I'm a Birdbrain

[Elspode]

The definition of coven is essentially correct. Wiccans consider themselves witches, and our worship groups are called covens, for the most part. I do know of at least one group in our town that has recently formed a Wiccan church...

Ritual tools are indeed symbolic, and any "power" these items have is only that which is imbued by its owner and user. Interestingly, many of the ritual items used in Wicca are things which are commonly found in the homes and hearths of the common people originally.

The first time my son attended a Wiccan ceremony was when my wife and I got handfasted. Following the ceremony, he reported to his mother that people were walking around waving knives and saying things he didn't understand. As she is the product of mainstream Christianity, and not terribly open minded to begin with, she totally lost it. It has taken me literally years of explaining to get her to not actively fear that someone was going to sacrifice something. Now she just says we're all going to burn in hell...

There is a lot of information out there for anyone who cares to look which explains pretty much every aspect of Wicca and other Pagan paths, right down to use of ritual tools, but most people don't really care enough to learn. It is far easier to say "my god is better than your god", and leave it at that. There is nothing to fear from a true practitioner of Wicca, but that isn't to say there aren't Pagan freakos out there, because there are. But there are Christian, Buddist and Muslim freakos as well.