"number of persons involved may vary. Although some consider thirteen to be ideal (probably in deference to Murray's theories), any group of at least three can be a coven. A group of two is usually called a ""working couple"" (regardless of the sexes). Within the community, many believe that a coven larger than thirteen is unwieldy, citing unwieldy group dynamics and an unfair burden on the leadership. When a coven has grown too large to be manageable, it may split, or ""hive"". In Wicca, this may also occur when a newly made High Priest or High Priestess, also called 3rd"
"on Facebook by Becca Gordon for women in Los Angeles to gather, hike, and howl at the moon. It meets monthly and is estimated to have almost 3,500 members. A January 2016 gathering at Griffith Park drew nearly 1,000 women, and was described as follows: ""Many of the women ... were there in groups — mothers and daughters, friends, colleagues. Some arrived solo and struck up conversations with other women or hiked in solitude."" In popular culture, a coven is a group or gathering of witches who work spells in tandem. Such imagery can be traced back to Renaissance prints"
"their enemies, the upper classes, and the Catholic Church. Murray combined testimony from several witch trials to arrive at the idea that witches met four times per year at coven meetings or ""Sabbaths"". She also used one piece of testimony to arrive at the conclusion that covens were usually composed of 13 witches, led by a male priest who would dress in animal skins, horns, and fork-toed shoes to denote his authority (the dress was assumed to be a naturalistic explanation for accused witch's descriptions of Satan). According to Murray, the traditional name for coven gatherings, ""Sabbath"", was derived from"
"or ""Sabbaths"". She also used one piece of testimony to arrive at the conclusion that covens were usually composed of 13 witches, led by a male priest who would dress in animal skins, horns, and fork-toed shoes to denote his authority (the dress was assumed to be a naturalistic explanation for accused witch's descriptions of Satan). The ""Grand Master"", according to Murray, not only represented the Horned God but was believed to fully embody him, allowing his presence at the Sabbath. She wrote: According to Murray, the traditional name for coven gatherings, ""Sabbath"", was derived from ""s'esbattre"", meaning ""to frolic""."
"Secret Circle"", ""True Blood"", and ""Once Upon a Time"". The third season of ""American Horror Story"" is entitled """", ""Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV series)"", and focuses on witches. In vampire novels such as ""The Vampire Chronicles"" by Anne Rice and the ""Twilight"" series by Stephenie Meyer, covens are families or unrelated groups of vampires who live together. Covens feature in the video game Dishonored, specifically in the DLC's Knife of Dunwall, and The Brigmore Witches. Coven A coven usually refers to a group or gathering of witches. The word ""coven"" remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret"
"commonly quoted Wiccan tradition holds that the ideal number of members for a coven is thirteen, though this is not held as a hard-and-fast rule. Indeed, many U.S. covens are far smaller, though the membership may be augmented by unaffiliated Wiccans at ""open"" rituals. When covens grow beyond their ideal number of members, they often split (or ""hive"") into multiple covens, yet remain connected as a group. Initiation into a coven is traditionally preceded by an apprenticeship period of a year and a day. A course of study may be set during this period. In some covens a ""dedication"" ceremony"
"depicting witches and to the three ""weird sisters"" in Shakespeare's ""Macbeth"" (1606). Orgiastic meetings of witches are depicted in the Robert Burns poem ""Tam o' Shanter"" (1791) and in the Goethe play ""Faust"" (1832). Films featuring covens include ""Rosemary's Baby"" (1968), ""Suspiria"" (1977) and its 2018 remake, ""The Witches of Eastwick"" (1987), ""Four Rooms"" (1995), ""The Craft"" (1996), ""Coven"" (1997), ""Underworld"" (2003), """" (2006), ""The Covenant"" (2006), ""Paranormal Activity 3"" (2011), and ""The Witch"" (2015). In television, covens have been portrayed in the U.S. in supernatural dramas such as ""Charmed"", ""Witches of East End"", ""The Vampire Diaries"", ""The Originals"", ""The"
"Covenant of the Goddess The Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) is a cross-traditional Wiccan group of solitary Wiccan practitioners and over one hundred affiliated covens (or congregations). It was founded in 1975 in order to increase co-operation among witches and to secure for witches and covens the legal protection enjoyed by members of other religions. Member covens generally focus theology and ritual around the worship of the Goddess and the Old Gods (or the Goddess alone), which is general practice within Wicca. The Covenant of the Goddess operates largely by consensus and maintains strict autonomy for all members. The CoG"
