There is no transcript for today's video because I just haven't the proverbial spoons to write everything out multiple times and make the video. I will, however, summarize the main points of my video. The Christian model of how clergy works is not how it worked in antiquity across world cultures. The modern argument that all pagan clergy should be performing their duties in the same fashion as the Christian clergy is nonsensical. In antiquity, there were three classes of clergy. The highest class remained in the temple and served deities directly. The intermediate class of clergy served to facilitate public ritual and make sure that the offerings of the general public were properly handled. The lowest class of clergy served to assist lay persons with their personal worship practices and provide spiritual guidance.
Modern pagan worship has seen a re-emergence of these three classes of clergy. As much as some member of the Filianic community may dislike it, the emergence of these three classes of clergy are happening here as well. The expectation that the clergy of non-Christian religions to serve the same function as Christian clergy does is not possible. The cultus of Christianity is built so that the clergy are the direct intermediaries for worshippers to access their deity. It is only in relatively modern times that the idea of a personal relationship with the Christian god has arisen. In pagan worship systems, that personal relationship with deity is the norm.
The expectation in antiquity was if you had a question regarding your spiritual life, you performed divination on your own or sought out someone who was good at it to get answers. You didn't go to the clergy of your faith for spiritual direction unless the situation was dire. Most often, you went to them for assistance in performing public rituals of worship. The rest you handled on your own. That is why there is a history of people making offerings to deities like they're paying the mob to get something they want.
Prayer was entirely different in antiquity. What would be considered to be vulgar in today's Christianized over-culture, was simply the norm. That's why there is graffiti at sites like Pompeii where someone wrote that they got screwed over by a deity and there is historical record of pagans doing things like threatening deities if they didn't get what they wanted. The relationship between worshipper and deity is far more personal and direct. The three classes of clergy that served deity directly, facilitated public rituals, and directed persons in the proper execution of private ritual is re-emerging across pagan belief systems because it is necessary.
And, as some in the Filianic community may hate to admit it, it is necessary in Filianism as well. The groundwork for this three tier structure was laid out early on. We can not expect one person to serve all three major functions. There simply is not enough time in the day. The Christian model of worship is based around a hierarchy of clergy that work together to fulfill all three functions. Filianism does not have that. Those who have attempted to take up the mantle of leadership and serve the higher functions of worship have stumbled and then vanished from the scene because of overload due to the fact that there is a lack of structure to support them in a model of worship that resembles Christianity.
Filianism is not Christianity. We should stop trying to force it to be like it and allow it to grow into what it was meant to be.
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