I was just reading a copy of Pentacle
and a paragraph in the editorial caught my attention:
“I've noticed a worrying trend in
recent months. It seems that a number of conferences, moots, events
and Balls have been canceled through lack of interest, poor ticket
sales, or just the 'feh factor'. This is a fairly recent phenomenon.
Fifteen years ago there were only a few conferences or events where
Pagans could meet and discuss together.”.........
“That is something else that seems to
be creeping into Pagan Spirituality – Consumerist Paganism. People
wanting the Path or Tradition to mould round , rather than invest the
time and energy in understanding their place within it. Further to
this, when people are asked to invest time and effort, they flounce
off citing they are now 'Traditional Witches' or whatever this week's
special spiritual offer is....and sod the nasty Wic(c)cans. I'm too
good for them anyway. Oh well in the end someone else provide
entertainment and mental stimulation for you.... won't they?”
Well, maybe two paragraphs.....
Imagine my shock when I looked at the
cover and discovered the date of the magazine was Samhain, Winter
2007.
Now I wonder if the projected reasons
for the decline in attendance were everything we thought or were the
truly psychic beginning already to pull back for monetary reasons
sensing the crash of the world economy in 2008. Were we really taking
the criticism too hard and canceling things in a pique or was the
Universe giving us a nudge to back off and save our resources?
So, I looked back at my own life as I
tend to live by my intuition and that is, of course, how I make my
living.
In 2007, on a fairly nice evening I
opened the mail to discover my favorite dealership was having a sale
on vehicles. I didn't think they had commercial vans like I was
looking for but I carefully typed in the website as the name is VERY
hard to spell and I still don't have the hang of pronouncing it, and
up popped two pages of vans.
I chose the one I thought was the best
and started to type in a request when the hours and map came up and I
muttered, “What the Heck?” It seems I didn't go to their web page
when I typed in this very hard to spell name, Lou Bachrot.com...just
butchered it again....I went to OffLease.com. Now, if you can see any
possible similarity between those two names, you need help. But,
there was the van I wanted at the price I could afford so I dragged
George three quarters of the way into the next county, got directed
to furthest end of the 40 acres (it seemed that way), climbed over a
few cars and discovered the van I wanted was trashed, needed four
tires and generally was a total disappointment. While perusing the
remaining vans, most of which were in the same condition being recent
rejects from various county projects, I happened upon a pristine van,
with new tires (tires are expensive) and I drooled but I had been
warned if the papers weren't on the dashboard, it was sold. The
dashboard was bare. Finally after circling it several times I decided
there was no harm in opening the door and there on the floor lay the
papers...it was bit more than I planned to pay but it was in warranty
for another year and I flew to the office...this time really climbing
over cars....and bought it. One week later, all car loans were
suspended and you couldn't get financing for a car if you were the
Donald. I even had a low interest loan!
Within weeks, my readings all started
to say, pay off debt, don't take out this refinancing or any loans
and start putting at least 6 months money aside. People's jobs
suddenly started looking iffy when they had been employed their
entire lives and had sterling resumes. I almost thought the cards
were going crazy but I dutifully read what they said and started
taking their advice. I was about the only one who did. By the fall of
2008, the cards were coming up dismal, I was cutting back on
everything and no one was listening to me, as usual. I think you know
what happened.
The issue of the magazine is right in
line with my life. I bought my van in September of 2007 and though I
had bought it to attend in state events as a vendor, I just couldn't
seem to part with the money the events would have cost. Information
slowly trickled back, when people started telling the truth, that
they had lost money on the events. Events disappeared that had
existed for years. Even the huge commercial/professional events took
a hit. This was all in 2007. By 2008, there were few if any events
scheduled and the rest is history.
Now when you consider the economy was
riding a false high, people were flipping house like flapjacks and
making loads of money and the Secret was to visualize money falling
out of the sky and it would, why did people start pulling back in
2007? There was absolutely nothing in the news or the economy that
would explain to the average person, it was time to stop and get off
the merry-go-round. Yet, the truly intuitive jumped ship. The only
possible answer is they sensed something no one else did. Since
hindsight is 20/20, it now seems obvious, the fault really didn't
belong to the providers or the consumers in the above paragraphs. The
fault was a crumbling economy to come and, thankfully for the
providers, they dropped anchor before the ship sailed into the
sandbar.
So, the next time someone tells you
that you are just too sensitive, say, “Thank you.” It might just
save your economic future.
However, taking a look at the second
paragraph, that is something to discuss and really finally put the
blame for it squarely where it belongs: The Infamous Simplistic Think
It and It Will Manifest out of thin air..... If it was really that
easy, do you think occultists, Druids and magicians would have spent
lifetimes studying and spent fortunes acquiring books and information
and objects? Do you think most would have died in poverty when wealth
was that easy to manifest? Come on...use a little common sense. They
would have stumbled over it in the first week. When everyone is
making money it's easy to make money circa pre 2008...Now try it
after 2008 and see if it works or wonder why this wonderful intuitive
metaphysical secret of the ages didn't protect you from the
fall......
This eclectic nonsense makes about as
much sense as thinking you can take a toaster, a microwave and a
refrigerator and make a car. You might start by noticing none of them
has wheels. Now, you might be able to take a car and install a
toaster, microwave and refrigerator in it...in fact I think one of
the stretch limos even has a hot tub...but it doesn't work the other
way around. In other words, you need to learn one system and learn it
well before you start grabbing bits and pieces and incorporating them
into your practice.
True, I am Druid and I have been
studying ceremonial magic(k) since I was 16. I think I spent my
entire allowance with the Mystic Arts Book Club every month until I
found Triad for supplies and then I had to get a job. Thank you Eagle
Army Navy for making me the Druid I am. Without that pay check I
would never have had Anna Riva's original Power Oil and a better job.
You see, pretty much every job I ever held had a single purpose to
bring home a paycheck so I could buy supplies and more books.
Conferences were a luxury item, I chose carefully and went into debt
to attend. Until someone would discover my expertise might actually
be greater than the presenters, I soaked up every ounce of
information and nuance of practice I could. Nothing was ever wasted
and I was more curious as to how people reached the conclusion they
did than the actual conclusion.
You might want to read that last
sentence about ten times because the process in magic(k) is a
thousand times more important than the desire. It is a lot like
learning to drive a car. First you learn the road rules so you manage
to get on the right side of the two lane highway and stay off the
sidewalk. Then you have to learn what the key does and each pedal.
For a long time, you clench the steering wheel, can't drive a
straight line and ding things parking until finally, it becomes, with
a lot of practice, a reflex. But when you change cars there is a
period of adjustment before you easily drive the new one. You become
reluctant to change cars. Still, if you grab the cell phone, the
reflex goes down the drain with the distraction and you are picking
yourself out of another car's rear. Now do you see why starting with
an eclectic or a simplistic framework will crash and burn.
Perhaps a lot of people were misled
simply because the people who they investigated appeared to be
creating magic(k) with a simple flip of the switch and they never
bothered to spend the time and effort to look at all the wiring
behind the curtain. Or maybe they deliberately misled thousands of
people making their first step into the metaphysical for the simple
purpose of putting them off it and making them furious at anything
metaphysical for a generation or two? I'm sure time will provide the
answer and karma will provide the reward. Karma always does.....Just
remember, forewarned is forearmed.
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