It's ok, because really, honestly, and truthfully, wouldn't it be fucking awesome to get paid to do the Great Work? I mean, wouldn't it!?
Of course it would! And you know it.
I don't personally know if it's possible to accomplish the Great Work and still get "rich" off of spirituality. I suspect it just doesn't work that way. I could be wrong, and it would be pretty awesome to wake up tomorrow and have a billionaire decide to tithe on his gross total worth to me. Email me at the link below if that's you. You can fly me out tomorrow morning and I'll fill out whatever paperwork I need to.
I understand people are squeamish about the money for magic thing, and vitriolic about their belief that it's wrong wrong wrong to take money for spiritual instruction. The world, apparently, wouldn't be the same if people like that didn't exist. I honestly wouldn't miss that particular belief system, but I'm not in charge, and it really does exist. So what can you say? Would something exist if it wasn't vitally necessary for everything else that exists? I don't personally think so. Everything's dependent on everything else, so even spiritual communists who would have everyone working a shift on the factory line to remind them that even though they're doing the Great Work and helping others do the same, they're still no better than anyone else... even these guys have a role to play in maintaining the existence of the universe at large.
Apparently.
Head for the Red: The ongoing adventures and insights of a magician's attempts to accomplish the Great Work.
Is it really so much worse to charge for magic and divination or even spiritual guidance than food, shelter or medical care? Are doctors, grocery store and hotel owners evil? OH, my GOD, they are depriving people of ESSENTIAL SERVICES if they REFUSE TO PAY!
ReplyDeleteIf everyone is an amateur they think it's only normal, right and proper for YOU to work for free. Get a few more professionals and attitudes will change.
Personally, I feel much better making my living as an astrologer and astrological magician than a lawyer.
I think what made you a good lawyer is also what makes you such a good astrologer.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is wrong per se,depending upon your tradition. However, whining that your officiating at the yearly pagan fest entitles you to be taken care of, no. If you're up front and say this is what I'm selling that is fine. It doesn't work in my tradition. The gold is in the Work.
ReplyDeletePeople are leery of con artist types, which abound in the New Age community. They give you a psychic reading for a certain amount, and then offer to lift your curses and crossed conditions for *thousands of dollars*, and don't tell you you're "all clear" until you're broke. Some of them are real psychics, though, which just makes them better at getting you paranoid. (I used to work at the local crystal shop/psychic rodeo in Phoenix - not as a psychic - and saw the con in action.)
ReplyDeleteI do think practitioners who help people should get paid. But I can see why a lot of people would be suspicious, if they don't know you personally or by reputation as someone who comes through.
Layo, Where do these gullible rich people come from? Who even has thousands of dollars they'd spend to lift a curse?
ReplyDeleteThe same people who have thousands of dollars to spend on a shrink, lol - if only insurance covered psychics they'd be able to write prescriptions for spiritual baths and talismata, which in some ways would be kind of cool.
ReplyDeleteObsessed and/or miserable people will go to extremes, including financial extremes, to feel better.
I was researching psychic scams after reading your first comment, Layo, and the con is really effective. People really do lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to con artists. It's unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is, in reading the scam details, the techniques these scammers are using really work to lift curses, for the most part. They're just exaggerating the cost, overcharging for it. Candles and other ingredients are necessary for lifting curses, but they don't cost thousands of dollars.
I don't get why people think putting a $100 bill for every year of their life into a magic box will cure them of a generational curse though. I'm still trying to work out the logic of that one.
Yeah it's interesting: real psychics might be doing real work, but they might at the same time be financially exploiting people whose will or reason might be compromised by a real attack. It's just something to think about in terms of one's own ethics and reputation, should one decide to charge for services. I think this is why I don't charge for astrology: I've seen too many nutjob-enablers do this kind of counseling, and it doesn't appeal to me at all. Chris is genius for finding a nut-free niche in the astrology profession: horary.
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