The Inadvertent Priestess - Deborah Oak
I never set out to be a priestess. First and foremost, I am a Witch. The priestess became a byproduct of the witchery. Not all Witches become priestesses, but those of us who work with groups and participate in putting on public rituals inevitably learn some priestessing skills; how to create and guide energy in circles and how to step into the center of a circle and open to inspiration.
I came to being a Witch through grief and feminism. As what would eventually become a tradition, Reclaiming Witchcraft, was coalescing, I jumped into the fray. Way before Witchcamps and big public rituals, we did rituals around demonstrations and actions. I think the first time I invoked something, it was in jail during a mass arrest at Livermore Labs. I was terrified, but I stepped in and did it. Over the years the terror subsided and confidence replaced it. Faith and trust replaced it. As one of the last generation to have a childhood devoid of a culture where goddess worship existed, much less priestesses, the role of priestess has not only been healing, it’s been empowering.
One definition of a priest is someone who is authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God. A priestess is profoundly different as Witches need no mediatory agent given we see the Divine in everyone and everything. When you priestess a ritual you have particular duties and responsibilities, but you are not a spiritual authority. One duty I feel strongly as a priestess is to help facilitate others in being their own spiritual authority.
During the same time Reclaiming was developing as a tradition, my partner was working for Greenpeace and then Rainforest Action. The environmental activist community also became my community. I helped create rituals of protection and officiate at weddings, birth blessings, and memorials. My strong preference is to work magically with other priestesses, but I’ve learned the beauty of service in officiating alone for those who defend the sacred elements but don’t identify as a Witch. Standing in such a circle last Sunday to priestess a memorial for such an activist prompted these reflections. And prompted my gratitude for this role I never sought out, that was inadvertent. My heart is still singing from the experience, being able to do service in this way and create a potent container for my beloved friend to be remembered in.
One of the cards of the tarot is the High Priestess and there are some Witches who inhabit this role. To my mind, being higher than others goes against my Witch soul. Back when we began Reclaiming Witchcamps. I argued against pay grades and hierarchies of priestessing. If I’m in a circle of priestessing, despite different skill levels, I want to be in a circle of equals, all equally invested in the work and valued. I believe magic works best that way. In my opinion, Witchcamps began veering towards creating a culture of adoration of the priestesses instead of empowerment for all. So some of us who’d been complaining about this for years decided to stop complaining and create something different.
So we jumped off a cliff and landed in Four Springs. It’s been an integral part of the journey to encourage others to step into the circle and be a fool, to open to inspiration and invoke directions or deities, and most of all, to make MISTAKES! Mistakes are lauded at Fool’s Journey. Call in the south instead of the west and it will result in hoots and hollers and clapping! YAY! In this way we celebrate the fool and also create safe space for learning magical skills.
We are in our 13th year of Fool’s Journey, in the year of the Hanged One. It’s been the perfect year for me to step out of my priestess and organizer role and take time to reflect on the journey. I’ve realized there are many who started with us who stepped into the circle to invoke a direction with the same terror I did decades back. Most of these long time fools have become comfortable embodying their priestesshood in ritual. This continues to move me deeply, including that annual moment when a new fool steps in with all the anxiety of a beginner. And the beauty. At Fool’s Journey, this is a sacred moment.
The point of A Fool’s Journey has not been to train priestesses. But, like my being a Witch, it’s been a byproduct. Which, in my view, is the best way to find yourself becoming one.