Congregational Witchcraft Association(CWA)

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Congregational Witchcraft Association(CWA)

The Congregational Witchcraft Association (CWA) is a fellowship of Wiccans that operates in Canada. It was chartered in 1992 as a Canadian nonprofit association, but had actually been founded four years previously as an association of autonomous self-governing Wiccan covens, the original members residing in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia. Through the 1990s, additional covens (the small groups that form the basic organizational unit in Wicca) were added from other Canadian provinces.

Member groups of the association adhere to a common statement of Wiccan belief and ethical standards, but are in control locally of worship and coven administration. Besides providing a sense of belonging and identity, the association is designed to perform those functions that a single coven would have difficulty accomplishing alone. Most importantly, it represents the member covens to the government. It also, in a general fashion works to promote Wicca and to set up larger festivals and gatherings.

The association believes in a multifaceted immanent divine reality that manifests as the many gods and goddesses of traditional polytheism. The divine also manifests on various levels, and thus it is proper to speak of the greater or higher deities and the lesser deities, among whom would be guardian spirits. The immanent divine is also ever present and active in the world. Humans embody the divine, and every act of love or pleasure is an expression of the divine in human life. Association members also condone and celebrate all sexual expression that is noncoercive.

Association members practice magic. Through ritual and other magical acts, they believe that the world may be changed according to their will (destiny). Magic and ritual are not to include any animal sacrifice or physically coercive aspects. Covens and/or members of the priesthood are not allowed to charge fees for either the teaching of witchcraft or for initiation into the craft. Priests and priestesses are seen to operate as other religious pastoral leaders and are expected to keep the confidences of those whom they counsel.

The CWA is a democratic organization. Its national council is elected by vote of the member covens. It has a vision of creating a non-degree-granting college for the training of people for the Wiccan priesthood. In the mid-1990s, there were 12 covens in either full or associate membership. The association may be reached at P.O. Box 2205, Clearbrook, BC, Canada V2T 3X8. It publishes a periodical, Duck Tales, and several of the covens also publish newsletters. Website: http://www.cwa.ca/.