What does acting as an open contact for Pagans in your area involve? This advice sheet was compiled to help everyone involved be sure what the basic responsibilities are. The most important thing to remember is that contacts are not any kind of 'leader', just someone willing to make their details public and deal with any enquiries which result.

These are the basic responsibilities:

Be accessible to people seeking information in your area:

For example by advertising locally -- displaying a card, leaflet or posters

• at alternative shops, such as occult suppliers, New Age shops, wholefood stores and appropriate bookshops;
• in the local library. Many libraries keep a directory of local groups and societies and some contacts have had themselves added to such listings.
• in local green newsletters/directories etc. A good example of such a publication was Green Events - a monthly newssheet produced in West Yorkshire, London and Oxford. Some Paganlinkers produce their own newsletters for distribution through alternative shops and at Pagan moots;
• word of mouth is probably the most effective (and cheapest) form of advertising;
• Make use of Pagan publications. For example, The Little Red Book offers free personal ads, including contacts. Other Pagan magazines specialising in contacts are Ace of Rods and Gates of Annwn.

Be prepared to link people to whatever is going on locally:

• give appropriate information and advice;
• pass enquirers on to someone else who can help with their needs if you can't;
• Paganlink is non-denominational. It's for all who honour the spirit of the Earth and wish to link with others. It's important that contacts approach Paganlinking in this spirit and are prepared to pass people on to groups or traditions other than their own, if that is appropriate to their needs.

Keep informed about pagan groups and resources in your area:

• to compile this information and make it available to people. This could be in the form of a photocopied sheet, a newsletter, a booklet such as the Little Red Book or Yorkshire Pagan Resources, or a few pages on the World Wide Web;
• to make links with Pagan groups and contacts in your area. Remember, if you have a university in your area, many of them have Pagan and Occult societies filled with enthusiastic young people! They often have experience in arranging talks and dealing with petty bureaucracy.

Let other contacts know if you change your address, phone number or e-mail address:

• if you move away from the area, find someone to take over as contact if possible, and let us know what's happening. As a minimum, let other contacts in your region know, plus those people responsible for maintaining contact lists.
• if you are likely to move around frequently, it might be an idea to use a box number.

These are the basic requirements of Paganlinking. How you go about it is up to you. We do not necessarily expect you to organise groups and events yourself, but if you do, we will support you. If you do run groups or events under the Paganlink banner, they must be open to anyone who is interested whatever their previous experience.

Being a Paganlink contact doesn't mean you are in charge of what happens in your area. If other people want to organise things then your role is to support them and keep them informed about what's going on, even if you are not actively involved. Paganlink is about power-from-within and shared power, not power-over (If you don't know what this means, read Truth or Dare by Starhawk, published by Harper and Row. Recommended for all who get involved in organising things at whatever level).

Use your initiative to explore the possibilities of Paganlinking:

There are all sorts of things you might do, depending on time and other commitments. Here are a few things Paganlinkers have done and are doing:

• facilitate a local moot - an informal, social gathering where local folk can get to know one-another.
• organise open groups
• talks, discussions and workshops
• open celebrations of the festivals
• energy raising events
• Earth healing work
• connect with local sacred sites and protect them
• produce a newsletter
• create a web site
• organise a joint link-up with other Paganlinkers in your region
• network suggestions for projects and workings
• support and work with Pagan and green initiatives both locally and nationally
• work with arts and performance projects
• link in with fairs and festivals around the country

Information and advice on some of these is available on this web site and we'd like to provide more. If you have edited a newsletter, facilitated a moot, organised a camp or done any of the above, and would like to share your experiences, please get in touch.

Don't give up if you only get a small response. Even if you only hear from one or two people, get together with them and work with what you have. If the energy level is low in your area, try not to get frustrated, do what you can. If you feel isolated, approach the other Paganlink contacts in your region and link in with them. Support each other and share energy. We are all weaving the web, creating a network of links from which shared energies, shared learning and community can grow for the future.

Other Paganlinkers are an information resource and a source of advice. Each of us has different experience. Please contact us for support and advice if you need it. But remember, no-one will tell you what to do or organise it for you, we are all doing this as volunteers and can only do so much ourselves. We welcome others who would like to help to get involved. The more energy people put in, the more Paganlink can do.

This page is based on an advice sheet written by Anne Barrowcliffe, revised by Feòrag NicBhrìde, May 1995 and December 1999. Minor edits January 2006.