Leadership

We need to understand the basic principles upon which Druidic leadership functions. By having a clear view and understanding of the nature of leadership in our Fellowship we can be more effective in our role as leaders. The structure of leadership in Druidry is often seen as having been based on some very archaic concepts but this does not represent a full comprehension of the principles and reasoning behind them. We have found these principles to work in the context of a modern spiritual fellowship it also happens that many of these concepts have been found to have been very successful by peoples of the past. The adoption and application of these principles is not based on a romantic view of regaining some past spiritual golden age. We have adopted these principles because they are consistent with our overall worldview, in short, we use them because they work for us. They work because they are compatible with our general theology, ontology, cosmology and social principles.The most important principle to understand is the principle of authority as it is active in Druidry. We are a fellowship and as such authority rests with the members of the fellowship. Any leader or Clergy person is an agent for the authority of the membership. No Clergy person or leader has an authority that comes from another source. No leader in Druidry is seen as an agent for the Gods and no leader is seen as wielding any special authority invested by the Gods. As such our Clergy represent the face of the people in dealing with the sacred rather than the face of the sacred dealing with the folk. And so our Clergy are described as sacrificial clergy rather than sacramental clergy and no sacramental function is exclusively reserved to be performed only by our Clergy. Any sacramental function in or out of ceremonial settings may be performed by any of our membership or indeed anyone present.Our next leadership principle is that of centrality. A leader is not seen as being in a higher position so much as being in a more central position, closer to the hub of the system. The entire system moves around a stable center and the various officers are related to the center. This keeps the system organized and moving. Leadership is not hierarchical with a special authority invested at the top. In fact leadership is not seen as being at the top of organizational structure leadership is located at the center of the organizational structure of our Fellowship. Our very organizational structure reflects our cosmology in which we see a sacred center as the balance point of order.Authority always resides with the members of the Fellowship as a whole. Powers are invested in positions based on the authority of the Fellowship, leaders hold positions in which these powers are invested. A leader uses these powers to perform the duties of the position that he or she holds. The positions are filled by members who are either elected by members or appointed by elected officers. Leadership positions are held at the pleasure of the membership with the right to install and remove leaders always remaining in the hands of the membership as a whole. Neither does any person in Druidry have an inherent right to lead or to hold any particular position of authority based on any detail of his or her ontological state of being.