Ritual, liminality and communitas in Wiccan Open Circles and covens in Canada and the United States

Abstract

Wiccan Open Circles, have been in existence since the early 1960’s, which developed from an Outer Court system of Wicca. Since the individual small coven groups could not accommodate the growing interest in the religion, Outer Courts were formed. The purpose of an outer court system was designed so that High Priesthood of an existing traditional coven could provide a space where new witches would be trained and exposed to Wiccan ritual. Open Circles are similar to the Outer Court system because members of the public are able to experience the rituals that are similar in style to coven rituals and are also able to learn more about the religion. This study focuses on the ritual, liminality and communitas as it occurs in both Open Circle type rituals as well as traditional initiatory covens. In this is a qualitative study, making use of the various techniques of participant observation to gather data.