Brighton, on the southern coast of England, is a town that has something for everyone, people from all walks of life roam the lanes and it is one of the quirkier places to visit in England. If you're vegan, an activist, a mod, biker, drag queen, barista, mixologist, hedonist or even a witch - there's a spot waiting for you. Not being one to do things by the half measure, when faced with an ethnographic fieldwork challenge I decided to go all out.
“So… I’ve been invited to join a coven…”
Announcing this is probably one of the easier ways to silence a room of anthropology students. After a fortunately brief but no less agonising few moments of stifled facial expressions and unapologetically raised eyebrows the questions began; luckily I was surrounded by inquisitive classmates.
Ranking first: How?
Close second: Why, just why?
Everyone's favourite: Are you going to do it?
So in no particular order I invite you to have these questions answered, but before all of that let me set the scene. In the second year of my degree in cultural anthropology I found myself in a group fieldwork project scenario. This meant that for the next three months I'd be researching (and all importantly experiencing) a Brighton subculture leading to a gruelling group report and presentation. Maybe it was my unyielding fascination for hidden and obscure things or just pure madness that made me suggest Brighton’s elusive Wiccan and Pagan scene for the project, but nevertheless and to my surprise it took off remarkably, even suspiciously, well.
I miraculously found myself introducing the project to a recently formed coven of witches at their bi-monthly Learning Circle. The meeting took place in one of the members' living room, it was cosy and casual - I still felt like I was about to flounder out of my depth. This was in the early days of developing my adventurous attitude towards life and future Liv would be massively glad that student Liv put herself out there like that. With trepidation levels rising, I explained to them that being Pagan, to the extent I try to celebrate the natural wheel of the year, with an interest in Wiccan practices had inspired me to learn more. Unsurprisingly some members of the group were dubious concerning my motives and who can blame them? A perfect stranger, young and naive to the intricacies of modern Wicca asking to join regular meetings and with an academic motive. However this wasn’t a typical coven I had made contact with, unlike the vast majority of covens in the area (and probably even the globe) the Coven of the Triple Moon had decided to be “transparent” and even “evangelical”. They didn’t want to feel silenced or ashamed of their presence in the community and even more unusually were willing to accept more than one steady approach to their practices. Jargon aside, they were willing to assist my fieldwork research as I was prepared to learn with them and even take part in some short rituals.
Then came the gripper. Pacing on the landing and cringing every time the floorboards creaked, I awaited a verdict on whether or not I'd be accepted as a future member. I tried not to eavesdrop on the hushed tones. Maybe I was still too young? Maybe that's a good thing? What if I have to perform extreme rituals? I was invited back to the room - the verdict was positive. I was asked if I was willing to join the coven, initiation ceremony included. Did I feel just a little out of my depth? Yes. Did I turn them down? Not exactly.
Anthropological fieldwork and adventurous travel depend on a willingness to turn down convention and embrace things you're new to. For this project to work I needed to become more efficient in explaining to people that actually it wasn't a horrifying idea.
The weeks following this meeting brought many interesting discoveries. Firstly some may be disappointed to read that no, not once did I see a Hogwarts worthy broom stick or was there any mention of green-skinned – wart nosed contemporaries amongst the community. In fact, modern day witches aren’t all that different to any other person in today’s age. I say this because a lot of the raised eyebrows I received throughout this project said it all. Witches are still socially marginalised and this is largely due to their elusiveness. For some covens it's a membership requirement to keep group confidentiality a top priority – even in a place as diverse as Brighton some feel the need to protect themselves against unfair treatment. I was told that anyone disclosed beyond the secretive network could be at risk in their personal lives, and all because of an ancient stereotype. It is fair to say that the Coven of the Triple Moon are both remarkable and brave.
Although any of the typical pop-culture references to witchcraft failed to come to light what I did find in my educational training was that much of what we may think of as mystical such as Tarot card reading, candle rituals and other forms of divination are all widely used by witches. In fact whilst on the surface these things seem inaccessible and require a fair amount of tracking down I found that the coven members where more than happy to teach me about them and answer my countless questions. I was even lucky enough to have my tarot cards read by a highly experienced reader in the group. Before I knew it I had various invitations to further events and the fieldwork project was running really smoothly.
As for the final question, I am yet to become a fully fledged member of the coven. This is because I opted to undertake the traditional ‘Year and a day’ approach to preparing myself for the next step. But even then I’m not obliged to do so. I have since met a couple of pagans who dip in and out of Wicca as and when they feel the need. Others remain certain that I should adopt an all or nothing approach. What I can say for sure though is that this exciting and monumental opportunity has started a chain reaction of others to come and wouldn’t have been at all possible without the blessing and welcoming of the Coven of the Triple Moon.
Thanks for making it down to this part of the page! If you enjoyed this post you may be interested in hearing me talk about it more on my podcast 'Internet Witches'. In episode one 'Why Witches?' I chat about this fieldwork experience as well as more wonderfully witchy matters! https://internetwitches.buzzsprout.com
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Amazing work :)