Crow Women Initiation Rituals

Initiation rituals are one of our most important rites of passage. We Crow Women are a close, close sisterhood! We have been circling for over 25 years, which has to be some kind of a record. There have been sisters who have moved away, and new crow women have been added to our nest. We learned a while ago that it’s important for us to be selective and guided by Spirit when a new member is considered. Crafting beautiful initiation rituals is important for the new member and current members alike.

An initiation is a two-way commitment

Here’s a good dictionary definition: “Initiation: the action of admitting someone into a secret or obscure society or group, typically with a ritual” And yes, this so perfectly describes us! We are a closed Wiccan women’s circle, and choose carefully when membership is considered. The woman must be sure we are a good fit, and we must feel sure as well. A woman often spends a while as a prospective member, then six to twelve months as a provisional member, before we take the step of initiation. When we feel that we have that solid connection, we create a Ritual of Initiation. The initiation formalizes our commitment to one another.

Learning from experience

There was a time, lo, many years ago, when a large number of women joined our circle “on a whim”, or at least without serious intent. We felt quite scattered, and resolved to avoid that situation in the future. We established a system that works very well for us, with steps to be taken and levels to be attained as we consider a potential new member and she considers us.

Another learning experience occurred a few years ago. After she had passed through a prospective and provisional phase, we invited a woman to join us and she accepted. On a night just weeks before her planned initiation, she announced (rather abruptly) that she had decided to follow a different spiritual path and so; “Goodbye!”  We were shocked by the sudden nature of her withdrawal, having had no hint that she would do that! Our reaction was to hold a healing circle shortly thereafter, with tears and talk of our process and how it worked. Since this incident, we have become doubly, triply cautious and discerning about membership.

The prospective member’s ally: the madrina

Our initiation rituals are generally planned by the madrina who has taken the prospective member under her wing. (So to speak- yes, we are Crows!) “Madrina” is the Spanish word for godmother, or in our case, goddessmother. The role of madrina within our circle is very special, and involves many one-on-one meetings, explanation of the Crow Women history, practices and expectations, as well as providing continued support and encouragement. Having one specific ally to guide a woman through the steps from potential member to full member has made the process clearer as well as more meaningful.

The initiation rite of passage

We have had wonderful initiation rituals over the past several years–I will describe the general flow of these rituals, and hope to hear from you, our blog followers, about the rituals you use to bring new members into your various groups.

A bonding circle

After casting our circle with cleansing and charging of the space and invoking the Spirits of each Direction and Element, each crow woman speaks to the initiate, sharing impressions and feelings about the soon-to-be Crow. Often there are tears of joy and tenderness here.  We also ask the initiate to offer her declaration of intent and desire to become one of us. Yes, more beautiful tears.

Crowflight meditation

We enclose the new member in our circled arms (wings) and recite a beautiful poem written by a former crow woman who has since moved away. This poem transforms us all into the womb of the Mother, where we are born anew, learn to fly, gather and share–and end in the arms of the Goddess. The many years we have used this meditation for initiation rituals have made it very dear to us.

Symbols of membership

We offer tokens of membership–each of us wears a necklace with the Goddess figure prominently affixed. We add a bead for each year of belonging, a bead representing whatever task or “office” has been recently held, symbols representing those elements, spirits, forces or totems to which we have dedicated, and other symbols of power and magic selected by each crow. The new initiate’s necklace is bare until she has been involved with us for enough time to acquire her beads and tokens. We proudly wear these emblems of sisterhood for many rituals!

Each new Crow Woman also receives a pendant of a pentacle with a crow. This emblem first was given to members on the tenth anniversary of the forming of our group. Ever since, new initiates into the circle have been given their own crow pentacle to mark their membership. Similar necklaces are available on Amazon. Because the crow is our symbol, this necklace means a lot to us.

You have a place here in our heart
It will change and grow
You have a place here in our heart
You will change and grow
Yes, you have a place here, deep in our heart
You will depart someday, someway
And still you will have a place in our heart

from You Have a Place Here by Alane Brown

Our initiation song!

All of our initiation rituals are filled with music. For the past ten years, the central song has been the beautiful You Have a Place Here, written by sister Alane Crowomyn. She wrote this song for crow sister Molly’s initiation in 2009, as an initiation gift. (Yes, gifts from each sister are part of the celebration, too.) The song is on our album Crow Magic, and more details are on the song’s page here on our website.

And, of course, we finish with a special feast and celebration!

Life after initiation

Once a new member is initiated, she is a full member, with total inclusion in all decisions (always by consensus) and plans. She is expected to be a contributor and fully involved in our rituals, retreats, social gatherings, and of course, our band the Crow Women. We have been very fortunate that new members are able to sing and love music. We encourage each crow woman to write songs, which can be intimidating, but with encouragement and support, all of us have created really notable and worthy songs! Please find our original material on our albums, Crow Goddess, Crow Magic and Seasons.

We have had parting rituals as well, when a Crow sister moves away, or decides to pursue a different path. These occasions are often bittersweet, as we wish all blessings on those departing our circle, yet know we will miss their gifts to the group. We sing You Have a Place Here on these occasions, too; “…you will depart someday, someway, and still you will have a place in our heart.”

We hope you will share your own experiences with adding new members to your circle, and any other information about this topic. I think many Pagan groups thrive with solid, committed membership, and we feel that the selection process is one of our important spiritual tasks.