How to Become a Witch (30 page)

This may seem more restrictive than you would imagine for a Pagan gathering. But we do give up a few possibilities (like illegal drugs) in order to gain the greater freedoms that come with this magickal village environment. Festivals must operate so that the authorities have no reason to step in and shut them down. Just as important, they must be friendly and safe for families with children and for people who cannot enjoy themselves in an atmosphere of drunkenness and total chaos. Being a Witch is often about sensuality and pleasure in the physical world, but it is also about self-discipline and respect for others, so we seek the balance.

Where to find information about festivals in your area? Head for your nearest metaphysical shop and check out the bulletin board or ask the staff about gatherings. There may be posters for local festivals or a newsletter with announcements of forthcoming events.

You can also gather information online. If you know the name of a particular festival, see if they have a website; otherwise see what is listed on Witchvox.com.

A Pagan festival is an instant village or community where it is safe to be yourself. Many Witches don’t realize how stressful it is to live in a muggle world, where everyone around you is on a different spiritual wavelength (or no spiritual wavelength at all), until they escape into the woods for a festival. Then it sinks in: you’re free here. You can be yourself. If you walk skyclad down the middle of the road, no one will make rude remarks, much less molest you. You can talk about spells and faery folk, and everyone will listen with respect. You can dance a wild and sensual dance around a blazing fire, and laugh your head off, and paint ancient designs all over your body with mud, and it’s okay.

Small wonder that most people don’t want to leave when the festival winds down. Something inside you opens up, and the wild-child, tree-sprite, primal woman or man has tasted freedom. It’s hard to shut that down and return to the outside world.

From Large Group to Small

You don’t have to go to festivals or join anything to be a Witch, and many Witches are by nature independent beings who chafe at the thought of rules and membership fees. But people are social animals, and it is difficult to thrive for long without some kind of human contact. Another way to not be alone is to form a study group.

Putting together a study group is easier than creating a coven and can eventually evolve into one. Find a public meeting place, like a library or community center (many people will be more comfortable there than in a private home). Decide whether you want to make the program broadly focused (“The Nature Religions of Old Europe”) or more specific (“Wicca: A New Religious Movement with Ancient Roots”).

Limit the initial lifespan of the group, in case it doesn’t go well and you want to let go of it. Eight weeks is a good length, with one meeting per week. You can always decide mutually that you want to continue for another eight weeks, or indefinitely.

Put together a program of readings, movies, and discussion. For the videos, you can show a mix of Discovery Channel–type documentaries and fictional movies with Pagan or witchy themes. You do not have to know everything about Wicca or Paganism; you only have to come up with some resources and then lead discussions. If you wish, you can lead a field trip to an open sabbat celebration or the nearest metaphysical bookstore. You might lead a few exercises, like designing and doing a simple ritual together.

For a Craft-oriented program, your eight topics could be:

• What Is a Witch? Terms and Definitions from Many Sources
  
• Witchcraft in the Middle Ages: The Burning Times
  
• Wise Women and Cunning Men: Witches as Healers and Midwives
  
• The Wheel of the Year and the Lunar Cycle
  
• Witchcraft and Magick, Spells, and Rituals
  
• Gerald Gardner and the Birth of Modern Wicca
  
• Mapping the Universe: The Worldview of Wicca
  
• Wicca in the Twenty-First Century: Feminism, the Environment,
  and Quantum Mechanics
  

For a more general Pagan-oriented program, your eight topics might be:

• Religion in the Paleolithic: An Overview
  
• Shamanism Around the World
  
• The Great Religions of the Pre-Christian World
  
• Gods and Goddesses in the Ancient World
  
• Nature as Sacred
  
• Living Indigenous Religions and Revivals of Classic Religions
  
• Neopaganism: The Rise of Wicca, Druidry, Asatru, and Goddess Spirituality
  
• Compare and Contrast: Neopaganism and the Mainstream Faiths
  

Keep each program manageable (two hours maximum), offer yummy refreshments, and charge little or nothing to participate; however, a cauldron for donations toward expenses is acceptable. If it’s fun and you’re learning a lot, keep it going and see where it leads.

Now let’s talk about two other options: you can practice solitary or you can join or form a coven with other like-minded people.

What “coven” really means

Coven
is based on the Latin root word
convenire,
meaning “to come together” or “to gather”; it’s the root of the English word
convene
. The first recorded use of coven applied to Witches was in the 1662 Witch trial of Isobel Gowdie, which describes a coven of thirteen members. So it may not have been used by Witches at all before we had to form small underground groups for survival. But today almost every group of Witches uses “coven” or “circle” in its name: Coven of the Mystic Flame, Circle of the Moonlit Path, etc.

Coven Vs. Solitary

Wolves hunt in packs, mustangs run in herds, Witches make magick in covens…or not. Will you practice as a Solitary Witch, or seek a coven, or even create one? You have few choices at first; you may live in an isolated area, where coyotes outnumber Witches, or in a small town. Or you might be a city dweller with a dozen covens nearby but none that feel like a potential spiritual home.

So your choices are: (a) practice as a solitary for now; (b) practice with your family, if you have one and they are interested; (c) make do with a broader Pagan group until something more witchy turns up; (d) make long commutes to a great coven in another city; or (e) build your own coven (even if you call it a “study group” at first). We’ll explore all these choices. First, here’s an exercise for your Book of Shadows.

