The Temple of St. Brigid's Well

Coven Structure

Compiled and written by Dr. Michael Farrell. Part of the SBA Basic Wicca Lecture Series

 

Here is information about how our Covens, The Temple of St. Brigid’s Moon (TSBM) and The Temple of St. Brigid’s Well (TSBW) work in the day to day organization and functioning of our Covens. Between the two separate groups, there are minor differences but nothing in the way to contradict this description.

 

First of all, some definitions of a Coven (as we see it):

            * A Coven is a group of highly individual and individualistic, creative, intuitive people who recognize that  blending all their individual qualities and strengths together works well within the Craft.

           * A Coven is a group of people therefore, who weave their individual creativity, power, magick and inspiration into one collective whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. Some of us call ourselves Witches and some do not. Together, we are all Wiccans.

              * A Coven is a group of people who experience spirituality together through seasonal and other rituals, and who, while retaining their own individual views and beliefs, recognize that those beliefs and principles that all Wiccans and many Witches, at least broadly hold in common, can be woven into one communal spiritual structure and experience-framework. 

              * A Coven is a pool of knowledge and experience that all members can draw from.

 

These are just a few of the possibilities and potentials inherent in a Coven. Here, we open that up more:

 

All Wiccans are creative, artistic, intuitive and spiritual people. All Wiccans and Witches are highly individualistic. Weaving all of that together can cause conflicts at times in most Covens, but what sustains every Coven is that all its members keep their guiding principles firmly in mind and recognize that if all incorporate some of their individuality, then we can bring all of our talents and power together in ways that benefit all. Quite simply, there is a strength-in-numbers logic that is worth sacrificing some individual freedom of expression for.

 

In order to achieve this, most Covens work through an agreed structure of rituals, activities, festivals and meetings. The Tradition known as Celtic Woodland is the Tradition of which that TSBM is a member. The structure of a Coven is designed to enable all members to express their creativity and inspiration, without having that be repressed or suppressed in any way.

 

At the core of our Wicca, and in some Witchcraft-based covens, there exists spirituality - what many people refer to as religion. Religion can be spiritual and spirituality can also be religious. The spirituality and religion of Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW) is earth honoring, earth respecting, recognizes a dynamic creative balance at work that we term the Goddess AND the God, and is experiential:

         * everyone in a Coven participates fully in all rituals, and partakes fully of all mysteries and spiritual experiences

            * every member of a Coven is a priestess or priest (or a Priestess or Priest if beyond First Degree) and no one stands between them and the Goddess and God

             * all members experience their own spirituality first-hand and very personally.

 

Some of the ways that Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW) work with all of this on a day-to-day basis is outlined below.

 

Creativity: Many of our rituals and festivals have 'set' ritual parts that we always use, but most also have space within them for interpretation of the general broad themes for example, and such as spell workings and similar can be approached in a wide variety of ways. Generally beforehand, but sometimes on the occasion itself, we have 'brain-storming' sessions where all put forward their ideas, creative thinking and input generally as to how we are going to perform any ritual, or celebrate any seasonal ritual.

 

Those with appropriate needs select incenses (purchases or made in house) to use, or candles (purchases or made in house) for rituals, write invocations or the entire ritual, or perhaps make ritual items for use in rituals and festivals, such as floral crowns for Beltane, or special tools to use in ceremonies.

 

Conflict resolution: Disagreements, arguments, jealousies and conflicts generally arise from time to time in all groups of humans. We resolve these by either the individuals concerned bringing them out for discussion, or by the High Priestess [HPS] (any or all, there are more than one in our covens!) or High Priest [HP] (any or all, there may be more than one in our covens!) recognizing them and bringing them out into the open. Either way, they do come out into the open where they can be dealt with in positive ways. Generally through full, open discussion, and using a ‘Talking Stick process’ if need be, so that all Coveners can fully express themselves. Conflict is potentially a source of strength: by working through conflicts and overcoming challenges, we develop strength and balance at all levels.

 

Stores and supplies: Candles, incenses and similar are used at all rituals. Various foods and drinks are consumed at all Festivals and other rituals or gatherings. The Covenstead is generally the home of the HP, HPS or another member, and so attending Coveners use toilet rolls, soap, towels, dishes, drink coffee/tea, and eat cookies and similar snacks at times. Unless Coveners bring food to the Covenstead, the homeowner is generally to one who provides these things out of their pocket.

 

Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW) do occasionally collect dues to help cover these expenses but also work on the principle of personal responsibility. Everyone respects this and contributes according to their means. Some people contribute money, often only $3 per family per meeting, while others bring candles or incense for rituals. Some bring flowers for the altar; others make, clean or repair ritual tools for the coven. Everyone brings food and drink to share at Festivals. All help with preparation and with cleaning up afterwards.

 

Communication: Every festival, Full Moon esbat, or other gathering is 'synchronize diaries' time... We seek as far as possible to celebrate seasonal festivals at the appropriate time, full moons at the actual night of the full moon, etc. As Witches are real people living real lives, sometimes we have to work around people’s shifts, family and other life demands. If there is ever a change of plan we use the telephone, email or text system to let all know.

 

Teaching circles and workshops: Working rituals and celebrating festivals requires two things: One is having the skills to do this properly, and the other is keeping the energy flowing.

