Understanding Wealth

Over the years, I've done a lot of wealth magic. I've always focused on money, dollars, cash, and I've found a couple of techniques that seem to work rather well at getting windfalls. It's reliable, but it comes in weird ways, and it's nothing I feel secure about. I mean, I can trust that I will get money if I do a money rite, but it's never in the grand "$7.42 Million US Dollars" that I aim for. It's usually windfalls or jobs that pay well. That's all well and good, but it's not what I mean when I do a ritual for wealth.

To get to the bottom of why I fail miserably at attaining wealth, I asked the spirits. Not long afterward, I was in a conversation with Fr. S.L. about wealth*, and he explained to me what wealth really is: to live a life where your actions are determined by your will and not by your bills. Wealthy people can go play folk music on the corner if they feel like it, and they don't have to worry that they'll be evicted, to paraphrase his example. Or they can go for a walk at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday without losing their job. There's always going to be some management of your resources required, and that is technically work, but getting it down to a minimum is the goal. If you only have to manage your money once a month, chances are pretty good that at some point in the month you're going to WANT to manage that wealth.

The conversation got me thinking about wealth. Too often, I think of wealth in terms of money and materials. What I've realized though is that true wealth has less to do with money than it does with your ability to pursue your desires. We tend to think money is the key to reaching the point where you can pursue your desires because the biggest thing that stops us from doing so is our job. We have to go to work 8 hours a day, or we lose our house, car, and ability to feed ourselves and our family. 


But if you have your home (rent or mortgage), transportation (car, insurance, and fuel), and food paid for each month, you're free to do whatever you want with the rest of your time. Achieving that level of security is the goal of most wealth and prosperity spells, but I think we fuck it up by aiming for the dollar value that would bring that situation. It's not the money I want, it's what the money can buy. 


This shift from focusing on the dollar amount to the actual thing I want has led me to reevaluate wealth in general, and sources of wealth in particular. The lottery would be a good windfall, right? It would set me up for life. I'd have the cash necessary to invest in wealth-generating ventures, investments, and assets. But again, I'm looking at the means and not at the true goal.

The trick, I think, to true wealth magic is aiming it not at dollar amounts, but at the things that wealthy people get that pays their bills. Most of that, as S.L. pointed out in our conversation, is simple Luck. The biggest lucky break you can get, he said, is being born into wealth. If that didn't happen for you (it didn't happen for me), then the next biggest break you can get is having friends or family that are wealthy. George W. Bush borrowed $200,000 to invest in the Houston Astros baseball team, and a few years later sold his stake in the team for $6 million. If I remember right, he never repaid the investor in cash. Having a guy like George W. as a friend certainly has its benefits though.

My mom's visiting this week (which is why there haven't been many posts lately), and she was tellling me how my grandparents earned their fortune. My grandfather got born again Christian religion and latched onto this eccentric lady from Florida as a mentor. She hated her husband, but being a dutiful Christian, she stuck with him until he died. She wanted nothing to do with his estate, and let my grandfather be the legal heir. The man had 5-gallon buckets of rare coins sitting in his garage, and investments in GE, GM, AT&T, and Ford when they were all worth a lot more than they are today. My grandparents sold everything and put it all in interest bearing accounts, where it has pretty much remained ever since, minus the house they bought for their retirement, and a slush fund to pay for the expensive things that pop up on occassion when you own a house.

Fr. S.L. pointed out Bill Gates as an example too, another wealthy man who got where he is because he knew the right people and had the right idea at the right time. As you can see, wealth is very much a factor of luck.

I've been reading the histories of famous Renaissance magicians. They mostly had wealthy benefactors that paid their way. Agrippa was a doctor and a Captain in the Army, he lectured on things wherever he went, and usually ended up getting into trouble when he gained too much notoriety; Emperor Maximilian assigned his support to various nobles across the Empire. Dee had the support of the Queen, Kelley had the support of Rudolph. Ficino and Bruno were in good with the Medicis, if I remember right. Even Plato was supported by his students, i.e. the wealthy parents who sent their children to him to learn philosophy.


What I'm getting at is that true wealth comes from your friends, your family, and your benefactors. To truly get to the point of wealth, you need to focus your efforts on cultivating luck. You need to be ready to see and sieze opportunities as they arise. You need to have the right idea at the right time, and have the ability to follow through on making it happen. 


So, I'm into pursuing those things now. I have a Jupiter Talisman I made the last time He was well-dignified, and I'm using that to create a sphere of luck around me. I'm also working with spirits to gain the "favor of princes," and to develop more opportunities to attain true wealth. I'm not obsessing as much over the dollar, and I'm learning to put my attention where it can do more good. I'll keep you posted.



* Not to be all smarmy or anything, but Fr. S.L. is one of the Wise who have served as a mentor to me. His advice is solid and his understanding is deep. Thanks, S.L.