Joining a coven is not like joining a church. There is more to it than just showing up regularly. For one, British Traditional Wicca is a participatory religion; training is needed to know what to do to in a circle to help make it work. Secondly, the kind of work we do requires us to open up emotionally and psychically, and this needs a certain amount of trust in one another. Fitting in with the group and having the right attitude is therefore very important.

Taking time to get to know one another also helps to protect the student, by giving them ample opportunity to get a better idea of what both the coven and British Traditional Wicca is all about, and determine if the practices sit well with them. Sometimes seekers, in their need to be accepted by a group, are vulnerable to people with questionable intentions. It is a bad sign if a teacher wants to rush a student into committing to the coven.

Before thinking about joining a coven, you need to first get a sense of what British Traditional Wicca is about, in order to decide if it is something you really want. We encourage people to do some reading and exploration, both books and online. See the section on Learning More.

Once you have worked through written sources, the next step is approaching a coven for practical training. If this is what you are interests you, and you are over 18, live within an hour of where we meet (Ottawa, Lanark County, east Renfrew County), and have means of transportation, you can contact us to discuss the best options for training. We may take you on as a student or refer you to another group, if that would be a better fit.

At some point in training, if it the teacher believes it to be of benefit to all involved, a student may be invited to participate in one of our circles. If all goes well and it seems appropriate to the teacher, the student may be invited to more of our circles. This is a chance to see if there compatibility, both with the coven members and with the way we work. After about a year of training and working with the coven, only then do we discuss initiation, which is what makes one a member of the coven. Alternatively, you may be taught the skills that would build a foundation for solitary practice.