Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Lay Pagans vs. Clergy 2 (the other way round)

The Lay pagans vs. clergy thread was a brief-but-interesting discussion that focused on what separates the clergy from the laity (to the extent that either word applies) within different pagan contexts.

This thread is aimed at running at the same sort of issue from the other side; what is the role of the laity? What differentiates them from clergy? Which pagan ways have a formal or informal role for a laity? How much latitude should lay pagans be allowed in different areas? For example, does it matter if an eclectic neo-wiccan, who is happy to identify as 'lay' believes some of the anthropological and historic inaccuracies that are well known at TC, or is it ok for lay people to believe the 'myths' of their tradition?

I understand that most participants at TC are more likely to fall into the clergy, or the non-hierarchic parts of paganism, but I'm interested in people's perspectives and thoughts on those who are not so inclined/called.

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