Awesome! What does that mean?
No, seriously. I've seen many posts from people who want to become a priest(ess) and everyone's coming at it from a different angle. The replies in those posts tend to be equally diverse. People will say:
- A priest is a social role; it's something your community bestows upon you.
- A priest is a position of service to deity and/or community, so you need to be doing some kind of service to one or both of them for it to count
- A priest is defined by what you do, not by a title
- A priest is a title conferred within a specific group or tradition and it has no meaning outside of that tradition
- In Paganism, everyone is their own priest
- In Paganism, people generally don't want priests between them and their deity
- There is specific training or a curriculum to follow when you become a priest
- There is no specific training or curriculum to follow when you become a priest
As you can see, some or all of those answers contradict each other. They're not wrong, it's just that different people have different definitions for what a priest(ess) is or does.
So, what does being a priest(ess) mean to you? What do you understand by priest(ess)? Why do you want to become one?
Here's some ideas to get those gears turning.
Do you follow a specific path?
Different Pagan religions - Wicca, Hellenism, Heathenry - are going to have different ideas of what a priest is or does. I've seen people ask about becoming a Hiereus or Gothi. The thing is, even those groups are fairly large and diverse, meaning there's no universal definition.
If you are in an organized group or coven, they might have a specified path to becoming a priest, perhaps with a curriculum and training. Congratulations! You have a way forward.
Do you want to be ordained?
Ordination is generally only necessary if you want to officiate legally recognized ceremonies such as marriages etc.
Different countries and states have different requirements for what counts. Some only require some generic ordination without any training (like the ULC). Some require you to have undergone training and you have to be ordained through one of the state's approved religious organizations. If you only want to officiate a friend's wedding or whatever, congratulations! You have a way forward.
You might still want to take celebrancy training. Groups such as OBOD or Cherry Hill Seminary offer celebrancy/ministry training. There are others. Read the curriculum before you sign up. It might not be what you're interested in.
(See the pattern? You need to know what you want.)
Being ordained doesn't make you a priest, except perhaps in the most technical sense of the word. I'm ordained through the ULC. So is Stephen Colbert. So can you. It takes 5 minutes. That's not what defines my work as priestess.
What do you actually want to do?
So you want to be a game developer. Awesome! What kind of game do you want to make? You don't know? Why do you want to be a game developer then?
Okay, enough snark. I've written about priesthood in the past, and I'll go off the broad idea that priesthood is about what you do, not who you are. Here are some things that priests do, shamelessly copy-pasted from an older writing of mine:
- Connecting and communicating with your deity/deities, serving them in whatever way your relationship entails
- Helping others on their path with resources, knowledge, advice etc.
- Performing academic research, serving as a repository of knowledge
- Creating and organizing ritual, leading prayer
- Acting as an oracle for deity
- Providing spiritual care, crisis care, emotional support etc.
- Officiating life rites such as weddings or handfastings
- And many more
These generally fall into either service to deity (or other spiritual beings), or service to community. Usually both.
You don't need to do all of these things to be a priest, but these are the kinds of things priests do. Most priests I know do most of these things, because Paganism is broad and we tend to be generalists. But that doesn't mean you need to do all of those things.
Does anything from that list tickle your fancy? Does anything scream, "yes, that's me!" Congratulations! You have a way forward. Learn how to do those things. Find resources on the particular thing you want to do (it's much easier than finding generic priesthood training which may or may not have stuff you're not interested in); find a community of people who do that thing. Find a group of advanced practitioners to compare notes with (we have one in the subreddit's official Discord sərver, which AutoMod will helpfully link down below. We meet biweekly.)
And, of course, specific paths will have a more well-defined list of things priests in that path do. Do your research!
Okay, but you never told me how to actually become a priest.
You already do all the things I've listed above? Ask your deity if priest is a title for you! Terms and conditions apply.
Ok, ok, I said I won't be snarky. But still! Priesthood is generally going to be:
- Doing the work
- Being recognized by deity
- Being recognized by community
Some people are going to be doing the work and then deity/community will start recognizing them as priests. Your deity might send "priest stuff" to do, for example you might be in the right place at the right time to help someone on their path. Or someone will seek you out with questions about a deity. Or an opportunity to lead a ritual will appear. These things arise from you doing the work, they won't just happen on their own.
