Newcomer's Corner
Finding a Teacher
by Merytanpu
Maybe you’ve been a solitary for years and are looking for a guide on your journey. Maybe you’ve been worshipping in public circles and are looking for something more than “Pagan Lite.”
A good teacher can help you deepen your Pagan practice—and tools such as Isaac Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame1, or Marion Weinstein’s Ten-Foot-Pole Checklist2, can give you a good idea of what to avoid.
But in the meantime, do you really know what you’re looking for in a teacher? The first thing to do is to spend some time thinking about the qualities you want in a teacher. Some may be very specific to you. You may decide, for instance, that you want to work with a teacher from a particular Pagan tradition. If you’re an Egyptian Pagan, then you may not be happy in a Celtic group, no matter how much you like the teacher personally.
There are other qualities, however, that should be more universal—and that are absolute, nonnegotiable must-haves in a good teacher.
A good teacher is honest and straightforward. A good teacher will tell you what’s expected of you up front, and will explain his or her expectations to make sure you fully understand them. A teacher with a hidden agenda may try to coerce or manipulate you into doing something that is not in your best interest. Teachers with agendas hidden even to themselves often use their students for their own convenience.
A good teacher treats students with respect. Good teachers set reasonable boundaries between themselves and their students. They do not tolerate insults or abuse—nor do they use them as weapons against their students. They do not control their students’ personal lives. They do keep in confidence things told to them in confidence. They do keep promises—even if it’s only a promise to meet at a certain coffee shop at a certain date and time.
These qualities speak directly to the Wiccan concept of “Perfect Trust.” In my experience, Perfect Trust stems from two things: honesty and respect. If even one of these two qualities is lacking in a teacher-student relationship, the trust so necessary to that relationship is broken.
our Pagan friends or circle-mates about the teacher’s credentials (if any), general reputation in the community, and whether the teacher has the qualities you want. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get direct answers to some of your questions. The traditional laws of Witchcraft forbid speaking ill of other Witches, so you may need to “read between the lines” a bit for your answers.
You may find that a prospective teacher’s credentials are in question, or that his or her teaching style may not be a good fit for you. This is where the qualities that really matter to you come in. Do the degrees really matter, or are they just marks on a thermometer? Are you willing to overlook a flaw or two and go with the best fit, rather than a perfect fit?
There are, however, flaws in teachers that shouldn’t be overlooked. Fortunately, even the most close-mouthed Witch will tell you without hesitation if a teacher is an abuser or sexual predator—or anything else that will cause you serious harm. But other flaws, such as power and control issues or substance abuse, are harmful too, and can’t be ignored. Close questioning may or may not uncover these issues—but you have a right and a responsibility to protect yourself from harm.
Finding a teacher is an important part of the spiritual journey in many faiths, not just Paganism. Often the teacher-student relationship is long-term; in some traditions, the effects of that relationship are believed to last even beyond this life. That’s why it’s so important to invest the time and thought into finding a teacher with the qualities you want. I didn’t—and ended up studying with someone who had neither of the qualities so essential to Perfect Trust. Four years later, I’m still undoing the damage. It’s possible to learn something even from a bad teacher—but a big part of the reason I’ve written this article is so others won’t have to.
1 Isaac Bonewits, Real Magic(York Beach, Maine:Samuel Weiser, Inc, 1989) 214-217.
2 Marion Weinstein, Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help (Custer,WA:Phoenix Publishing 1981) 54- 55.