There is the somewhat romantic notion out there that come midnight we all huddle around our cauldrons in the light of the full moon, work our spells and celebrate our rituals. Well, some do, and we do, too, on the odd occasion. But: in my experience this is one of those areas where you compromise between #CovenLife and your mundane life to keep things practical.
Many of us have families or other care responsibilities and work commitments, some rely on public transport to get to and from the covenstead or simply have quite a distance to travel. As a result our group usually meets on the closest Saturday to any given occasion (Sabbat or Esbat) and we start in the early evenings to make sure everybody can give their full attention to our magical work and still get home safely.
We are of course flexible with that approach, too: if an urgent need arises, we act there and then. If a particularly important magical working requires specific timing, we make sure we incorporate that. Other groups might choose a very different approach and for example always meet “on the day”, no matter whether that’s a weekday or weekend, and they might start a lot later.
One top tip when you consider joining a coven is therefore to check the group’s ritual frequency and default timings. Be honest about any concerns in that context, there is usually some flexibility, and think very carefully if you can commit to the coven schedule in the long run.
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