There is a back and forth between the high cost of magickal supplies and books given away, free things on the internet; really all boils down to the price we pay for our spirituality.
With neo-paganism taking popularity in the 60s during the movement of the Rainbow People and free love there is much sentimental attachment to the idea that spirituality is free. Your spirituality is free, it’s the tools and accessories to our spirituality that actually end up costing money.
The reality of the situation is nothing is free. If you really want to argue with that notion, take an economics class. There is energy needed to create anything and that energy costs something to someone somewhere, therefore when we are receiving the benefits from these Energies why are we so quick to be entitled to think this should be free. The statement isn’t meant to offend but to make you really think. Think about the energy that was needed to write the book you just found for free and downloaded. Not just the energy of the writer however that is most important, but also the team of people who put everything together and made it available for us the reader.
In the beginning of my practice I took Scott Cunningham’s words to heart when he said you should never negotiate over the price of a magical tool. If you are meant to have it, then you will have it; if that’s the price you should pay then so be it. If Ever I have found something too expensive and I truly feel it was too much money to spend on it I didn’t buy it and I waited for a later date. When the time is right, and if the tool is right, I’ve always found it somewhere when the thought of the cost didn’t make me hesitate. So maybe there are a bunch of people out there buying things unnecessarily, and why there are so many complaints about cost.
As an artist and a Clergy, I have often struggled with how much I’m going to charge for an item or service. When I am speaking with people I always tell them the price is negotiable and if they want to make an offer we can talk about it. I’ve sold a $75 handcrafted beaded feathers rocks and everything wand for $10 to a teenage boy who picked it up like it was a newborn baby and all he had was $10. Even after his mom told him to put it back because there was no way they can only pay $10 for such a beautiful piece of work, I insisted they take it. I could see in the eyes of the child it was his wand. At the same time there are many people I make the same offer to who insist on paying the full price even though they hesitated to begin with. This all comes back to the value you place on your magical tools and the appreciation you have for those who created them.
Charging for clergy services this is a whole new cup of tea and there are strong advocates for not paying for such services or any magical acts in general. Here is a modern problem created in an effort to differentiate true practitioners from scam artists. There are many people out there who charge ridiculous amounts of money to tell you your future and make magical potions and they are a bunch of big fat liars. To protect the craft and true practitioners the norm became to not charge for such work, and instead ask for an equal exchange or nothing at all. However noble the intentions were, this created a cultural norm where practitioners pay for everything to support the community, or high cost annual dues in order to stay affiliated with a group or person. Putting on rituals, gathering information to teach, and so many other responsibilities come with being a clergy or Community leader cost money. For the majority of us we have to have another source of income just to survive in the real world. I went to a wonderful speech at Pagan Pride several years ago where the clergy speaking said “I have enough magical rocks.” He was making reference to the obvious that he’d like to be paid for his services and not receive any more totems or magical items. However wonderful it is to have a plethora of magical rocks they are not going to put a roof on your house or food on your table. This again comes right back to the same place as when we’re paying for our tools: how much value do you put on the services you are receiving and on the people who are providing them for you. Free is not showing your appreciation. Free is not showing you actually value the item you are receiving. Free equates to not putting any value on the item and the energy behind it.
The bluntness of my statement may be offensive and if you find it offensive I want you to take 5 minutes and actually think about the energy it takes to make a piece of jewelry, a wand, lecture, a class, do a healing ceremony and what you would want to receive if you were the one providing them.
To finish with just a little piece of irony. There are many organizations out there trying to achieve their non-profit religious organization status with the IRS. One of the main reasons they have trouble getting this is not because they are Pagan but because the cultural norm is not to pay for any of your religious services. One of the main restrictions put on community religious organizations is they have to prove the income they use to support their organization comes from the community in which they are supporting. If the clergy and Community leaders are paying the majority out of their own pockets they cannot prove they are a community organization and therefore cannot get the appropriate IRS classification. So the next time you’re wondering where the Pagan Temples are realize how hard it is to build a Temple with nothing to build it with.