2025 Witchcraft, why we do still doing Covens?

 It's 2025, and we still use the term "coven," but is there a purpose for it?

“I swear, many old-school traditional witches are these days living in their Sisyphus era, trying to keep real magic alive and teaching the craft, in a world obsessed with 'unnecessary online discourse', aesthetic altars, and witchy filters.”

As a solitary practitioner who has been part of a couple of covens in the past and at least two online covens for even longer, being part of a coven has enlightened me a lot about their importance and relevance in trying to keep an esoteric tradition alive. At the same time, being part of other covens has made me embrace my solo practice much more.

Solitary vs. Coven

Each incarnation of an esoteric practice has its pros and cons. I risk falling (I honestly hope not) into a long, boring debate about how "important it is to keep a tradition alive," especially on Facebook, which has become a cesspool of toxicity defending the right of a few to maintain spaces filled with transphobia and constant racism.

As a solitary practitioner, you can learn at your own pace. You don't need to gain validation from others, you don't need to justify what you do or don't do in private, and you don't need to sit and be constantly brainwashed whenever you disagree with someone in the group. This freedom allows for a deeper exploration of your beliefs and practices, leading to significant personal growth and self-discovery. You don't need to "keep up" to keep up with everyone else, often accelerating more than necessary in steps where you'd like to wait a little longer. Nor is there any need to become small and quiet to fit the smaller boxes others want for you.

At the same time, as a solitary practitioner, there's much more opportunity for trial and error, and a greater chance that these mistakes will be more frequent. If you don't have step-by-step guidance, you'll likely see the results you expect in spellcasting and mediumship. Because of this, you enter the wormhole of abandoning effective practices due to a lack of results, only to jump into another immediately. This can certainly end up turning you into another one of those "1-centimeter-deep oceans of knowledge" we easily find online with little bios made to impress, like "I'm 22 years old and I'm an alchemist, tarot reader, witch, sorcerer, conjuror, Celtic shaman (whatever that means!!), Wiccan high priest, and Santero." And sometimes more. And if you think I'm exaggerating, this is the literal bio of someone who recently contacted me (a 29-year-old guy from Florida) because they're looking to impress others.

If you enter a practice and feel like there's no practical guidance in the process, it's very easy to get burned out and seek to abandon or change the practice for another at any time. If you don't see results in something, it's very easy to want to move on to the next thing, and ultimately end up not mastering anything.

While solitary practice offers freedom and individuality, it also demands significant commitment, study, and perseverance. The key to a successful solitary practice is to focus on personal growth and development, rather than seeking validation from others or aiming to impress. Remember, your daily practice should reflect your dedication and passion, not a means to gain online popularity or financial gain. This responsibility and commitment can lead to profound personal growth and deepen your practice.

Diving deeper into each one.

While solitary practice is essential because it invites you to discover your potential and your talent without having to conform to the rules and guidelines (many times dated) of other individuals, it also empowers you with the freedom to shape your path. This freedom is the cause of so much unnecessary online discourse; Non-initiated people getting mad cause closed practices don't open for them (as they should be, if it's a closed practice for a reason, and you making a public childish complain about it is the reason why you can't get in the dumbs), or also the reason why we call "professional witches" online charging $600 for "successful witchcraft" courses when these same people don't even have $600 in their bank accounts... What a successful irony.

On the other hand, practicing in a Coven is an experience similar to going to school: a guide to the steps, a list of recommended titles, and a teacher (high priest and high priestess) who teaches you. In general, there's an order of study and practice whose purpose is to lead you to achieve a specific goal.

But to be clear, a Coven is often precisely that: it's a school, not a university. The teacher is there to teach you, as in the textbooks (just as in high school), not to openly discuss any points or invite you to think outside the box and debate ideas (the purpose of which we learn in college and university).

A Coven is a gateway to a tradition. It is equipped with functional gatekeepers who keep its mysteries and secrets hidden from the rest, barring entry to those who don't come to take it seriously or just to pose for photos. But it's important to remember, and as I've mentioned many times before, a Coven will always take the shape and direction of its leader. The leader's beliefs, values, and practices often set the tone for the entire coven, influencing everything from the rituals performed to how members interact.

Regardless of the esoteric tradition the Coven follows, Covens represent traditions. Irrespective of what is written or the purpose of these traditions, a coven will always follow the direction and way of thinking of its coven leader.

Suppose the coven's leader or founder holds a misogynistic, narcissistic, radical feminist, transphobic, or racist view. In that case, it is only a matter of time before the coven reflects this view and way of thinking, regardless of external influences or insights within the coven.

Regardless of the tradition a Coven follows, it's important to remember that witchcraft is not static or unchanging. It is a dynamic, ever-evolving practice, much like the waters of a river that eventually flow into the sea. Each individual who has been part of a Coven, whether they stayed or left, has left their mark on the tradition, influencing its course and evolution. This dynamic nature of witchcraft invites us to be open-minded and adaptable in our practice.

Supaft, a metaphor for the vast body of esoteric knowledge, is like a great ocean, and the rivers are each of these esoteric traditions that seek to keep it running in the form of a Coven. In that case, all these people who have bathed in the river are the multiple members who have entered a Coven, and have either remained in it or have left it. Still, in the end, they all inevitably influence the outcome of how witchcraft itself manifests and takes shape before our eyes.

The Importance of Traditional Coven vs. Solitary Coven

A traditional coven can maintain many different functions. Still, from the outside, it can look like it has just two jobs: keeping their traditions alive and training new witches to carry the tradition to the next generation, so practically, it is the same.

The coven is essential because it allows a seeker to be appropriately prepared and trained without burning out in frustration. Through a coven, seekers meet safely with other seekers like them and learn under guidance. It is like a school that prepares you for training. Afterward, the seeker can either leave the coven and the practice permanently, continue their practice privately, taking into account (or not) what they learned, or continue in the same coven for an extended period.

A coven isn't a 24/7 library, nor a play center where you go to be babysat by the high priest. A coven isn't family and friends who are there for you in your private life, at least not in the conventional sense of what a coven is.

Despite all of the above, a coven's teachings must be intelligently questioned and tested, and there must always be room for free thought and internal discussion, which, depending on the ego or tolerance of the coven leader, may or may not occur.

The Importance of Solitary Practice vs. Coven

Solitary practice, on the other hand, is critical and has its benefits. If you have only practiced witchcraft as part of a coven and never as a solitary witch, the prejudice about it may work against you.

Solo practice should not be questioned, but rather encouraged and motivated. Unless your idea of ​​"traditional" practice is based on the concept of ​​remaining part of a cult where free thought and disagreement are seen as a weakness to be mocked or considered something to be ashamed of, solo practice should be taken seriously. Seekers should be encouraged to practice independently, obviously under their vow of secrecy and silence. To allow them to spread their wings and vision.

What would be the ideal practice?

As someone who has been part of several different in-person Covens and two online Covens for many years, I have also been initiated into multiple different practices that I follow daily, and which, thanks to ample time, I can attend without question. I have found better results in a mixed practice, learning from each Coven what I can learn to enrich my practice, setting aside those lessons that don't fit properly with my way of thinking or seem retrograde. And maintaining my daily rituals as an eclectic and/or solitary witch with good results.

Being part of a Coven or study and practice group will always teach you a lot as a seeker, but daily practice as a solitary witch is further strengthened by commitment and constant creative practice. View the Coven as a center for short- or long-term study, and your daily practice as a true university tailored to you and to strengthen your talents as an individual, not as an agent dependent on a larger group.

Elhoim Leafar. Author of Dream Witchery.

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