What’s In a name: Thoughts on how I should Present Myself to the World

The video I posted yesterday really got me thinking. You see, I’ve been trying to figure out what to call myself as a religious professional (which I consider myself to be as I approach retirement and no longer need a “real “job). It’s been said that we have to have a word for something in order to think about it. I know that I do, being as language-focused as I am. I need a way to think of myself and my role in the world as I enter into a time in my life where I can successfully choose a role, and not have to work a job that contradicts it. That’s just me, of course.

I had thought of Priestess, but I now see a problem with that.

According to the thoughts of the presenter of the video, which greatly resonates with me, the title would mean one thing if I were part of a tradition and a lineage. In that case, I would be representing myself as part of an entity that is larger than myself, through which deity chooses to connect with the world. If I present myself as a solitary Priestess, it would seem that I’m in danger of being (or being thought of as being) the leader of a “culty-cult” – a group that honors it’s leader as a singular representation of deity, “the” voice of deity, not just “a” voice of deity. While I would say that everyone has the ability to connect with deity on their own, I could see how the distinctions could get blurred.

Thus I have determined that I don’t want a title that implies that my role is to represent a deity to others, but one that only infers that I choose a lifestyle that honors that deity, and that others are free to join me or not. I may administer a group of devotees for mundane purposes, but I won’t be a solitary representative of that deity.

drawing of a cleric
drawing of a cleric

The group as a whole may represent the deity to the public, and I may speak as part of the group, but I will never be anything like a Guru to anyone (as a matter of fact, I once left a pagan group because I felt that they were beginning to treat me as a Guru).

I’ve researched many possible names for what I am. Some are too obscure, and I don’t want to have to explain what it means every time I say it. Some are misleading; Monk would work, but it’s not really gender-neutral, but the female equivalent of that is Nun, which I feel implies that I am subservient to a patriarchy. For now, I’m settling on the generic term of “cleric.”

Am I overthinking this? Probably.

 


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