A coven is what? Coven witches. Coven witches in Russia

Russia is now experiencing an interesting period of the renaissance of pagan spirituality. Of course, representatives of the reconstructed Slavic paganism, unions of various faith communities, most clearly declare themselves. However, against their background, ideas and other neo-pagan cults are spreading more and more. Increasingly, for example, they speak of Wicca, a specific religion of witches, which is represented in our country by several communities, many single practitioners and a mass of sympathizers, mainly among young people.

Wicca Religion

Wicca is a religion of neo-pagan orientation with a great emphasis on magical practice. Its spirituality is based on the veneration of nature, personified in the person of the Great Mother Goddess. Often it is accompanied by a subordinate, and at times and equal, the Horned God, correlated with the Horned God of archaic cults. For these reasons, many Wiccans often claim that Wicca is a modern successor (sometimes it is claimed that the direct successor who emerged from the catacombs) cult of the Goddess Mother of ancient tribes of primitive society. Thus, they declare that they are adherents of the oldest religion in the history of the world.

The rise of Wicca and the first coven of witches

The historical value of arguments in favor of the antiquity of Wicca is low. The official date of birth of this teaching is 1954, although, of course, many of her ideas were in the air of the esoteric world long before that. It will be fair to note that in their theology and practice the Wiccans do in fact partly reconstruct certain ideas and forms of prehistoric cults, while actively synthesizing them with ancient, medieval and modern traditions. Wicca's popularizer was Gerald Gardner, whose name is also associated with the first Wiccan witch coven - New Forest, stationed in England.

The currents of Wicca

Wiccan theology is not bound by a strict dogmatic doctrine. Priority for her remains veneration of femininity in the face of the Goddess, most often the triune Mother, correlated with nature. The specific content and comprehension of Wiccan spirituality differs from the community to the community. The most traditional are the directions of Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders - Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, respectively. Against their backdrop, the Fae, Dianic, Celtic and other branches are actively developing, which unite both solitary singers - single practitioners and coven - organized communities.

Organization of Wiccan communities

The local union of witches in Wicca is called a circle or a coven. The coven is, in fact, the community of Wiccan believers. As a rule, such associations are administratively independent from other similar groups (even within the boundaries of one tradition). They represent the only constituent unit of the Wiccan community, along with which there are many enthusiasts, practicing and practicing Wicca alone.

The difference between the coven and the circle in Wicca

Sometimes one can meet the distinction between the terms "circle" and "coven" in Wicca. According to one of the explanations, the coven is the whole set of Wiccan believers, locally united in one community. It includes priestesses, priests, practicing initiated members and disciples who are just preparing for initiation. The circle also unites in itself only the inner core of the trained and dedicating full members of the coven. But it should be noted that not all adhere to this interpretation of concepts, introducing other systems of differentiation.

The first Wiccan coven witches in Russia

In Russia, the term "coven" also spread with the development of Wicca. It happened quite late (in comparison with the United States and Europe, where Wicca was already a traditional religion at the beginning of the 21st century). After the first practice of loners appeared on the territory of the post-Soviet space, a community gradually began to form, within which organized communities began to take shape. Finally, the first coven of witches in Russia was officially registered by the authorities of the republic of Udmurtia in Izhevsk. He was called Coven Willow Ivy. To date, there is the Wiccan Alliance of Russia, under the patronage of which there are many other organized Wiccan groups. The main of them - and, by the way, the most numerous - are located in ... Moscow and St. Petersburg!

Coven structure

The structure of the coven is of a conventionally hierarchical nature. The hierarchical principle is expressed in the fact that the leading ritual and administrative role is concentrated in the hands of the high priestess of the coven. If, on the same level as the goddess, honor is paid to the god, then often the priest controls the community with the priestess. They, respectively, represent the divine powers of the goddess and god. The conditional nature of the hierarchy is that, first, not all covens adopted a similar scheme of organization - some advocate for the absolute equality and electivity of the high priestess and priest in every particular ritual. Secondly, many groups, even those with permanent supreme witches, are in no way in a hurry to delegate them administrative powers over themselves.

This Wicca differs from many other older religions, whose sign is a clearly defined structure of hierarchy and management. Since the principle of centralization, which is administrative or sacramental, is alien in principle to the current under consideration, and each coven is an independent group from other Wiccans, then the developed hierarchical structure is unnecessary for this religion. In any case, if it is present in any communities, it is rather an exception to the rules.

Coven witches outside Wicca

Although the word "coven" today is most often used in conjunction with the Wiccan religion, it is not Wiccan originally. In general, in English, the coven is any organized group of witches and sorcerers, or even just a witch community that gathers for witch holidays and rituals known as coven. Therefore, the coven, in fact, is any group of persons organized for ritual purposes, who position themselves as witches. Further we will discuss how and when this term appeared.

