The story is told that some members of Fiveacres used to sneak out of the club grounds through a hole in the hedge to join him in his rituals in the cottage, although some of the leading members strongly disapproved of this. Although not all of the covens' participants are naked while performing their rituals, many are. Covens are usually described as 'robed' or 'skyclad', the term most commonly used to describe nudity. Although not all members of skyclad covens would describe themselves as naturists, many do, taking every opportunity to adopt a naked lifestyle. There are two reasons for this, quite apart from the obvious health benefits.
Nakedness is a symbol of free-mindedness, a challenge to conformity and convention.
Indeed Gardener said 'as a sign that you be really free, you shall be naked in your rites'. Another reason is that many Wiccans believe that psychic influences are best absorbed when the practitioner is completely naked. Persephone was told 'cast aside your garments and jewels upon entering the underworld', thus abandoning the pressures and trappings of the mundane world to enter the magical world within the circle of the coven. The Church has conducted a long campaign against The Old Religion and nakedness in general. seeking to impose a sense of guilt and automatically associating nudity with sexual misconduct, and even Satanism. Indeed, to be a Satanist, one must be a Christian.