![\"Thorn](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2017\/09\/Thorn-Coyle-BTW-2015.jpg\")
<\/a>Mat Auryn<\/a> posted this quote from The Path of Paganism<\/em> on his Facebook page last week. I got it from Thorn Coyle \u2013 I\u2019ve heard her say it several times. The quote referenced in the book was from a Pagan conference where I saw a lot of \u201cbig name\u201d teachers going to each other\u2019s workshops. I thought it was a good thing\u00a0\u2013 Thorn thought it was a necessary thing.<\/p>\n To be clear, neither Thorn nor I were talking about new teachers who don\u2019t have graduates yet. That\u2019s not a problem\u2026 though I have seen teachers whose students never seemed to graduate. While there is a place for long term mentors or spiritual directors, these \u201cteachers\u201d seemed more interested in maintaining a company of underlings than in actually teaching. Not surprisingly, these teachers didn\u2019t have teachers of their own\u2026 which is<\/em> what we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n There are two issues in play here: the need for continuing education and the need for accountability.<\/p>\n When you stop learning, you start dying.<\/p>\n Too much of our mainstream education system focuses on certification rather than learning. Go to school for 13 years, do the work, pass the tests, and you graduate. Here\u2019s your diploma \u2013 you\u2019re now a high school graduate. We assume you\u2019ve learned all the K-12 material and you never need to revisit it. Go to college for four years, get another diploma, now you\u2019ve got a bachelor\u2019s degree and you never need to revisit all that material ever again.<\/p>\n Education is a \u201cuse it or lose it\u201d proposition. I took Spanish in high school, dropped it in college, and now my Spanish vocabulary won\u2019t get me through a Dos Equis commercial. I learned Ogham in the OBOD Ovate course, never used it, and now I have to look up anything written in Ogham. Forget divining with it. But since I use Tarot on a regular basis, I can read cards just fine.<\/p>\n Good continuing education reinforces the basics as it introduces you to new concepts. It also makes sure you stay up to date in your field.<\/p>\n A while back I attended a Pagan ritual led by a respected elder. The setup and opening were good, but once the main working began, I thought I was in the 1970s. I won\u2019t give specifics \u2013 I don\u2019t want to call them out \u2013 but it was clear that while this elder learned what they learned very well, they never learned anything else. This elder needed a teacher of their own.<\/p>\n In my paying job, I\u2019m responsible for the group I lead. Not just the work we do individually and collectively, but also for insuring my team learns and grows. I\u2019m not just a manager, I\u2019m also a teacher. If I don\u2019t do that part of my job, my manager \u2013 my teacher \u2013 is going to notice and call me out on it. We need the same kind of accountability with our Pagan teachers.<\/p>\n Many Pagans struggle with accountability. We don\u2019t like structure and hierarchy, and we really don\u2019t like the idea of anyone looking over our shoulders \u2013 nobody\u2019s gonna tell us what to do! And so rather than avoiding the abusive forms of hierarchy and keeping the necessary forms, we throw the baby out with the dirty bathwater and we\u2019re left floating on our own.<\/p>\n Nobody edits my blog here at Patheos Pagan. But if I\u2019m writing on something that\u2019s controversial, or likely to be misunderstood, I\u2019ll send it to one or two people I consider knowledgeable on that subject. Most times they come back with \u201clooks OK to me\u201d or \u201cyou might want to change this one thing.\u201d But the last time I did that, one of my pre-readers said \u201cyou shouldn\u2019t post this, and here\u2019s why.\u201d I didn\u2019t post it.<\/p>\n Teachers have an awesome responsibility: to the Gods, ancestors, and traditions we serve, and especially to the students who trust us to guide them on their spiritual journeys. This responsibility is too great to be entrusted to any one person \u2013 teachers need teachers checking up on them.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re part of a networked tradition, you already have a teacher, elder, regional leader, or other person available to you. Even if you exceed your original teacher in wisdom and skill, they can still offer feedback and advice, and hold you accountable for doing the things you said you\u2019d do. If that person is no longer in this world or otherwise unavailable, there is likely still someone in your line you can consult from time to time.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not part of a networked tradition, it\u2019s more complicated \u2013 but still quite possible.<\/p>\n I first met Thorn Coyle at the House of Danu Gorsedd in 2009. When I hit a spiritual plateau in early 2011, I contacted her and engaged her services (on a paying basis) as a spiritual director. Thorn and I aren\u2019t in any of the same traditions, but we connected at a generic Pagan level and she helped me get going again. I\u2019ve done the same for others from time to time. I\u2019m not looking for clients at this time (either on a paid or unpaid basis), but there are others who do this work. Seek them out if you need them.<\/p>\n You can do like the teachers I referenced in the first paragraph: go to conferences and listen to others. At Mystic South<\/a>, I went to workshops by Jason Mankey, Dodie Graham McKay, and Anomalous Thracian, plus panel discussions, plus conversation over dinners and drinks. None of these people are technically my teachers. None are Druids, none are doing exactly the kind of work I\u2019m doing here in Texas. But I learned something from all of them \u2013 I even took notes.<\/p>\n Many of us got our start in Paganism by reading books. Books are another way to find teachers for teachers. I\u2019m currently reading Reclaiming Civilization<\/em><\/a> by Brendan Myers (I\u2019ll have a review when I\u2019m done). Brendan is a fellow Druid, but his Druidic emphasis is rather different from mine. Still, I\u2019ve learned a lot from his books, his workshops, and the handful of one-on-one conversations we\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n It is entirely possible for teachers who have only students to be good teachers. Thorn said to be wary of them, not to run away from them. But the odds aren\u2019t good.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re considering studying under a teacher, ask who their teachers are. Some Wiccan traditions use this practice to verify the credentials of teachers and teaching covens. That has merit, but I\u2019m not Wiccan \u2013 I\u2019m less concerned with whether or not someone\u2019s initiation is valid than I am with what they know and what they\u2019re committed to learning.<\/p>\n If they don\u2019t have a teacher, ask who are their peers. Who do they go to with questions? Who do they call when they\u2019ve got a magical problem they can\u2019t solve on their own? Who helps them work through ethical dilemmas? Who challenges them to think more deeply?<\/p>\n If the only answer you get is \u201cI figure it out on my own\u201d you probably want to find another teacher.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been doing this a while and people are coming to you for training, don\u2019t wait for someone to ask. If you don\u2019t have a teacher, find one. If there\u2019s nobody doing exactly what you\u2019re doing, find someone who\u2019s an expert in one segment of it. Find a peer who can serve as a sounding board and who will hold you accountable for keeping your commitments and maintaining proper ethical boundaries with your students.<\/p>\n Avoid the certification obsession. Another degree or another initiation is nice, but your goal isn\u2019t another piece of paper to frame and hang on your wall. Your goal is to grow deeper in knowledge and wisdom, and to put that knowledge and wisdom to use in a committed Pagan practice.<\/p>\n Beware teachers who only have students.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pagan teachers have an awesome responsibility, a responsibility that\u2019s too great to be entrusted to any one person. There are two issues here: the need for continuing education and the need for accountability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":7075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[33,1240,4,1251,5,1250,46],"class_list":["post-7064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-2","tag-brendan-myers","tag-mat-auryn","tag-pagan","tag-pagan-teachers","tag-paganism","tag-teachers","tag-thorn-coyle"],"yoast_head":"\nContinuing Education<\/h1>\n
Accountability<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nFinding teachers for teachers<\/h1>\n
<\/a>Finding a teacher with a teacher<\/h1>\n