The etymology of the word "coven"

This term comes from the Latin verb convenire, which translates simply as a "meeting". However, in English he acquired an additional meaning - "mirage". The Praindo-European basis of this word is believed to reflect the idea of man's belonging to magic. From this happened, in particular, the English word witch - "witch".

History of the term "coven"

The history of the term goes back to the Middle Ages. Judging by the available historical and literary data, this word was given very early in a special ritual shade. So, for example, it was often used to designate a meeting of thirteen people - no more and no less. Mention of the word "coven" in this vein has been known since the twelfth century. Somewhat later, when Europe was seized by a wave of witch hunts, this concept began to be used as a working term for the underground organization of witches and sorcerers.

Some outstanding personalities of the Middle Ages, defining covens as witchcraft communities, did not bypass the second meaning of this word. What is meant? In their opinion, coven witches and organized covenants did not exist in reality, but were mirages created by the devil's forces in order to mislead people. This view was held, for example, by Bishop Chartra John of Salisbury.

In the course of time, however, the belief in the reality of the nightly sorcerous gatherings is growing, both in the people and in the upper layers of secular and spiritual power. People began to seriously talk about clandestine witches, and civil and ecclesiastical courts began paying special attention to cases involving their exposure. The corpus of testimony began to form, and after them the confessions of people convicted of witchcraft. The oldest of such documents of Europe refers to the first quarter of the fourteenth century. It mentions an Irish coven of thirteen witches, led by Alice Kiteler. This was the first case in Ireland, in which a person was burned on charges of witchcraft.

Somewhat later, since the sixteenth century, belonging to the secret witch organizations was the usual point of accusation of any inquisitor. Coven could not exist at all, but this accusation was standard, because it was most often assumed that the witch was acting in collusion with a group of other persons associated with the agreement with the devil.

By the eighteenth century, when the Vedov process in England had subsided, figuring the term "coven" in legal practice had come to naught. At about the same time, the process of popularizing the occult begins to gain strength, the peak of which came for the nineteenth century. And already in the twentieth century, when they started talking about the revival of witches, the concept of the coven again came into circulation. Finally, a group of members of the Golden Dawn magical order, led by the already mentioned Gerald Gardner, entered into an alliance with several folklore researchers and practicing witchcraft within a certain family tradition, thus forming the coven "New Forest". In the end, this led to a surge of interest in the European Vedic tradition. Although, for the sake of justice, it should be noted the fact that not all historians are inclined to trust Gardner's stories about the appearance of this meeting. Some argued that he just invented it.

Coven of northern witches in Russia as an example of the commercialization of the concept of "coven"

Against the background of the spread of Wicca and witch organizations, the term "coven" is becoming more popular in the media space. I did not escape the fate of the profanation of this religious term, and Russia, where recently a number of dubious organizations, calling themselves this term, let themselves know about themselves. For example, "coven of northern witches." The reasons for this are simple. It is not a secret that in our country, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, a fairly motley market of ritual and spiritual services has formed, which is a commercial reflection of religious and esoteric fermentations in the minds of citizens. Today there is a slow but sure upgrade of the already formed witch culture into a special witch philosophy, aesthetics and even religion. And the latter refers not only to Wicca. Of course, in the commercial space, ricochet emerged organizations that call themselves coven and offer everyone who wants their services for some reward. A vivid example of this kind of organization is one of the St. Petersburg witches covenants. Banteayeva Natalia - its founder and leader is the winner of the ninth season of the battle of psychics, which in itself should be alarming given the staging character of this TV show. After her enchanting victory, Natalya Banteeva did not lose her head and gathered several people under her protectorate, who formed the so-called Northern Wren Coven . The commercial activities of this community are concentrated in the center of personal development "Wake up", which takes the form of a classic services bureau with an esoteric bias. A show and business-oriented nature of activities (tours around the country, press conferences, paid services, put on stream, etc.) puts this coven witches in an ambiguous position. Banteayeva Natalia positions itself as the strongest psychic in Russia, but, most likely, this is only a marketing move aimed at PR and attracting customers. Unfortunately, there are reasons to believe that in many other organizations of the esoteric and spiritual space of Russia, activities are also carried out not for an idea, but for profit.

Witches' coven in art

From the point of view of art, the greatest role in the popularization of witch coven was played by cinema. Among his other fruits - the famous series "American history of horror." "Coven" - the name of his third season, entirely dedicated to the witches of New Orleans. Also worth noting cult series "Enchanted", narrating about a group of three hereditary witch-sisters. The format of the Wiccan coven was covered in the series about vampires "True Blood". And at last you can remember "Salem". This is another modern series. The coven of witches in it is opposed to the ecclesiastical and civil courts. The film is based on real events of the Salem Vedov process.