O is for Orgasm


O is for Orgasm

Yes, I said Orgasm


or•gasm   [awr-gaz-uhm]

noun
1. the physical and emotional sensation experienced at the peak of sexual excitation, usually resulting from stimulation of the sexual organ and usually accompanied in the male by ejaculation.
2. an instance of experiencing this.
3. intense or unrestrained excitement.
4. an instance or occurrence of such excitement.

verb (used without object)
5. to have an orgasm.

Origin:
1640–50;  < Neo-Latin orgasmus  < Greek orgasmós,  derivative of orgân  to swell, be excited

As a dear friend so eloquently pointed out to me in a chat earlier this week, Pagans are not ashamed of sex and that makes them quite good at writing about it.  Looking back on Pagan culture, and I’m using the term Pagan loosely here, we can look at the different aspects of sex.  Zeus for example is well known for his sexual exploits.  However Zeus is not the only God/dess celebrated for love and sex.

Buddhism has Aizen Myo-o, Celtic as Aine and Cliodhna.  In Chinese mythology we have Yue-Lao and even a deity for the gay man, Tu Er Shen.  The Egyptians have Bes and Bastet, while Greeks have Eros and Hymen. (No pun intended)  The lists go on and on.

                     




Then we have to consider what any religion would be without a creation story.  Each one has their very own.

The act of reaching orgasm is thought to bring a person closer to the divine.  Some Egyptians believed that Orgasms where the key to eternal life and were part of the Chakra.


Early in the 19th century Female Hysteria was a medical diagnosis that had symptoms such as faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, muscle spasm and shortness of breath just to name a few.  This directly led to the invention of the vibrator.  In 2011 a movie called Hysteria was released on this very subject.



On a personal note, I find that the longer the gap between the big O, the crankier I become.  So then when someone says, the following:



I have to agree.

Beltane is another time of the year when a young pagan’s mind leans “O-ward”.  The Great Rite performed at many Beltane festivals around the world depicts the Maiden Goddess with the God.  We symbolically complete this coupling by plunging an Athame, a phallic symbol into a chalice, a symbol for the womb.  Some covens move away from the ritual tools and create a mock sex scene for all to enjoy.

http://witchfulthinking.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/great_rite.jpg


So what have we learned?  Pagans are way cooler about sex than most people.  The great rite meant that at least one time a year, someone was getting laid AND the lack of sex can result in Hysteria!
So get out there, seek to become closer to the divine and remember, some things are better shared.


Namaste and Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

O is for Obituary


Obituary

o·bit·u·ar·y/ōˈbiCHo͞oˌerē/

Noun:  
A notice of a death, esp. in a newspaper, typically including a brief biography of the deceased person.

For many writing assignments young authors are presented with the task of writing their own obituary.  This can be something that helps a lot with introspection.  I’ve seen a post going around Facebook that I’ve shared below:


https://bobbiblogger.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/westboro.png




As part of the Pagan Blog Project I’m supposed to take letters of the alphabet and create a pagany post on them.  This is our first week at the letter O.  O is a tough letter.  Right now there’s a huge trend in posting about Obesity.  And yes a subject near and dear to my heart; I couldn’t bring myself to write yet another article on it.

I woke this morning to the news of the shooting in Colorado and my mind quickly thought, what would be presented in the media about these people lost to this violence.  What would be said about them?  Then I thought ‘obituary’. 

As a pagan, specifically Hecatean, I am not going to have a funeral.  Not that this is especially pagan, but it’s a personal decision that I made.  Hecate is specifically connected to death and the underworld, and is thought to be a guide between the two worlds.  Death is not seen as an end, but yet a beginning to another part of life.  This is how I feel about my own mortality written in the form of an obituary.

Take a moment to think about what made us friends, what things made us family and remember, that even though as Pagans, we each have our own individual  “Valhalla”, we still leave many behind who will mourn our passing.

This song always reminds me of faeries.  This is what I will hear.



