To the editors:
With most sincerity and in the spirit of friendly bantering, I would like to disagree with Widdershins' decision to call the group of people they have been interviewing about community as "elders." The term "elders" not only sets up a hierarchy, an "us vs. them," but it creates a mystique, a sense of mysteriousness that, well, I think makes them too cool for me to be interested in. I also feel that it is alienating to solitaries, who are not eager to put spiritual reverence in people they have not met. I am surprised the five pagans allowed themselves to be named "elders" after stating that they do not claim the title. Elder is a concept derived from a culture that we are not living in, one that is regional, close-knit, where people come to be elders to the people that they have directly served. In this vast culture of power-over and hierarchy, the same term will inevitably be misconstrued (unless we are all diligent history buffs) and reacted to as if a group of people are being put above us, rather than being regarded for their service and integrity.
The title "Inside the Circle" puzzles me. Where is the circle? Whose is it? Am I inside or outside? Is the circle more important than my circle or the ones created by my brothers and sisters who aren't part of pagan organizations? How about "Inside Our Circles" instead?
Respect is earned, and these seasoned pagan leaders have earned my respect from what they have been saying in the articles. However, I ask that Widdershins qualify the group(s) who consider them their "elders" and not try to represent all Seattle pagans/witches/druids/pick your term, most of whom, I would bet, are still in the woodwork.
Let me tell you a story.
When I was a community organizer of homeless people, I got this new supervisor, "Sam." I was practically drowning in organizational dynamics when he came on the scene, and soon after meeting him, I told him that I was ready to quit. Sam was an ex-minister, but he never preached, and he never, not once, told me what to do. He said that he felt it was his role to walk beside me, asking the right questions. He listened, he asked questions, and he became my guide.
Sam knew what I was trying to do as a leader very deeply, because he asked a lot of questions. As time went on, he would reflect on my weekly ponderings with personal experiences of his own, and I learned from his life. He wasn't distant or mysterious. He held a profound gentle humility, which helped to establish a supervisory relationship filled with trust.
One Friday, I had a disagreement with him, which for me was packed full of emotion, as the daily crises of the homeless were wearing me down. What Sam did in response really blew me away.
He said, "Jen, I'm going to take this as a challenge, and I'm going to think about what you're saying for a few days. Let's talk on Monday."
Not only was he a supervisor, a guide for me, a benevolent support, but he respected my opinion. When I met with him again, he had taken my requests to heart, thought them through and had changed. My mentor had allowed our roles to switch when the time was called for, and out of that, he earned my deepest respect.
He was wise enough to recognized wisdom in uncanny places. He knew that every person, no matter what level of experience, has value to be brought to the table. Because of his nature of walking beside his charges, I would never call him by a title that suggested hierarchy. Not in a million lifetimes.
I honor and respect those that have sweat and toiled to pave the way for a pagan-friendly Seattle. But put them on a pedestal? No. I will put no person or deity in the sky, because it devalues my experience with them... and theirs with me. This is my way, my beliefs to share.
I invite these hidden tired organizers to come out to public events, not as leaders, but as tired organizers and knowing presences. I know how scary that can be, how the fear of public expectations can keep a person home, nursing their wounds. Please don't forget the great power of basking in a new leader's light and the great empowerment of merely allowing those who respect you to do their work in your presence. Having dropped out of a big scene myself, I recently took this same risk and went to a mural painting a friend of mine organized. What did I do? I cleaned brushes, made a lot of jokes and had the best time I've had in weeks.
I also honor and respect the organizers of the Pagan Leadership Conference last month. They were, in my eyes, true leaders, true servants of their community, doing what they saw needed to be done. There was a familiar sense of humility and benevolence, for me, at the conference. By welcoming people who represent a wide spectrum of ideology, they challenged us to look at each other and find value in our differences. Thank you, Alex Kirby and Denise Ottoman.
And thank you, everyone who attended, for sticking it out, because, though it certainly wasn't easy, an awful lot of us grew.
Key elements to a stable community are a well-supported newspaper, a thriving social center and informative, supportive gossip. Because of this, I encourage everyone to support Widdershins, Beyond the Circle Café, Crossroads Learning Center and any other things/people going on out there that need supporting. I hope to meet you and learn from you there.
Jennifer Stone
Dear Jennifer,
We as an editorial group did not intend to set up those interviewed in our three-part article as better, cooler or more mysterious than anyone else. We did, however, call them elders because, in our opinion, that's what they are. Each of the people interviewed has been leading a pagan group in the area for 15 years or more (their respective groups are noted in the articles' introductions) and has proved himself or herself, in our opinion, to be an able and wise leader. By "leader," we don't mean a hierarchical chief but rather someone who coordinates, teaches and takes responsibility for a group.
I suggest that the concept of "elder" is a useful one. Some people simply are wiser than others, and often that wisdom comes with experience, though sometimes an "elder" is younger than I am. Part of that wisdom, as Changing Woman notes in this issue, is to encourage those counseled to find answers in their own hearts, rather than telling them what to do.
