Leader Bio: Pandora - ADF Neopagan Druidism

(Editor's note: While Pandora is no longer ADF's Members Advocate or a member of Silver Fox Grove, she was an active leader for many years, so we are leaving her bio as-is despite it's being out-of-date.)

I became involved with ADF in 1997 through Silver Fox Grove, here in Montreal. At the time, I was more interested in the community than the practice and considered myself more of a patchwork pagan than a Druid. However, over the course of a summer festival season, ADF seduced me and Our Druidism became my primary Path. :) Why that happened is a bit harder to explain...

I love our ritual and the cosmology behind it. I love the attitude of respect and exchange with which Our Druidism approaches the Kindred. I love the open nature of the organization that leaves everything on the table for all to share. But most of all, I love the feeling of intense connection I sometimes find at ritual: to the Kindred, to my Folk, and to the Earth that sustains us all. Standing in the nemeton at Brushwood or even in someone's living room, staring up at the stars or just looking around at my people, I am filled with wonder and awe that we, who have come from so many different places, have found each other, set aside our differences, woven our strengths together and raised our voices as one to worship on the same Path that resonates within each of us.

This is what holds me to ADF and I will give whatever I can to preserve that feeling for myself and my people. Rich in meaning and full of beauty, Our Druidism speaks to me, head, heart and soul. That's why I am here: to share that meaning and beauty with others who nurture and respect it and to work together to encourage its growth.

What I do in ADF

Right now, my most important role in the organization is that of Members Advocate (MA). As MA, my first responsibility is always to the members of ADF. I am here to help represent minority views in the organization and facilitate the resolution of complaints raised by our members, usually related to our procedures, policies or leadership. I encourage people to work things out on their own, but when communication starts to break down, I am available to step in and offer assistance. I am a firm believer in prevention, so many of the things I do are designed to address an issue early on so we can avoid the storm that comes along when such things are neglected.

Most of the time, my work is primarily concerned with mediating disputes related to the organization, working to get members' questions answered accurately, and keeping an eye out for volatile situations on the lists. Part of my job is to act as a liaison to ADF-Discuss and, if necessary, solicit opinions from the membership on controversial issues before the Mother Grove. I believe that it is very important for the MA to be visible and accessible and I try to stay on top of as many of the public lists as I can.

On a more administrative level, I have the right to be present as a member of every subcommittee of the Mother Grove. Practically speaking, this means that I can move freely in the leadership to keep myself informed about any issue effecting the membership. I also process requests for compassionate memberships and make recommendations to the Mother Grove regarding these and other sensitive issues.

In addition to my responsibilities as MA, I am currently Scribe to both the Seers and the Liturgists Guilds. I have also been very involved in the ongoing development of the Seers specialty of the Study Program, particularly the Counseling section, since that is my area of professional training and experience. Back in Montreal, I see to many of my grove's pastoral counseling needs and coordinate ritual design efforts for our religious celebrations.

My personal vision for ADF's future

In the future, I want to see the larger organization become more of a community resource and less a political structure. A certain level of bureaucracy is necessary to run an organization this large, but I think we get a little carried away sometimes. I would like to see us stay accessible and maintain a sense of balance and respect for our diversity so that it becomes more a source of growth for the organization rather than a breeding ground for political contention.

We need that balance and respect so we can work together to realize the great potential we have and crystallize it into something solid and enduring. With a little commitment, we can create a viable study program, develop a widespread network of temples and shrines, found a Druid College, provide our clergy with enough income to survive as full-time Priest/esses, network with other pagan organizations, address environmental issues that affect our Land, and pursue any other goals or concerns that affect our people.

On a more immediate level, I'd like to see us provide more support to our membership, especially those without the benefit of a grove. I want to find ways to keep them connected to the rest of us, not just by training, but by religious support. I want to continue to develop our bank of ritual scripts, chants, invocations, etc. I'd like to see us providing more ceremonies for people who need rites of passage, interfacing with professionals to help them understand the religious beliefs of our people, spreading out our activities beyond the Northeastern part of this continent, bridging the distance in more concrete and dependable ways, and stretching ourselves however we can in order to reach those who are more isolated.

Closer to home, I want us to find ways to better support those who volunteer to do the work of this organization. Over time, I have come to believe that we have a pretty serious burn-out problem; I want to figure out what isn't working so we can do something different. We have an abundance of resources in our membership and I'd like to see us start utilizing them in a better way. We need to find the people who are willing to help, let them know that they don't have to be experts to contribute to the organization, and, most importantly, provide them continuing support while they do their work. That way, we can tell if they are overloaded and redistribute tasks if necessary.

That's it in a (rather large) nutshell from the esoteric to the practical. :) If you have any questions or concerns I might be able to help with, please feel free to drop me a line.

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