Seeking a Teacher
Wicca does not seek converts and initiation is never offered; it must be asked for. That puts the burden of searching on you, and with it the burden of judgement. Here is what we have learned, some of it the hard way, about telling a good teacher from a bad one.
Green flags
- They are in no hurry. A good teacher expects you to take a year and a day, or more, before any commitment. They would rather you walked away than joined too soon.
- They charge nothing for the Craft itself. Teaching the religion, initiation and coven membership are given freely. A fair share of the candles and the hall hire is normal. Fees for workshops, books or professional services like tarot or celebrancy are fine. Fees for initiation or for "advancing a degree" are not.
- They have a history you can check. Named tradition, known teachers, a reputation among other witches. They will tell you who trained them and will not mind you asking around.
- They answer questions straight. Including "I don't know" and "that is oathbound, and here is why."
- They have a life. A job, friends outside the Craft, students who have gone on to lead their own covens and are still on speaking terms.
- They encourage you to read widely, including people they disagree with.
- They are clear about boundaries, physical, emotional and financial, and keep them.
- Their students seem well. Steady, confident, capable of disagreeing with the teacher in front of you.
Red flags
- Pressure. Any urgency about joining, deciding, committing or keeping secrets from your family.
- Money for initiation, degrees, "attunements," or removal of curses only they can see.
- Sex. Any suggestion that sexual contact with the teacher is part of training, initiation or "the Great Rite." Genuine traditions that include ritual sexuality do so only between established, consenting adult partners, never between teacher and student, and will tell you so unprompted. Leave at once.
- Isolation. Being discouraged from other teachers, other groups, other books, or from friends and family who "wouldn't understand."
- Grandiosity. Claims of unique lineage, secret ancient knowledge, personal messages from the gods about you, or that theirs is the only true Craft.
- Inconsistency. The history changes; the rules change; the teacher's version of events does not match anyone else's.
- Contempt for former students, other traditions, or the Rede.
- Your own gut, saying no when your head is saying yes. The gut is usually right, and it is the instrument the Craft is supposed to be training.
Meeting strangers
Treat the first meeting with any teacher or group as you would a first meeting with anyone from the internet, because that is what it is. Meet in public. Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back. Take your own transport. Do not go to a private home or an outdoor site alone until you know these people. Do not hand over identification, money or your legal name before you are ready. Bring a friend if you like; a good group will not mind. Drink nothing you did not see poured.
None of this is paranoia. It is the same sense you would bring to a job interview or a date, and a teacher worth having will respect you more for it.
Online teachers
Much good teaching now happens online, and several on our Kindred Hearths page offer it. The same flags apply. Be especially wary of anyone offering initiation by video call, degree certificates for payment, or a "coven" that is a paid membership tier with no human relationship behind it. Learning online is real. Buying a title is not.
If you have been hurt
It happens, and it is not your fault. Groups go wrong in the Craft as they do in every religion, and the smallness and secrecy that make a good coven so good make a bad one hard to leave and hard to talk about. You are allowed to leave. Oaths taken to a group that broke its own ethics do not bind you. Talk to other witches; most of us have heard it before and will believe you. The Pagan Federation and similar bodies have safeguarding officers. And the Craft itself, the Goddess, the moon, the turning year, is not what hurt you. It is still yours.