In my opinion, there really are people in the world wiser than myself. I'm very glad that's so. I seek them out when I can. Part of what they do for me is to help me find my own wisdom. None of us can learn simply by repeating by rote the lessons of others; we have to find an answering chord in our own spirits. A good elder shows me how to sound that chord and steps out of the way. But sometimes I need outer help to reach that sounding.
To me, an elder is also someone wise enough to admit when he or she is wrong. Elders are still human beings; it's not part of my definition of the term that they be perfect.
"Elder" is a term of convenience. If you prefer another term, use it. If you disagree with our choice of elders, that's your prerogative. In my opinion, the concept remains important.
As for "Inside the Circle" - this headline fragment was never meant to be exclusionary. That you found so many questions in it means that it achieved its purpose: to be evocative. No one circle was necessarily the circle in mind. My idea of the headline, which I did not write, was that "the circle" meant each of the interviewees' circles: some public, where you might well be welcome, some not.
I'm sorry you felt excluded. Consider yourself inside the circle of our readers.
Thanks for your letter, and blessed be,
Miriam Harline
Dear editors:
I would like to address the pagan community on the issue of "community." This is a word I've seen frequently when referring to paganism, yet I have seen little actual community.
I have been a Welsh tradition high priestess for 20 years or so, and I have been involved with the Northwest Coast Native tradition for the past 3 1/2 years or so. I became involved after having my daughter Gael Ariana, whose biological father is a Tulalip Indian. Her father was adopted out of the tribe as a toddler and knew little or nothing about his heritage. I was determined to make certain that Gael was not denied that knowledge.
In my efforts to expose her to Native tradition, which consequently also involved a search for her Native relations on the reservation, I ended up at the Swinomish Reservation at a place called the Old House, a very old medicine house, owned by Johnny Moses and his family. This house is currently used by Red Cedar Circle, which is taught and guided by Johnny, who teaches the Si Si Wiss Medicine to anyone who cares to learn it, regardless of race.
One of the things that impressed me as I came to know the circle and more of the teachings was the true sense of community and caring that is present there. It is present among Native tribal people as well. There is no sense of separation. There is genuine caring and cooperation among people. When someone needs help, whether it be a dinner, a ceremony or a healing, people respond. Everyone does what they can, whether it be washing dishes, serving tables, cooking. If someone has a spirit power, it is not kept to oneself; it is utilized to heal someone in need. If someone needs money, they have but to ask, or often someone will ask for them.
My point is the wealth is shared, the time and effort is shared, the energy is shared, and importantly the love is shared, the Nalae, an agapé. No one feels alone and unaided.
Coming to experience this, I thought, "Wow, this is great. This is what the Craft should be like."
I remembered a long time ago, back in New York, where I hail from, the first Pagan Ways I went to in Brooklyn. I remember the priest, Ra, and I remember what he told us. He said that the Goddess guarantees that you will always have a roof over your head and food in your stomach; that is the promise of the Goddess and the Craft. I though that was great; take care of each other. That's not what I found in the Craft.
I remember well my first big disappointment in the Outer Court. Eddie Buzinski, Lord Gwydian, was our high priest. He decided he did not want to run the Outer Court anymore. I was 14 years old and totally taken by him. He was like the Sun God incarnate to me. I started crying when he said he was leaving, and he snapped at me harshly, saying, "You'll learn that everyone's in the Craft for themselves!" I was really upset, mostly because he was angry at me, but also for his words. What happened to the promise?
I still believe in that promise, and I believe it is still possible.
I know that the Craft and paganism is a reconstruction rather than a carried-on-for-generations tradition and tribe like the indigenous people have. But I believe in the possibility of creating a new order. I believe that paganism, a native European tradition, was tribal in similar ways. I believe because white people have revived it, and white people don't have that sense of tribalism like the native peoples have from birth, that somehow we missed that point in the revival. I believe that spirit can be recaptured with strong family clans stressed in the Craft. And family has to be important to the cause.
I have seen a great prejudice toward children, for example, in the Craft. They are often not allowed to come to rituals. There is nothing tailored to them or to pagan families. In a tribe, and in Native tradition, children are important. They have a contribution too. They are entitled to learn and observe and have an extended family support system. They are the future.
I invite anyone who shares these ideas to contact me. You can drop a note to Lady Althea, 2600 Joseph Charles Jr. Loop Road, Tulalip-Marysville, WA 98271.
Lady Althea
Dear Wulf,
In your article in Widdershins, you seemed quite troubled about the remarks Mr. Fitch made concerning his book The Rites of Odin. However, any true Asatruar, or anyone who is able to think for him/herself, recognizes, after only a few glances at Mr. Fitch's work, the true nature of this work: a piece of trash.
So don't worry about the potential damage of his work; if it's only the neo-Nazis who believe in it and promote it, then even those people who haven't seen the book will know that it is not a reliable work on Asatru.
Jacco Versateeg
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