ummm. i'm new at this sorta thing so do i realy have to have a coven?

that depends on you....

what do you mean???

[Moloch]

It means that what you do with your life is up to you. You are a free individual.

oh.. i thought he ment it depended on my magickal ability seeing as how i've never did anything magickal.. so thanks.

like we said, that freely depends on you...if you want to, then go for it....

covens are good in the sense that you get to pick your owm family!! 
it depends whether you want to be part of a team or want to stay as an individual!!

 

yah...covens work  that way......do they?

covens all work together, in small groups and as one to celebrate mark sabbats and other special occasions for them selves!! 

hmm...that explains everything...too bad there's no wicca to where i come from....

wicca can be practiced on ones own!! its called being a solo practitioner!!! it can be fun on your own if your a dependant person .... but its your own choice!!

[rave phillaphia]

It is all based on choice. I mean for bigger things its never to celebrate alone (yes wiccas have their own holidays too). But you don't necessarily need one or need to be part of one. You can get away with just doing it on your own. I do know that people are more stronger when they are together but that works for pretty much any religion and even society works that way too. For simple stuff no and for bigger things you don't have to. Plus it is very hard to find a covenent of your standings because everyone believes different things and its semi-hard to organize it because depending on the area it may be preformed a person or group may be at risk because of anti-wiccanists still out there. They might not be able to burn people at the stake but they are annoying. But overall the answer is no to needing a coven. A coven may be elaborate or just a group of friends.

Just my word or advice follow the creed and do no misdeeds and all will be well. Be well and blessed so mote it be!

[MetalDragoness]

Covens - that is a choice, if you enjoy being with other people and learning from other people covens are a good place to go. Although it is hard to find a coven that is already made up that you will fit right into. There are many different personalities involved but everyone in a coven has their own level of practice, things they are good at. It would be a good place to learn, because by most means it is a safe place. There are also different types of covens. It is definitely worth researching. But it is a matter of a choice.

However for celebration of the pagan/wiccan holidays it is always good to amongst people who share your interests but you don't have to.

The city I live in has open rituals for Samhain and Yule and many of the other pagan holidays you can choose to join them or not.

One thing I would say is that when they do festivals you go to at least one or two of these. They often are there to help the community and to give site to the people that we are not BAD people sacrificing animals and having blatant sex acts in public. Also much of them are to promote the farming communities that grow our food, people who work hard.

So there is my take on covens and such.