The second in a series of articles about forming and growing a successful coven.

--by Jim Dickenson

Leadership. I sometimes imagine that the word itself feels strange tumbling from the lips of a neo-pagan. A refugee word in the new age panorama that is too often tainted with abuses of power, do-as-I-say-not- as-I-do politics, religious scandals, and excesses of self-delusion. Our experience of what passes for leadership these days has such duality that we can only come close to our deep need for true leadership by soaking it in nostalgia; nostalgia for a time of noble leaders too distantly glimpsed to be anything but perfect -and simple -and direct.

Well…. Shake it off! Times are rough and they may get rougher before they get better. We need leaders, not just remembrances of them -not consensus commit-tees without them. We need opinions, debate, right-and-wrong-and-in-between, people that can help guide us to consensus (if that is the goal). And we need vision and purpose. When we don't have our own vision and purpose, we need people who will let us try-on theirs until we do.

This is not an exhortation for everyone reading this to become instant and self-declared leaders. Most of us have to grow into leadership (usually by following). This is, however, an exhortation to drop the philosophies that state that we need no leaders, can always lead ourselves, should always lead ourselves, or can only lead as part of a perfect collective.

This is an exhortation to stop the fear of uncertainty (produced by a lack of a tangible personal vision) from making the act of following seem weak or an unnecessary diminishment. The universe is old. Most of the time, someone is ahead of you and has already been wherever you are.

We need to stop thinking of leading and following as a dichotomy. They are simply the two ends of a continuum -as is every extreme dichotomy in the universe. Every true leader should be further down the path than those s/ he leads -and is hopefully following someone else still further along.

To follow is not by definition an expression of weakness. To lead is not by definition an unhealthy exercise in power. It matters most that you chose wisely what/ who to follow and where/ when to lead. If you want to start a healthy, long-lived coven, you will have to lead it or follow someone who will.

One of my personal definitions of a leader is, "someone who embodies a vision and a purpose with fidelity and who will allow us, in times of need, to walk with them until we see the way to walk our own vision and purpose -be it new or an honest internalization of the modeled path/ truth." One of the better traditional definitions is, "one who shows the way, usually by going first…"

Leadership is concerned with moving others from point A to point B. Point 'A' is wherever any individual starts the journey and is as varied as the faces on the planet. Point 'B' is the vision of where each of us could be.

The vision may be spun completely from the cumulative aspirations of the people to which the leader is responsible. The vision may be spun completely from the internal world of the leader and in search of a people who are inspired by it and can help manifest it. It may be borrowed/ learned from another leader or teacher. (A wise leader almost always follows and builds upon the ways of previous leaders.) But regardless of the source, without a vision and commitment to it, there is no leadership. Period.

It is the job of the High Priest and High Priestess (or whomever is starting/ leading the coven) to provide and stabilize a core of purpose, philosophy, and belief until the coven (and its membership) has had time to develop skills, relationships and experience that are sufficient to evolve the group in a healthy and incremental manner.

There must always be a seed from which the coven will grow and there are always questions to ask before you begin. How will you lead and towards what? What is the purpose and the mission of the coven? Where is point 'A' and point 'B'? What will you be manifesting? How will you do it? What is your vision and who and what does the vision serve? Who will lead in your group and what does it mean to follow in your group?

It is essential that these core questions be seriously contemplated and answered with sufficient detail to be articulated and discussed freely. For if nothing else is true, it is true that the vision must be shared often and with clarity -and it is certain that coveners will (and should) ask to discuss it often. Changes in the way the content and form of the vision are communicated by leadership often reveals shifts in the relationship of leadership to the vision and to the group.

In order to share the vision of the coven in a way that will connect with and make sense to members, leadership must connect it with the actions and manifestations that will ground the vision in the physical world.

The ideal/ vision must be present, but we are physically incarnate and it is through action and production in the physical world that we realize our vision. It is vital that leader-ship ensures that the actions (energy), studies, experiences, and manifestations (cumulative information) that the coven undertakes are congruent with the vision (essence) of the coven.

A coven is a unique entity in most of our lives. It is the place where we attempt to grow, broaden, and/ or perfect our spirit. If most of us could evolve our spirit in alignment with the will of God and Goddess solely by using the tools of our mundane lives, so many would not be seeking spiritual working groups and I would not be writing these articles. It is essential that leadership usher the coven toward activities that are uniquely achieved by a coven.

It is a blessing when we are able to pursue our spiritual work within the context of a coven and a further blessing when we are able to do it in a way that supports and evolves the larger wiccan/ pagan community. This is important work. It is valuable work. It is worthy work. It is necessary work. Lead your coven to serve this work in alignment with God and Goddess. A coven need not be about anything else to justify its exist-ence.

If you are going to lead a coven to maturity and stability, it is vital that you believe this -hold it true in your heart. The specifics of how you help your coven to act and manifest this work will be a synergy of your preparation of the seed, your sacrifice to provide leadership, and the willingness of others to follow a common way in order to blend resources and fertilize the ground of the coven.

So…. If you want to lead a healthy coven:

1. Find yourself a leader( s) further along the path than you and worthy of following and follow them until you are ready to lead. 2. Prepare the vision (seed, identity) from which your coven will grow: vision, action and manifestation. 3. Dedicate yourself to maintaining limits (the rooting pot) to catch all the creative energy of the coven members, true to that vision, until such time as your work with the Divine evolves the vision (encourages repotting). 4. Be prepared for all of this to be a bit harder than it sounds.

Jim Dickinson (Gaelan) began his pagan life with the Keepers of the Holly Chalice (celebrating its 18 th year), is the founding High Priest of the Coven of the Rowan Star (celebrating its 10 th year), and founding High Priest of the newest coven forming within the ASW, The Guardians of the Windsword -which he expects will be equally long-lived.

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