"witch, Nanny the village wise woman and Magrat the modern romantic Wiccan. It has been explained in the books that three witches are required for a coven. Two witches get on each other's nerves; the third one can get them to make up, so they can all get on the nerves of everyone else. If a coven has more than three members, they ""all"" get on each other's nerves. (It is also mentioned that the true collective noun for a group of witches is not ""coven"", but ""argument"".) Magrat Garlick (pronounced ""Magg-rat"") is the daughter of Simplicity Garlick, granddaughter of"
"Summoner (Wicca) The Summoner, sometimes called a fetch, is a position in many traditional Wiccan covens. The primary, or at least most evident, function of the summoner is to call other coven members to a meeting or ritual. The summoner is also responsible for all inter-coven communication, and traditionally is the only member of a coven who will know where other covens reside. (This tradition is generally not followed today, and there is argument about to what extent it was ever followed). In many covens, the summoner is always male, and is considered the masculine equivalent of the maiden. Historically,"
"to Sunday, or to a time period similar to Sabbath in the seventh-day church minority. In connection with the medieval beliefs in the evil power of witches and in the malevolence of Jews and Judaizing heretics (both being Sabbathkeepers), satanic gatherings of witches were by outsiders called ""sabbats"", ""synagogues"", or ""convents"". Local variations of the name given to witches' gatherings were frequent. Perhaps the earliest work that mentions a something like a gathering that might be interpreted, from the Christian point of view, as witches sabbath is""Canon Episcopi"" (906) and later included in Burchard of Worms's collection in the 11th"
"of that total. According to John Stearn(e) known at various times as the witch–hunter, and ""witch pricker"", associate to Matthew Hopkins, in his book ""A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft"" there were one hundred and twenty others in gaol awaiting trial, of these 17 were men, Thomas Ady in 1656 writes of ""about a hundred"", though others record ""almost 200"". Following a three-week adjournment made necessary by the advancing King's Army, the second sitting of the court resulted in 68 other ""condemnations""; though reports say – ""mass executions of sixty or seventy witches"". Both Hopkins and Stearne treated the search"
"Witches' Sabbath The Witches' Sabbath is a term applied to a gathering of those considered to practice witchcraft and other rites. Prior to the late 19th century, it is difficult to locate any English use of the term 'sabbath' to denote a gathering of witches. The phrase is used by Henry Charles Lea's in his History of the Inquisition (1888). Writing in 1900, German historian Joseph Hansen who was a correspondent and a German translator of Lea's work, frequently uses the shorthand phrase ""hexensabbat"" to interpret medieval trial records, though any consistently recurring term is noticeably rare in the copious"
"she claimed that the religion was largely passed down hereditary lines. Murray described the religion as being divided into covens containing thirteen members, led by a coven officer who was often termed the ""Devil"" in the trial accounts, but who was accountable to a ""Grand Master"". According to Murray, the records of the coven were kept in a secret book, with the coven also disciplining its members, to the extent of executing those deemed traitors. Describing this witch-cult as ""a joyous religion"", she claimed that the two primary festivals that it celebrated were on May Eve and November Eve, although"
"the summoner was the person who would let members know about covens, and who would find new members in the community. Summoner (Wicca) The Summoner, sometimes called a fetch, is a position in many traditional Wiccan covens. The primary, or at least most evident, function of the summoner is to call other coven members to a meeting or ritual. The summoner is also responsible for all inter-coven communication, and traditionally is the only member of a coven who will know where other covens reside. (This tradition is generally not followed today, and there is argument about to what extent it"
"two figures, known as Maybelle ""Cardea"" Warren and Jerome Warren, with other members being Jim Murdoch, Patricia Fern, Tom C. (""Arven""), and Ruth D., the latter of whom was a preacher's wife. As related by Voigt, most of them had been immigrants from the Southern states, mainly from Alabama. According to Voigt, the coven placed an emphasis on practical magic rather than worship, theology, ethics, or ritual, and were eclectic in their practices, mixing Huna with forms of American folk magic. She noted that they did not worship a goddess but held to a belief in a god who was"
