Folks sometimes ask us what our Missing Witches Coven circles are like. We'd love for everyone who might want to join to feel comfortable, and we know it can ease anxiety about joining a new thing if you understand better what to expect before attending, so here are some details:
For now, all our communication and events happen in English.
Official events generally happen at 12pm, 3pm, or 8pm ET on weekdays and weekends. (Community-hosted events happen at all kinds of times.)
Our coven aims to welcome and include people with all different kinds of access needs. Our community circle site works well with screen readers, and we work together to offer descriptions of visual elements.
Our coven aims to welcome and learn from a diversity of cultures and viewpoints. We are currently predominantly (~65%) white women from the ages of 35 - 65 - this is not by design, but facts is facts.
Members are welcome to participate in our live (virtual) events as little or as much as works for you: attend every event live, or just listen to recordings (all New Moon and Full Moon events are recorded, many more intimate events are not.) Jump on and off-line throughout events as your energy, kids, pets, spotty internet, or whatever, demand. Have your camera on or off, use the chat or the mic to participate, attend from a sick bed, while driving or at work, cook, stim, garden, meditate, take bio or screen breaks as needed.
This is not work. This is magic!
How to find the Coven Meetings: We post the invite and Zoom link in our Coven Circle, and it's always featured in the Invitations section of the MW Rx, our weekly(ish) newsletter. If you RSVP, you will get a notification from Circle 1hr before the start of the event. You can manage your notifications in Circle under Settings (from the desktop, not the app.)
Once you join our online coven, you can listen to past meetings to get to know your coven before joining. If ever you say something in Circle you do not want to end up in the shared recording, just email us.
Alan Watts’ insight is core to our practice: 'You're under no obligation to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago.'
Coven members must respect the Community Covenant. This includes but is not limited to respecting each other's privacy and never sharing members' names, contact information, or any information shared in Circle.
As long as we're respectful and gentle with each other's weirdness, the magic happens.
We're not Wiccans, but we honour the Wiccan Rede: An ye harm none, do what ye will.
Our coven gathers hundreds of people from all kinds of different bodies, brains, beliefs, and backgrounds. We are all here to have fun, find friends, and re-enchant our worlds.
Many of us have been solitary practitioners for a long time, for lots of different reasons. Let’s be honest, we're weirdos who can be odd, prickly, easily spooked, and deeply funny, loving and kind. Go gently with each other. Notice your own reactions, and go gently with yourself.
If you notice a way we could be more inclusive or empowering, gently call it in. We dream of a space/vibe where it’s ok to be wrong, to learn from each other, to grow.
If you attend an event that doesn't feel good for your vibes at that time, simply exit the virtual room.
If you have a different idea about how a ritual or gathering should be done, host it! We will only learn more by trying more things!
If you have feedback on an event or conversation within the coven space that feels like it could be more caring or accessible, we invite you to please email us at missingwitches@gmail.com or flag the conversation.
Flagging brings sticky moments directly to our attention and to the attention of our moderators, who are like loving care gardeners and community elders willing to help.
Our coven is a little DIY, and a little anarchic, with a golden thread of love and respect for all that lives running through everything we do.
If that sounds like the right space for you, we can’t wait to meet you.
May we grow in care and magic together.
This or better. Blessed Fucking Be!
Our Coven is explicitly feminist, anti-racist, trans-inclusive, and neurodiverse.
Read our Contributor CovenantMore Details on Official Coven Events
New Moon Circles
New Moon Circles are for the full coven. These are generally on weekday evenings or Sunday afternoons (Eastern Time Zone) for about 90 minutes. Amy and Risa of the Missing Witches Podcast usually host together, and about 20 to 40 diverse, badass, mutually supportive Witches and practitioners of different backgrounds attend.
As a starting point, we'll offer a prompt, question, suggestion, or ritual container for the circle. We are not ceremonial magicians, the magic for us happens in speaking our truths and calling in our dreamworlds together.
Sometimes we share pieces from things we're writing for the next podcast or book we are working on. Sometimes we call in energy for health, prosperity, or protection. Sometimes we sing or dance. Sometimes we're challenged and learn new things from each other. There are often tears, and always laughter.
We host other types of official events for the Full Coven including: Circles for Meeting New Witch Friends, and Witchcraft 101 circles. You'll learn more about those and others once you join =).
Weavers Circles
Weavers Circles are for power witches. We meet more often, and get more deeply into life-changing magic together.
Weavers Full Moon Looms. These are monthly, generally on weekday evenings or Sunday afternoons (Eastern Time Zone) for about 90 minutes. Amy and Risa of the Missing Witches podcast usually host together, about 12-20 of us attend.
This circle is dedicated to weaving resistance and re-enchantment in our lives and communities. We co-create ritual together and share magic that works.
Weavers' Monday Cauldrons. These happen weekly on Mondays, alternating between 12pm and 3pm ET. These are generally hosted by Amy Torok of the Missing Witches podcast, 5-10 people attend. These are casual circles for Weavers to hang out - bring something you're working on, bring Coven housekeeping items you'd like to bring to our attention, bring whatever you're thinking about, get advice, just chill, procrastinate.
This is for folks who want to dig deeper and meet with a smaller group. We look for ways to support each other with whatever is available to each of us at the moment: advice, practical support, emotional support, direct aid, rituals, MAGIC.
In these circles, we doubly unmask - we let ourselves be our Witch-selves, but we also incorporate our professional selves and personal selves and share our skills.
In Weaver's circles, we recognize that we play different roles all the time, sometimes we are there to support and uplift, and sometimes we are there to be supported.
Some members join at this level simply to support the Coven and to grow as a person and Witch, and that's fucking beautiful.
Weavers’ Readings for the Collective. This is a biweeklyish circle hosted by Risa Dickens of the Missing Witches Podcast. 3-8 people attend on average, and video recordings are shared with Weavers. Risa pulls one card from the Missing Witches Oracle deck, and sometimes other decks from her collection. Weavers bring their own decks and questions and we look into the universe together.
We are tending a garden to re-enchant our worlds.
This Missing Witches Coven is:
- a witchy, science-loving study group/informal book club working collaboratively to seek and center marginalized ideas and possibilities.
- a place to unmask and to be like little kids together, playing with the magic in the world, celebrating moments of JOY.
- a mutually-supportive space to be honest about how fucked up racism, misogyny, misogynoir, ableism, heteronormativity and capitalism are and to mourn, and also to CACKLE WICKEDLY and HOWL WILDLY together as we seed within ourselves and each other ways to survive, resist, re-enchant and FLOURISH.
In a spirit of reparations, Each May, Missing Witches contributes our profits from our coven membership fees to the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal. We also organize an annual fundraiser and conversation with indigenous thinkers to help unpack some of the appropriation and spiritual bypassing that happens in Witch worlds. There's more info here.
Any questions or suggestions?
Anything we can work towards to make these more impactful? Please reach out to missingwitches@gmail.com.
oxoR+A
PS - If you know someone who might love and benefit from being in the Missing Witches Coven, please share this post and invite them!