Avoiding Power Struggles in Spiritual Groups

When it comes to organization of spiritual groups, one concern many people have is making sure to avoid power grabs in leadership. This applies to groups of any faith but is especially a concern in pagan groups where we don’t have any “official” rules on how to form a group’s leadership. This can be even more complicated when trying to form a legally recognized group which requires a specifically written out plan of leadership and structure. I’d like to share my view of what makes a good group structure based on my own experience from groups I’ve seen and worked with over the years.

To start, I’d like to point out that being Priest or Gothar is not about being “THE leader” or “boss”. It’s a title that, in my opinion, simply helps acknowledge one’s knowledge, experience, and ability to lead, teach, guide, or preform other clergy-type functions, for a group when needed. Also, there is a growing trend of people calling themselves a priest or priestess of a particular path or deity because their deity showed them that’s what they are supposed to be. However, that call makes you a solitary priest/ess for yourself and your practice. It does not mean you a priest for others yet. This declaration from your deity is often telling you one of two things. One, is that you are learned and experienced enough to trust yourself in your own practice and to help people when and if requested. The second, is that you are being called to become a priest to others. The emphasis is on the word “become”. Unfortunately, many people hear this message and think that means they are, from that moment, now a priest of their god and/or path and can start groups of their own and position themselves as priest. However, priesthood is a position of service. You can start a spiritual group if you want. But the people you serve must agree that you are their priest, and you must have someone other than your own messages from deity say that you are. Otherwise, anyone can (and unfortunately sometimes do) call themselves teachers and priest whether they have any firm working knowledge or experience in their practice or not. So, make sure in your spiritual groups the priests and Gothi are ones who have experience, knowledge, and other qualifications besides simply “I started the group” or “My god said so”.  This also applies to leaders of groups whether priests or not. Now that we have covered what a priest or leader is not, we can look at the structure of the groups.

When most people think of pagan spiritual groups, they think of either a coven or a spiritual tribe. However, a lot of people seem to think this are essentially the same but difference in numbers. Although that can be the case, they often have a difference in structure and leadership as well. In a coven format, there are usually smaller numbers of people with a high-priest and/or high-priestess. In many of these cases, the high priest/ess are the ultimate decision makers. When decisions are made, they will often discuss with other members of the group or elders to get input but, in most cases, they still make the final decision.  This can sometimes lead to a power-struggle with other members for various reasons. It may be that the decision made wasn’t what the majority wanted. Or it in some cases, the priest/ess do let the power go to their heads and become a bit more controlling than they should. Unfortunately, this is not very uncommon.

In a spiritual tribe, the structure does often include priests or Gothar, but there are other members who also help make decisions. This is usually done by a vote of some kind and helps minimalize the chances of power grabs and corruption.  Here, I’d like to describe a format that I’ve experienced that works really well and helps avoid those situations. In a tribe format, as mentioned, there is often at least one Gothar (or priest/priestess), but they are not the prime decision makers. In a tribe, you will often find that there is a group of members that act as a council. When a decision needs to be made, the priests and council will discuss the matter and will vote on it. The majority vote is what makes the decision regardless of how the Gothar voted. The Gothar do not over-ride the combined majority vote. Another added security is that if a council member or Gothar is personally connected to the issue or person being voted about, they do not vote on it. This way, their personal connection has not impact on the vote. And, here again, the majority vote rules. If there happens to be a tie, then the rest of the tribe will be presented with the issue at hand, along with the options, and cast their vote. The only time the Gothar generally make decisions without the council is when it is a case of obvious group rule breaking, or an urgent situation that needs a decision quickly and doesn’t give time to wait for all council members to meet and discuss. And occasionally giving a particular group role to a member when needed. Even in these cases, they still report to the council what happened and what decision was made so that everyone is aware and, if there is a disagreement, it can be re-evaluated. By using a voting style of decision making, the ability for only one or two people to make decisions and take control over the group is brought to a minimum, if not completely done away with. This is important because it is imperative that tribe members know they can trust their leaders and each other. A tribe should be like a family. And trust is of upmost importance.

Aside from how decisions are made, another aspect of spiritual groups that, I believe, is important is for the leaders to know their members well enough to know their personal strengths and weaknesses and areas of expertise. This isn’t for the purpose of deciding who is included or excluded or in making decisions for the group as a whole. However, it is helpful to use these strengths and weaknesses for the betterment and education of the group. As an example, in the spiritual tribe I’m a member of, if a member comes to me with a question that isn’t my area of expertise, I usually know another member of the tribe who does have a good working knowledge of that topic that I can direct them to. Similarly, when planning events or rituals, or other group projects, by knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the members, we can have a better idea of who would preform well at certain activities and who would likely not fit in (or even want to try) that particular activity. This an important part of good leadership regardless of what type of group it is whether spiritual group, work group, clubs, or whatever other group you may want to apply it to. So here we see that the main difference is that a tribe runs very much like a tribe or clan would have in the ancient days. We’re just using modern means of doing it to fit the times.

These are, as always, simply my views based on my experiences. It is not mandatory. But it does help give the tribe a more caring, family feel than a standard group. That’s all for this entry. Until next time, blessings to you all.