Is Pagan Leadership Lacking?

Hrafnkell of A Heathen’s Day got me thinking about the role of Pagan leadership. Here is what he had to say about Pagan’s (lack of) knowledge of their history and questions their leadership ability:

I was talking to an old pagan friend one day about the meaning of words like superstition and religion. She asked, "how do you know these things?" For a moment, I did not know how to answer. I was truly stunned. I wanted to give an answer like "osmosis" or make some bizarre claim to an ancient being speaking through me. It's difficult to take such a question seriously when the answer is so obvious: books. Read. Reading is the most important thing anyone can do. But this person is a leader in a pagan group and it made me wonder. Are all pagan leaders lacking education and awareness of their past?

I would agree that reading is an important way to learn about things, but would add that it is important to realize what sources your information is coming. There are many great books that worth reading, but you have to wade through the mountains of books on “instant spells” and “how to be a Witch in 10 minutes” to find the ones that have accurate information. Many Pagans would not consider Silver Ravenwolf a good source of Pagan information, however popular she may be. It is a matter of being pointed in the right direction to find the correct information. In my opinion, that is what Pagan leadership should be doing – pointing people in the right direction and know what direction they are pointing.

Even though Pagans tend to be very independent and there is no central church to look towards for direction, leadership is still needed. As most leadership is found in the High Priestess and/or High Priest of individual covens, I would think that is important to have some kind of formal training to be qualified. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case with most in the leadership roles. If what Hrafnkell asks is true and the Pagan leadership is lacking this basic knowledge, how are the next generation of Pagans to learn about their correct history, ethics and other knowledge? The end result is that many Pagans do not know their own history and other needed information.

As there is no organized preparation and training specifically for becoming Pagan clergy, in my opinion, there is a lack of qualified Pagan leaders. Sure, there are covens that have some training with their own traditions, but I don’t think that this is enough. When I mention this, I am specifically thinking about the training that one must go through to become a leader within the Christian church, the UU church, etc. The training that a coven can give its potential leaders just doesn’t compare to the type of training that is required of other faiths.

I am starting to realize that a lack of knowledgeable leadership may be one of my problems with the Pagan community and why I do not consider myself Pagan, even thought I do hold many similar beliefs. It’s not from a lack of interest; it’s more out of a lack of places that I can go to get answers to my questions.