Welcome to the Coven of the Tangled Pines Homepage!
Merry Meet and Welcome! From all the sisters of the Coven of the Tangled Pines, please accept our fondest greetings and wishes that you may find all that you seek here, and that we part as friends.
The coven has established this page to give seekers a better look into what our group is about, to celebrate some of our best memories, and to create another means for us to serve our wider Pagan community. Check back often for updates!
Who We Are
The Coven of the Tangled Pines is located in Middle Tennessee—most of our members live within 50 miles of Nashville. While we draw much inspiration from Wicca, we are not a Wiccan coven--we also draw inspiration from Druidry, the Heathen traditions, and Shamanic practices. Our members all identify as Witches, and share a variety of interests including Green Witchcraft, Natural Witchcraft, Kitchen Witchery, Hedge Witchery, Cottage Witchcraft, Traditional Witchcraft, and Wild Witchcraft. Our practices include gathering for Esbat rituals, observing the Sabbats together, coven spell work, divination, an educational program, charity work benefiting our larger community, public coffee nights, long phone conversations between members, and general frivolity whenever possible. We are not a family coven, but do open our circles to the families of members on Sabbats, and have recently begun an educational program for members’ children who are interested in the Craft. We also hope to expand our monthly public coffee night to include public rituals and classes in the not too distant future.
Unlike many covens, The Coven of the Tangled Pines chooses to recognize and work with both light and dark energies. While each member adheres strongly to her own personal ethic of the craft, each also believes in embracing and empowering all aspects of the self and learning from all available sources. Nature is comprised of a balance of light and dark, and we will not elevate one over the other. We do not equate light with good or dark with evil, but believe moral definitions can only be applied to actions through examination of intent. As a group, our intent lies in seeking knowledge and growth through connection with each other, the God and the Goddess, Nature, and ourselves.
Our coven is led by our founder and High Priestess (HPS), Devia. Each year at Litha, our official coven anniversary, the members of the Inner Grove elect from their ranks an Assistant High Priestess (AHPS). The HPS and AHPS act as administrators to facilitate the coven’s basic functioning and direction, and sometimes play a slightly more central role in ritual settings. The AHPS is particularly responsible for the coven’s interactions with the larger community, and for planning and running the annual Inner Grove Retreat. The HPS and AHPS wear circlets to denote their positions.
From the ranks of the Inner Grove also come the Elemental Gatekeepers, sisters who have been permanently assigned to call each of the five Elements in circle. Each Gatekeeper wears a cord in the color of her element to denote her Element. All Inner Grove members also have jobs that facilitate the functioning of the coven, such as Treasurer, Charity Coordinator, Newsletter Editor and Web Mistress, and Hospitality Coordinator.
Outer Grove members of the coven are those seekers who have completed a year's study with the Coven of the Tangled Pines and are then invited to study and worship with the coven until such time as they are deemed ready to initiate into Inner Grove Membership. These individuals come to us from many backgrounds and via many means—not all Outer Grove members initiate, but chose to leave the group and follow other paths, and are free to do so at any time.
If you are interested in the Coven of the Tangled Pines, please visit our Links Page to find out how to meet with us. You may also direct questions to Web Mistress Castiel at kangarue_@hotmail.com.
