Paganism an overview introduction - South African Pagan Council

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PART SEVEN
THE CONTEMPORARY PAGAN COMMUNITY
Instead of a professional “clergy”, many Pagan groups have an egalitarian priesthood,
open to most practitioners who assume ritual or organisational leadership positions.
With influences as diverse as ancient mystery religions, shamanism and indigenous
spirituality, 19th-century occultism, and the anti-authoritarian ethos of the 1960s
counterculture, many Pagan communities today feature a priesthood that is unpaid,
relatively easy to enter, and collaborative in its leadership style. Few, if any, groups
concentrate authority and leadership in a small number of “clergy” who “minister” to
a large community of laypersons. Instead, Pagan communities typically will ordain
many - if not most or all - active and committed members to positions of ritual,
educational, and/or organisational leadership.
Not only are both men and women eligible for “clergy” positions within Paganism,
but many groups actually favor women. Many Wiccan communities regard their High
Priestess as first among equals, and organise both new and existing covens around the
leadership of the High Priestess. Generally the only groups that prohibit one gender or
the other from assuming leadership positions are those that limit membership in
general to just one gender.
Few Pagan seminaries exist; most local covens and groups provide their own training
for future “clergy”. Otherwise, in keeping with the non-professional status of most
Pagan “clergy”, training typically does not involve traditional academic coursework.
Rather, training is provided in a small-group or in a one-on-one format, focusing on
oral instruction rather than the study of assigned texts. Groups generally provide
instruction with a strong practical component, with students engaging in ritual
leadership, ritual design, the development of psychic skills, organisational or
administrative classes, and teaching of newcomers as part of their overall training.
Some Wiccan and other Pagan communities feature a rite of passage or initiation
ceremony to mark progress in the spiritual life as well as attainment of priesthood or
leadership responsibility. Not all groups equate initiation with ordination. One
common structure within Wicca is a three-degree initiation process, with new students
receiving training and instruction culminating in three separate levels or degrees of
initiation (often spaced a year or more apart). Some groups regard first-degree
initiates as priests or priestesses, while others consider only second- or third-degree
initiates to be “ordained clergy”.
Since “clergy” and spiritual leadership is generally a social function, solitary
adherents of Paganism may feel no need to regard themselves as priests or clergy.
Solitaries may receive training from a mentor, or may be self-taught through books or
personal intuition. Some solitaries may function as clergy in relation to society at
large - for example performing weddings - even though they are not members of an
established religious or spiritual community.
To the extent that Pagan communities are self-contained and do not interact with
society as a whole, “clergy” credentials are not a significant concern; respect for the