What are Degrees in Paganism?

In my post about initiations, I mentioned about how in certain groups or covens, there are levels or degrees. And to be completely honest, I don’t really know what that means. So, I plan on changing that. lol  

So, with degrees, just like pretty much anything else with these types of paths, traditions and practices change from group to group/person to person. Degrees are mostly known in the Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wiccan paths. It’s debated on whether there are three initiation levels or four. For this purpose, we will be going with four, that way it covers pretty much everything.  

Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca 

Both Gardnerian and Alexandrian paths of Wicca tend to only have three levels or degrees of initiation. First Degree, Second Degree, and Third Degree. Some Alexandrian groups do have a technical fourth group, a preliminary rank called neophyte or dedicant. These members are not normally ”bound” by the oaths normally taken by the initiates but are given the opportunity to see what the coven does and experience certain parts of their traditions and practices. The Neophytes are not considered to have actually joined the coven until they do take the oath and are initiatives into the group. This means they would not experience certain parts of the rituals that were considered for the ”oathbound members”.  

I personally hate the use of the term ”oathbound” when it comes to something like this. To me it makes joining a coven sound like joining a cult, and that’s definitely not what it should seem like. Actually, if you’re in the process of joining a coven and it seems like joining a cult, you probably shouldn’t join them.  

Alexandrian and Gardnerian groups tend to look at their first degrees as the students of the group, and that only second or third-degree members are the only ones that could initiate other members. Third degree members of the coven are considered the High Priestesses and High Priests of the group. It is also a fairly common thought among these two subsections of Wicca that you are not considered “Wiccan” if you have never been initiated into a coven, some don’t believe that you would be considered a Wiccan if you self-initiate either. It is believed that only a witch can make another witch.  

First Degree 

First Degree Initiates typically must wait a year and a day before they are able to be initiated into their first degree. Typically, there would be a lesson plan that was made by either the High Priest or High Priestess. These could include books to read, written assignments to complete, or demonstrations of skills or knowledge. This is also the level where in most cases, you are not involved in a good majority of the ”coven secrets”.  

Second Degree 

A second degree initiate into a coven is someone that has shown they have learned and advanced through the criteria of the first-degree lesson plan. Second degree members can help the High Priest/Priestess lead the rituals, teach classes, etc. Sometimes these members are looked to as mentors to the first-degree initiates and neophytes. From what I found, sometimes there is a lesson plan for the second degree, but other times it could just be a self-study period. It really depends on the traditions of the coven. This degree would be where initiates are starting to be brought into more of a functioning role of the group, they may also be trusted with more of the inner workings of the coven.  

Third Degree 

This is where all the groups tend to differ. In some groups this is the last step on the initiation, in some groups there is a fourth step. Some groups don’t consider there to be an end to the initiation process, because we are always learning more about our craft and life. For most groups, specifically the Alexandrian and Gardnerian, this is the last degree, and this is when initiates are considered to become High Priests and High Priestesses. At this point, the member should be fairly comfortable in a leadership position, and they should be able to lead classes unsupervised and be able to answer any questions a new initiate might have. Some groups I read about won’t let anyone in the coven know the name of the gods they are following, or even the names of the High Priests or Priestesses until the member reaches the third degree. This is something I personally don’t agree with, I don’t like the concept of withholding the deity that the group is working with. That just seems wrong to me. I can understand the concept of not using your personal names and wanting to keep them a secret (Obviously. Considering my real name isn’t Safire. Lol).  The third degree is also where some covens are okay with their initiates branching off and starting their own coven.  

Fourth Degree 

For the covens that have a fourth degree, which isn’t that common, this would be fairly similar to the third degree. This would be where you are fully considered a part of the coven and would have access to all the information and knowledge the coven has. For me personally, I would consider this degree to be where a person was initiated into being a High Priest or Priestess of the coven. But again, not much is said about the fourth degree, because most groups will stop at three. 

One of the issues that I have with the degree system is that isn’t really the best way to gauge if someone is actually learning their craft. Like there is no test in the world that will be able to tell you if the person you are mentoring for their initiation is just good at public speaking and can recite rituals and call the quarter eloquently, or if they truly learned what you were teaching them and made the connection with their craft and the energies that they are calling to. At the most, you are really only going to be able to gauge how well the person has learned the technical side of witchcraft, only the initiate themselves is going to be able to gauge how they are coming along spiritually, and even then, it’s difficult because everyone learns and adjusts to new things differently.  

A lot of what I was reading when researching this, was a lot of time when people see the concept of the degrees, it tends to scare them away from Wicca, especially when dealing with people that consider non-initiated and self-initiated wiccans to not truly be wiccans. And that can be extremely difficult to deal with, but the degrees themselves should scare you away from joining a coven. They aren’t there to be used as a way to keep information and knowledge from anyone, they should be used to help you learn and grow in your craft and to be confident and comfortable with what you are capable of doing. It’s also a system that can help keep newbies from conjuring/doing something that they shouldn’t be doing.  

That being said, I unfortunately do have to say this. If you are in the process of initiating with a coven, and they are making you feel uncomfortable, if they don’t stop when you express the fact that whatever they are doing isn’t okay, leave. The group isn’t worth it, and I promise it will probably only get worse. Also, the degree system is not meant to enforce a hierarchy in groups, nor should it involve being subservient to the leaders of the group. If anyone in a coven, or hell, even when dealing with a group of people in general, tries to tell you that you need to do specific things, or that you need to pay to be initiated, you should turn around and walk away. Now, I will say, there are occasions where you will be expected to help set up/take down alters or help clean up temples, which Is something that should be out of respect, and it shouldn’t necessarily be mandatory. Here is a better list of the things that you should be on the lookout for when joining a new group for the first time, please understand that no group is worth being a part of if you are constantly feeling uncomfortable around them. It’ll only make it harder for you to learn, and honestly, it’ll probably make you want to walk away from your path as well if you start attributing the abuse with your craft, which isn’t good.  

So, have you been gone through the in degrees in a coven? What was your experience?