covenstead

Noun

covenstead (plural covensteads)

1. A permanent circle or temple used to meet for rituals and to store religious items, often a mundane location.
   • He began being late for meetings and, as some members travelled quite a distance to the covenstead and had to leave promptly afterwards, Alex took him to task.1969, June Johns, King of the witches: the world of Alex Sanders, page 108
   • It used to be that one covendom could not overlap another, so one covenstead would never be closer than six miles to the next.1986, Raymond Buckland, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, link
2. (metonymically) A Wiccan congregation.
   • For the last year, the entire covenstead had noticed an increase in the number of outsiders on their properties.1995, Silver RavenWolf, Beneath a Mountain Moon, published 2005, page 104
   • In connection with these principles the Dianic Covenstead had a very effective series of exercises and techniques for regaining kinship and attunement with nature.2006, Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America, page 128