Becoming a High Priestess
Some weeks ago I found out that an acquaintance of mine wanted to "open" a coven, here in Athens. I was surprised at first, but I got even more surprised when I read the sentence "13 more people requested" in order to make ourselves an established coven or something along these lines. I have my doubts on whether this girl is up to the position and the immense responsibility. We must understand that this is not the US, this is Greece, a Greece currently under a religious war which is about to either make things better for us, either bring about the Greek Burning Times (I'm sorry for sounding dramatic, but it's pretty much like this). Under those circumstances, we must be careful of our actions, and mostly of our intentions. So, I dedicate this article to this acquaintance of mine, and I hope it gives her something to think about.
Becoming a High Priestess ~ Looking at yourself (author unknown)
Before you go a step further, take a good long look at
your desires, motivation and skills. What role do you see yourself playing
in this new group? "Ordinary" member? Democratic facilitator?
High Priestess? And if the last -- why do you want the job?
The title of High Priestess and Priestess are seductive, conjuring up
exotic images of yourself in embroidered robes, a silver crescent (or
horned helm) on your brow, adoring celebrants hanging on every word which
drops from your lips...
Reality check. The robes will be stained with wine and candle wax soon
enough, and not every word you speak is worth remembering. A coven
leader's job is mostly hard work between rituals and behind the scene. It
is not always a good place to act out your fantasies, because the lives
and well-being of others are involved, and what is flattering or enjoyable
to you man not be in their best interest. So consider carefully.
If your prime motive is establishing a coven is to gain status and ego
gratification, other people will quickly sense that. If they are
intelligent, independent individuals, they will refuse to play Adoring
Disciple to your Witch Queen impressions. They will disappear, and that
vanishing act will be the last magick they do with you.
And if you do attract a group ready to be subservient Spear Carriers in
your fantasy drama -- well, do you really want to associate with that kind
of personality? What are you going to do when you want someone strong
around to help you or teach you, and next New Moon you look out upon a
handful of Henry Milquetoasts and Frieda Handmaidens? If a person is
willing to serve you, the they will also become dependent on you, drain
your energy, and become disillusioned if you ever let down the Infallible
Witch Queen mask for even a moment.
Some other not-so-great reasons for starting a coven: a) because it seems
glamorous, exotic, and a little wicked; b) because it will shock your
mother, or c) because you can endure your boring, flunky job more easily
if you get to go home and play Witch at night.
Some better reasons for setting up a coven, and even nomination yourself
as High Priest/ess, include: a) you feel that you will be performing a
useful job for yourself and others; b) you have enjoyed leadership roles
in the past, and proven yourself capable; or c) you look forward to
learning and growing in the role.
Even with the best motives in the world, you will still need to have -- or
quickly develop -- a whole range of skills in order to handle a leadership
role. If you are to be a facilitator of a study group, group process
insights and skills are important. These include:
1) Gatekeeping, or guiding discussion in such a way that everyone has an
opportunity to express ideas and opinions;
2) Summarizing and clarifying;
3) Conflict resolution, or helping participants understand points of
disagreement and find potential solutions which respect everyone's
interests;
4) Moving the discussion toward consensus, or at any rate decision, by
identifying diversions and refocusing attention on goals and priorities;
and
5) Achieving closure smoothly when the essential work is completed, or an
appropriate stopping place is reached.
In addition to group process skills, four other competencies necessary to
the functioning of a coven are: ritual leadership, administration,
teaching, and counseling. In a study group the last one may not be
considered a necessary function, and the other three may be shared among
all participants. But in a coven the leaders are expected to be fairly
capable in all these areas, even if responsibilities are frequently shared
or delegated. Let us look briefly at each.
Ritual leadership involves much more that reading invocations by
candlelight. Leaders must understand the powers they intend to manipulate:
how they are raised, channeled and grounded. They must be adept at
designing rituals which involve all the sensory modes. They should have a
repertoire of songs and chants, dances and gestures or mudras, incense and
oils, invocations and spells, visual effects and symbols, meditations and
postures; and the skill to combine these in a powerful, focused pattern.
They must have clarity of purpose and firm ethics. And they must
understand timing: both where a given ritual fits in the cycles of the
Moon, the Wheel of the Year, and the dance of the spheres, and how to pace
the ritual once started, so that energy peaks and is channeled at the
perfect moment. And they must understand the Laws of Magick, and the
correspondences, and when ritual is appropriate and when it is not.
By administration, we refer to basic management practices necessary to any
organization. These include apportioning work fairly, and following up on
its progress; locating resources and obtaining them (information, money,
supplies); fostering communications (by telephone, printed schedules,
newsletters etc.); and keeping records (minutes, accounts, Witch Book
entries, or ritual logbook). Someone or several someones has to collect
the dues if any, buy the candles, chill the wine, and so forth.
Teaching is crucial to both covens and study groups. If only one person
has any formal training or experience in magick, s/he should transmit that
knowledge in a way which respects the intuitions, re-emerging past life
skills, and creativity of the others. If several participants have some
knowledge in differing areas, they can all share the teaching role. If no
one in the group has training and you are uncertain where to begin, they
you may need to call on outside resources: informed and ethical priest/esses
who can act as visiting faculty, or who are willing to offer guidance by
telephone or correspondence. Much can be gleaned from books, or course --
assuming you know which books are trustworthy and at the appropriate level
-- but there is no substitute for personal instruction for some things.
Magick can be harmful if misused, and an experienced practitioner can help
you avoid pitfalls as well as offering hints and techniques not found in
the literature.
Counseling is a special role of the High Priest/ess. It is assumed that
all members of a coven share concern for each other's physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual welfare, and are willing to help each other out in
practical ways. However, coven leaders are expected to have a special
ability to help coveners explore the roots of their personal problems and
choose strategies and tactics to overcome them. This is not to suggest
that one must be a trained psychoanalyst; but at the least, good listening
skills, clear thinking and some insight into human nature are helpful.
Often, magickal skills such as guided visualization, Tarot counseling and
radiesthesia (pendulum work) are valuable tools as well.
Think carefully about your skills in these areas, as you have demonstrated
them in other organizations. Ask acquaintances or co-workers, who can be
trusted to give you a candid opinion, how they see you in some of these
roles. Meditate, and decide what you really want for yourself in
organizing the new group. Will you be content with being a catalyst and
contact person -- simply bringing people with a common interest together,
then letting the group guide its destiny from that point on? Would you
rather be a facilitator, either for the first months or permanently: a
low- key discussion leader who enables the group to move forward with a
minimum of misunderstanding and wasted energy? Or do you really want to be
High Priestess -- whatever that means to you -- and serve as the guiding
spirit an acknowledged leader of a coven? And if you do want that job,
exactly how much authority and work do you envision as part of it? Some
coven leaders want a great deal of power and control; others simply take
an extra share of responsibility for setting up the rituals (whether or
not they actually conduct the rites), and act as "magickal
advisor" to less experienced members. Thus the High Priest/ess can be
the center around which the life of the coven revolves, or primarily an
honorary title, or anything in between.
That is one area which you will need to have crystal-clear in your own
mind before the first meeting (of if you are flexible, at least be very
clear that you are). You must also be clear as to your personal needs on
other points: program emphasis, size, meeting schedule, finances, degree
of secrecy, and affiliation with a tradition or network. You owe it to
prospective members and to yourself to make your minimum requirements
known from the outset: it can be disastrous to a group to discover that
members have major disagreements on these points after you have been
meeting for six months.