Although it is primarily a feminine form of worship, there are a substantial number of male followers who are also known as witches.
The presence of male and female energies are seen as vital in their ceremonies which celebrate fertility and the seasons at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and also on the summer and winter solstices.
At such times the High Priestess who presides over each coven is considered as a personification of the Mother Goddess.
The High Priest is seen as her consort, the Horned God, a Pan-like figure whom the early Church corrupted into the devil.
In these ceremonies, or Sabbats to use the traditional term, a circle will be drawn and consecrated with a saline solution.
A candle will be placed at each of the four cardinal points, and at each one the High Priestess will evoke the four elements of fire, air, water and earth.
If a fertility rite is performed this will usually be a symbolic union between the High Priestesr and the High Priest who will use a consecrated dagger known as an athame and a chalice to represent the male and female elements.
People who find such ceremonies too theatrical, or who are unable or unwilling, to join a coven can work alone using modern variations on the arcane techniques such as candle magic, healing, banishings, blessings and talismanic magic.
