On today’s theme of red flags, let’s talk about things from the perspective of spiritual groups. Is there a fine line between coven and cult? Nope. At least… there shouldn’t be.
If you’ve been in the craft for a while, you have probably heard a coven horror story — or maybe you even have one of your own. There are plenty of bad people in the world who are waiting to take advantage of the uninformed. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to join a coven or a church… those folks are out there.
Luckily, there are warning signs you can look out for.
Narcissistic, overly-controlling, or manipulative leadership
Plenty of us might be guilty of being full of ourselves some of the time, but if you’ve got a spiritual leader that is truly a narcissist, then you’re most certainly in for a bad spot. Some of these people might be emotionally manipulative or even try to control small aspects of your life. Unfortunately for those people, they’re easily spotted because the Craft requires humility. Leaders should be able to admit when they’re wrong or when they don’t know the right answer and maybe even point you in the right direction. No one can possibly know everything about everything. No one is always the best.
Prejudice or favoritism
Does a group seem to discriminate based on race, gender, orientation, or anything else? That seems patently unspiritual to me. Best to move on. Also, if a leader seems to be unfairly picking and choosing who is “worthy” of moving up the ranks, that might be a problem, too.
Excessive financial contributions
This can be a bit of a hot button issue depending on what tradition you’re dealing with. It’s usually okay to be asked to help cover expenses for a working or ritual — candles cost money, ya’ll. It’s also totally okay to pay for classes in most circumstances, but covens themselves shouldn’t be run as a for profit business. If you’re regularly paying fees that seem over the top or it’s unclear how they’re being used, then you’re definitely experiencing some clear warning signs.
Over recent years, there also seems to be a rise in people offering initiations over the internet for a high price. I’m not really sure what the buyer expects to get out of that. Experience can’t be bought.
Sexual exploitation
I feel like this one speaks for itself. Membership in a spiritual group should never, ever be based on sexual acts. Some of us practice naked. Some of us might even be kinks. But we certainly don’t trade spiritual guidance for sex.
Required isolation
If your spiritual group is asking you to cut ties with friends or family, that’s just basic cult behavior. Run and don’t look back.
Lack of transparency with lineage, traditions, or history
The internet has made the world a small place. It’s pretty simple for any of us to double-check someone’s credentials. If you’ve got someone claiming to be a part of ancient traditions, but won’t divulge their lineage, you’ve probably got a fraud. Teaching based on someone’s personal gnosis is okay, but don’t claim to be something you’re not — it’s just that simple.
That’s the bad, but there’s plenty of good out there! You can always pop over to Mandragora Magika to see what covens are near you.
Good morning and happy Monday friends!
Selene and I had a pleasant prison ministry session this weekend. We were able to bring lots of book donations and some composition notebooks that the inmates can use to write their own books of shadows.
On the way home, we decided to go do a little shopping, so we wound up at Hippie Store and More in Jupiter. FL.
Some cool instruments at the store!
On Saturday night, we went out for a nice dinner and then stopped at the beach on the way home. We left some watermelon and poured out a bottle of bubbly for Yemaya.
An offering to Yemaya
For coven night, we focused a bit on astrology. I spent a while hand-drawing my chart so I could use this as a ward — it’s a trick I learned from Ivo Dominguez, Jr. at Summer Magick Fest 2024.
Preparing to ward my chart
By the way, tickets for Summer Magick are available as of just a few days ago, so you should probably go grab yours!
Earlier in the week, I posted Opal Luna’s article. You should go check it out… or watch the full episode on YouTube!
And for everyone who is interested in seeing sunflower growth progress, the newly-planted seeds are coming along quite nicely! I’ve made sure to keep them far away from squirrels.
I have no idea how long it will take before they get tall enough to flower, but I’m really looking forward to that moment!
I’ll be sure to post progress pictures as we go along and once we start to get to the flowering stage, I’ll make another timelapse-style video 🙂
By the way, the Kyphi is finished and I’ve put it up on our Etsy store.
Kyphi!
And… and… and…
Did you know I give private readings? You can view pricing and availability on my services page. I’ve now included a calendar link so you can see my schedule.
Runes and cards
In other news, I think I officially have the entire rest of Season 2 for M3 booked. I have some very exciting guests that I will be dropping as time goes by.
That’s all for now, but there will be more soon!
Cheers!
Aerik Arkadian 
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