I have passed.  Today my journey with Hecate begins.  I’m moving from this world of the physical and into the mystical.  I leave behind me a wonderful family.  I have many things thing I am thankful for.  My husband, my child and my spiritual sisters that have joined me in this life are all things that I will take with me into the shadow realm.  I have opened my heart and life to those that are in need, from the four legged furry friends I have come to know and love to the two legged kind that have broken my heart.  Today I want no sadness or tears.  I want for love to pour forth from all that I know and share that same love that you saw and knew in me with every living being.  Today, this part of my journey changes course and moves into the world of the unknown.  Look for me in the trees, in the grass and in the flowers.  Hear my voice on the wind, as I was in life, so am I in death.  I am always with you.
Sending love and healing to those who have watched others cross over.


Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

Finally....I'm Done..

So today is the day.  I'm waiting now for the bank to open so that I can go up and remove my name from the account.  It's been a long crazy seven months.  I've put on weight and become completely stressed out.  I'm looking over all that I accomplished over the last few months.

I was able to take someone who was obese and get their weight under control.
I was able to take someone with a 400+ blood sugar and get them down to 110 or below daily.
I was able to take someone who was nearly blind and manage to get not only one, but two pair of glasses.
I was able to take someone who was barely able to walk around alone and get her back up and moving.
I was able to take someone who ate fast food every day, to eating organic, even vegetarian food.
I was able to take someone who had excessive debt and get it manageable.


Even if she doesn't appreciate it, I still accomplished that.  Even if some of my family have disowned me and accused me of stealing.  Even if they are accusing me of lying, I know that I am telling the truth.

I've also found a growing network of friends and family online to help me through all this.  One thing that happened very dear to me was all the outpouring of support not only in my blog but also in the emails and facebook messages that came in.  I adore each and every one of you and am very proud to call you my friends.

I've even been invited as a sister to a very dear friend.  We've known each other many many years, and I found her again by this crazy invention called Facebook.   Thank you so much my sister, you have been amazing with your support, not only in words but your energy and thoughts of me during your spell work have been an amazing benefit and I am proud to call you sister.  If I can't make it up to complete a ritual with you, we'll have to work out something that we can both do remotely and then bind our energies together.  My dearest Kallan, thank you.

I'm a little nervous as I sit here 6 minutes before they open.  Tick tock tick tock... I'm looking forward to being free.  I'm looking forward to being at peace.  I have my friends and family here and I have the Goddess with me.



Happy Wednesday Everyone....

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(


Dealing With Hurt

Over the last few months I've been dealing with a lot of family drama.  To the point of posts on my Facebook Page calling me names and even attacking my mental disorder.  I've been working through a lot of it with writing exercises (pros and cons) on dealing with my family as well as trying to come to terms with being ok with saying, No you don't get to treat me this way just because we are related.

At this point in my life I understand that I'm stuck at the age of about 16 and act accordingly.  I do manage to get myself to work each day and do for the most part, a good job of being a wife, when I'm not a complete brat.  I spend a lot of time saving animals, dying my hair purple and looking for witch boots at thrift stores.  Some people might say I'm childish.  I prefer "child like".  I'm the first to admit I'm naive. I tend to trust people just a little too much.  I always assume people are doing the right thing and never think that anyone would ever do anything to hurt me on purpose.

I try to always treat others the way I want to be treated.  I think first and then speak.  Generally I do not speak out of anger or hatred and when there is some sort of drama or altercation my disorder is such that I spend hours and hours dissecting it to see what I could have done differently to reach a better outcome.  I troubleshoot life.

All that being said, today I get a call from Walmart letting me know that my mother's prescriptions are ready.    I called the pharmacy to find out exactly what's ready and then being the type of person I am, instead of just saying screw her and all the drama that they gave me last week, I call her on the phone to let her know about the prescriptions and ask if she'd like me to pick them up.  I find out from the nurse there that she's decided to leave the home on the 23rd and move in with one of my sisters.

Ok.. news to me, thanks for letting me know.  I finally get her on the phone and confirm that she's moving out of the home.  I ask her about her mail and her stuff she has here and she tells me I should put all of it in my sister's name.  I told her about the bills coming and about me bringing up her paperwork to the home on the 18th.  I remind her that I've already paid for her to go to my grandmother's birthday and she didn't need to pay again.  I had paid for her, Eli and myself, but Eli and I wouldn't be attending.  She asked me why and I told her it was because my sister had threatened me with courts, lawyers, police and all sorts of other attacks and that I didn't feel it was right.  Her exact quote.  "Whatever".

