For the benefit of all in need,
A helping hand to those we can.
Aiding as in our power,
Call our Gods to Bless,
Those as we may encounter.
With the greatest of our efforts,
Working to craft light in future's Hope.
This is the Song of Purpose, the first of our Sacred Songs. It begins all Coven text, as an ethical guide for all that follows.
We usually call our Circle COTUW, for short, and often call ourselves Cotuwists. Our group is small at this time, but our real journey has just begun. We would love to find others of similar interests and values, and look forward to future spiritual and metaphysical projects with the new friends we might make. We see ourselves as dreamers, who are dedicated to building a new future for ourselves and our children, in a realistic way.
Our path at first glance might appear like Wicca, but it is very fundamentally different. We worship Grand Mother (or The Great Mother), and Grand Father (or The Great Father). Together, They, represent all Forces, great and small. Grand Mother is echoed in the Moon, and so the 3 Esbats follow. Grand Father is echoed in the Sun, and so the 8 Sabbats follow (we use the, basically, Celtic names). Both are echoed in the abundance of the Earth, and yearly we celebrate with the Day of Trance which also honors the Ancestors. We are not purists, and by that we mean that our initiates may participate in other religions for their personal spiritual growth. Our concept of politics is one of our most distinct characteristics. All our initiates are considered Clergy, though unless you go through the extra steps to become High Clergy your obligations are very small. Both levels of Clergy have the same voting power in all Circle decisions. High Clergy have dedicated themselves to the Coven and its needs, they are also responsible for all the Rites associated with the Song of Life (this includes adoption, passage, handfasting, funerary rites, etc).
Our Sacred Songs are a compilation of prose that describe all but the culture of our practices. We believe that they should be freely available to all, but this doesn't mean we are restricted from selling copies with cultural comentaries or notes about implementation. If you wish a copy, you may download the pdf below or email us for the rtf.
Strong are our feelings that sentient species are no more detatched from nature than those considered non-sentient. We feel that tech is a vital part of our modern lives, and it divorces us not from the spirit or essence of Earth (or galaxy, or universe, or whatever other scale appeals to you). Knowledge is power, and we feel that its pursuit is Sacred, though sometimes we must learn better (often painfully) of certain applications of that knowledge. One day we hope to build a physical community based on our ecological perspectives.
