helped me shape my incredibly difficult decision to leave my disfunctional coven.Harrow gives us an excellent overview of what a coven member should expect in terms of ethics, and well-functioning group dynamics. It should be mandatory reading for every HP and HPS, and equally so for every wannabe.
If things aren't working for you in your Pagan circle or coven, read this book, and you can find tools to help it run better. Or to raise your consciousness about when it's time to hit the road.
You won't find practical magic or spells in this book. But you will find a well thought-out analysis of what makes Pagan groups work well together.
Rating: 
Summary: Wicca Covens
Review: I was pretty disappointed actually, I expected to get a lot of coven information.. what was involved with starting a coven, how to organize groups, and so on.. but basically this book deals with resolving conflicts within a coven.. now that is EXTREAMLY important for coveners but.. not at all what I had expected.. Covencraft by Amber K. is MUCH more detailed.. this book is useful however if you are dealing with jealousy, power struggles, etc. inside your coven.. but other than that.. it was not very helpful..
Rating:
Summary: Resource Material
Review: If you are in a coven, read this. If you are thinking of joining a coven, read this. If you are thinking of starting and/or leading a coven, use this book to beat yourself about the head and shoulders with!
Seriously, Judy's contributions to the pagan community are many. She has a counseling website that is amazing, but this book is hands-down the best on this subject. She has absolutely "been there, done that" and I am sure her T-shirt is old, too.
Running any group is difficult, but when you throw religion into the mix... it is threetimes as difficult. It hits you mentally, spiritually and physically. Harrow's book is like having an elder friend to turn to when times get rough. She goes into group dynamics and interpersonal relating as well.
My copy will probably have to be replaced because I know I am wearing it out.
Rating:
Summary: Salvation for any Witch.
Review: Judy Harrow has two great qualifications for writing this book. She is a Wiccan High Priestess of many years standing, and is also a trained psychologist who understands group dynamics. This book is a wonderful resource for anyone involved in coven work, especially for coven leaders. In fact, most of the information in this book can be used for running any type of group. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Long Overdue!!
Review: Judy's book is an excellent resource for both the self-created as well as lineaged Coven leader.
Focusing on real-life concerns such as determining training outline content, group dynamics, fascilitating individual & group growth, *Wicca Covens* helps give the group leader workable tools to use to in helping them develop their own teaching style & more efficiently guide their own students towards their own goals.
Definately no "canned" training outlines here!
A must read for anyone either presently or soon-to-be running a training group.
Great job Judy!
Rating: 
Summary: This is THE book
Review: There are a couple of good books on the market that deal with Wicca Covens, and in my opinion there are not enough.
While a lot of Covens cover within their own group their own rules and such regarding how their covens are structured and formed, those outside the coven structure are sadly lacking in the necessary teaching, information and skills needed to undertake such a project.
Judy Harrow presents here an in depth book dealing with the formation, principles and workings of a Coven. From starting a coven to dealing with individuals within the Coven group to deciding when to meet or how to perform ritual together, it is all discussed in a grown up manner with a common sense approach to the problems and day to day workings.
There are way too many people out there who are calling their group a "Coven" only to have someone realize they are nothing more than a working group. And there are those out there who really do want to create a working coven, and need a guide to help them put it all together. Many people do not know what a real coven should look and feel like. This book can help clarify a lot of these questions.
No one book will contain all the answers or have everything you need to be completely assured of a successful coven. But this book covers much ground in the practical approach to forming a Coven. If you are taking the first steps, or think you have a coven and are not sure, or looking for experiences from someone who has been in a coven, this book can certainly help you out.
Rating:
Summary: The psychology of running a coven
Review: Wicca Covens, by Judy Harrow (of Proteus Coven), is not a step by step book on how to set up a working group, study group, or coven, whatever the subtitle may imply. What it *is* is a book of coven dynamics, psychology, and all the other messy parts of running and being in a coven, that you hope you will never deal with, but you will.
Judy Harrow has a background in psychology and human relationships, and that is the main focus of the book. It covers a great deal that will be needed by anyone working in a group with the strong personal ties that any religious and work group will form.
Most of this book covers how to deal with loss, with growth, what kind of parent/child or teacher/student relationships may form, and how to deal with them. In addition it covers some magical and practical matters such as: picking the right kind of group for you, finding a working method you can work with, and the drawbacks and advantages of different styles of leadership. The sections on dealing with the coven member's problems, the press, the public, the prima donna, and other chronic issues, will be useful to any member of any coven.
The book is drawn mostly from the personal experiences of the author, with comentary on "how to handle problems" and "what happened to me" from several other coven leaders and elders. Many times the disagreements of these sources about how to handle particular problems, what to teach in what order, etc. is just as informative as when they agree. Many of them contributed ritual, prayers, and other liturgy which are scattered through the book.
I would suggest this book as an *addition* to Amber K's book "Covencraft", which I recommend for more of the 'nuts and bolts' of forming a coven or working group, and which I consider a required book to read before trying to form a coven. These two books together would form a very useful set of books on any coven leaders shelf.
In the interest of fairness, I must state that I know a few of the pagan leaders quoted in this book, and consider several of them to be close friends; I have tried not to let this bias my recommendation of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Should Become a Classic Text of Its Field
Review: Wiccan High Priestess and professional counselor Judy Harrow has contributed a long-needed and valuable book for the Wiccan community. In a lucid, articulate style that makes her book a pleasure to read, she draws on her many years of expertise in both fields to provide a textbook for spiritual groups that operate within a small structure. Her grasp of the dynamics of group work is formidable, and explained in a format that is accessible to any non-professional. She offers many valuable pointers for group leaders--such as defining the important difference between pastoral and psychotherapeutic counseling, and how to avoid overlap--as well as defining possible pitfalls and offering commonsense solutions. The book is enriched by the voices of her students, many of them coven leaders today. I'm a professional counselor myself, and would highly recommend this book to anyone working with small groups of any kind. Bravo, Judy!
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