Coven

Coven ( Old-French covent convent, ) is a term for a religious, mostly female community or gathering of up to thirteen active witches, also known as a coven.

Etymology

The term comes from the Latin convenire come together ' and conventus, meeting ' and emerged as a variant of the archaic covin, fraud ',' deceit '. In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the 14th century, the term appears to covent for a meeting of 13 people, in the witch trials of 662 covine the term used to describe the organization of the witches; such as Walter Scott mentions in his Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft of 1830, this is also reflected in the name Covine tree for the tree in front of the castle, where the Lord received his guests. Montague Summers described the Coven as conventicles, conventicles '.

History

Notes on Coven can be traced back in the literature until the 12th century. John of Salisbury describes organized groups at the Witches' Sabbath, which, however, were nothing as illusions created by the Devil; as such, also referred to Germanus of Auxerre in a popular medieval history, the night prowling women.

Only by the Inquisition of faith was taken seriously in the existence of witches such associations; accused witches were forced by embarrassing interviews to confess that they were members of a secret, subversive organizations. The oldest reference to a coven in a witch trial is from the year 1324, where Alice Kyteler, was accused of membership in a 13-member group in Kilkenny, Ireland. In the 16th and 17th centuries there are several confessions, to be joined a coven. The concept of the coven was established by the end of the witch hunts in the early 1700s.

Organization

Traditionally, there is a coven of 13 members, one of which is the lead person; historically for this constant number of members can be found, however, little evidence, including a few witch trials, which might have been enforced by inquisitors. In Cotton Mather's writings to the witch trials of Salem states that the witches would be organized in a form that is very similar to the church that they had a baptism, a sacrament, and officers that would resemble " a terrible manner which our Lord ".

According to the British anthropologist Margaret A. Murray was the leader of the Coven of the Grand Master or the revered deity, probably a pagan horned deity who became the devil under the Inquisition. On the Sabbath, when the God or devil is in person, the Grand Master of the Board had become. Each coven was also a Summoner who secretly inform the members about the time and place of the next meeting. In addition Coven should have had the lofty position of the maiden, which have mainly stood by the Grand Master and directed him to dance.

The Coven should have been, but connected to each other independently of each other over a network; the witch trial of North Berwick, according to three covens have worked together to King James VI. to murder by Scotland; However, for such networks, there is a lack of evidence.

Many supporters of the neo-pagan Wicca movement organized in covens, but it is likely that an even greater amount practiced alone. The Coven are not looking for members and do not accept every applicant. Usually, Wiccan covens meet on the full moon of ritual gathering, called Esbat. Gerald Brousseau Gardner saw 13 as the ideal number of members, each coven of six men and women (ideally pairs) and should have a high priestess; 13 is not considered as an ideal case, but as a strict rule.