Now I'm not one to hold on to false hope, and trust me I honestly thought that I really didn't give a rat's ass what she thought about anything. However when she said that, pain shot through my chest.  I think it finally hit me, that she didn't care that I brought her in my home.  She didn't care how hurt I was from all the family drama when I was a child.  She didn't care about how I felt now.  It was painfully obvious.

As I hung up the phone I went to the USPS online site to change her address, I started pulling the folders out with all the documentation I've collected over the last five months.  The Social Security Meetings, the Medicaid Meetings, the Cardiologist appointments and so on... I began to cry.  I couldn't control it, and I still do not know why.

I texted hubby and work and had a little chat and a pep talk to get myself back up in a better frame of mind. I do everything I can to help everyone and for the most part, most people are wonderful.  But there are those that can do nothing but hurt.  I'm not sure how to deal with the hurt.  I've tried tucking it away; I've tried burning it up, I've even cast it out away from me, but still some can bring it roaring back into my life with a vengeance.

So my countdown begins.  there are 7 days until I will be done with all the paperwork, all the updates, all the emails and messages.  I'll be changing over the prescription notifications along with all the other necessary information just in time for her to move in with my sister.

I'm taking some time to heal up before I go around any of them again.  I'm not sure when that will be.  I'm not even sure I'll be missed. I'm hoping this is the right way to deal with the hurt.  I know I certainly don't want to be hurt again.



Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(


Dealing with Anger

So what do you do when someone betrays you?  What do you do with that feeling inside.  How does one become enlightened, or for that matter "happy" with themselves after dealing with a break up.  Be it a break up with a significant other or a break up with a family member.

At times I find myself at odds with protecting myself and with my religion.  As a solitary follower of Hecate, I don't have a great deal of dogma associated with my faith.  I don't have to forgive as instructed by the Christian Bible or even as Buddha suggested in the story about the man who spit in the face of another.

It is said that Hecate does not forgive easily and she holds a grudge.  As Goddess of the Witches, Hecate holds a special place for me, and is why I believe she chose me.  You see, I need someone to watch over me and protect me.  I need that extra dose of confidence.  I believe that's why she's here with me.

So how does this relate to my current situation?  Is it ok to sometimes not forgive?  Are there steps that can be taken that can make you hold a person accountable for their actions and NOT have that feeling of forgiveness in your heart?

We've all heard "forgive and forget".  Some people believe that forgiveness is an offshoot of love; and in order to love, you must forgive.  I be to differ.  How is it love to continue to allow others to berate you?  How is it love to allow others to abuse you?  You cannot love another until you can first love yourself.  Allowing others to hurt you is practicing self abuse.

So at what point is forgiveness in conflict with self-preservation?

I'm not sure I have the answer to that.  I do know that in my current situation and in my current state of mind, I feel attacked and the best way to prevent being attacked is to shield myself from those attacking.  Be it family, be it strangers.  Am I right?   I have no idea.  I can only hope that if I am wrong, I will learn a lesson just as valuable as the one I'd learn by being right.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

N is for Namaste



Namaste (NAH-mes-tay) is a greeting that comes from combining two Sanskrit words, Namah and Te.  Namah means “bow or adoration” and te means “to you”.  So translated literally, Namaste means I bow to you.  Namaste can be written or said when two people meet. 

There is a bow that is usually combined with the phrase where the hands are placed in a prayer position with the waist slightly turned and the head is bowed towards another.  It’s a respectful greeting that requires no contact, which is traditionally preferred in India.  This gesture can also be referred to as Anjali Mudra
My first contact with the word was when I started taking Yoga in California.  In working with yoga I found that there is a basic belief that there is a divine spark in the heart chakra, and it is expressed to others with this gesture.  The hands are raised to the heart to increase the flow of this divine love. 
This led me to start to learn about the Chakra’s.  

