Discussion: Followship

I think of myself as a leader in training really, but then again, I'm a leo. I'm not actively pursuing any degree work with my coven, as I'm pregnant, but I'm still paying attention and studying with the "outer court" stuff, and trying to do what I can to help out. I suppose that makes me a follower, at the moment.


Sure followers deserve respect, when typically 80% of the work is done by 10% of the group, any help should be respected and appreciated. And then there are the Leos who would wither and die without being appreciated and acknowledged, you wouldn't want to starve the Leos would you?

I have gotten some flack from solitaries at times. When I was big into Witchschool some solitaries felt that any kind of training was completely unnecessary. They just didn't see the point of taking online correspondence classes. Now that I'm in a RL coven with a RL trad, some people's views range between "she sold out" to "she joined a cult".

When you do consider how independent most NeoPagans are, I feel it's the ultimate complement for anyone in the Pagan community to serve a leader or community. I wouldn't say I serve my HP and HPS, I would say I serve the coven and/or the trad, not a particular leader.

I would say that our leaders, the HPs HPS and even degreed people who aren't in an official leadership role (but are part of that 10% who do 80% of the work) really don't want us followers to view it as following a given leader. The leaders themselves are not about ego trips, they are about building communities. Also, our leadership changes over time, when a given HP or HPS starts a coven, they do so knowing that it will be handed down to coven members that they have trained so that the most experienced HP/HPS can "birth" new covens. So that "cult of personality" that can happen, doesn't so much, because when that coven is ready, the leaders move on.

What's the difference?
If I bring a snack to share to a meeting, I don't just bring it for Jim, my HP, I share it with everyone. When I decorate the ritual space, I'm doing that for everyone. Our coven has been given the responsibility of caring for our Great Circle, which needed a lot of landscaping work when we formed, so we planned work days to remove a few small trees and expand the circle back to it's original size, so we do that not only for our coven, but for the entire trad and the greater pagan community, because that space is also used for trad wide events and public events. It also builds positive connections between other covens because we invite anyone from any of the covens to help, so it's quite bonding and a social event as well.

Bottom line, leaders come and go, but well established communities are what keeps people coming back for more.