Sanzolvr29
Morgandria, do Wiccans announce to the non-initiates that the ritual isn't actually a Wiccan ritual? Or does it depend on the coven and those who attend? I'm assuming it'd help stop some misinformation if people were aware of that fact, that's excluding the people who are purposely misleading of course.
I imagine it depends on the coven. I couldn't honestly answer for any other coven, since so much depends on who and where and why.
My coven only has open ritual for invited guests once a year, at the moment. I think we make it very clear to our guests that while it's a coven rite, and they're awesome and enjoyable, they're outer-court. But we tend to have students and friends quite often, since we have distance issues and typically meet only for Sabbats, so we likely have a lot more outer-court rituals than other covens might. In the earliest days, a person's first ritual was their initiation. Having the outer-court stuff there lets us get someone used to our ritual style, and gives us a chance to see how they interact with what's going on, and the rest of the coven. It adds a layer of participation to the entire thing, and makes things a little more inclusive for our students. Some covens maintain their student groups completely separately as its' own circle, and only after initiation to they begin to work with the coven proper. Ours doesn't.
