I’ve noticed that most online spaces for witches and covens—like:
Witchcraft Academy Coven (Patreon),
Various Discord/Facebook groups,
etc.
—are centralized or rely on closed platforms.
Even the more “community” oriented ones, such as WitchBook or PaganSquare, are siloed and not interoperable with each other.
Given the rise of the Fediverse and its ability to host decentralized, community-driven platforms (Mastodon for microblogging, Pleroma for lightweight social feeds, PixelFed for image sharing, Lemmy for Reddit, PeerTube for video, etc.), has anyone ever thought about potentially attempting a federated network specifically for witches, covens, and pagan practitioners?
Some possible use cases:
Federated coven “instances” where each group can moderate its own space but still connect with others
Resource sharing (spells, rituals, book clubs, event calendars) via ActivityPub
Privacy and inclusion features for marginalized practitioners
Integration with platforms like PixelFed for sharing altar photos, PeerTube for ritual videos, and Mastodon/Pleroma for discussions and announcements
Does anyone know of any ongoing projects like this, or have thoughts on how such a network could be structured?
What challenges do you foresee (moderation, privacy, drama, etc.), and what features would be most valuable to the witch/pagan community?
I’d love to try building or contributing to something like this, but unfortunately I lack the ability and energy.
Still, I think the idea is worth discussing.
That’s because most fediverse platforms have no privacy features. You’d have to use something like Hubzilla or Friendica if you want access control, privacy, and groups with limited membership. They also allow users to control what they see and don’t see.
There are solutions in the fediverse out there. They’re just not widely known.