 

To help with the first we hold regular, generally weekly or bi-monthly sessions (each coven has its own schedule) at which we learn new things or work on magickal skills such as Visualization, making Talismans, the principles of spell-working, and similar subjects. These are school type sessions but all who attend do so because they want to learn and develop these skills, and all recognize and respect that most all in attendance are grown adults. However, at any point in time, we may have younger members attending too, as we are family groups. Young members learn how to react and behave as Wiccan members.

 

Though these classes are focused on the subject in hand, and all need to remain focused and purposeful, they're not rigid affairs but they are serious ones. Neither are they "Teacher speaks and children listen.” Sometimes the HPS, HP or other knowledgeable Covener presents the material as a lecture or talk, but that then shifts into full discussion, input from all, and question & answer time. From there we generally move into some practical application and exploration, time permitting or this is handled individually at home. All of this is within a loose but focused structure that respects the adulthood of all present.

 

For the second thing, we also hold occasional participatory workshops and sessions where we explore such subjects as mask-making, wand or other tool making, ritual writing and theater, languages, meditation, chanting and drumming, herbalism, Tarot, Runes, tree-lore and other similar subjects. Basically these aren't according to a set curriculum (but may often come from such), but explore those subjects that Coveners want to explore and learn about. Some of these explore the theory of a topic, most of them are practical and 'hands-on', including such as 'Herb-walks'- walking our local countryside discovering and identifying herbs and plants, trees and shrubs, or 'Tree-walks' to help people learn how to identify trees and bushes or about the energies associated with them. There are practical reasons to do this as one will learn which woods to use for such as Wands or Staffs, and magickal associations and mythic correspondences of various trees or how the tree energies flow and interact with other energies around it, including our own.

 

This helps with developing skills such as intuition, theory contemplation, idea development, artistic inspiration and visualization, but it also helps to keep the interest and energy flowing using the same ritual format for "Casting the Circle" and other parts of rituals (most people like at least some ritual regularity.) This ensures that we all can flow straight into what is planned as soon as we start. But 'variety is the spice of life', and so we explore other ways of working rituals (ritual theater, etc.) and other areas such as mask work and other crafty projects.

 

This helps to keep the energy flowing, which also then yields greater input of creativity into our rituals and spiritual experience. This also helps people access the collective pool of knowledge and experience that our Covens hold, and provides a structure through which those who do have skills and knowledge can share them with others in good ways. From this, each and every Covener grows and develops, and that individual growth also becomes collective growth: within the fairly tight-knit structure of a Coven that kind of creative, mutual inspiration keeps the energy flowing for all, and that benefits all of us.

 

Speaking for myself, I must say that I like to work magick, celebrate rituals and festivals and share spiritual experience with motivated, knowledgeable and energetic people such as are our members. If I can help other Coveners to develop in these ways, then that's as good for me as it is for them. This is the main reason I developed the curriculum at St. Brigid’s Academy (SBA). And we do not seek to repress anyone, or keep any kind of monopoly on knowledge, information or experience within the Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW).

 

Previous Knowledge and experience: Very few people come to the Craft without at least a certain level of personal knowledge and experience. Even if that's only gained from reading a few books and experimenting with spells. To date, SBA registration data indicate this to be about 92% of those who apply. Many people come to the Craft with a lot of knowledge and experience. We recognize and value all of this individual experience, and being a member of our Coven does not mean this knowledge or experience must be denied or rejected but recognized, acknowledged and shared. From this and the structure that we work with, the fabric of the Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW) is woven.

 

Support and guidance: A Coven also functions as a support and encouragement group. Obviously unless there are members of the Coven who are qualified to offer psychiatric help, that only extends so far into that kind of area, but bearing that in mind it can also be seen that a Coven provides a 'family' of people whom you can turn to for support and encouragement on the way, and with difficulties in your life. Luckily, for us, we have our Ordained Wiccan Ministers in the Covens who have undertaken course work at SBA that provides enough training to be Pastoral Counselors, but still, they are not psychologists or psychiatrists. They do know when to refer serious problems to the properly trained personnel.

 

Craft Elders are generally people of considerable life experience: They aren't a substitute for sorting out your problems, and they can't do that for Coveners, but they can provide advice, guidance and support when you need that to help you work through any life problems. A Coven isn't a place to do therapy, but it's a powerful place with support in which to grow and develop the strength to overcome any difficulties you may have.

 

That covers most of the 'day-to-day, 'real-time' functions of a Coven, but I'm sure that many people will have questions about other areas not covered here. If so, do get in touch and simply ask. We are happy to answer all questions to the best of our ability.

 

We cannot, though, offer information about Covens or individuals other than Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW), and we cannot intercede in any conflicts others may have within the Craft outside our groups.

 

 

Celtic Woodland Covens (TSBM and TSBW) High Council Members [3 of 5]

and St. Brigid’s Academy and Seminary Upper Staff

 

 

Office of the Chancellor

Grand High Priestess TSBM and TSBW

Chancellor Rev. Kim Hamilton

 

Office of the Vice-Chancellor

Grand High Priest Emeritus TSBM and TSBW

High Priest TSBW

Vice-Chancellor Rev. Dr. Michael Farrell

 

Office of Administration

Mother High Priestess TSBM

Administrator Janice River Enya