This also means for the time being open classes will not be held but individual training for 
Coven members will be available.

In Love and Trust
Winter, High Priest

Our core beliefs include balance and a polytheistic belief in Goddesses and Gods. 
We acknowledge the reality of Life and Death as necessary cycles. In order for Life to endure, there must be Death. 
It is the physical nature of humans to cooperate and compete, love and hate, kill and nurture. 

The coven is the basis of all organization; the coven is our family, the High Priestess and High Priest are first among equals. 

Balance is the goal. The Rede is a guiding principle, not an iron-clad rule. 
There is no way we can succeed at "harm none." We can only strive ever toward that ideal. 
The word "rede" is a thousand years old; in Saxon, it meant "advice." 
That's all the Wiccan Rede is: it is ADVICE. It is not a commandment.

We are true polytheists and know all the gods and goddesses as real entities with separate and distinct personalities. 
Some are called most strongly to the worship of one or more particular Gods within a single pantheon or from different ones.

Our philosophy embraces living life to its fullest and in its most magickal form. 
Our system is one of active association with the Wild Natural World, and we are wild indeed.

The traditional rituals include oaths in which candidates for initiation bind themselves 
to maintain the traditional secrecy of the Coven, study and practice the teachings, 
cooperate with the coven officers, treat their fellow members in an ethical and 
respectful fashion, and use any magical powers they may attain to positive ends alone. 
These obligations represent the core standards of conduct.

Under no circumstance other than self defense, defense of loved ones and 
defense of those who cannot defend themselves do we harm another. 
If one truly follows this guideline no further explanation is necessary. 

We tend to respect the law of Three-Fold Return and 
attempt to live our lives in a manner respectful of the Gods,

High Priestesses and High Priests don't need to be older, but they are almost always more experienced in the Craft, and if a covener comes to them with a problem they can't handle, it is their responsibility to help the covener find a way to solve the problem, magickally or mundanely. As we put a high value on fellowship and the cohesiveness of the coven as a family, any member of the group may turn to any other member and be confident of aid and compassion.

Our Moon rituals are cast widdershins and our Sabbat rituals deosil.

Our tradition is a mystery religion with oaths of secrecy.  But we invoke the powers of the elements, draw our circle with earth and air, fire and water, purify ourselves and in general make the space sacred, and then ourselves. Then we celebrate the sabbat, or do magic to fulfill our needs, sometimes both. We ground ourselves, we celebrate the rite of cakes and wine, we close the circle, making the space mundane again.

"All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals." Certainly the Sabbats and Esbats are very important; group workings are what help form the group mind and make the coven a coherent whole. One of the most important single points of our practice is the fact that we worship skyclad. That means that all one wears into the circle is jewelry.

This is not an excuse to limit membership to the young, nubile and attractive. If one is a bit shy, one can recall that there is a reason why candlelight is considered "romantic"—it makes one glow, but does not illuminate flaws. And, after all, none of us are perfect. We are naked in our rites because one's clothing anchors one's mind to mundane matters. Skyclad practice works just as the concept of ritual robes does: it helps your mind shift gears, puts your consciousness into the magickal place where the power flows.

The Sacred Glen is organized as a hierarchical coven composed of two circles
with various degrees and offices within those circles.

The Outer Circle is composed of two degrees, Novice and Initiate.
Novices are new to the coven and/or worship.
It is not required that a Novice ever progresses beyond that point.

An Initiate is a Novice who has started the path to initiation.

The Inner Circle is composed of those who have completed the path and become initiated.

The majority of a student's training takes place during class. 
Here the student will listen and take notes on a variety of topics, 
perform basic exercises, and discuss different parts of the learning material.

In addition to rituals and classes, a variety of other training takes place in the form of exercises and tests. These serve as a way for the student to apply all of the information learned in class. The student will take place in shamanic journeys. She will take nature walks with the others and learn about local medicinal plants, and collect and prepare them later in a test. The student will take essay-based tests where she will have to relate many of the topics learned in class and through reading. She will have to perform some sort of community service to help others, in order to help further develop her sense of compassion and humanity, and to help her realize that she is not isolated from the mundane world. She must perform some sort of physical exercise throughout her training, because the training is for the body as well as the mind and sprit. She will have to perform service to Nature, be it by recycling, community gardening, or participating in Arbor Day. The student will often be asked to do periods of a self-discipline ritual—often for a complete lunation—in order to help her meditate on any particular struggles she may be having at the moment. These and other exercises and tests are given at various points in her training, to help develop practical experience to complement her scholarly study.

Sexuality is an expression of the Divine. To honor this belief we value and encourages positive sexuality. Positive sexuality is the affirmation of ethical sexual behavior and the pleasure seeking instinct for the fostering of social bonding, including communion with one another and Divine being. Consent and peer-ship are the basis for ethical sexual behavior and positive sexuality. The expression of positive regard in human sexual behavior is essential for positive sexuality.

Positive sexuality includes sacred sexual behavior. For us, sacred sexuality requires an attitude wherein individuals affirm their essential worth, confirm the equality and essential self worth of others, and seek to act interdependently to mutually fulfill sexual desire and affection and affiliation needs. Sexual behavior that expresses or reflects this attitude is believed to be sacred in that such behavior honors and expresses immanent Divinity. The practice of sacred sexuality and sacred sexual rituals is encouraged. We believe that homoerotic and hetero-erotic sexuality can be expressions of sacred sexual behavior.

When nudity is a symbolic act that reflects an individual's affirmation of self worth, the beauty of sexuality, basic trust in others and a peaceful heart, then believes nudity is a sacred sex practice that is an expression of Divinity within and fosters 'growing closer'. We encourage nudity as a sacred practice for those who are called to do so within the privacy of a nest, in a secluded natural environment or at 'clothing optional' gatherings. Further, we believe if one chooses to be naked in one of its private rituals, it can be a sign that one is free.

We recognize and bless a variety of committed sacred sexual relationships as marriages. These marriages may or may not be sexually exclusive and may be monogamous, polygamous or polyamorous. This variety of committed relationships not only reflects the ethical freedoms that we support, but also reflects the historical and anthropological facts showing that humanity has practiced a wide variety of committed sexual relationships called 'marriage'. We believe multiple forms of marriage are, in part, a reflection of humanity's diverse nature, which desires both social stability and sexual variety, and that there are many ways to satisfy these desires. The pluralistic approach to marriage is envisioned as an expression of the diversity of nature and Divinity within it. This approach is an essential religious concept and custom, in that it fosters humanity's harmony with nature and immanent Divinity through integration of instinct with culture.

The Sacred Glen recognizes and celebrates the 8 Sabbats
and each of the 13 Full Moons (or Esbats) of the year.

Samhain (31 October)
Yule (21 December)
Imbolc (1 February)
Ostara (20 March)
Beltane (1 May)
Litha (21 June)
Lammas (1 August)
Mabon (20 September)

Since the coven adjusts to their members' needs, meetings may actually be held on the