"many other Dianic witches (notably Budapest) do not consider hexing or binding of those who attack women to be wrong, and actively encourage the binding of rapists. Like other Wiccans, Dianics may form covens, attend festivals, celebrate the eight major Wiccan holidays, and gather on Esbats. They use many of the same altar tools, rituals, and vocabulary as other Wiccans. Dianics may also gather in less formal Circles. The most noticeable difference between the two are that Dianic covens of Budapest lineage are composed entirely of women. When asked why ""men and gods"" are excluded from her rituals, Budapest stated:"
"alive. These 41 alleged witches were also taken into custody. They admitted to having killed children, crippled or diseased people, including their own families. They said they had been forced into these actions by the devil. Near Straelen the magistrates arrested another 10 alleged witches, who in their turn accused a midwife named Entjen Gillis. Entjen Gillis confessed to having killed the foetuses of 40 pregnant women, and 150 babies just after birth. She had also supposedly killed their mothers and her husband and children with witchcraft. She was burnt alive. Altogether there were 63 witches and Jan van Ool,"
"Lady Theos, Gardnerian 30. Lord Phoenix, Gardnerian 31. Stan Musicar (sp?), from NY <nowiki>32. Lady Aiesha, Alexandrian, (deceased)}}</nowiki> 33. Edmond King, Council Chairman (acting) American Council of Witches The American Council of Witches (sometimes called the Council of American Witches) was an independent group founded in 1973 consisting of approximately seventy-three members who followed Pagan, Neopagan, or Witchcraft traditions; the group convened and disbanded in 1974 after drafting a set of common principles. The council convened April 11–14, 1974, in a Spring ""Witchmeet"" in Minneapolis, Minnesota to postulate a summary set of principles which would clarify the actuality of Neopagan"
"Völva A ' or ' (Old Norse and Icelandic, respectively; plural forms and , sometimes anglicized vala; also ' or ') is a female shaman and seer in Norse religion and a recurring motif in Norse mythology. The were referred to by many names. Old Norse means ""wand carrier"" or ""carrier of a magic staff"", and it continues Proto-Germanic , which is derived from a word for ""wand"" (Old Norse ). ""Vala"", on the other hand, is a literary form based on . Another name for the is (plenty of knowing) indicating she knew , and . A practitioner of"
"Drawing down the Moon (ritual) Drawing down the Moon (also known as drawing down the Goddess) is a central ritual in many contemporary Wiccan traditions. During the ritual, a coven's High Priestess enters a trance and requests that the Goddess or Triple Goddess, symbolized by the Moon, enter her body and speak through her. The High Priestess may be aided by the High Priest, who invokes the spirit of the Goddess. During her trance, the Goddess speaks through the High Priestess. The name most likely comes from a depiction of two women and the moon on an ancient Greek vase,"
"later Arthurian Fisher King. The Welsh ""Dream of Rhonabwy"" illustrates well the association of ravens with war. In many parts of Britain, gatherings of crows, or more often magpies, are counted using the divination rhyme: ""one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told."" Cornish superstition holds that when a lone magpie is encountered, it must be loudly greeted with respect. Various Germanic peoples highly revered the raven. The major deity Odin was so associated with ravens throughout history that he"
"individuals had to sign a covenant or were baptized into the faith. At the same time, she claimed that the religion was largely passed down hereditary lines. Murray described the religion as being divided into covens containing thirteen members, led by a coven officer who was often termed the ""Devil"" in the trial accounts, but who was accountable to a ""Grand Master"". According to Murray, the records of the coven were kept in a secret book, with the coven also disciplining its members, to the extent of executing those deemed traitors. Describing this witch-cult as ""a joyous religion"", she claimed"
"in Kedjom Keku communities, ""anlu"" in Kom communities, and ""ndofoumbgui"" in the Aghem tribe. In general these gatherings would involve older women, usually post-menopausal, gathering together in order to punish individuals of the community for offense such as being accused of witchcraft, falsely accusing others of witchcraft, physically abusing family members or pregnant women, incest, or committing other offenses. In the precolonial situation, these practices were very local, never extended outside of a single ethnic community, and established clear remedies for the individuals targeted (typically begging for forgiveness from the women, paying a fine, and being ritually cleansed). The older"
"a distillation of a religion found at the beginning of most, if not all, cultures. They regard wise women and midwives as the first witches. Dianic witchcraft first became visible in the 1970s, alongside the writings of Zsuzsanna Budapest. Her feminist interpretation of witchcraft followed a few decades after the acknowledgment of Wiccan culture by Gerald Gardner in the 1940s. Today, there are at least 800,000 individuals who consider themselves Wiccan followers or witches in North America. Gardner and Valiente advocated a proto-feminist ideal of priestess authority in service to the Wiccan God and Goddess. Covens in ""traditional"" Wicca (i.e.,"
