Covenant of the Goddess: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Samhain has come and gone.  The weather is cooling off and the leaves are changing color.  As the seasonal tides turn, so do those of Covenant of the Goddess (CoG). On November 1^st, the newly elected National Board took office to help steer the organization through yet another year of advocacy and adventure.  This date also marks CoG’s 38^th birthday having been officially founded on October 31^st of 1975.

Over the past year, CoG and its local councils found themselves doing incredible outreach work in so many areas. A very small sampling of this work included:

•        Financially supporting the Council for the Parliament of World Religions, Cherry Hill Seminary and Ardantane.
•          Attending interfaith conventions and working with local and national interfaith groups.  (For details see CoG’s own Interfaith Blog)
•          Acting locally as advocates for Pagan rights in cases of religious freedom. (e.g. Florida’s Kyrja Whithers and Pahokee Summer Solstice Festival) 
•          Communicating with the media and others to offer supportive information and corrective feedback at a national level (e.g. Fox News, CNN and Facebook)  
•          Representing Wiccans and Witches in Global forums and within our local communities.
•          Acting as chaplains in prison and military environments.
•          Working with and showing support for Lady Liberty League and The Pagan Federation International
•          Attending and sponsoring Pagan Pride Events, local classes and seasonal festivals.

In August, CoG held its yearly conference, Merry Meet and Grand Council, in the historic town of Salem.  During the event the members held an impromptu ritual to honor those killed in the name of witchcraft.  During that ritual onlookers gathered and some even joined in the work.  It was a high-point in the year for many of members.

Our social media presence has more than doubled since last year. In mid December we had 9,287 Facebook likes, no Pinterest account and only 37 followers on Twitter.  A year later, we have 21,332 Facebook likes, 217 CoGTweet followers and 125 CogPins followers.

As we move into the Yule season, we will begin our festive postings “Yuletide with CoG” to share the warmth of the season from our members to the greater community.  

For more information about Covenant of the Goddess, please go to our main website at www.cog.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.  If you’d like to donate to our members’ outreach work, you can do so through by contacting any of our local councils, our national officers or through PayPal’s Giving Fund or eBay’s Giving Works (both formerly called Mission Fish.)