Because of my issues with side effects from pharmaceuticals, I looked for alternative means to treat my Borderline Personality Disorder and my Bipolar DisorderI learned that my issues were all related to an imbalance in the throat chakra.  I’ve since tried to work with videos on youtube and books to try to learn how to balance my chakras.  I’m still on that journey.

This is one of the exercises I’ve worked with.

 


I struggle with getting to a point where I can stop worrying about everything and slow my mind down enough to participate fully in the now.  It’s been quite a challenge and I know I’m not there yet.  

I look forward to each day and will do my best to be present in the now. 
Even as I sit here writing this, I can hear Yoda’s voice:


There is no try, DO.

Bad habits are extremely difficult to unlearn. 

Until then, I bow to you.

Namaste and Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

Embrace the Sparkle - Telling the WHOLE Truth


Today many of you my dear friends were subjected to a horrible rant on my my wall.  A niece of mine who I have always held dear became annoyed with the issues between her mother and me.  At some point my sister's new boyfriend decided he wanted to take the phone (I'm hoping he took it) and post some really horrible things on my page.  He called me names, belittled me, attacked me and my "witchy" friends.

First and foremost I want to apologize to those that were attacked.  I was out in my car going to pick up prescriptions to take to the nursing home for my mother and I did not know how to remove the post, or remove her as a friend.  I tried to make light harted jokes and make light of it, but really it was a vile thing to do.

He made reference to my coming in and out of my families life and not being able to "take it" to hang around. He said that I should tell all of the truth.  Many of you have read the posts I've made regarding child sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse as well as my day to day struggles with being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.   And I have left out many of the gory details that I didn't think really were necessary.  At this point I'd like to post a trigger warning and offer that those that are triggered by these types of things to please come back another day to read my blog.





...................................

I was born to a high school drop out mother and a father who was in prison.  She "SAID" I was conceived on a visit, however no one on my father's side of the family agrees with that.  See my mother took a little trip up to Chicago with my "father's" uncle to get bail money for him.  They say when she returned she was pregnant with me.

I born and left to live with my grandmother and my cousin Tony. I lived with her until my mother showed up pregnant again with my sister.  She was going to leave that one there too, but my grandmother said, no more babies.  She found my stepfather and married him.  When I was five she took me from the only home I ever knew and put me in the house with him.  I remember being of the age to write my name on the wide pages for kindergarten and the little girl next to me telling me that her father kissed her and pointed to her mid section.  I said, OH mine does too ... She called me a liar and said her daddy said she was special and no one else got that.  I never told another soul until I was 14 years old.

My step father had sex with me nightly while my mother watched tv in the living room. To clarify, it was oral sex. Sometimes when she'd go to the store he'd put my two younger sisters in the bath and have sex with me. Today when I'm scared or upset I get in the bath, it's always seemed to be a safe place for me.  When I was 13 my baby sitter and I had sex and the rubber broke.  I thought I was pregnant so we pretended the house was broken into.  Of course the cops figured it out and told my parents.  When my step father found out his once oral only rule was broken and he began penetration.

My step father didn't allow me to spend the night off or go anywhere.  My middle sister and I cleaned the house and did the dishes while my mother sat and watched tv and ignored us.  OH wait, she did managed to go off with an Old man once in a while for money.  She would stay the weekend with him and he'd pay her.  While she was off with him, my step father would put me in his bed.

At night sometimes I'd lay on the floor next to his bed and listen to him breath.  I had a fishing knife I used to carry, and I'd lay there trying to get the courage to stab him in his throat.  See he was a nasty hateful man.  He would wake us up in the middle of the night at ages 8 and 9 line us up in the living room and proceed to call us whores and sluts.  He'd smack us.  My mother sat and watched.  She said nothing.  She played cards.  Never even looking at us.

At age fifteen I'd had enough.  See he came in and hit my middle sister in the face.  I lost it.  I grabbed the keys from the counter and ran out to steal the car.  I took it to a friends house where I tried to get a gun to kill him.  My friend wouldn't give me a gun.  When I finally went back home, my mother looked at me and said, You're lucky I didn't call the law on you.  I remember thinking, I was trying to save you, to save my sister.  The night ended with a knock down drag out fight where I was punched in the face and he was kicked in the nuts.

