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Secrets of the Inner Circle:
Simple Ways of Getting
Involved in Pagan Groups
by Elizabeth Barrette
This essay began as a thread (beginning 6/29/01) on the OurFreedom
mailing list, a forum dedicated to Pagan leadership and
activism. We got to talking about community service, and people
complained about a lack of much-needed volunteer labor. Others
pointed out the difficulties in novices finding groups/teachers and
in groups/teachers dealing with the large numbers of novices.
So I decided to write out a few helpful tips...
1) YOU are the Pagan community, whether you are a
novice or an expert. Teach what you know. Study what you
don't know. Get involved. There is no one ultimate authority in
this community; there is no clique to shut you out; there is nothing
stopping you but yourself.
Decide what you want and then figure out a responsible plan for
achieving it. Most skills can be learned if you're willing to
put in the necessary time and effort. Community is all about
forming bonds, exchanging energy, and celebrating both our unity and
our diversity.
You get out of it what you put into it. Lack of grassroots
involvement causes leaders to burn out, and then all the lovely
services disappear.
So pitch in and do your part.
2) When networking, offer someone a favor before you ask for a
favor. We all have knowledge, skills, contacts, experience,
etc. to draw upon and exchange. If you're a reviewer and you
want to connect with authors, offer tearsheets when you have reviewed
their books.
If you want people to subscribe to your periodical, offer free sample
issues at a festival. If you want people to attend your lecture
on "13 Ethical Rules for Coven Leaders," announce on the
flyers that you'll be serving tea and cakes there. If you want
help with your current project, offer to help the other person with
theirs. You get the idea.
3) Jump right in. You can get terrific results by
showing up at a local meeting or a national event and saying,
"Hi! I'm Daniel Oakleaf and I this is my first trip
here. Can you tell me what's going on?" or the like.
Pagans tend to be gregarious folks, who usually try to make sure that
novices have a good time.
More advanced attendees can help you make the most out of the experience.
4) Here is a foolproof way of getting involved:
Volunteer. Back in my fangirl days, I decided I wanted to do
panels and get to know cool folks in the science fiction
community. So I'd show up a convention and volunteer for
whatever needed doing that didn't require vast experience. I
never got turned down. NEVER.
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Elizabeth Barrette practicing
what she teaches by volunteering at the midsummer ritual for Ozark
Avalon a few weeks ago. Here she is working on a Wicker Man to be
used during the ritual. |
Photo is courtesy of and
© by Moose and taken at Ozark Avalon.
|
And I met a lot of exciting people while checking badges and emptying
trash cans and carrying coffee ... people who were very appreciative
of my willingness to spend an hour or two helping, after spending $30
to get into the con. Now? I almost never have to pay my
way in; I volunteer for two or three panels instead. Everybody
wins. And I've networked my way very successfully into what I
wanted. So when I started getting involved in the Pagan
community, I used a lot of the same tactics. It really does
work. Whenever someone asks me how to "break into" a
group, I tell them to show up and offer to help.
You want to get in with the Big Name Pagans?
Volunteer at events and within a year or two, you will have lots of
friends and contacts, plus some highly valuable experience.
Almost the entire Pagan community runs on volunteer power.
Some events require attendees to help with chores, programming, etc.
so be prepared for this - but they too will appreciate it if you do
more than required. Want to learn more advanced skills like
directing traffic (for parking lots), facilitation (guiding
meetings), cooking for the masses, large-scale ritual design?
Just ask! The organizers can probably pair you with a more
experienced volunteer, and by the end of the event, why, you'll have
that kind of experience too. Of course there are other methods
... but this is one of the best.
Just to share input from another source, so that you can see this is
not a unique experience, Charlie Denney who works in the Council of
Magical Arts has this to say on the topic: "Elizabeth and I
evidently did our 'time' in the same circles - I started volunteering
in F&SF conventions back in 1979. I've YET to do a
convention where I paid my money to get in; I've always worked them
because that was how you got the great access to the good stuff
(people, events, etc.). I've done dealers' room, the security
squad, gopher squad, art show, auction, convention committee (in
every conceivable position from Assistant Director to Publicity), and
last weekend, I FINALLY made it in as a guest speaker -
speaking, incredibly enough, on Paganism in SF and doing a Tarot
workshop. I also got to play "Once Upon a Time" (a
participation story panel) with the convention guests of honor!"
