Do You Need To Be In A Coven?

Since I have made a Facebook page to link my web store and blog I was stunned and somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of people that have reached out to me with questions, comments and just overall communication. I’m thrilled you all are so interested in my blog and work, for that I am making March Q&A month, even though I already have posts lined up feel free to keep the questions coming. Some questions may seem a bit silly but I welcome almost all questions, just not any which may be harassment/offensive to some. Keep it clean.


Today’s Q&A

 Do you have to be in a coven? –Kelsey
Nope. There are plenty of solitary pagans out there. I’m one of them. It’s not necessary to be within a group or coven, but it is fun to have those who share the same values and ideas. You are able to bounce ideas and chants off of each other and have people who you know are going to support you and will always be there when you need someone to talk to. More importantly it’s not the connection with other wiccans or pagans that’s important. It is about the journey that someone has with themselves that is the true purposes.


-The Crafty Witch

What is NeoWicca?

Sometimes you may see the word "NeoWicca" used at About Pagan/Wiccan. It's one that appears often in discussions about modern Pagan religions, so let's look at why it's being utilized.

The term NeoWicca (which essentially means "new Wicca") is typically used when we want to distinguish between the two original traditional forms of Wicca (Gardnerian and Alexandrian) and all other forms of Wicca. Many people would argue that anything other than a Gardnerian or Alexandrian tradition is, by default, NeoWicca.

Much of the publicly available material labeled as Wicca in books and on websites is in fact considered NeoWiccan, simply because Gardnerian and Alexandrian material is generally oathbound, and is not made available for public consumption. In addition, to be a Gardnerian or Alexandrian Wiccan, you must be initiated - you cannot self-initiate or dedicate as a Gardnerian or Alexandrian; you have to be part of an established coven. The concept of lineage is also important in these two forms of traditional Wicca.

In general, someone who follows an eclectic path of magical practice, in which they incorporate practices and beliefs from a variety of different systems, would be considered NeoWiccan. Keep in mind that the term NeoWicca is not meant to imply any inferiority to these two original traditions, simply that a NeoWiccan is practicing something newer and therefore different than an Alexandrian or Gardnerian.

Many NeoWiccans adhere to the Wiccan Rede and the law of threefold return. These two prinicples are not typically found in Pagan paths that are not Wiccan.

reblogged
-The Crafty Witch

Origins of the Gardnerian Path

Gerald Gardner launched Wicca shortly after the end of World War II, and went public with his coven following the repeal of England’s Witchcraft Laws in the early 1950s. There is a good deal of debate within the Wiccan community about whether the Gardnerian path is the only “true” Wiccan tradition, but the point remains that it was certainly the first. Gardnerian covens require initiation, and work on a degree system. Much of their information is initiatory and oathbound, which means it can never be shared with those outside the coven.

Gardnerian Wicca in the Public Eye:

Gardner was an educated folklorist and occultist, and claimed to have been initiated himself into a coven of New Forest witches by a woman named Dorothy Clutterbuck. When England repealed the last of its witchcraft laws in 1951, Gardner went public with his coven, much to the consternation of many other witches in England. His active courting of publicity led to a rift between him and Valiente, who had been one of his High Priestesses. Gardner formed a series of covens throughout England prior to his death in 1964.

Gardner's Work Comes to America:

In 1963, Gardner initiated Raymond Buckland, who then flew back to his home in the United States and formed the first Gardnerian coven in America. Gardnerian Wiccans in America trace their lineage to Gardner through Buckland.

Because Gardnerian Wicca is a mystery tradition, its members do not generally advertise or actively recruit new members. In addition, public information about their specific practices and rituals is very difficult to find.

Reblogged

-The Crafty Witch

The Book Of Shadows

The book of shadows or grimoire is used to record your magical workings and strictly speaking may not be considered a tool by all. Traditionalists tend to use the term grimoire and Wiccans book of shadows or BOS for short.

Despite popular movies and television shows, there is no one single book of shadows. A book of shadows, or BOS, is a Wiccan's or Pagan's notebook of information. It usually contains spells, rituals, correspondence charts, information about the rules of magic, invocations, myths and legends of various pantheons, etc.

 Sometimes information in a BOS is passed along from one Wiccan to another (and in a coven setting, there may be a coven BOS as well as individual members' books), but you can create your own with a little bit of effort. A BOS is a very personal thing, and should contain the information you find most important.

-The Crafty Witch

Birthday of Dorothy Clutterbuck (on Jan 19th)

Although she never publicly claimed to practice witchcraft -- or even left any evidence of it after her death -- Dorothy Clutterbuck is credited with initiating Gerald Gardner into the New Forest coven of witches. Dorothy was born in India in 1880 to a British Army captain, who brought his family back to England after his retirement from service. She was briefly married in her mid-fifties to a local justice of the peace who was killed in a car accident in 1939. By all appearances, Dorothy Clutterbuck seemed to be a perfectly respectable English country widow who attended church regularly and was an ardent supporter of the local conservative party.