Not too long after that I left for good.  I ran to my "real" father.  This may rub some the wrong way, but we want the truth right?  My real father offered me acid, pot and alcohol.  The only thing I had done up to that point was a little bit of weed.  One night he was very drunk in the yard and I went out and said what's up.  He pulled me down and tried to have sex with me.  I got up and ran down the road and the followed me in his car.  I got inside the car and he said to me.... You'll give that to him but not me?   Don't you love me?  I gave up and I gave in.   While he was having sex with me I closed my eyes and went to another place.  I found flowers and streams that I could play in all inside my head where there was no one to hurt me.

At some point his wife found out and he had to take me to Florida to live with another sister.  I stayed there for a while but he ended up coming back and forth.  He was indeed unstable.  He cut me across my head, he cut himself in front of me.  We rode around to different towns where he would get me to lure people outside so he could take their money.  I was scared and alone.  I heard him talking about doing a 'strong armed robbery' and I didn't want to be part of that so I took a bit of cash I had and bribed his brother into taking me to meet my mother in a small town.

I went back to the house and told my mother I didn't want to stay in the house with Charlie.  She told me I had to.  I found my old babysitter still there and he wanted to get back together, and I thought, at least if I was married Charlie would leave me alone.  Today there's a picture of my first husband (the babysitter) and I on a couch in the trailer.  About 5 minutes before that picture Charlie told me that we were going to start again.  I look at that picture and all I see is hate.

The babysitter and I didn't last long.  About 2 months to be exact.  I went back to Florida to my sister's because my father was in jail and I thought great now I'm safe.  I sent the babysitter packing and was ready to start my life.  At this point 16 and pregnant.  When the babysitter got home my father showed up to find me.  He told my father where I was.  I completely freaked out and my sister and I hid at a burger king for the entire day.  When we pulled back into the driveway my father was there with a gun.  He put it to the back of my head and told me to get in the car.  I did.

For the next few weeks we road around Florida.  I wasn't allowed out of his site for a second.  He burned me, he cut me and he raped me repeatedly.  One afternoon he was trying to break into cars in a parking lot because my little pinto had broken down on the side of the road.  The cops picked him up.  When the saw me they asked where I lived.  The couple that was with us said they'd take me in so I went to the hotel with them.  They promptly wanted me to have a threesome.  (really?)

I left in the middle of the night walking to find a bus station.  An aunt of mine sent me a bus ticket to go stay with her.  She was really nice to me.  So nice in fact that my brain couldn't take it and I ran away.  I was so confused.  I remember being in and out of a fast mind and a slow mind.  Now I can look back and know I was cycling.  I ended up back in Florida and miscarried.

A few months later my sister in Florida's mom was going back to NC to visit her family and asked me if I wanted to come.  Silly as it is, I went.  My mom told me she'd get me back home to Florida.  When I arrived I told her I was going to stay with an aunt because my mother was STILL married to my molester.  She said ok.  When I came back the follow day for the reunion she told me she wasn't paying to send me back home because I wouldn't stay with Charlie.  I lost my car, my job and all my stuff.

I ended up moving in with my aunt in Virginia and getting my GED.  I started working at McDonald's where I promptly had a nervous break down.  I was taken out of work for 3 months and I went back to Florida with my other aunt to relax.  At this point, I had no therapy and hand told no one about my life.

I went back to VA to go back to work, I met my second husband.  He was 12 years older than me.  I told him about my life on the first night we went out.  He promptly screwed me.  I became pregnant and he had me "hide" from his mother so that she wouldn't know he had me on the side.  I never saw her until she walked into my hospital room with a cigarette and wanted to see the baby.  I realized very quickly that I was not meant to be with him.  My daughter was born when I was 18 years old.  I told my husband I was a lesbian at 19.

