Covens: What to Watch Out for.
A coven is a place for witches to gather and perform spells and rituals, to have guided meditations, and to teach other and guide their peeps along their path. There are different types of covers for different types of witches and to meet different needs, but the best covens and open and diverse. It is good to have a variety of people to learn from; different ages, different races, LGBT, different types of witches, different beliefs… so on. Here is a list of things to watch out for in a coven. If you notice any of these things, LEAVE.
Strange Initiations: Many covens will have you go through an initiation. This is normal, with in certain bounds. But you should be wary and so no if you are asked to: Perform a spell you are not comfortable with, give a personal affect from you or someone else (this can give the other members or leader power over you. With a personal affect, serious curses can be performed), perform a curse, give away your complete birth chart (Sun, rising, and moon is fine), or to have sex. (Many covens that are very creepy and dangerous will tell you that you need to have sex with the leader and/or all other members of the coven. This is manipulation, violation, and could easily return into rape.)
Partaking in eating, drinking, smoking, or otherwise consuming things you are not comfortable with: You may be offered herbs to eat or smoke. This is fine, as long as you are comfortable with it, consenting, and of age. This includes alcohol, weed, and alcohol. Some herbs are hallucinogenic or otherwise mind altering and may also be used during certain rituals.
Sacrifice: I am not saying that you are not allowed to join covens that deal with sacrifice, but I heed you to be very careful and wary. Blood sacrifice of animals, or rituals involving the sacrifice of human blood, can easily, easily be a sign that black magick is being used.
Telling you that you can’t leave: Some covens will threaten to curse you if you leave. This is why it is best not to give personal affects in the beginning, as I said.If this happens, get away from it as soon as possible and lose contact with all members. Shield and ward yourself and get others to pray for you.
Recruitment: Stay away from or leave covens that try to make you recruit others, especially if they call them followers or something along those lines. This is cult activity and a form of human trafficking. It may be the Occult, but it shouldn’t be a cult.
Spirit Work: It is fine if your coven deals with spirits, but there is a line that must be drawn. Spirits should not be summoned. They should not be woken from resting places if they are at peace or at rest. Dealing with spirits involves the spirits that are already around or “awake” if done properly and should not involve raising spirits. It is also an issue if your coven is participating in this activity every meeting.
Demonology: Some witches are into demons. I am myself, but to do ANYTHING with them, you must be very experienced, very knowledgeable, and very protected. Every person who deals with demons knows a few basic and very important rules: Do not make deals with them, do not trade with them, do not try to gain anything from them, do not try to antagonise them, and it is usually a bad idea to summon them. Also, demons can not and no one should try to use them for sex or pregnancy.
Body modifications: No one should make you get piercings, tattoos, cuts, or any type of body mod to be a part of a coven. You should also not be required to have a certain colour hair, skin, eyes, or anything else.
Covens that exclude certain types of people: Excluding specific people, such as someone who betrayed the coven, is fine, but when a certain group is excluded, stay away. This can be based or race, sex, orientation, religion, or anything.
Shit talk: Covens who shit talk other covens are always problematic and ugly. You don’t want to be involved with that type of people. Witchcraft is meant to be a community of love, equality, and acceptance. Drama, backstabbing, shit talking, and things like that are drama and shows that the coven is run by immature people. This extends to past members of the coven, new members, possible members, the coven leader, and people in other covens.
