Seeking the Coven

WARNING: This blog contains some wonderful morsels about the characters in the Beckett Coven series and also some mysterious hints about the plot.

Before we get into who the Beckett Coven are, let’s first talk about what a coven is. A very basic definition is simply a gathering of witches (of any gender identity), but it’s also much more complex. How the coven operates can depend on what they are practicing and what they believe as a group. Many covens are rooted in a particular tradition of Wicca, but there are also many that aren’t associated with Wicca at all or have a more eclectic approach to the Craft and why they do it. There’s no hard and fast rule of what a coven does in general, but if they are adhering to a particular Wiccan faith practice, there are set beliefs and ritual structures the coven sticks to for that practice.

Many traditional covens have what’s called an inner court and an outer court. These courts may also be called groves (as in groves of trees). The inner court is comprised of the witch priests and priestesses who have been initiated into that coven. In the case of Wiccan traditions, they are often led by a High Priestess and a High Priest. The outer court, or grove, is made up of initiates or prospectives, called Seekers, whom the coven considers bringing into their inner grove. This helps them ensure the initiate is a good fit and serious about their witchcraft and faith studies. In some cases, initiates will study for a year and a day before they are formally initiated into the inner grove. Covens are an intimate group who must be able to absolutely trust one another and practice witchcraft in a compatible way.

Within the Beckett Coven series, as well as current day Salem, MA itself, there are about two dozen covens practicing several different traditions. In Whispers of the Pale Witch, we will meet members of three covens, the Blood Moon Coven, Cathleen Mather’s Coven of Diana, and the Beckett Coven. Each has its own practice and belief system.

So, now that you know some generalities about covens, let’s talk about the characters in the Beckett Coven book series:

Kylie Beckett (African American/ European American/ Native American, 20s) – A young forensics photographer who inherits her great-aunt’s home in Salem, MA. She hopes to discover more about her family but learns you should be careful what you wish for.

Hester Beckett (African American, 70s) – A former Salem high school teacher and Kylie’s recently deceased great-aunt. She leaves behind a mysterious house and generational responsibility.

Beulah Prudaetor (European American, 60s) – High Priestess of the Blood Moon Coven and a high school principal. She still holds sway over her former students and disapproves of Kylie inheriting Hester’s legacy.

Elizabeth Ingersoll (European American, 40s) – Hester Beckett’s former student and overly helpful attorney. She is haunted by the past but must overcome it to defend her estranged family.

Baldrick – Elizabeth’s loyal and imposing black German Shepherd. He is fiercely protective but also enjoys good naps.

Finlay Williams (African American/ Native American, 30s) – Elizabeth’s ex and a powerful witch who owns the Bell, Book, and Candle occult shop. She hides a terrible secret.

Sarah Griggs (European American, 20s) – Finlay’s apprentice and a reader of Tarot cards. She’s a young witch who falls in love with Kylie and helps her discover her true identity.

Roarke Hoar (European American, 40s) – Even in Salem, Roarke Hoar stands out in a crowd. She owns the Mark of the Witch tattoo shop and is Sarah’s quirky aunt.

Sheriff Moira Burrows (Asian American/ European American, 30s) – A former soldier, now head of Salem’s Sheriff Department, who can communicate with the dead. She is Kylie’s new boss and coven mates with her good friend, Roarke, and Cathleen Mather.

Cathleen Mather (European American, 40s) – Owner of the Witches’ Brew café and High Priestess of Roarke and Moira’s coven. Her judgement is clouded by an old grudge with Elizabeth Ingersoll.

Angela (European American, 40s) – Homeless woman seeking revenge on the coven who once shunned her.

Deliverance – Just as she was in life, Deliverance is a demon in death.

So now that you know a little bit about each character, how did they come into being? For me, character crafting is a bit of a mixed bag. Some were carefully constructed to serve a particular purpose in the narrative either as heroes or foils. Some shoved their way in whether I wanted them to or not. Others morphed their identities over time as their true purpose became crystal clear. Many of the characters’ names are pulled from Salem’s historical families, including my own. (See the first blog post to learn more about my Ingersoll family). Right off the bat, I wanted to make clear that each of these women has some sort of connection to the Salem Witch Trials, which will become even more important in future books.

Their diversity wasn’t just accidental to the plot, it was essential and will continue to propel the story forward into the next books. These are women who proudly wear their sexuality and ethnicity on their sleeves. The only thing about them they may be hiding at times is their Craft… and definitely some dark secrets about the past. All of them are brought together either by blood, school, coven, or sex. Those connections create bonds, but they also stir up a lot of bad shit no one wants to remember.

Hester and Beulah are members of the Blood Moon Coven. While they were her students, Hester recruited Elizabeth, Cathleen, and Roarke to be part of their outer grove and eventually initiated them into the first degree of their inner grove. At first the coven seemed to be a very traditional Gardnerian group, but soon the girls all realized the Blood Moon Coven was a far more unusual mash up of eclectic practices and strong ties to one particular victim of the Salem Witch Trials.

As new adults, Cathleen and Roarke left the Blood Moon Coven to create their own Wiccan sect, an eclectic version of the Dianic tradition centered around matriarchal worship of the Goddess. When Moira, a budding necromancer, comes to Salem after two tours in the military, Roarke convinces her to join their coven as opposed to seeking in Hester’s mysterious grove.

The events that unfold just after the Autumnal Equinox in 2019 force new acquaintances, estranged family members, and sworn enemies to join together. They must put aside their differences and hunt down the woman a local Boston newspaper once called, The Pale Witch of Salem, before she kills again.

We experience their story from multiple points of view. But be careful. As Kylie has learned from her forensics training, things are rarely what they first appear to be. Just because you as the reader have omniscient sight, doesn’t mean you know what’s truly going on. The only clear path is forward not back. Seeing this world from multiple perspectives will force you to face what is real, belief, or what very well might be madness.

The Coven can be manipulative, even to me as their creator. Sometimes these characters have taken me down paths I’m not prepared to wander. But I promise you, if you let them guide and seduce you, the journey will be enticing, unpredictable, and terrifying in the most magickal ways.

As Hester would say, shall we begin?

Check back each month, from now until Whispers of the Pale Witch hits bookshelves, to learn more about myself, my writing process, and how the Beckett Coven series was born. Thank you for joining me on this journey. In the next blog post, I’ll talk about my writing journey and how it began many moons ago.