I lived with him for 12 years to help raise his children.  I took care of them the best I could as a kid with no training at all.  We had an arrangement.  I would go out on the weekends and see the women I wanted, as long as I stayed home during the week and cooked and cleaned.  It was fine as long as I was dating girly girls.  However my little heart quickly went pitter patter for a little butch and the shit hit the fan.  I was kicked out cold in the middle of the night.  My daughter was told that I was a lesbian and that I was unfit to be a mother.

I spent the next 2 years in another abusive relationship while I watched as my daughter was taken away.  Really my only reason for living.  As her father drove away with her in the car, I kept hearing his words.  Get a home, get stable and you can have her back.  I got a good job, I got a house and I sent message after message.  He kept telling me  how a witch and a dyke couldn't raise a kid.

I decided I would end it.  I wanted to see California.  I stopped in Kentucky to say good bye to my daughter and drove to San Diego where a friend of mine lived.  I was there ready to die.  It was all I could do to wake up in the morning.  I went to see a psychiatrist there and he told me I was bipolar and promptly started me on meds.  One thing I left out in this story is that I started out weighing about 300 lbs and by the time I was heading to California I was down to 110.   I had a gastric bypass surgery to try to lose weight.  It worked to the point.  I met the love of my life in California.  He's amazing.  He's strong and understanding.  he helped me get my daughter back.

We got my daughter back and we both worked hard to get her into a great school where she could go to college.  We both lost our jobs and had to work crap and eat nearly nothing, but dammit she had a senior gown and a picture.  We even got her a class ring.  She was accepted into a private college in Oakland California.

While she was in her senior year my husband and I decided to move back east because of his job in Virginia.  We moved back to a little town just outside where I grew up.  I thought I was far enough away.  Hubby would leave for work on Sunday and come back the following Friday night.  My weight ballooned to over 268lbs and my family slowly began to make me insane.  My cycling became worse.  I am what you call a rapid cycling bipolar.  Bad food, bad energy and lack of sleep trigger my events.  He ended up having to quit his job to stop me from going to the loony bin.

Slowly over the next 4 years we got it back together.  He got me back to a vegetarian lifestyle.  He was able to keep me away from my family.  I only saw them once ever other week.  I was slowly becoming myself again.  Our kid graduated from college and moved back home for a year to get ready to go to school abroad.  After she left for school again we were those fun loving kids again.  Riding the motorcycle and having a great time.

Then in January I got a call from my sister telling me that our mother was in the hospital.  I told her I'll be right there, to support her.  I walked in the hospital and she walked out.  She left me to take over.  I'm the oldest after all.  It's my job.  HUH?  Wait what?  How is it my job to take care of some old lady that I don't even know just because she happened to be the twat I fell out of?  Really?  Yes, harsh.... Did I mention not only did she stay with my step father until he died of cancer but she also had another child with him?  Yeah, mom of the year she ain't.

So over the months from January - June I was able to get her on medicaid.  Get her sugar back to normal, get her weight down and get her healthy.  Granted she still had renal failure but at least we were trying to get her back up.  I got her on a full organic diet and got her to the doctor.  We got her teeth and glasses.  Because of the renal failure, she had a lot of accidents.  She did not have great control of her bowels.  Needless to say I was slowly going down into a serious depression.  I started putting on weight again.  I was negative and moody.  My mind filled with suicidal thoughts.  I reached out to my sister asking if she could take her for a while, or maybe for a weekend.  She laughed.   One day we told her that hubby and I nearly got hit while we were on the bike, her response was, You can't die and leave me here with her. (referring to our mother)


In May my mother developed an infection from sitting in her own poop too long.  With my sister's assistance we got her into the hospital which allowed me to get her into a nursing home.  That should be a good thing right?  Well apparently not.  Now I'm being accused of sneaking her out of the hospital and stashing her away in a nursing home without telling anyone.  She's accusing me of stealing from her and being a drug addict.

Yesterday I get a message saying "Mama's out of pills, you're keeping her meds" "I'm going to a lawyer" and I go to the home and they said, she's got plenty of medicine, no one told your sister any of that.

