Home › Glossary › Letter C

Coven

Folklore
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A gathering of witches, typically thirteen, bound by shared ritual, secrecy, and magical practice, often meeting at crossroads or under moonlight.

Detailed Definition
Covens in poetry represent collective female power, hidden knowledge, and resistance to patriarchal suppression. They appear in feminist and occult verse as sanctuaries of solidarity, where silence becomes song and isolation becomes sovereignty.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Macbeth, the three witches form a coven: “We three meet again / In thunder, lightning, or in rain”; in Keats’ “Lamia,” the coven of nymphs and sorceresses conspire in shadowed groves; in Yeats’ “A Vision,” the coven is a spiritual circle bound by lunar rites; in Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song,” the sirens form a coven of ancient song; in Robert Browning’s “The Laboratory,” the speaker joins a coven of vengeful women; in William Blake’s “The Book of Thel,” the coven of eternal mothers sings in the valleys of the dead.
Additional Notes
Coven, traditionally thirteen witches bound by oath, secrecy, and lunar cycles, represents organized female power in opposition to patriarchal structures. In folklore, covens met at crossroads, stone circles, or under yew trees—places of liminality. In poetry, the coven is a vessel for collective voice, resistance, and ritualized knowledge. Its structure allows poets to explore communal trauma, silenced histories, or the power of sisterhood. Avoid romanticizing it as mere paganism; its roots lie in persecution, resilience, and the preservation of marginalized wisdom.
Other Meanings of “Coven”
Also Known As
Coven of Witches Witch Coven
Skip to main content