1. How far will I have to travel to their covenstead?

2. Do the Coven members seem friendly or positive?

3. Do they hold secrets only the Priesthood knows?

4. Are they too eager to sign me up?

5. Do they promote sexual based rituals or just symbolic?

6. Do they perform rites sky clad (naked)?

7. Do they perform robed or partially robed?

8. Do they offer teaching the newbies the ways of the craft?

9. Do they act like they are no-it-alls or arrogant?

10. Do they practice the same beliefs as I do or similar?

11. Are they worried too much about getting my money right away?

12. Are they a positive working group?

13. What deities do they honor, if any?

14. Are there any available roles to move up into?

15. Do they use illegal drugs or alcohol in the group?

16. Are children welcomed into their functions?

18. What type of degree system do they offer, if any?

19. When do they gather for rituals? Full moon, Sabbats or New Moons?

20. Do they have meetings other than ritual nights?

21. Do they slander other religions?

22. Are they involved in witch wars with other Covens?

23. Does the atmosphere feel comfortable?

24. Does the group feel energetic or a real drag to be around?

25. Are they willing to answer your questions or change the subject?

26. Do they require a special robe or cloak, tools, book of shadows of your own?

27. Do they have a Coven or Grove library accessible to you?

28. Do their Aura’s seem dark or too mysterious?

29. Do they talk about Satan or other negative aspects?

30. Are eclectic and offer other positive paths to join? (Druid, Shaman, Wicca, Celtic, etc...)

31. Do they have everything ready and are very well organized?

32. Do they take just anybody of the streets or are they selective?

33. Do they charge a membership fee, and how much?

There are several ways to correspond with covens. One way is to ask around the occult book stores in your area (if you are fortunate to have one near you.) Some book stores may have a weekly meet and greet on certain nights. Such as Fadrasha in Bloomington , Indiana .

They (bookstores) usually have a posting board full of business cards or flyers for Covens accepting new members or open meetings or Sabbats with them. Some, but not all have open rituals you can attend, just to feel out the particular coven of interest. If you do not like or feel welcomed to join them, by all means thank the host/ hostess for allowing you to attend their functions and gracefully move on. Your energies may not coincide with theirs. If you do mix well, then they may ask you to a private (or not private) initial meeting with the priesthood and or Council. A lot of covens will have you to meet the other members of their coven on a neutral ground (coffee shops, restaurants or bars) before deciding if you are right for them. Don’t take offense if you are not asked to join right away. They may need extra time to feel you out as well.

Some other ways to find covens are online searches. Go to any search engine (ie. Yahoo, Google, Netscape, or ask.com) and do a search for covens or groves in your area. There are many online references to covens on the net. Witchvox is a really large one to start on. You can search your state with them. Another way which is less popular anymore is through newsgroups. Many other places like "Meetups" offer postings of witches meet and greets. Nowadays, there are many online virtual covens available to you such as Msn Groups and Yahoo groups. These groups offer a coven atmosphere without even traveling anywhere except with your computer mouse. People who have a physical disability and are unable to leave home might find these types of Covens very practical. However you do not need to be disabled, I just mean that they could be useful for that purpose. Another reason could be you do not feel like physically going to a coven and meeting people face to face.

You should find out as much as possible about the group before signing papers to join. Make sure you read all their forms fully. You do not want to sign something only to realize later that you did not want to do it or was not aware of a certain responsibility. There is nothing to fear of joining a Coven. Most of the Covens will perform a dedication rite first, and then an initiation rite with you after a certain amount of time of being active with them. Initiations are not to be feared, the most of the Covens may blind fold you and or bind your arms during the rite. (They will untie you I promise!) Or cover your body with a blanket or similar ideas.

They all have a different take on their initiations. This is to symbolize a rebirth and acceptance into their Coven. If you are comfortable with all of their requirements then you are ready to join. If you no longer wish to be apart the group, do not give out their secrets or names, jobs or places of worship to anyone else. This is very unethical and could be detrimental to that group’s privacy. You would not want someone to reveal your true identity to someone you do not know personally do you? Don’t do it to them either. "An in harm none do what ye will".

Yes there are many books on the subject of Covens. Some book examples are:

"Coven Craft" from Amber K
"Inside a Witches Coven" by Edain McCoy
"Spell Working for Covens" by Edain McCoy

And many others you may find in our bookstore, on amazon.com or local/online book stores. Just do a search online for books pertaining to Covens.

You should not be deterred away from starting your own coven or grove. There are many reasons for starting your own. Reasons might be because you cannot find a compatible coven to your liking or there are none close enough to your home. However, I must warn you, it is not easy starting your own Coven. It requires a lot of your own free time and many sleepless nights to setting one up. It requires a lot of work and thought to make one work. So much work goes into detailing the coven to work for any amount of time. A poorly designed structure will fail. So make sure if you decide to start one, which you will finish through with it until the end and be selective of whom you let into your magickal circle. Research the idea well before starting it.

I would suggest getting some books on Coven structuring and read them thoroughly. "Coven Craft" is an excellent book designed to creating a Coven. Other suggestions are that you at least be familiar with all the Sabbats and full moon Esbats. They are a critical part of running a Coven. I would also suggest studying the Craft or Druids for awhile before attempting to run a coven. Don’t just read one or two books on the craft and decide, hey I can do this. You need to be fairly versed in ritual structures and how to run an effective Coven. Would you want to join a Coven of people who had no clue how a Ritual is to be run? Or why they are even meeting for an Esbat in the first place? I wouldn’t. If you possess leadership, mentoring, counseling and teaching skills, then you might be cut out to effectively running a Coven. These are integral parts of being a successful priest/ess.

On another note, you do not have to be initiated as a witch to be a priest or priestess in Wicca (or other path) by another witch. You can perform a self-initiation upon yourselves or as a couple. You can also perform a birthing ritual for your grove or coven. There are a few traditions in which they do require you to be initiated by them. Such as the "Alexandrian or Gardnerian" traditions and others. The rules or requirements are all valid in the eyes of your Deities. You can create your own tradition as well if you cannot agree upon someone else’s ideas.

So you have created a Coven or Grove, all the forms, documents and Book of shadows is now complete. I am ready to advertise for members. Have you double checked everything? Do you have documents to sign, protecting you and the Covenstead? Have you thought about how you will take care of disagreements? Will your elders counsel take care of it? Will the whole Coven make decisions? Will I become 301c status and be recognized as a non-profit church? There is much involved with running a proper Coven group. If you have another person or more to lighten the load it will help tremendously.

Well should I advertise in the main stream or just keep it small? Do you intend to get large with your group, or maintain a traditional 13 or less group in your Coven? Make sure know ahead of time. Large groups can advertise on the internet by creating a dedicated web page about your group. Then they can do banner exchanges with other like sites. You can also advertise in occult book or ritual tool suppliers on their bulletin boards or supply them with your brochures. Many other Pagan periodicals are available to be listed in like "Branches" and "Paganet News". Even the newspaper will allow you to post an article or classified for seeking other pagan members for your group. But be selective of your ad, you will draw a lot of people to yourself. Don’t use words like "a witch seeking other witches". You may draw in the wrong crowd to your ad. Try using words like "Seeking followers of the Wiccan path for a study group or possible Grove". Never use your real name or address. Use a post office box or e-mail for corresponding with others just to be on the safe side of things. If you get interested people, set up a meeting at a mutual place in public to meet up with them.