This has come up in discussion in several forums, and I thought I’d place my rather contested opinions here, in my journal, where I can say what I want. So there.
Anyway, the whole thing revolved around “Should Pagan clergy wear (Christian) clergy collars?”.
Short answer? No.
Long answer:
a clergy collar sends all sorts of messages, negative as well as positive. Even Christian clergy debate whether they should or should not wear clergy collars, and in which contexts these collars should be worn.
Let’s explore this a little bit further. Historically, the Roman or Clergy Collar (also called Dog Collar) came into existence toward the end of the 16th century, when it was fashionable for people to turn down the collars on their shirts. The clergy imitated fashion, even going so far as to ornament these collars with lace and embroidery. That made them difficult to clean, so they wore linen sheaths to protect the collars from dirt. Pope Urban the VIII banned the use of lace by clergy in 1634, but didn’t ban the wearing of the linen band to protect the collar. Many clergy continued to wear the protective band and it became a part of their “uniform”. This is actually how many of the Christian clergy vestments came into existence – they were fashionable at some point in history, the clergy imitated fashion, and when fashion moved on, sometimes, that part of it remained entrenched among the clergy. Robes, albs, pectorals, and a whole slew of various bits of vestments all owe their history to vanity and fashion.
Clergy fashion evolves slowly. Over time, the items lose their fashionable vanity and acquire symbolic significance. This is particularly true for very outmoded fashions. Our basic instinct to truly out-of-date fashion isn’t laughter, as it would be for moderately unfashionable clothes, but a sort of awe and respect for someone who wears them openly, unashamedly, as if it were common wear. They must be wearing it for a reason, our minds tell us. It becomes a statement that transcends fashion. And if it is worn by those in religious offices, it acquires a patina of religious symbolism that wasn’t there originally.
The clergy collar is specifically tied to Christian religions. When people see someone wearing one, they react almost viscerally with either deference or hostility. When they learn the person wearing the collar isn’t entitled to wear it through religious affiliation and training, hostility is the overriding emotion.
A clerical collar also draws the ire of conservative Christians who offer to pray for you because they assume you’re Catholic – which they very oddly don’t view as Christian. It also brings out the disparity between clery and laity, and heightens an isolation between those who wear the collar and those who don’t.
That clerical collar is also seen as the uniform of “God’s Police” – and really, do any Pagans want that sort of association?
About the only time wearing a clergy collar is of benefit even for Christians is when they are on the scene of an accident or doing hospital or prison chaplaincy, where officials are expected to wear immediately-identifiable uniforms. And many Christian clergy report they have a more positive experience when they wear a simple dark suit with a religious lapel pin and carry an obviously religious book (usually the Bible) The lapel pin is less intimidating and often more comforting for most people than a clergy collar, unless they belong to a church where the clergy collar is common everyday wear for their clergy.
For anyone else, wearing a clergy collar makes no legitimate sense. And for Pagans, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I think Pagan clergy should adopt the fashions and symbols that were culturally significant when their religion was reborn, revitalized, invented, or whatever historical spin you care to place on your religion’s origin.
My religion was born in 1946. That was a very well tailored era. But it came into being, truly into itself as a religion in the early 70’s, which gives it tie-dye clothes, macrame headbands, peace signs, love beads, and long skirts or jeans as the uniform of choice.
Like the Christian collar and the Jewish kippah, time and customary usage will establish certain pieces of clothing as “clergy wear”, and I think Pagans should cultivate their own style rather than imitate someone else’s.
It doesn’t have to be the tie-dye and love beads of the 60’s and 70’s, but it should be something distinctive and easily recognized as not common wear. And if we can avoid rhe ridiculous as well, that’s just a bonus.
My suggestion is to tailor the clothes to the situation. For those engaged in hospital or prison chaplaincy, a plain, dark dressy business suit with a lapel pin seems quite acceptable and easily recognizable. It doesn’t matter if the lapel pin is an ankh, or a Thor’s Hammer, or a pentacle, or a rainbow, or a cornucopia. That would be a good, about-in-public “uniform” without pre-empting some other religion’s symbols. They spent centuries cultivating the attitudes and symbolisms of those articles of clothing, and I think it beyond rude to misappropriate them to provide a shallow veneer of ill-gotten respectability, especially when we can so easily create and foster our very own special vestments and symbols. Sure, it takes time. What was once seen as venal and trivial in the 1600’s became a respected and easily recognizable symbol of religious office centuries later. We shouldn’t expect establishing our own religious vestments to be fast or easy.
My personal “uniform” is a turtleneck with a cornucopia or feather pinned to the left on the collar. The cornucopia is the symbol of our religion, and the feather a symbol of our learning and age. I wear this virtually everyday. To me, and to my fellow Elders, this is our vestment. The turtleneck is our clergy collar, our kippah. On special occasions, we add things to it: a headband, bracelets, necklaces, stoles or shrugs, or whatever is needed. The colors tend to be dark for daily wear, and brighter for ritual wear – and yes, even tie-dyed.
So, that’s the long version of why I don’t think Pagans should ever wear the Christian clergy collar.
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