Frequently Asked Questions
How long has The Forest’s Edge existed?
Since 2011. Before that, its founding members were part of the leadership of a related tradition.
What is a tradition of witchcraft? How is a tradition different than being a witch who happens to practice similarly to other witches?
For us, Tradition means knowing and being known by other witches (at a distance or in person) and sharing in a transformative Mystery together. It means being willing to both give and receive and being valued for your unique skillsets. The tradition is something we are always building— and becoming—together. It’s something we enjoy sharing with those who are called to this wild adventure.
Because people move and lives change we’ve seen shifts in the Tradition over time. Sometimes there are local covens or groups functioning within the tradition alongside solitary practitioners, and other times it has largely been a collection of solitaries with a few clusters or couples. Tradition initiates come from different places and practice solitary or start groups as they prefer. Learn more about the Tradition Structure.
It’s great if you already practice or want to practice in a related way— and you definitely don’t need a tradition to have an awesome, fulfilling experience. If you’re interested in building a practice as a bioregional animist witch who digs folklore and does wild, transformative things like spirit flight there are so many great books for learning. It may be that the relationships, give and take and shared mystery of a Tradition isn’t what you want.
If Tradition isn’t quite your thing, the book The Witch at the Forest’s Edge has its origins in tradition teaching materials and is widely available to anyone and geared toward any animist witch.
What gods do you worship?
We work with ancestors, lands spirits and so forth, but each member is free to decide which deities— if any— they feel called to work with.
What if I might be interested in apprenticing, but I don’t know any members personally?
No problem. First, email us for a relatively short questionnaire, if all goes well (it usually does) we will send you an invite you to the discord server as a Seeker. Once you have access, you'll be able to interact with your peers, attend regular voice chats, and engage in other activities. If apprenticeship is your goal, you can also see if any initiates are currently available to take apprentices.
Apprenticeship is what we call the process of working with an initiate to move forward in your own unique path while gradually getting to know the Spirit of the Tradition. The Witch at the Forest’s Edge is the primary “textbook” of sorts for this process, although you and your teacher will pull in other resources specific to your needs and interests. Some teachers work with individual apprentices and others prefer small groups.
What if I am a very experienced (or inexperienced) witch, can I still have a meaningful apprenticeship?
Absolutely! You won’t be the first very experienced witch— or on the other end of the spectrum— the first novice witch we’ve worked with. For the experienced witch apprenticeship may be less about information and more about pushing deeper, building relationships, getting to know the Spirit of the Tradition, connecting the dots and working in partnership with your teacher to keep learning. (We learn tons as teachers, too!) For the novice witch, you are already bringing a lot to the table even if you don’t see it yet and are absolutely witch enough.
What if I want to bring my existing coven or circle into the tradition?
Sometimes that works well. Email us and we’ll chat.
What if I still have questions not addressed here?
Please feel free to contact us and we will get back to you.