Welcome to our first in a new spotlight series, Spotlight on Covens: Introduction. As witchcraft becomes more mainstream and prevalent in today’s society, so does the subject of Covens. I will do my best to provide you with my experience as a high priestess, founder, and member of several Covens.
Covens and their Origins
Today, Covens are basically a place for practitioners to gather in a ritual such as drawing down the Moon, to celebrate a sabbat, and for teaching or training.
In the beginning there were no covens. There were just the tribes, wise women, priestesses, priests, healers, oracle’s, Druids, and shaman. By the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church had gained political power over most of Europe. The beliefs of the tribes became a large problem for the church as many refused to convert. This is also the time Templars came into power and their job was to eradicate any difference of beliefs apart from the Roman Catholic Church. This was when the tribes began to practice their beliefs and worship their deities in secret, thus becoming the first covens. We
Photo by Sierra Koder on Unsplash
Purpose of a Coven
There are several reasons why a person would decide to start a coven. Following are the three main reasons:
- A person desires to have a group of people to build energy;
- A person has a spiritual calling to start a coven; and
- A person has gone up to through the ranks of the coven and is now ready to hive off the main coven to form another with the same beliefs.
This is where things get tricky because in many covens may be based upon learning periods for the practitioner. The time it takes from becoming an initiate to a Priest or Priestess can take years to gain your first level.
In today’s world, witchcraft is moving in new directions. The ritual of going through classes and initiations isn’t as strict as it was in the past. It has been my experience that a priestess must go through a series of training. With this training comes the understanding of what it is within the craft they want to promote before starting their own coven.
Role of a High Priestess or Priest
Being a high priestess or priest (I will refer to them as HP from now on) isn’t just a spot for somebody to gain glory. A HP’s job is to teach, nurture, heal, and be a mediator. The HP is also the parent and the disciplinarian of their children which are the coven members.
In my time of training to become a HP, I thought just becoming a high priestess was the final goal. Instead, I was handed my first assignment: starting my own coven. I had to learn so much more. I had to gather people and start by casting a circle and building energy. There are many layers to understanding how a coven functions and what is the goal of a coven.
The role of the HP is a very important role, but they alone do not make up a coven. There are many people needed to help make a well ran coven and cover all the aspects. It is a high learning curve.
Last Thoughts
Last thought, a witch needs to think of running a coven is like starting a business. It takes all the same protocols the end.
There is so much more that I can elaborate on when starting a coven and will expand on details in another post.
If anyone wants to ask more questions, I’d be more than happy to help them or recommend some good reading material on how to start a coven. Just leave a comment below.
Lady Sonika