Basically it works like this. Find the organizer(s),
introduce yourself, list any special skills you have or volunteer for
general labor, and tack on a timeframe. If you're at a small
event, like an evening Pagan tea party and social, look around for
the host(ess) and say something like, "Hi! My name is
Carol Meadowlark. I'm new at this and I'd really like to pitch
in. Do you need somebody to stay after and help clean
up?" If you're at a large event like a festival, the
organizers will probably have an office, tent, desk, etc. serving as
a central meeting point for logistics. Go there and say
something like, "Hi! I want to help make this event a
success. I'm new at this but I could spend a couple hours doing
fetch and carry, or washing dishes, and by the way I have Red Cross
certification if you need someone in the first-aid tent."
|
Elizabeth Barrette standing in
front of their Wicker Man creation.
Photo courtesy of and © by Moose.
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5) Do not
let limitations stop you. If you ride a wheelchair, maybe you
can sit behind a table and help people sign in when they arrive at
the event, instead of gathering firewood. If you have small
children requiring lots of attention, maybe you can help with
childcare instead of the main ritual. If you're susceptible to
cold weather, hey, somebody has to look after the fire! Use
your imagination.
And festival organizers - you do the same, please. Just because
an attendee can't do EVERYTHING does not mean he or she can't
do ANYTHING.
6) Feedback is crucial. Praise what works.
There's nothing like spending three months setting up for an event,
and then on Sunday night after it's rained all weekend having
somebody tell you that the indoor ritual was the best they ever
experienced. If you see something that doesn't work, don't just
criticize; explain WHY it didn't work and offer any ideas you may
have for improvements. Join those fireside meetings where
people discuss how a ritual went or what their favorite part of the
event was.
7) Be a thoughtful consumer and donor. Think of your
money as a folding vote. Every time you spend a dollar, you
vote for the ideals and practices of the company or organization to
whom that dollar goes. Once or twice a month, you can skip a
McDonald's meal and send that money to a Pagan group instead. Even a
little at a time adds up. Of course, if you're blessed with
abundance, take advantage of the "Rule of Three" and spread
it around generously! Remember that it's extremely tacky, and
ultimately counterproductive, to mooch off of a group's largesse
without returning anything. You go to their Full Moon meetings,
you eat their muffins, you drink their grape juice ... you drop some
funds into their donation jar.
8) When you see something that needs doing, and you know how
to do it, don't wait to see if someone else will notice - just DO
it. This is the mark of the true leader. If you see that
the privy is out of toilet paper and you don't know where it's
stocked, ask. If you notice that there's an electrical short
making the lights in the main hall blink on and off, and you know
nothing about electronics, go find one of the organizers or a janitor
or somebody who can handle it and tell them about the problem.
If you see garbage lying around, don't step around it, pick it
up. Taking care of the world and each other is what Paganism is
all about.
Likewise, when you have a great idea, run with it. Don't let it
lie around and die of old age; get it moving, get it growing.
If you need help to develop it, then ask people for what you
need. Also don't look for someone to take over for
you. It's your idea - it's your responsibility to make it manifest.
9) Having a hard time finding Pagans in your area? Join
a national or regional group instead. They're easy to
locate. Many of them are listed in area phonebooks, or
advertise in local newspapers. They can often put you in touch
with other members who live nearby - and by meeting Pagans from all
around, you increase your chances of stumbling across someone near
you, too.
If you can't find a group, consider just starting one of your own,
like a mythology study group. You can get the word out by
hanging flyers in your local library, bookstore, supermarket,
etc. Sometimes a public facility like a library will offer you
function space to hold meetings. At each meeting, invite people
to sign up for a mailing list so you can notify them when the next
meeting will be. Don't wait around for somebody else to set up
a group - there are probably a bunch of people already waiting for
YOU to do it!
It all comes down to a matter of responsibility and connections.
Pagan religions teach that you are responsible for your own actions
and their consequences, and that we are all connected. So don't
expect someone else to do all work for you. Roll up your
sleeves and help. My mother, who is a very wise and witchy
woman, puts it this way: "If you're not responsible, then you're
irresponsible, and that's worse."
Once you get started, you'll be amazed at how fast you learn and how
much fun it is. Even the ratty chores can bring moments of
grace. One of my fondest memories involves crouching on the
floor, elbow-to-elbow with several justifiably famous Pagans, as we
used credit cards to scrape up spilled candle wax. Everybody at
that ritual was an expert in their own right, many accustomed to
leading rituals in their own tradition; and instead of leaving the
awkward job to just one or two people, almost everyone in the room
stopped to take a few swipes at the wax. It cleaned right up -
and we were reminded that a little cooperation goes a long way.
That's the real secret of the inner circle. |
