Regarding Covens and Groups



Quite frequently I am asked "Do you know of any covens in my area?  How do I go
about finding a coven?"

It is most likely that I have no idea whether or not there are covens in your 
area.  Covens are extremely private, thus even if I had such information I would 
not be willing to admit it.  This can be a bit frustrating for many, for with 
the exception of large, well known circles such as Circle Sanctuary, finding a 
group to become involved with can be very difficult.  Of course there is a large 
difference between an open circle and a coven.  My advice is not to go looking 
for a coven at all.  First, you won't find a real one.  Most Wicca won't admit 
they are part of one, and certainly won't "finger" any others as members.  
Second, if you find one and they say "come on in," it's not a real coven.  Any 
"real" coven worth joining will have an outer court where a candidate will be 
"scoped out" for a good while, and brought up to speed.  Once a certain level of 
trust is reached, and they (or a contact) find out what you're all about, they 
may or may not invite you into the inner court.  This traditionally requires a 
period of one year and a day. All this privacy is for good reasons, most of 
which revolve around the central theme of "perfect love and perfect trust."

In any case, the best course of action is to mingle, and to join or start a 
study group.  Many bookstores have bulletin boards where people can put up 
inquiries.  If there are none, try putting up some ads for a discussion group on 
"The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk.  Typically what will happen is that a large 
group of people will come, and those of like mind can form a spin-off group. The 
original group will probably die out within a few months, but the spin off 
group(s) can begin more intensive study groups.  This group will then find out a 
member is already in a coven and be invited into an outer court, and/or it can 
begin to "work" together in ritual.  If everyone's in "sync" a coven will 
spontaneously generate over time.  If not, smaller groups will form or the group 
will dissipate. In any case, the "study group" is what to look for, not an 
actual coven.  I have, on the other hand, seen covens put out "applications
for admission."  I will stand by my initial opinion that if an applicant is not 
trained in an outer court for some time, then s/he is joining a circle, not a 
coven.