We are also open-minded. Because we question everything, we aren’t confined to “traditional” family structures, hobbies, or causes. Our mindsets are different. Instead of asking “why?” many of us ask “why not?” As a community, most of us embrace the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community. Many of us have strong environmental views that we support through our actions within our lives as well as financially through organizations like Sierra Club and Green Peace. And you’ll find plenty of Pagans who support PETA and other animal rights organizations. We strive for justice for the little guy, whether that ‘little guy’ is a bunny or a fern, or our next door gay neighbors.

This is one of the best qualities of our community. We buck system in favor of something that might be better. We march when we need to march. We donate to charities to improve the lives of others. We don’t allow the mainstream to tell us how to think, who to support, or what to believe. Many of us have stood up to authority—whether that authority was our own parents, our bosses, the local township board, or our children’s teachers and principals.

We don’t fear authority.

Or do we?

That’s the question. We have no fear of questioning authority--no doubt about that. The questioning of authority is another tradition that runs deep in the veins of Pagans at large—the development of our faith has depended on it. We’ve needed to be able to step away from what we’ve been told and taught to form our own ideas. We needed to see the fault in the thinking of others to strike out on our own. It becomes a chicken and the egg issues. Do we have problems with authority because we are Pagan? Or are we Pagan because we have problems with authority? Either way, it’s safe to say that we don’t allow anyone to tell us who we should be.

This has its strengths and weaknesses.

We are able to think ‘out-of the box’. We are a community made up of strong individuals, who lean toward reading, exploring, and self-education. We don’t let anyone make up our minds for us, and we are always trying to learn more. We also tend to be very supportive of people new to our path—recommending books, giving ideas, reaching out as an extended family to other individuals who are “different” from their traditional nuclear families.

Unfortunately, we do buck authority. And this problem with authority creates a backlash in our community for anyone who is seen as a leader. As individuals, we have staunchly asserted that we don’t want to be led anywhere. We want to figure things out for ourselves. We all want to be equals. This asserts itself time and time again in social groups, online groups, covens; but when it comes down to it, someone has to drive the bus. We are sitting on the bus. You’ll find that the majority doesn’t want to drive the bus. But they don’t want anyone else driving it either. And then everyone wonders why our community is going nowhere fast.

Everyone wants to be equal. Groups don’t want a leader. They want to be a council. But some people are natural leaders. They are doers. They tend toward action. There will always be someone who is more experienced and that people will turn to for guidance. There will always be Pagans who feel the need to teach. And these Pagans, who attempt to drive the bus, to point our community in a direction, will be judged for it. They’ll be judged for “teaching it wrong.” This, from a community who staunchly believes there is no “one right way”.

They will be accused of usurping authority, and this from a community that believes in personal empowerment! They will be deemed power-hungry. As open-minded as we are, we reserve our harshest judgment for anyone who attempts to lead within our community. We scrutinize them. Do their ethics match our own? If not we will judge them for either being “unethical” or “self-righteous”.

We watch for them to fail, because in our experience, those who have led us, whether our parents or a preacher, have always failed us. We watch for one difference of opinion or lifestyle and hold tightly to it, unable to separate a person’s actions or lapse of judgment from the person him or her self. We wait for that failure, with baited breath, exhaling only when it proves, once again that we are right and secure on our individualist path.

We all know what happens next. A community, trying to organize ends up in a witch war. Groups that began ‘in perfect love and perfect trust’ are splintered into factions over a difference of opinion. Our nature, which taught us to question everything, works against us. We fail to see our similarities and clutch tightly to our differences. I’ve done it. I admit it. I know other Pagans who have done it too, whether it’s a difference of opinion regarding child-rearing, politics, sexual choices, or how we practice our faith.

How can we ever come together when we are so set on being apart?

It’s time to start over.

We have to come to an agreement. We have to find our common ground and nurture it. That common ground between us? THAT is Sacred Space. We have to put our past differences of opinion aside. We have to put our egos aside. We have to embrace what makes us alike. Are we so fragile as individuals that we can’t embrace being part of a group? It’s time to wipe the slate clean and then discuss what is happening to us as a community. If we don’t recognize these authority issues, we will never form the idea of community that so many of us yearn for. And that’s the key. If you’re asking, “Why? Why do we need leaders? Why must we embrace the community?”

I’ll tell you why. Because when Pagans come together in a way that is congruent with who we are—in perfect love and perfect trust, we improve the planet. We better ourselves and the lives of others. We create a place that is safe, warm, and magical. As a community we can move mountains if only we can agree long enough to do so.

How do we begin?

We have to let go a little.

We have to allow others to lead.

We have to step up and lead, if that is who we are, without fear.

And we need to realize that none of us wants to be on a leash. None of us wants to be ‘controlled’ by a central authority. But we need to redefine what authority means. We need leaders. We need people who are willing to represent us, and we need to embrace them when they step up to do so. We need to get this bus moving.

Within our community, greeting plays an integral part of what we do. Not only do we welcome each other, but for many of us, ritual involves welcoming elementals, spirits and even Deities!

But what does it truly mean to welcome and to in fact, be well-come? Welcoming someone is more than simply allowing tehm to participate. It's also more than acknowledging their attendance. It's showing appreciation for their participation. It's acknowledging the favor their energy shows and brings.

I often welcome friends and newcomers into my home and I try to do so with an attitude of gratitude. Because welcoming and being welcomed, is an integral part of who we are as a community, and how we relate to one another.

We must ask ourselves, are we welcoming those at a gathering or are we waiting, riding the fence until we know them well-enough to do so? We we welcome our guardian spirits, do we do so with the appreciation such a post commands? Or are we mumbling words by rote?

To truly welcome, we must open up our heart chakra and embrace. We have to acknowledge the contributions of energy our brothers, sisters, spirits, familiars, and deities make. When we welcome, we thank.

And so, dear reader, I welcome you to my new blog. Your participation and presence here are vital. I appreciate the time you take to read my words and reflect upon them.

I hope that you will take something from here that changes your life for the better, and that I too, will receive the same from you.

With Brightest Blessings,
~Carrie J. Smith