Meditations on Wealth

I've been in an odd situation lately. I spent a long time focusing on getting money, getting a good paying job, and earning enough to support a luxurious life style. I used magic (thanks Bune, Expedite, Muriel, Michael, Och, and all the Solar Angels of the Heptameron) to great success. I found out that last year I made over 6 figures for the first time in my life, and I enjoyed most of it very much.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been unemployed. I saw it coming, and reacted too late magically to ensure a seamless transition from job to job. In fact, I may even have caused the snafu. See, I performed a wealth ritual that focused a LOT on obtaining interest bearing assets and the idea of wealth that Fr. S.L. and I hashed out. I spent a lot of time going over the details related to the fact that I didn't want to have to work for the money. I wanted to be free from wage slavery, and performed the rite accordingly. I'm free from wage slavery now, yay, and I've had all my bills paid, so far, pretty much... the essential ones anyway.

But I haven't had any income for almost a month. It's weird. I'm not comfortable at all. I have periods of extreme fear come across me, and I have to consciously reach out to the Stars and their Intelligences to obtain peace of mind in the maelstrom. It's amazing how much of my security as a human being I place in the idea of "having a job."

But I'm getting better. I found a small opportunity today to make some cash, not by working, just by being in the right place at the right time. I had a tight two-hour window to pick up some food from a local co-op, and it happened to be at a church where they happened to have a flea market that happened to be monitored by an elderly widow who was getting rid of her husband's wood working tools. I have everything I need to set up a woodworking shop in my garage now, and it cost me a whopping $15.

Last night I was talking to my spouse about building stuff and selling it out of the garage. Purely a coincidence, I'm sure.

So I'm wondering if this is what the life of a full time magician is like, someone who lives on magic instead of on their job. I wonder if I'll just stumble upon lucky hidden treasure here and there, and cash in on it and have enough of a small profit to live on for a couple of months at a time. I can imagine the results getting bigger with subsequent rituals.

I could certainly handle that.

The weirdness is I keep finding amazing ways that I'm able to save money. Gas and lunches out were costing me about $400 a month. I haven't had to go to the dry cleaner in weeks. I'm saving another $400 a month by buying food from co-ops and local farmer's markets. I'm looking back at the last few months and realizing I could have been saving $800 a month, reducing my monthly budget to something manageable. I'm eating better quality food, and wearing more comfortable clothes. I haven't put on a tie in a week, and the last one was just for an interview for a position they said I was overqualified for.

Funny old world we live in, I tell you. Funny old world.

The point is, of course, that I'm understanding wealth in a new way. I could actually survive without getting another job, if I dared to. It wouldn't be easy, necessarily, but it would be simple. It is so tempting. I'm going to be amazed if it turns out that the lifestyle I've sought magically for the last 5 years would have been available at any time if I'd only had the courage to quit working so obsessively for it.