Two years ago I made a blog post about poverty thinking and how that can be a cause of impoverishment. I showed that on some level many people see the wealth of the world as being like a pie, and if you make your piece bigger, someone else will get a smaller piece. Not wanting to harm others, people with this mode of thinking settle for what they have. What I pointed out, however, is that when you make your piece bigger, the entire pie grows in size, increasing the wealth of everyone. Today, I think I would put it this way: As long as your means of obtaining wealth was ecological—by which I mean good for you, good for those around you, and good for your community and the world—your

Babalon Rising Next week, starting on June 6, I'll be in French Lick, Indiana, at the Babalon Rising festival. As with most festivals, there will be lots of music, rituals, dancing, bonfires and workshops. I'll be giving three workshops, one on a form of numerology most people don't know about (hint: it's Kabalistic), one on the five types of magick generally practiced by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (they call it the Magic of Light), and one on the practice of sex magick. I encourage adults—this is an adults-only festival—in the area (and even out of the area) to consider attending. One of the people giving workshops is the noted hypnotherapist, NLP trainer, magician, and

In a recent post on the functioning of magickal energy, I was confronted with comments from a couple of posters who presented the pseudo-skeptical, pseudo-scientific and so-called debunking position. As I have repeatedly pointed out, some of the techniques of this position consist of: 1) Demanding proof but not saying what will happen if you provide such proof. 2) Not giving specific and clear examples of what such proof should entail. This will allow people following the debunking position to change what is acceptable as proof—what is commonly called "moving the goalposts"—so they never have to admit their position was in error. Perhaps most importantly, though, I would

The tools of magick—wands, chalices, robes, altars, pentacles and more—can be daunting to an aspiring magician. If you read some books such as those involved with Solomonic magick or Enochian magick, these are just the beginning tools. If all you want to do is perform a few spells or begin to move along on your magickal path, that's a lot of stuff to find or make. Some of the things that are required for more advanced, specialized, or group work can be expensive (banners, triangles of the art, rings) and rare (a lion-skin belt). When I started with magick I was eager to obtain all of the appropriate tools. I sewed my own robe. I built an altar. I bought an expensive dagger to be my