wondering about pagan clergy
Thinking about Drew Jacob's essay, ""Temple Without a Song", I find myself wondering...
I'm not wondering--as others seem to be--whether or not it's possible to recreate the ancient druid class in modern times.
Rather, I find myself wondering whether or not there's any need for a recreated druid class in modern society. Specifically, I wonder: Is there a need for "a network of temples regulated by professional, uniformly trained draoíthe priests"? If the training program had succeeded, what services would the graduates have provided that would justify supporting them as professionals?
I've noticed, over the last couple of decades, that when the subject of a professional pagan clergy comes up, the people advocating a professional clergy are have always been proposing themselves as that professional.
In ancient Celtic societies, the druids would not be "professionals" as we use the word today. As these were simpler societies, each household--including the chieftains'--would produce most of the food and other goods needed for daily life. They would only obtain unusual items from specialist artisans. And specialist artisans in non-complex societies participate in ordinary economic activities as well as their specialty. I'm fairly certain that this applied to the households of druids as well. This isn't to say that the druids didn't receive gifts from their community in reciprocity for the services they provided, but rather that the gifts weren't the basis of their subsistence. The druids' basic subsistence would have been sustained by the economic activities of their household--including the druids themselves. The gifts from the community would be how the druids' household attained a visible surplus above and beyond their subsistence needs, materially demonstrating their elite status.
I don't believe that there's a need to recreate the druidic class as it was, and I don't believe that there's a need to copy the professional clergy of modern Christianity and Judaism. Which leaves me wondering: What *do* we need, and how do we get there?
I'm not wondering--as others seem to be--whether or not it's possible to recreate the ancient druid class in modern times.
Rather, I find myself wondering whether or not there's any need for a recreated druid class in modern society. Specifically, I wonder: Is there a need for "a network of temples regulated by professional, uniformly trained draoíthe priests"? If the training program had succeeded, what services would the graduates have provided that would justify supporting them as professionals?
I've noticed, over the last couple of decades, that when the subject of a professional pagan clergy comes up, the people advocating a professional clergy are have always been proposing themselves as that professional.
In ancient Celtic societies, the druids would not be "professionals" as we use the word today. As these were simpler societies, each household--including the chieftains'--would produce most of the food and other goods needed for daily life. They would only obtain unusual items from specialist artisans. And specialist artisans in non-complex societies participate in ordinary economic activities as well as their specialty. I'm fairly certain that this applied to the households of druids as well. This isn't to say that the druids didn't receive gifts from their community in reciprocity for the services they provided, but rather that the gifts weren't the basis of their subsistence. The druids' basic subsistence would have been sustained by the economic activities of their household--including the druids themselves. The gifts from the community would be how the druids' household attained a visible surplus above and beyond their subsistence needs, materially demonstrating their elite status.
I don't believe that there's a need to recreate the druidic class as it was, and I don't believe that there's a need to copy the professional clergy of modern Christianity and Judaism. Which leaves me wondering: What *do* we need, and how do we get there?