John William Waterhouse [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nReasons People Take the Title<\/h2>\n
Because<\/strong><\/p>\nWell, it is one reason! They use the title because they want to. \u00a0Some people are of the opinion that if they are devoted to a specific deity above the others, then this means they should take on the title of Priest\/ess. \u00a0This is especially true for people who are basically the only member of their specific religion. \u00a0I mean, if you basically create your own tradition, you technically would be the Priest\/ess within that religion.<\/p>\n
The problem people have with this, is that\u00a0it doesn\u2019t always work that way. \u00a0Being devoted to a deity and being the authority of your own religion and technically the priest\/ess of your religion, doesn\u2019t actually make one a priest\/ess of a deity. \u00a0And it certainly doesn\u2019t give the person any authority over other people who worship that deity outside of that persons very specific individual tradition.<\/p>\n
Deity Said So<\/strong><\/p>\nMany of those who take on the priestly title do so because a deity has said they are. \u00a0Sometimes it is told to them or to someone else, usually via divination or similar.<\/p>\n
Sadly, this is one that many have trouble believing as well. \u00a0I say sadly because it\u2019s sad that so many have so little trust in the ability of the Gods to communicate with us. \u00a0But it is a fact that it\u2019s not exactly something that we can prove easily. \u00a0One an perform their own divination asking a deity if the person is truly a priest\/ess, but if it isn\u2019t our business, we aren\u2019t actually too likely to get a proper answer.<\/p>\n
Ordained<\/strong><\/p>\nNow some people may be ordained by their group or organisation to be the Priest\/ess of not only the group but the deity if the group.\u00a0 So lets say the (made up) Temple of Hephaistos names some of its members as Priest\/ess of the Temple and of Hephaistos.\u00a0 What does this mean?<\/p>\n
It means these people are indeed of the Priesthood of the Temple and of Hephaistos within the Temple.\u00a0 But outside of the Temple this title may be completely meaningless to other people, because they are not bound by the Temple itself.\u00a0 Some outsiders will accept the designation, some will not.<\/p>\n
What a Priest\/ess Does<\/h2>\n
Private Devotion<\/strong><\/p>\nAs outlined above, one of the reasons people take on the title just because, so it follows that the majority of things such people do is personal, relating to their own personal devotions and perhaps things involving their family. \u00a0But other than those devotions, they don\u2019t really do anything and generally don\u2019t expect anything from anyone.<\/p>\n
Service to Others to the Gods<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is the most commonly accepted form of priesthood. \u00a0In this, a Priest\/ess is someone who is in service to the deity and to the people.\u00a0 They are someone who serves the deity by serving the people for the deity. \u00a0So they will lead and perform rituals for other people, they will make offerings and sacrifices for people, they might teach people about their deity and they may even bring people to worship of that deity (hopefully in a non-door-knocking way).<\/p>\n
It should be pointed out though that service in this manner is about doing things for the deity and for the people at the same time. \u00a0So, feeding the poor in your deities name is a nice act, but it isn\u2019t necessarily a priestly one. \u00a0It does nothing, really, for the deity. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t bring people closer to the deity, it doesn\u2019t help people know the deity, it doesn\u2019t show people the power of the deity. \u00a0So that sort of thing is far more a devotional act than it is a priestly one.<\/p>\n
Temporary Service<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is similar to above, as it requires service, but it is actually even closer to traditional priestly roles \u2013 in Hellenism anyway.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t just see this in modern Hellenism or Polytheistic traditions though \u2013 you see it in many different Pagan traditions, especially the witchy ones. \u00a0This is where someone is called upon to take on the role of priest\/ess for a specific period of time, or for a specific service and then they let go of the title immediately after.<\/p>\n
This may be for a specific number of years, months, weeks or days. \u00a0It might be for a single ritual, leading the group ritual for this one time and someone will do it next time \u2013 putting them in the priestly role. \u00a0And for some groups the person is only a priest\/ess when the group gathers for religious purposes, but if they just meet up for a casual friendly dinner, there is not priest\/ess present. \u00a0Just people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Just a Job<\/strong><\/p>\nHistorically, in ancient Greece at least, the role of a priest\/ess might not mean anything more than the above outlined services provided. \u00a0The priest\/ess didn\u2019t have to be devoted to the deity in any special way, they just had to perform their duties. \u00a0Indeed, in some cases people would become a priest\/ess for a year or so just so they could get paid!<\/p>\n
Thus it is that sometimes, even in modern times, the priestly role isn\u2019t as special as some may think it is. \u00a0It isn\u2019t a position of high authority \u2013 in fact sometimes the priest\/ess is far more a servant than a master. \u00a0They aren\u2019t necessarily any more knowledgeable than anyone else, they aren\u2019t always more devoted than anyone else. \u00a0They are just doing a job as has been asked of them or as they felt the need to do.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
Each religion has its own history, its own rules, its own version of priesthood.\u00a0 The rules that apply to one will not necessarily apply to another.\u00a0 We can get ideas from history and I suggest looking up the history of your own religion or the specific deity.<\/p>\n
Most of our Pagan religions are different from the monotheistic religions.\u00a0 When thinking about the word \u201cPriest or Priestess\u201d try not to apply a Christian bias to it.\u00a0 Meaning, don\u2019t assume that a Pagan or Polytheist Priest is anything like a Christian Priest. \u00a0They aren\u2019t necessarily saying they speak for the Gods to you, they aren\u2019t necessarily saying they have authority over you with the Gods. \u00a0Their priestly title may have nothing to do with you at all.<\/p>\n
Of course, we can\u2019t deny there are people out there who take the title for the wrong reasons and try to use it as a weapon, a way to place themselves above everyone else. \u00a0But these are less frequent than some Pagans assume. \u00a0So don\u2019t be too quick to assume their title is wrong.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The title of Priest or Priestess is a somewhat contentious one within the Pagan and related communities. When someone calls themselves a Priest\/ess, we can’t be entirely sure what they mean exactly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":1011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[22,107,20,32,29,131,25,23,130],"class_list":["post-1013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pagan-community","category-paganism101","tag-deities","tag-labels","tag-opinion","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-priesthood","tag-religion","tag-rituals","tag-titles"],"yoast_head":"\n
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