Solitary or Coven

[sephiroth030]

I have my own coven yet we don't have many members  

[Rowan MacGregor]

I'm solitary, though I'd gladly join or start a grove. But I live in the middle of nowhere, in the bible belt, so pagans are few and far between.  

[moon child]

I'm just starting to learn about Wicca, so I am solitary at the moment while I learn. Later, I would like to join a coven to receive more information and also support. If a coven doesn't work out for me, that's ok...I'll just go back to being solitary again. At least I could say that I had the experience. For me, it's all about learning and finding myself. smile  

[Kyravine]

I used to be Wiccan, and vastly preferred solitary then. If I was still Wiccan, I still would. This is because local covens near me tend to all be poorly run or steeped in Harry Potter-type nonsense. But if one popped up that fit neither of those, I would at least have a look at them.  

[Kawasima]

Solitary.  

[Korealia]

Dragoness Arleeana

We focus mainly on the egyptian pantheon and so are thinking of each taking a role of a God or Goddess. ...We're thinking thogh that we will do something smaller together, just to see how comfortable we are together and how each other works.

Taking roles? Hmm.

I suggest just a ritual of worship of the gods, not 'drawing down the moon' or 'drawing down the sun' just yet. Work on creating structure, then work on implementing structure before complicating things. Occam's Razor.  

[Korealia]

Nahrzak

have you ever read a dictionary?! and you don't teach my lessons or theories... I do. You don't... Ever... read? a dictionary?!

Whoever said 'Words will never hurt me!" obviously never got hit by a dictionary.

BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! rofl  

[Korealia]

WytherWyskers

I'm solitary but would give a coven a chance if it ever came about. I think solitary is better though because you don't really have to adhere to any rules and there is no commitment to make.

Okay, I have to disagree here.

Through personal experience, sometimes it is nessecary to get an outside opinion, and the reason being is: you could be doing it wrong.

*Gasp!* Oh, no! Eclectics doing it wrong?!

Yes.

Let me give you an example.

When the internet was young and information was scarce, my husband (at the time a really good friend of mine) was reading and studying on the magickal arts. One of the first things I tried to teach him was shielding. I told him that it is to protect from spiritual attacks/harm, and I personally visualized a mirrored sphere encompassing me to both deflect harm and become 'invisible'. He took this to note, and continued his solitary studies.

We married later, and several months afterwards, we found ourselves moved to another city. Trying to network, we met some people and had an evening out with them, winding up back at their house. The priestess was a high priestess of the Starkindler tradition, and we were talking shop with her (yes, this story is posted in another guild, but it's value does not depreciate). We told her about our young studies, and our working on shields.

She gave my husband a critical eye, and a moment later, he rubbed the back of his head. Apparently his 'shielding' was just that - his visualization was that of him holding a large shield in front of him. He left his back completely unguarded. Apparently in my explanation of shielding, I had missed actually telling him how it was imparitive to encompass the whole body, not just his front. I described my shield, but never explained it's usage. sweatdrop

SO....getting outside information, working with groups, this is kind of important. You can only learn so much from a book, you can only learn so much from yourself without affirmations through others. It keeps your mind focused and gives you a literal 'reality check'. Look at it as testing theory through scientific method. mrgreen  

[Korealia]

Dragoness Arleeana

Covens are meant to tell you what to believe in.

I TOTALLY disagree with that. A Coven doesn't tell you what to believe in. A Coven is a group that shares the same beliefs. A Coven is there for you to learn discipline and structure. Not to TELL you what you should believe. If that were true, that would make us no better than some imperialistic monotheistic religion.

If a Coven had to 'tell me what to believe in', I believe I would tell them where they could go.

Dragoness Arleeana

You join a coven that has the same beliefs as you. You should all believe in the same things, or you shouldn't be a coven.

Dragoness Arleeana

If you ever find a solitary lineaged Wiccan you could always be initiated by them and start up your own coven.

I have never heard of such. I would most definately question it's credibility, if I were to find such a thing.  

[LadyCharis]

I'm solitary. I like it alright...I didn't have much choice where I used to live, all the atempts I tried at getting people together they saw as a joke... burning_eyes ...but I would really like the chance to join a coven. I think that'd be awesome. I'm looking around, and I've met a few people, so hopefully I'll get to try being in a coven! But another thing about being solitary is that I don't really learn from books all that well. I love to read, but I'm terrible at memorzation and studying.

 

[Kyreie]

I'm a solitary by choice, because I'm Pagan, not Wiccan. It's a distinction that many people don't make, especially those who don't know anything about either of them. Some of my beliefs are rooted in Wiccan traditions, but the rest are based on other paths. This makes it very hard to find a group that believes in the same things that I do, and I think that is essential for a coven to work well. Being a solitary allows me the freedom to explore and discover what's right for me. That doesn't mean I'm against group activities, I've celebrated Sabbats and Esbats with some of the groups here and it was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. But I just don't want to do that kind of thing full time.

Besides, there are times when I just don't play well with others! twisted  

[RubyLight]

Well, since I'm mainly in the research stage, I am solitary. Once I get a better grasp on my own ideas instead of the author's ideas, I may join a coven.  

[doistu]

I'm solitary and doubt I would ever join a legit coven. Firstly, I'm not a wiccan at all and would never feel comfortable being so.

I would consider joining a sort of study group to gain tips and such. But not for spell work in a group...I just don't fancy it. I feel betterworking on my own.  

[Violet Song jat Shariff]

I'm flying solo for now. I'd like to start up a Kindred in my area one day, but there doesn't seem to be anyone else who is Asatru so I think trying to start a Kindred would be a wasted effort redface