Eight seasonal Pagan sabbats are also observed. Initiation into the coven is given by the High Priestess or High Priest. This means you must trust you fellow coveners. A man must be initiated into the coven by a woman, and a woman must be initiated into the coven by a man. The hierarchy has three degrees of advancement.
Tradition calls for advancement to be separated by a minimum of a year and one day.
Only a third degree witch may become a high priestess or high priest. The high priestess is always the head of the coven. Rituals are performed within a magical circle. The original tradition of the Gardnerian craft was to worship in the nude although most covens now worship robed. This is the light flogging of coveners with cords as a means of symbolic suffering.