling into the habits and rites of our coven without a second thought.
Familiarity
“Familiarity breeds contempt” is an old piece of wisdom that is sometimes accurate, but I don’t think it applies to covens. Knowing what everyone in a group is comfortable with (and doing) makes ritual that much more effective. I’ve been to rituals where people are forced to speak or act in ways that are awkward or distressing to them, and that energy then often spreads to everyone else in the circle and makes them feel that way too. (Not everyone wants to be in the ritual spotlight.) Knowing what is acceptable (or not) to those around us keeps ritual running smoothly.
Comfort Level
Ever gone to a public ritual and ran into an ex or someone you just don’t particularly like? It happens and can make things awkward. A well-functioning coven should be free of such drama. That doesn’t mean there will never be coven problems. It happens. Even the best Witches are only human after all, but I find that most coven spaces are free of the drama that comes from break-ups and personality clashes.
With a chosen family, we are also free to be our true selves, something most of us can’t do in public. I don’t have to be a “guy who writes books” with my coven. I can just be the person who watches football and keeps a mean collection of Scotch whiskies. I feel a responsibility to pick up my house before the coven comes over, but I don’t worry about putting away every hairbrush in the bathroom. It’s also not a complete tragedy if I forget to pick up a piece of dirty laundry in the bathroom. Families share things and families shouldn’t judge too much. It’s much easier to have the coven over for a night of ritual than knowing my parents are going to visit.
Everyone Is Involved and Knows What’s Happening
At public circles and festivals, I often find myself having to explain every little detail of ritual. So instead of just being free to let everything unfold naturally, the rhythm of ritual often gets interrupted by massive amounts of exposition and instruction that would otherwise not be there. This is not an indictment of such situations. Sometimes you simply have to explain what’s happening very explicitly. However, when you don’t have to worry about those little things, ritual flows a lot more naturally.
Ritual is also not a spectator sport, and things like calling the quarters, calling to deity, and casting the circle require the participation of everyone involved in ritual. This is something that’s often either not understood in large group settings or ignored because not everyone gets to speak. The person calling the quarter is verbalizing what’s happening, but they aren’t alone in the summoning of the quarter. Most people in coven situations are aware of these ritual nuances.
The Doing Options Are Easier
When everyone knows just how a ritual is going to unfold and what the expectations are for each individual Witch, ritual simply becomes easier.
A coven that’s been working together for a couple of years doesn’t have to fret and worry over who is calling the quarter or casting the circle. People know what there is to do in ritual, and most everyone will know how to do it. Rituals with people worrying about whether or not they are going to have to say something end up generating lots of unwanted nervous energy.
A coven that simply enjoys one another’s company doesn’t expect a big ritual production at every sabbat and full moon. In fact, at this point our coven often meets without any specific agenda for ritual. We simply set up our container and then do whatever magickal work we need to do. Other times we might just share what’s going on in our lives in a magickal environment or do some group divination. We’ve been doing a lot of the same sabbat rituals for years now, and many of them we can do from memory.
Good covens remember the bits of ritual that work for them and then return to those bits time and time again. Depending on the environment and the circumstances, we know which ways are the easiest for us all to raise the cone of power and just when the coven needs an extra grounding rite. A good coven opens up all sorts of possibilities in ritual practice.
While I’m a big believer in the power of coven rituals, there’s also nothing wrong with not ever joining a coven or avoiding them entirely. Despite the rather rosy picture I’m painting here, I have seen my fair share of dysfunctional covens over the years. And for some people, one extremely bad group experience is enough to turn them off from the concept forever.
The definition of a coven is changing today too. I know people who are part of online covens that interact with one another in perfect love and perfect trust. I also have friends in groups that shy away from the word coven and yet act very much like what’s described in this chapter. There are also people who participate in online Witch schools whose study groups end up functioning very close to the coven model. Covens are designed for us, and as our social spaces evolve, covens will evolve right along with them.