A once-friendly coven of teenage witches in Carrolton, Texas has been ripped apart by what many are calling "coven politics."

Although Wiccans despise hierarchy of any kind, the coven decided to elect a "leader" of sorts to keep track of the coven's communal property and notify the members of Esbats and Sabats [lunar and seasonal ceremonies]. No one knew quite how seriously coven regular Karyn Simpson would take the post, but right away there were problems.

It all began with the group's Book of Shadows. Like many modern covens, they kept theirs on a Geocities homepage: a journal entry or two, a few spells, a couple of potion recipes, a technique to get black glitter nail polish out of white carpet. Once Karyn became the "leader," she took charge of the Book of Shadows, updating it nearly every day and turning it into what some saw as her personal E/N blog.

10.29.01 Busy like a bee getting ready for Esbat this Wednesday. The moon looks full already- by Wednesday night, it just might pop :)

"I love Karyn like a sister. But I don't need to know about her trip to see her boyfriend in Austin," said coven member Brittany Naybob. "That's not a coven-related news item."

Long-time coven member Cait Portnoy was far less kind. "I know one thing for sure: witches do not use emoticons."

Far more troublesome to many coven members was Simpson's campaign to increase membership in the Wiccan group. Simpson posted several messages on the Dallas Goths Yahoo! Club message board , advertising for new witches. She did so without consulting other members.

The fact that this year's Halloween happens to fall on a full moon Esbat does not help matters.

"This time of year we're overrun with people like this," said Portnoy. "You all know the type- mall goths who only attend Wiccan services on Halloween. On the other full moons, where are they? I'm not alone in thinking that we'd be better off without them."

In spite of Karyn Simpson's transgressions, many of her fellow witches still support her. In fact, some Wiccans, such as second-year witch Thelma Kirkwood, feel that it is Portnoy who is the problem.

"I'm getting pretty sick of Cait's more-Wiccan-than-thou attitude," said Kirkwood. "Maybe it would be best if we split the coven up for now. The group is getting pretty big, after all. Some of us could meet at Karyn's house, and the rest could meet at Cait's place."

However, Portnoy and Simpson can agree on one thing: breaking the coven's black circle would be a terrible mistake.

There is hope, however. Simpson has recently expressed disappointment in the coven's new membership. Moderate witches believe that the collective act of mocking the newbies may draw the coven closer together, perhaps even healing the rift between the two factions.

"They're expecting Satan worship or something. We don't even do that. The devil is a Christian construct," laughed Portnoy. "Go to your mommy's church if you want stupid crap like that. For Christ's sake, what are they thinking?"

"This ain't Harry Potter, ladies," said Kirkwood. "It ain't Bauhaus, either."

"I wonder what they'll all do next week- once they're all out of black lipstick at Claire's Boutique," offered Simpson.