If You’re So Smart, Why Ain’t You Rich?
A few years ago, a publishing administrator asked me why so many occultists were short on money. I told him that some occultists, magicians, and Pagans view wealth in terms other than money. They value having time and being able to study, learn, be with friends, etc. “But,” he said, “it seems like many don’t have enough to live in decent housing, have a vehicle, or buy healthy food. As magicians, shouldn’t they be able to do magick that would bring them enough money to meet their basic needs?” I explained that some are mired in “poverty thinking.” I discussed this type of thinking in a recent blog post.
Recently, an internationally-famous occultist admitted to me that he wasn’t making enough money to support his lifestyle and wanted to know what he could do. I gave him some ideas and I may share those in another post.
However, I think there’s another issue. This is shown by the number of get-rich-quick schemes that you see on TV infomercials and all over the internet. These all tend to be variations on the same few ideas, and what is surprising to me is that many people buy into one of these schemes after another. They keep looking for the magic bullet that will resolve all of their problems. They don’t know how to make money. The only ones making money from these schemes are those who are selling them.
The occult equivalent to this is composed of the numerous spell books with money bringing spells in them. I’m sorry to disappoint readers, but if they worked, do you really think they’d be for sale at the register of your grocery store for $2.99? It would seem that many if not most magickal people don’t know how to do magick to bring wealth, either.
Real magick requires more than just wand waving or spell mumbling. Both of those are valuable for accenting and focusing magickal skills, but they are not enough by themselves. You need three abilities for magick to work:
- The ability to generate and/or raise magickal energy
- The ability to manipulate and direct that energy
- The knowledge of what to do to get the desired results
Those cheap spell books may be overlooked by seasoned practitioners because they only provide the third point on the Triangle of Magickal Power.
Luckily, there is a book I’d like to recommend that covers everything. It’s a new book by one of the most famous magicians of our day, Frater U.D. It’s called, Money Magic.
This book is an ideal resource for all types of magicians: ceremonial, Wiccan, Pagan, chaos, etc. It goes through basic magickal techniques and then gives added information and knowledge that I’ve not seen elsewhere. Perhaps most importantly, it points out that the usual association of money to the element of Earth is incorrect. That means most magickal workings for money aren’t as successful as they could be. This knowledge alone will literally change your entire approach to magick for wealth.
No matter your level of experience and training, this book will add something to your magickal skills. Yep. I learned from it and I believe you will, too.
See Me This Weekend
If you’re in the norther California area—especially in the San Francisco Bay area—I’ll be giving workshops at Ancient Ways in Oakland. On Friday, August 5, I’ll be giving a FREE talk and book signing at 7:30 p.m. The free talk is on future trends in magick.
Then, on Saturday, August 6, I’ll be giving a workshop at 7:30 on How to Make and Use Talismans.
For details, visit my website.
Come to Ancient Ways this weekend and say hello!
A segment of our Pagan community have come out of the non-conformist/hippie era when money and everything associated with it was a bad thing and carried a lot of negative baggage. Personally, I see nothing wrong with reaping the abundance of your personal harvest-if you worked honestly for the money, then why not take and enjoy what you have earned fairly? It’s what you do with the money that is morally and ethically at question, not the tool of money or wealth. Rejecting it is, in my humble opinion, foolish, and in some way a rejection of the favor you’ve been given by the gods and the Universe. Is it somehow more credible to be poor than wealthy? I don’t believe we need to live in poverty if we have other options that satisfy our needs and desires yet harms none.
I wish I had checked your calendar ahead of time and known you were coming to my backyard. That is the only occult bookstore I frequent. Hope to catch you next time you come to the bay area
Just looking at the cover of this book, the author must be associating money with the element of air. If so, that makes alot of sense to me.
Hi Donald Michael! Again, such a timely post you make here hehe! Indeed, I believe that all the elements are needed toward this endeavor. The fact that Chinese culture considers water and the color red to represent prosperity is very telling – not to mention that money is also called currency (current-see) haha! It is just energy exchange at its most basic level. I can’t wait to see the book though, I always like to see how others frame things mentally and then apply a technique that matches that new paradigm! 🙂
I think part of the reason why some in the community are having money problems is because they don’t do the work, or not enough work. And I’m not referring to spells. It’s a 3 dimensional universe and you gotta do the physical work.
Spells just manipulate energies so that money and the resources that can help you make money can come your way more easily. If it were simply a matter of doing the right spell, then Frater UD wouldn’t have written that book. That’s just one of the physical acts he’s taken to make money.
So I say not only do the spells, but also take a look at your finances. How are you wasting money? Are you living beyond your means? I’ve also learned that an organized home can help lead to organized finances. Additionally, an organized home means that energy flows more easily, which leads to more effective spells.
I’ve noticed a trend of rethinking money magic and our approach to it over the last few years. It’s definitely in part a byproduct of the economic changes we’ve faced, but I also think it’s because we’ve had enough time to look at the results we’ve really been getting.
I agree with Kate Dennis about the Pagan community having some serious poverty thinking. I also think that we can’t banish it so much as we can transform it – getting people to stop using words like “cheaper” and focus on doing money-stewarding things like upcycling as a form of life “enrichment” as one example.