Enter the High Priest

I just started my own Coven. I am still a Neophyte to the Craft. I also assumed the rank for all intent & purposes of High Priest. It's really no big secret. Really it isn't. I have only been on the Pagan Path for exactly 2 years to the day. I know that there are people with a hell of alot more experience & 10 times more knowledge than me out there that could run a Coven, or I could of attempted to join another Coven to get more experience under my belt. But, I didn't.

I started my own Coven with a very close friend of mine who has the knowledge, but not the experience of being in a Coven. I do have experience, eventhough its limited with being in a Coven, but it is experience. With each person that decides to join my Coven, the Coven of the 13 Moons, I do let them know how small my resume is. This is called Honesty and being upfront.

My Coven Resume is this (and I did not mention any Coven names, just their description ):

Name: Caedmon, formerly know as Treborus, Craft Name changed in June 2007 to coincide with me starting a new Spiritual Journey & leaving the old one behind.

1. Solitary Practitioner. September 2005 to November 2005; March 2007 to May 2007; July 2007 to September 2007. Self Dedicate to the Craft. Reason for leaving: Joined 2 different Covens & finally decided to form my own Coven.

2. Coven A, Eclectic NeoPagan Coven. November 2005 to March 2007. 1st Degree Initiate. Reason for leaving: I was voted out for being too open & too honest with my opinions & not holding anything back. I aimed high with my goals & was seen as a supposed threat to the Coven's Hiearchy & Spiritually immature by the other members of which I was voted out.

3. Coven B, Traditional Celtic Wiccan Coven. May 2007 to July 2007. Summoner & acting High Priest. Reason for leaving: The HPS moved on to Solitary Practice, thus dissolving the Coven.

4. Coven of the 13 Moons. September 2007 to Present. High Priest. Reason for leaving: I am still there & have no intentions to leave because we are growing each day with new members coming aboard to either join the inner circle or to join the outer grove!

So there you have it, this is my resume, short, sweet, & to the point. In fact, this is the first time I have actually put it down in writing. All of the times when I have told people my experience, it is done orally, now it is etched in stone for all to see so that nobody can ever say that "He inflates his Resume by making false, misleading statements."

When I was terminated from my 1st Coven, I was devastated. I didn't know what to do, so I contacted the only person I could think of for advice, Uncle Bucky himself, Ray Buckland! For those who are now saying, "Ray who???", let me give you a short synopsis of who he is. Ray Buckland, Uncle Bucky as he is known in the Pagan Community, is probably the foremost expert alive today on Wicca, Witchcraft, & Paganism, and has over 30 books published on the topic. Ray met the father of modern day Witchcraft, Gerald Gardner (might be a distant relative since we share the same surname), only once in person, but did correspond with him regularly & was his representative in America. Anyhow, I shot Ray an email asking him for advice about what to do; he responded immediately back to me within hours! His response to me was this:

It sounds as though you really need to break contact with this group and start your own. There's no reason why you shouldn't do that. In "BigBlue" a talk about starting a coven (also in "Wicca For Life"). I didn'twrite Big Blue as a degree system so you'll have to do some work and go through deciding for ourself what fits which degree - if you want to stick to a degree system. Obviously there's a lot more material than Ihave in that book so you can expand and incorporate other material. Yes, you can certainly learn as you go -- dozens of covens and HPs and HPS shave started that way. And - regretably - yes, jealousy is not at all uncommon! Good luck.

In love and light,

Ray-B

So I took his advice, moved on, contacted a friend to help me and rolled with it. The Reasons I have started the Coven of the 13 Moons with my friend & High Priestess (HPS) Berkana, was that We were really tired of practicing by ourselves or in better wording, lack of practicing, and We were sure that there were people out there as well that have had the same experiences as me with Covens, or even worse, or people that wanted to be in a Coven, but could not find the right people. Also, there might be people who want to just practice with no strings attached with other like minded people. We offer both options. Option A, is to become a member of the Inner Circle, members who will dedicate to the Coven down the road, or Option B, become a member of the Outer Grove, members who want to practice with a group, but do not want to dedicate & are happy this way.

I know that being a High Priest is a full time job. You must be able to be a friend, a mentor, a teacher, a shoulder to cry on, a coach, a good listener, a father figure, a representative of the God during Ritual, a leader, the voice of reason, a mediator, chairman of the board, a role model, and numerous other things. I know that I do lack experience, but like The Little Engine That Could, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can, I know I can"! Only time will tell how I will do, but since I have surrounded myself with good hearted people within my network of advisors, in my Outer Grove, as well as outside of my Coven, members within the Pagan Community & Coven Leaders themselves, of who to turn to when I need help, not only do I think I can, I know I can & I will!

Peace & Blessings,

Caedmon
High Priest
Coven of the 13 Moons
Philadelphia, PA