An interesting question that came in as part of this series on spirituality was “what about hierarchy?” Now I found this interesting, because growing up as a Catholic, there was always the Church Hierarchy to deal with. From the curate to the parish priest, to the local bishop, to the arch-bishops, then cardinals with the top of the heap being the Pope. Honestly, hierarchy is just built into the organisation after two millennia (give or take).
It’s not that I have an issue with hierarchy in general, you understand. But there is a part of me that says no one can tell someone else what their spirituality should be. (OK, if you’ve read about my thoughts on cultural appropriation before now, you may disagree with that last statement. I stand by those comments. Public and private are under different rules, basically.)
What do I mean by hierarchy?
A hierarchy is a system in which members of an organization or society are ranked according to relative status or authority. So, some people are higher and some people are lower.
Social hierarchies exist all over the place. Now, you understand, they are rarely explicit. But how often are you in a group and realise there is a recognised leader. Or maybe an internal expert. These hierarchies exist in families, friend groups, corporations, churches, youth groups…
Start looking – you will start to see them all over the place.
The corporate hierarchy is probably the clearest in the modern world. We mostly know who in work can gainsay someone else, even within the same levels. In some cases it’s documented who has the upper hand in what area.
It’s rarely that obvious though.
When are hierarchies useful?
Well, there are several occasions when hierarchy is useful. Usually in cases where definitive decisions need to be made. I mean, a hierarchy in battle is usually handy, I hear. Otherwise you have different soldiers running all over the place. All sorts of different objectives being pursued with no cohesion or plan behind it.
Sounds like chaos, right?
Probably not wrong. When you have a large, sprawling organisation, you kinda need some kind of reporting structure. And that usually means a group of people reporting in to one person. That person is part of another group of people reporting into another person. (You can see where this is going right?)
It means the organisation’s goals and objectives can be spread out throughout the group. Each level down takes a more and more specific action to further the goals, with each person ensuring their goals line up.
So, hierarchies can be useful in times where you need a group of people herded in one direction. (Yes, I still refer to my job as herding cats!) If you have a disparate group of people, trying to get them all moving in the one direction is incredibly difficult. Ask anyone trying to manage a volunteer committee.
Having a final decision maker, someone who is willing (or forced in some cases) to commit that final vote, action whatever, just to move the damn project forward is hugely useful.
But where can these things fall down?
When hierarchies fail…
Well, you remember when I was writing about cults a few weeks ago? Some examples of when hierarchy can fail can be taken from cults, where hierarchy has lead to some extreme actions. Mostly when too much authority is given to one person, or a small group of people.
Now, in all honesty, I have seen too much authority given to people within corporations leading to some major mistakes being made. People become too afraid to challenge the golden child. They can reach back rather than forward. People box themselves in so as to not challenge the acknowledged expert, even when they are not correct, for whatever reason.
It leads to the situation of the blind leading the blind…
Essentially, when the hierarchy starts telling people what they should be thinking… that’s where I start to draw the line. If you are not permitted to change your mind, or when you are told the “correct” way to think, then that’s where the hierarchy is reaching too far.
Do we need a hierarchy in paganism?
I’m hesitant to say yes or no here.
In some ways, yes, but not in a single organisation way. For example, if you were to ask me which translation of Old Irish I’d trust the most – I’d go with Morgan Daimler’s work, always. I have an internal hierarchy of people who translate or have translated Old Irish to English. And of those, Morgan Daimler’s work tops the list.
So when it comes to skills or talents, yes, I definitely have a mental hierarchy.
If you want to connect in with the Morrigan, I’m going to recommend Lora O’Brien. The Dagda? Jon O’Sullivan. Brigid? Well… me… but there are others I trust as well.
This is a form of hierarchy. And we all build them in our minds.
Where I don’t recommend it? I don’t think there needs to be a pagan equivalent of the Catholic Church. Yes, I know, there are pagan organisations with that sort of hierarchy, but I don’t really agree it’s needed. Sure, it’s useful for some people. But this is where we end up with people not being questioned, with abuses being swept under the carpet, with bad people escaping consequences because people think they are too far above them to challenge.
Can we not learn the lessons from two millennia of the Catholic Church? Where the Princes of the Church went unchallenged in their own fiefs? IS there a basic need in humanity for a hierarchy? I don’t think there is, but maybe I’m the outlier…
