What’s so Important about a Lineage, anyways?

A lineage is a complicated thing. In anthropology it is a descent group that can demonstrate a connection or evolution from a common ancestor. In evolution, one’s lineage connects us to our relations from a common forebear. In Buddhism, lineage is the line of transmission of Buddhist teachers. In martial arts, a lineage is a line of teachers within a particular discipline. But in Traditional Wicca / Witchcraft, a Lineage is a direct line of power within a Tradition. This line of power is passed at one’s Initiation.

Initiation means “to start”. That’s what it is…no matter how much you’ve learned, studied, experienced, your Initiation is the beginning of a new spiritual life. On my own Initiation night, my High Priest said to me, “Now your training really starts.” Much as it chagrins me to say it, he was right.

When a person is Initiated in Traditional Witchcraft, it is more than a ritual recognizing that they’ve put in a certain amount of time or have completed the Tradition’s curriculum. An Initiation shows that a person has demonstrated mastery of the concepts of the Tradition – on an academic and practical level – which shows that they are now ready to connect to the Tradition group mind/soul. The Initiator passes on that Power to the Initiate.

In Traditional Witchcraft, your Lineage is sacred. It details the unbroken line that your Tradition had from its founder to you, and then to those you’ve Initiated in turn. In it, you see the evolution of your Tradition and how you and your Tradition have grown throughout the years.

This is not only seen in Traditional Witchcraft, although you will see it more often than not in that dynamic. Eclectic Witchcraft/Wicca can have their own type of lineage, where they connect the group Egregore to their members. The individual then takes part in the creation, development and maintenance of that Egregore. What’s an Egregore? Well, it’s an occult term which represents a thoughtform or collective group mind – it is the entity of a coven, Tradition, or other type of magickal working group which is greater than the sum of its parts. An Egregore is why each coven/Tradition/working group has a “personality” apart from any of the participants, including the leaders.

Sometimes people don’t understand this need for a Lineage. Non-Traditionalists might misconstrue our need for Lineage as a way for Traditionalists to show off or exhibit elitism. But it is very important, and vital to the growth and survival of pagan Traditions.

So, why is a lineage so important to Traditionalists?

Traditions can consist of dozens of covens strewn all around the world, with thousands of members. Not all of us know every person in our Tradition. For us, a Lineage assures that the person who is claiming to be part of our Egregore is who they say they are. If they have a verifiable lineage, we can know who is responsible for their teaching and know what they’ve been taught and by whom. It’s a way for us to vouch whether a person is for real or just making up claims which are untrue.

Lineages are also a way for us to make sure that our Initiates are acting in accordance to their Initiatory oaths – if they are acting in a prohibited fashion, we have a way to make sure that their upline is aware of it and can take the steps necessary to make things right. This is very true of Oathbound Traditions – Traditions who have sacred/secret information that they reserve for those within their Tradition – and to keep that information from falling into hands who have not earned the right to know.

Traditionalists require Lineages because it helps us obtain vouches from a person’s upline. A vouch is someone who will verify that a person is in good standing in the Tradition. For example, if I say I’m Lady Silkysoft of the FloofyPoof Tradition, and I was initiated by Lord Pomegranate Bronzescramble, you can go to him and verify if I’m legit or not. This can be important to retain Tradition integrity, especially if Lord Pomegranate says, “OMG she’s a flake and we kicked her out of the coven 3 months after joining because she was so disruptive!”. You can bet that other Elders will not be sharing anything with me!

Lineages are also important because they show a family tree and the history of your tradition. They allow others of the Tradition to have a better idea of the type or focus of training and experience a person has had – for example, if you know that Lord Pomegranate was a dedicated herbalist and worked strongly with Poseidon, you’ll know that his Initiates will probably be well versed in herbalism and have a better understanding of Poseidon than others might. It’s also a way to identify oneself within a Tradition. They might not know me, but they might know Lord Pomegranate and say, “Oh, you’re one of Bronzescramble’s family? Well, you’re welcome to come and circle with us tonight!”

One’s Lineage should never be used to belittle others or brag. In fact, most Traditionalists rarely recite their Lineage outside their own Traditional boundaries because it doesn’t matter if I’m downline from Lord Pomegranate if you don’t know who he is! But it also isn’t a tool that Traditionalists use in order to set ourselves apart or be elitist with. Most of all, a Lineage isn’t as nefarious as some people might want to believe.