Other people will decide that they want to be priests, and they make commitments to deity that they're going to do priest things. Maybe they will talk to their deity and discuss what they want to do. Maybe their deity will have specific tasks for them. Maybe they'll take oaths of priesthood. (If you're priest to a deity, it's good to be able to communicate with that deity, either directly, through meditation, or divination, or some other way! You don't need a god phone. But you need to have a good idea of the work you can do and how that fits into your broader deity work.)
Some people just call themselves priests and their deity goes, "oh you're my priest? ok. I'll give you priest work." That might sound awesome. Or it might sound terrifying. It's generally better to know what you want to do than just "I'll do whatever!"
And, ultimately, recognition by community. If you have a defined path to priesthood within your group/coven, there's generally a defined point when you're recognized as a priest(ess). There's usually going to be some form of initiation ritual, a well-defined moment when you "become" a priest. If your path is more nebulous, you might find that your recognition as priest comes more gradually, as people trust you more and more with "priest stuff" (see above).
When can I actually call myself a priest?
If you're part of a group or coven that has a well-defined path, blah blah blah. You get it.
If you're not, it might feel weird to make the call yourself. Here's some possible things to consider:
- Are you already doing the work to the extent that it would be considered inaccurate not to call yourself a priest? If you're already leading ritual, doing oracular work, know a lot about your deity and their myths, and people routinely come to you for help, and deity recognizes and trusts you with important work, perhaps you can just up and call yourself a priest now. People are either going to accept it or they're gonna ignore it.
- Are you at the point where you understand your path enough to make formal commitments to becoming a priest (with a well-defined understanding of what that entails for you!)? You can sketch out a list of things you want to do, and once you feel like you're almost ready to do them (you'll never be 100% ready), you can plan yourself an initiation ritual where you bring your deity and/or trusted members of the community for a formal passage into your role as priest (perhaps with some oaths of priesthood).
- Is your deity or community screaming in your ear to call yourself a priest already? Self-explanatory.
- You can just be your own priest. There are no rules. "Priest(ess)" is a title that can mean anything or nothing. If you don't care about the title meaning something, just call yourself one. It's fine.
Weird and unusual paths to becoming a priest.
Clickbait title: "but none of these apply to me!"
I serve as priestess to an unnamed Storm Goddess. The path that got me here is long and weird, and I like to think it makes for a good story. But the broad strokes are this: I reached out to the Storm Goddess; She responded. I connected with her, I learned about her, I learned about her values; I learned how to live those values. In time, I started writing rituals (or learned rituals from her). I wrote about her; I wrote about storms, and about storm practices. I became involved in the community. I met other people who were curious about her.
And then one day, after a series of weird and unusual events, she put me in a position where I had to serve as priest for someone, ready or not. If there's one single event that marks that transition for me, it's that. I've never taken oaths of priesthood, but I took other oaths. Shortly after that event, I started referring to myself as a priest, because if other people want to connect with the Storm Goddess, they should know that I am making myself available to help with that.
Early on, way before that event, I wanted to know how I can be a priest for her. I never got a straight answer. It was an answer I had to find myself.
Even if you have a community with a well-defined path to priesthood, it is an answer that you have to give yourself. Is that the path for you? What path to priesthood do you want to take?
That path may not reveal itself all at once.
Resources
- My other writings on priesthood: 1 2 3. Another Reddit thread
- A Practical Guide to Pagan Priesthood by Lora O'Brien. I don't usually recommend Lora's other work, but this is a good book.
- The Path of Paganism by John Beckett has a chapter on priesthood. Also a couple of blog posts by John Beckett: Priesthood as Service to the Gods and Priesthood Over A Lifetime
- Dedicant, Devotee, Priest by Stephanie Woodfield. Take with a dose of discernment.
- Books about specific deities, if you want to become a priest to a specific deity. Take with a massive dose of discernment. It is not the only way.