Today I got a text telling me that she was going to file a paper to revoke my power of attorney.  Which is really funny because I resigned that last week and filed it with the court. AND told her I did.  What kills me, is that I'm the unstable one.  I'm the one that gets messages posted on her wall calling her names, "bi polar bitch" I believe was one.  SMH

So there it is.  The entire, ugly truth.  My life out in the open for all to see.  Hopefully I haven't misled any of you.  Hopefully after seeing this those in my life that feel they know it all after only being in the family a few months will do me a favor.  Leave me alone.  Don't text me, don't email me, don't call me, don't post on my wall and I do mean every single word of that.

Embrace the Sparkle
Looking forward to some positive energy.

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
)O(

M - Magic for Money


Magic for Money

In this day and age of cyber covens and online witch schools it’s easy to see why some people get concerned about how some teach the craft.  We have online stores stealing the persona of artists in our community and using their image to sell “penis enhancement spells” and then other’s frowned upon for offering Tarot or other divination skills for a price.
Where does magic become a commodity?  Many types of divination charge by the ½ hour for spending time with a client and doing things such as Throwing the Bones or Reading the Tarot.  Many believe that this is a waste of time and believe that such things are works of the Devil.  In fact in many areas it’s a crime to do any type of divination.  Paid or otherwise.  At many readings I’ve attended, it’s required by the reader to state something to the effect of, “this is for entertainment purposes only, please seek legal or medical advice where necessary”.   To me, a similar warning should be offered by Pat Robertson or any other Televangelist for their “services”.

I believe that magic is an art form.  It’s more than the sum of its parts.  Sure the canvas has a price, and the paints have a price, but once put together by an artist those simple tools become a masterpiece.   We couldn’t look at a Picasso and offer the cost of materials to purchase it.  The same is true of divination.  In the hands of a master, these tools become the conduit by which art is created.  That art is not an accident and should be respected.  If you do reach out to these folks remember, this is indeed something they have invested time and energy in.  They are professionals and should be treated accordingly; after all, that’s why you’re going to them… right?

Then we move away from divination and into training.  Witch Schools; sharing the knowledge that you have with others for a price.  There are many witch schools available on the web.  I have not attended any of them so I cannot comment on their content or character.  I only want to offer a tip.  Do your homework before selecting any one particular page to send money to.
That being said, I want to talk about witch schools very generally.  It takes more than just a web page and a pay pal account to be qualified to teach others about the inner works of the world of magic.  It’s not for everyone.  It takes time and patience to share knowledge with others.  It takes hours of prep time for one class and can lead into questions from the group that opens up an entirely new realm of learning for the instructor.  Aside from the time and materials costs of many witch classes, I’ve seen online where you can pay a fee and move directly to 3rd Degree Witch by paying this fee…
WOW
I’m of the school of thought that knowledge is free to all who seek it.  If I’m coming to share what I have with you, please be mindful of my supplies that I need to provide or the gas for my broom to get to you.  I believe that we are here to share what we learn with others.  However we should not do so at the expense of our own families.  However tempting it might be to pay the fee to get your Grand PooBah title, I highly recommend finding a local group of pagan’s or perhaps even a coven that might be accepting new members and learn directly from that group.  Good groups are usually partnered with a local metaphysical store and have access to books and supplies at a reasonable cost. 
In my group for example we’re working on setting up monthly meetings where each members share bits and pieces from their path in a way to share knowledge with the group.  We work together to offer suggestions and share information on what exactly it means to be Hecatean for example. 

Most groups will ask that you attend a few meetings and then agree to abide by a set of bylaws before initiation into the group.  Ask questions and be sure the group is for you.  If not, move on. 
For a while now I’ve been looking to learn about Reiki.  I’ve met several people that work with it, I’ve even ordered books and cds to learn more about it.  I recall a quote from a book that said, when you find your Reiki Master, you will know.  So I’m waiting.  I’m sure it will come.

So Magic for Money, is it good or bad?  In antiquity we should trade eggs, or sheep for veggies.  We may even offer a goat or a pig for a wife.  We would certainly present an offering or payment to a priestess or witchdoctor that performed a service for us.  So then why shouldn’t we pay those people who are granting us a service?   You tip your waiter, why not tip your witch?

Namaste & Blessed Be
Sosanna
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