The Wiccan Minister's Manual, A Guide for Priests and Priestesses

When people become closed off, or disconnected from their Divinity, they feel anger, hate, jealousy, envy, bitterness and other negative emotions. People have become out of balance, out of tune with the harmony of the Universe. Many find themselves on a quest, searching for truth, justice, and beauty, but to no avail. Although it is all around us, all the time, people just do not know how to see it. Our social programming has blinded them to it. They need help to unlearn what has been drilled into them all of their lives. This is why ministers are needed, for it is the minister’s role to show seekers how to cast aside those blinders so that they can finally see and complete their quest. This holds true for any faith. The problem with the Pagan paths is that up until now, the only training available for most of us has been the “School of Hard Knocks.”

As Clergy, it is important to understand that people have become afraid to live. Really live. People have lost the joy in life, because they are so busy catering to the whims and demands of others and to the demands that our society has placed upon them. People need spiritual leaders who can help them to learn how to cast off those binding chains, without fear or guilt, and to take the risk to actually learn to live. It is one of our roles as Priests and Priestesses to help others to learn to understand and accept themselves. We, in the role of clergy, need to help them learn to love themselves just as they are. We need to teach those who wish to learn how to become more in tune with their Divinity and to stop punishing themselves for not being an image of social perfection. Those images are false images. We as ministers of the Wiccan faith need to help our people to learn to look within themselves and discover that they are already the image of perfection in their own individualistic ways because they are also Divine.

Pagans, as individuals, know that we need not live our lives by the standards of others. We tend to be independent and understand that we need not live our lives in order to be accepted by others. But many Pagans have not discovered that they need not live in fear of not being considered good enough because, in truth, they already are good enough. All people are perfect just as we are. Most who follow the Pagan paths already know that they do not have to change to fit anyone’s mold or opinion of what they should be. Because over time we have come to understand that we fit perfectly within our own molds, just the way we are now. However, those new to this path still need to learn to accept this, and they need to learn to love themselves without worrying about looking “Kewel,” because they are already the image of divine perfection. True Perfection. Not some false persona hiding behind a mask. Our clergy need to show our people that it is OK to throw that mask away and to just be themselves, rather than something that they are not. We need to show these newcomers how not to be afraid to be themselves. We all must learn to accept ourselves and to love ourselves, and most of you who aspire to become clergy have already begun this process. But in order to complete this process, you must first understand yourself. Once you do, you can then help others to learn to understand themselves and to be true to themselves so that they can learn to begin living spiritual lives………..

Yes, you have made mistakes along the way. Yes, you will make more mistakes as you travel life’s path. But you will now see those mistakes for what they really are, a process of learning and a potential for growth and self-improvement. The pain of growth and dispelling stagnation, although unpleasant, is part of the natural process of evolving into a higher being. The struggles we undergo are a means of helping us to become stronger so that we can fulfill the tasks and meet the challenges that lie ahead of us. We, as Priests and Priestesses of the Wiccan faith, must be able to understand this so that we may be able to serve as guides to others who are seeking a way to evolve into a higher state of being. Still, we ourselves must learn that we, too, are experiencing this learning process.

So, when you stumble and fall, do not waste your time and energy in beating yourself up. Learn the lesson that is there for you and go on. Don’t waste time whining over what could have been. Deal with what is and prepare for what is to come. Without pain, we cannot know joy. Without pain, we cannot grow and become better than we are. Growth is change, and change is the evolutionary process of becoming more and more Divine as we ascend that rainbow ladder of Spirit, evolving into a higher state of being and becoming more and more in tune with the Godhead as we begin to live in harmony with the Universe.

This can only happen if we choose to learn from our mistakes, rather than lamenting our imperfections. These imperfections are there because we have chosen to incarnate into this life during these times so that we may learn and grow. Our divine selves are already perfect, but our characters and our personalities are not. We are flawed because the knowledge we have been taught, the knowledge possessed by humanity, is flawed. As we each acknowledge our fl