Senan again. I decided that in honor of our initiation night, I would post our... hmm... they aren't so much rules as the criteria for members. We also have some general information like our maximum amount of members. I suppose you'll understand once you've read it, so go do that now.
Maximum Amount of Members
After a quick look at numbers and their symbolism, we decided that nine is the best maximum number. Three is the number of joy, growth and creativity and is representative of the Mother Goddess in many aspects. Any multiple of three strengthens the power of three considerably, multiplying three on itself seems incredibly powerful. It's still a one-digit number and it's fairly small, yet ridiculously powerful, and there's also the belief that whatever magick is put into the world by a Witch or a Coven it comes back threefold- again, you're multiplying three by itself, so nine seems like it's near infinitely powerful. That is our maximum number. It can certainly be less.
The Criteria:
There six keys to being a good Witch and Coven member: Love, Honor, Trust, Secrecy, Belief and Goodness.
Love of yourself, Love of your Sisters, Brothers, and your Coven, Love of the Earth and her Children, and Love of peace. When you Love unconditionally, you can open yourself to the true magick of the Universe and that is what is most important.
With Love comes Honor. No secrets in the Circle whether they have to do with magick or not. Honor not to put Magick upon those who do not want it, or (in the cases where protection is needed but explanation and permission cannot be given,) the ability to Honor your Sisters and Brothers and ask their advice.
Trust in your Coven, Trust in the Goddess, Trust in Nature, and Trust in the Magick are essential. If a Witch does not Trust in ther Coven, The Lord and The Lady, the Magick, Nature or themselves, then negative energy is brought into the circle, which can lead to disasterous results. Love and Trust don't banish fear, but they should enable your actions by comforting and encouraging your heart.
This goes into Belief. Honestly, hopelessly, fully and truly believing that there is Magick in the world puts out the energy of Love and Trust into the Universe and the Magick within you wakes up and wants to be used.
Secrecy is fairly plain: Covens are still scoffed at and looked down upon and it is unadvisable to put that sort of negative energy into your heart or let it be put there by others who don't believe. It's not anyone's job to convince other people what is and what isn't, but it is our duty to our Coven and to ourselves not to allow our mind and our spirit to be deterred from our Belief, Trust, and Love.
Finally, we have Goodness. Goodness is more a desire to put the other aspects into the Universe. The desire to protect them that need it, and confront them that need to be confronted-not neccessarily cast upon, but coaxed into Love.
We believe that these are the criteria and abilities to look for in a Sister and try to cultivate in ourselves as well. It's tradtion that a Witch study with a Coven for a period of time before being initiated into the Circle, and when choosing new potential members, rather than looking for the flowers of these aspects, we look for the seeds.
Initiation:
There are two phases of initiation: Test and Passing. The Test phase can be taken every six months until a Witch meets our criteria. It is a combination of written questions and answers to get a good grasp on each potential member as a person. The Test is given in phases, where the requirement is to successfully complete one before moving onto the next.After the Test phase of initiation, it is safe to consider the Witch our Sister in the Circle. The Passing should be to demonstrate her abilities. She should have been with us for a fair period of time and have studied on her own as well, so this will just be testing her ability to brew, chant, channel, charm and things like that. After the Passing Phase of the initiation comes the actual ritual, which is to be done on the New Moon.
Meeting Places and Times:
When it's warm outside, we meet wherever we can easiest be outside during the Witching Hour. When it is cold or the weather is unforgiving, we either alternate or go where it is most convenient. Part of loving Nature is loving Change and Inconsistancy, and meeting where the Coven determines best for the time is the smartest way to go about it. The same goes for time. Having a set meeting time or frequency can provide pressure that put bad energy into the Circle. We make a point to meet officially three times a month during the Waxing, Waning, and Fullness of the Moon, but if schedules conflict and we have to meet at different times or less than three in a month, then we should make up the lost meeting with an extra when time allows. In short: a minimum of 36 official meetings per year. In the event of a vacation or the like, meetings can be scheduled around it or depending on the number of missing Sisters, gone on without. If Sisters happen to be together in whole or in part, and decide to Practice, then by all means, they should do so, but any advances or happenings should be recorded in each sister's Book of Shadows. Likewise, if the Coven as a whole just isn't feeling the magick, then there isn't a problem in that. The general rule of the Coven regarding meetings is thus: Autumn usually comes in October, but if it comes in November or September instead, or doesn't come at all then nothing can be done.
Focus:
The focus of the Coven is simple and follows the Six Aspects. There is a combination of studying and practice and spellmaking that is all done for the good of our Sisters and the good of the World. Before each meeting, each Sister should make it plain if she has any ideas on what should be accomplished, and the Coven should consider which needs should be met first. If no particular spell or brew is in mind, then it can be a study or a meditation meeting- whatever the Sisters decide.
So there's that. Please make a note that this is subject to change, but there will be some notification if change occurs.
Perfect Love, and Perfect Trust,
Senan and Keava
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