Magickal Connections by Lisa McSherry

July 4, 2007

Magickal Connections: Creating a Lasting and Healthy Spiritual Group
I have found that once a novice witch has settled into the Pagan path, the next thing they look for is community. Many a new witchling yearns for a coven to call home. Many try and start one on their own, thinking that all they have to do is show up and –whala- instant coven. Sadly, most of these fledgling covens never make it past 6 months when the real world work of running a religious organization becomes apparent.

Ms. McSherry has succinctly taken her own experience as a coven leader and put it in an accessible and wonderfully complete book. This book covers all the essentials to forming, running, maintaining and even dissolving a coven. The author’s voice is pleasant and informative, making the material in this book easy to read and understand. Many books of this nature tend to be on the dry side, but Ms. McSherry has an upbeat manner, which includes spells and rituals designed to further the coven’s aims and purpose. Pitfalls and things to be aware of in forming and running a coven are briefly touched upon and explained. Solutions and alternative examples are provided for many situations that can arise.

The only drawback to this book that I can see is that the work is aimed to the cyber-world coven. Little is said of the real life duties of a High Priest or Priestess in regards to counseling or midnight phone calls for help. As a former roommate to a coven’s High Priestess, I can tell you, her duties never ended. There was many a time when she was called away to help a covener with only a moment’s notice. Aside from this, I found the book to cover most aspects of running a spiritual group.

The book also has several appendices taken from JaguarMoon, the author’s own coven. They are the various application forms sent out to prospective coveners to weed out the less serious applicants. They are an excellent jumping off place to coming up with your own requirements for membership in your own coven.

I would recommend this book to anyone considering forming a coven, whether online or in the real world. There are many things brought to a reader’s attention to consider before taking the leap into a leadership role.