"the possibility of practicing Wiccan-style ritual. The Laws are sometimes known as ""Lady Sheba's Laws"" or ""161 Rules of the Witch"" (her title for them). In 1979 a Council of Elders at a festival in America produced a set of heavily revised Laws which made them more acceptable to modern Wiccans. Wiccan Laws The Wiccan Laws, also called the Craft Laws, the Old Laws, the Ardanes (or Ordains) or simply The Laws are, according to claims made by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s, ancient laws governing the practice of Covens, passed from initiate to initiate as part of the Book"
"between Forres and Nairn in Scotland, has long been identified as the mythical meeting place of Macbeth and the witches. (Map) Traditionally, Forres is believed to have been the home of both Duncan and Macbeth. However, Samuel Taylor Coleridge proposed that the three weird sisters should be seen as ambiguous figures, never actually being called witches by themselves or other characters in the play. Moreover, they were depicted as more fair than foul both in Holinshed's account and in that of contemporary playgoer Simon Forman. The Three Witches first appear in Act 1.1 where they agree to meet later with"
"of publicity led to Doreen and others formulating thirteen proposed 'Rules for the Craft', which included restrictions on contact with the press. Gardner responded with the sudden production of the Wiccan Laws which led to some of his members, including Valiente, leaving the coven. Gardner reported that witches were taught that the power of the human body can be released, for use in a coven's circle, by various means, and released more easily without clothing. A simple method was dancing round the circle singing or chanting; another method was the traditional ""binding and scourging."" In addition to raising power, ""binding"
"Horror Story"" or Vanessa Redgrave in ""The Devils"". Nun A nun is a member of a religious community of women, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery. Communities of nuns exist in numerous religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism, and Taoism. In the Buddhist tradition, female monastics are known as Bhikkhuni, and take several additional vows compared to male monastics (bhikkhus). Nuns are most common in Mahayana Buddhism, but have more recently become more prevalent in other traditions. Within Christianity, women religious, known as nuns or religious sisters, are found in"
"Ellwangen witch trial The Ellwangen witch trial took place in the Catholic Prince Bishopric of Ellwangen between 1611 and 1618. It was preceded by a first witch trial in 1588. The first witch trial led to the death of 17/20 people, and the second led to the death of 430, making the number of deaths to about 450 in total. The witch trial occurred in a religiously unstable area and was instigated by the initiative of the authorities. In April 1611, a woman was arrested accused of having blasphemed the communion. Under torture, she was pressed to admit witch craft"
"was considered dishonorable. In the early part of the 20th century, it was common to hold séances at dinner parties. A séance is an event where a group of people (3 or more) try to communicate with the dead through one person of the group, known as a psychic medium. This fascination with death in Western Culture can be observed in many of Walt Disney's fairytales. After being responsible for the death of an owl on his family's farm when he was 7 years old, he was haunted by the experience and other influences of death in his life, leading"
"witches then prevalent in Britain, which often held that these witches met together in groups, sometimes known as covens, and at times flew through the air in order to get to their meeting points. In most cases, it seems that individuals set themselves up as cunning folk with no former basis or training, although others came from a family background of professional magical practitioners. One of the most prominent examples of a family dynasty of cunning people was the Harries family from Cwrt y Cadno in Wales; Henry Harries (1739–1805) was a yeoman farmer who had an interest in astrology"
"will. A local newspaper informed that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft. An estimated 50–150 alleged witches are killed each year in Papua New Guinea. Among the Russian words for ""witch"", ведьма (ved'ma) literally means ""one who knows"", from Old Slavic вѣдъ ""to know""). Another frequent term is колдунья (koldun'ya), ""sorcerer"" being колдун (koldun). Pagan practices formed a part of Russian and Eastern Slavic culture; the Russian people were deeply superstitious. The witchcraft practiced consisted mostly of earth magic and herbology; it was not so significant"