Am I Better Suited to Coven Work or Solitary Craft?

• Do I prefer to be around other people, or do I really enjoy solitary activities more?
  
• Do I want to share my spirituality with others, or is my spirituality very personal to me, and nobody else’s business?
  
• How does my partner or family feel about my joining a coven?
  
• Could coven membership affect my job or my position in the community?
  
• What role do I usually wind up playing within a group? Active participant? Team player? Leader? Specialist? Aloof observer? Critic?
  
• Do I have the time and energy to take on what is virtually a new family
  and the responsibilities associated with that?
  
• If I have done ritual with others, did I generally enjoy it? Can I enjoy someone else’s style of ritual?
  
• Do I usually accomplish more in a group or working alone?
  
• Do I learn new things more easily working face to face with other people
  or studying and practicing on my own?
  
• Can I chip in my share of money (modest dues), skills, and energy? Or is my life too demanding for me to be a reliable and contributing member?
  

Why Solitary Practice Can Be Good

Most Witches start as solitaries, because even if you want to join a coven, it takes time to find one and get involved. Fortunately, there are positive aspects to practicing as a solitary!

First, you have the freedom to create your own practice, to do it your way. There is no one to tell you how you should do things. Occasionally you will make mistakes or try something that fizzles, but you learn from those experiences too. You will be creating your own unique spiritual path within the general framework of the Craft, using all the pieces and techniques that resonate best with you. And shouldn’t spirituality be unique and personalized?

You can celebrate on your own schedule. That’s no small thing in this busy, crowded culture of ours. No coordinating your efforts with seven or twelve other people; do the magick when the need arises, perform the ritual when you have the time and space.

Yes, we are social animals and often enjoy being with others of our species, but it’s often messy. For a Solitary Witch, there are no relationship issues: no emotional entanglements, group politics, or personal disagreements. Of course, you won’t be improving your social skills as a solitary, but you will be able to focus on other aspects of your growth without the group maintenance and relationship issues that require time and energy in any coven.

As a solitary, you learn what you want to learn at your own pace, through books and nature and solitary experimentation and practice. If you want to spend a month learning to cast the perfect circle, or exploring Bronze Age Goddess cultures, or wandering through field and forest identifying healing herbs, you can. And you don’t have to squeeze it between lessons in the official coven training program.

Your solitary magick can be focused on exactly what you need. Your rituals may not have the
oomph
of a coven working, but they can be very, very focused on your particular goals, and focus is more important than sheer power.

Often in coven rituals, either the same favorite aspects are invoked over and over, or just the deities appropriate to the season are invited. But as a solitary, you are always free to call your patron deities, or spirit guides, or animal allies—whoever best suits your purpose.

If your religious choices need to stay private because of the town you live in or the job you hold, you can maintain privacy much more easily as a solitary. While covenmates are oathbound never to “out” you, some neighbor might see you going into a certain house and hear faint chanting coming from behind closed drapes…and the rumors start. So there is less risk of exposure for a single Witch if that is a concern for you.

Being a solitary can be lonely, but it doesn’t mean you have to be a hermit in a cave. If you need multi-Witch energy, drop in on the public sabbats, festivals, weekend classes, or meet-and-greet gatherings at pubs or restaurants that are popping up all over.

The Downside Of Solo Witchcraft

Much depends on your need for companionship. If you get lonely doing ritual by yourself, if you miss the pleasure of singing and dancing and raising power as a team, if you’re very much a social animal—being solitary is not for you. Yes, you can go to public sabbat celebrations or interesting workshops, but those are momentary contacts, not warm and deep relationships. You can have Craft acquaintances, maybe friends if you’re lucky, but it’s not the same as having coven sisters and brothers who will always be there for you.

There’s also the question of motivation. Practicing the Craft takes work, and you have to be a self-starter to celebrate the esbats and sabbats, and design and work the magick when you’re the only one involved. It’s easy to find excuses to slack off: “I know I should do a full moon ritual/study that book on tarot/try that visualization exercise for my shadow work, but it was a rough day…maybe tomorrow.”

If that sounds familiar, maybe you need the structure and program of a coven to motivate you. It’s not easy to put things off when there are other people waiting for you at the covenstead—and once you get there, you’ll be glad you made the effort.

Also, many things are easier to learn in a group. You can cram your head with facts from all the books, but information does not equate to experience and skill. In a coven, you can read the tarot for others, watch someone make an herbal infusion, do energy work on your chakras under the guidance of an elder, and discuss what connection with Deity means with people who have experienced it in many different ways. Shared learning with others is both practical and enriching.

And when magick is needed for healing or spiritual transformation or making a better world, the power of a coven, joined in like mind and united will in a sacred circle, just cannot be matched by a Solitary Witch.

Why Coven Membership Can Be Good

A coven is a spiritual and religious support group of like-minded people. You help one another make sense of life and get through it with wisdom, strength, and compassion. Your covenmates encourage you to be the best person you can, using the tools and understandings of the Craft. And for those who are not terribly self-disciplined, coven membership makes sure that you do not ignore your spiritual life because of a busy schedule.