Following her death in 1951, Gardner indicated that Dorothy had in fact been a member of the New Forest coven of witches that he had joined in 1939. There was some question about whether Dorothy initiated Gardner, but it appears that Gardner may have actually been initiated by Edith Woodford-Grimes.


The real controversy surrounding Dorothy Clutterbuck has been brought up by historians who question Gardner's statements. Jeffrey Russell, who has written a number of historical works on English and European witchcraft, suggests that Dorothy may have been "invented" by Gardner to support his claims of an ancient tradition of witchcraft in Britain. Ronald Hutton, author of Triumph of the Moon, suggests that the use of Dorothy's name as a potential witch might have been a joke on Gardner's part, done in order to conceal the true identity of his high priestess. Hutton also indicates that the date of Gardner's initiation would coincide with Dorothy's mourning period after the loss of her husband -- a time when she cancelled nearly all other social engagements -- and so it's unlikely that she was involved in his initiation ceremony.


Dorothy left a number of diaries, and there are different interpretations as to how the contents should be viewed. The diaries are a collection of poems, essays and other writings, which may or may not be associated to witchcraft or Paganism, depending on how one sees them. The diaries contain some references to fairies, nature and herb lore, but also include a number of references to Christian themes.


-The Crafty Witch

The Cauldron & The Besom

The Cauldron

The cauldron is considered a coven tool in many traditions rather than an
individual one. It represents water, the Goddess, reincarnation, immortality and
inspiration. As Cunningham states, it is "the container in which magical
transformations occur, the sacred grail, the holy spring, the sea of primeval
creation". He calls the cauldron "the witches tool par excellence". It is often
used as the focal point of group rituals and can contain flowers, a ritual fire,
charged water, or incense. It may also be placed empty on the altar as a symbol
of the Goddess or used to prepare brews or for divination by filling it with
water and using it as a focusing point.

Cunningham suggests that the cauldron should be iron, the Farrars agree but also
mention that brass or copper may be easier to find. Valiente considers the
cauldron a coven tool and mentions all the same uses described above and
discusses the symbolism but she also emphasizes that the coven must arrive at
it's own communal understanding of what the cauldron means to them.

If you would like to purchase a cast iron traditional cauldron online I suggest
that you search for a "potjie" rather than a "cauldron". The potjie is an
African cooking pot illustrated to the right above and is perfect for use as a
cauldron. By searching for it by the name of the cooking utensil you will save
allot of money over the witchy stores that sell the same thing but call it a
cauldron. They are available in very large sizes up to 75 gallons if you like.
Copper and brass versions are readily available at thrift stores and
occasionally you may even find a cast-iron cauldron in a smaller size. I collect
them and find most of mine at the Goodwill.

The Besom

Also called the broom, besom is pronounced beh-som. Traditionally made with an
ash handle, broom or birch twigs and a willow wrapping, the broom or besom is
one of the more well known of the tools uses by witches. Every Halloween witch
has a broom, and pretends to ride it, but not every real witch owns one. It is
often considered optional, particularly by solitaires. Round is preferred over
flat. The twigs can also be hazel or yew. The example illustrated above is made
with broom corn bristles which is a perfectly acceptable substitute and is
available from The Traditional Broom Company To care for your besom you will
want to clean the bristles if you actually use it to sweep once every month or
so by washing them in warm soapy water, then rinsing them and shaking out the
excess. Hang the broom to dry with the bristles down. If you don't actually
sweep with the besom you should rehydrate the bristles about twice a year by
putting the bristle end in a bucket of warm, clean water and letting it stand
for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse and shake out the excess water. Be sure to hang
the besom with the bristles down so they won't bend as they dry. The wooden
handle of the broom may be rubbed down with some linseed oil to keep the wood in
good condition unless it's painted or has bark on it.

According to Doreen Valiente the symbolism is as follows: the handle represents
the male aspect, the twigs the female, birch twigs represent birth and rebirth
through the combination of male and female; hazel stands for fire, fertility,
divination and knowledge; yew is the tree of death and resurrection. The message
of the besom is that only though birth will there be life, from that life will
come poetry, art and knowledge. Yet because of birth there must be death and
with death rebirth and resurrection. Cunningham states that the broom is
associated with water due to its purpose of purification. He states that the
broom is protective and purifactory, used to ritually cleanse and area or guard
a home and should be reserved for ritual use. Valiente and Farrar agree as to
the uses mentioned, in addition Valiente mentions using the besom as a gateway
to the circle by laying it at the north in the gateway of the circle as it is
cast. Buckland does not mention the besom, it is not used in his tradition.

It is nice to make your own besom and not really difficult. You need a branch
about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and 3-4 feet long for the staff, a bundle of
small twigs about 18-20 inches long for the broom part and something to tie the
twigs to the handle with. Willow is traditional, but twine works well and is
easy to obtain. Just insert the handle about 6-8 inches into the center of the
bundle of twigs and wrap the twine tightly around them to tie them to the
handle. Be sure you wrap and tie them tight, so your twigs don't fall out. Hand
made besoms produced in this way are best used for more symbolic than actual
sweeping.

*author unknown

-The Crafty Witch