Coven-based initiatory worship is the traditional form of Wicca and related modern Pagan witchcraft, in which practice is carried on within a coven, a small, close-knit group, and entry is by formal initiation, a rite of admission conferred by those already initiated. In this model, which characterises the older lineages of Wicca such as the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, one does not simply declare oneself a witch but is admitted to a specific coven and its lineage through a ceremony of initiation, often structured into a series of degrees marking stages of advancement and responsibility. The coven meets to mark the turning festivals of the year and the phases of the moon, to worship its deities, characteristically a goddess and a god, and to work ritual and magic together, led typically by a high priestess and high priest.
The initiatory coven model emphasises the oral transmission of teaching from initiate to initiate, the maintaining of a lineage traceable back through one's initiators, and the secrecy of the group's inner workings, bound by an oath taken at initiation. This structure gives the tradition continuity, quality control and a communal container for practice, and its defenders value the depth and accountability that training within a coven provides. It stands in contrast to the solitary and self-initiated practice that has become widespread in modern Paganism, and the two represent a real division within the movement, between those who hold that valid initiation and training can come only through an established lineage and coven, and those who regard the tradition as open to any sincere seeker who takes it up alone. Coven-based initiatory worship preserves the older, more structured and more guarded form from which much of modern witchcraft descends.