Photo from http://flickr.com/photos/lisa_yarost/; creative commons license.
It was Edain McCoy who first called my attention to it—the link between the current economy and prosperity spells. I honestly had not noticed. And maybe that’s a good thing.
I’d just returned from a trip to the Daytona-Orlando area where New Age shop owners talked of the current economy, of how their sales were lagging, of how other stores had reduced their hours to scale down expenses proportionately to their revenue. I’d made a special side trip to a particular store in the area, but I bought very little—a bottle of a hard-to-find oil to use in Willow Moonlight’s Initiation, some incense like the kind Brian used to burn when he lived with us, a wolf totem magnet for Scorpio, and a fridge sticker for Shannon that says “Jesus Saves, Buddha Recycles.” I think I broke a $10 bill, which was less than I paid for lunch for Shannon and me across the street from the store.
No books, no jewelry, no crystals. Just small stuff. There was an uneasy sense of something other than abundance in the store. These are, by recent standards, not abundant times.
But what WAS selling and selling well was green candles (with gold and silver close behind) and certain oils and incense, patchouli in particular. These are all associated with drawing money and physical wealth.
When times get harder financially, people deal in the same way they deal with any difficulties–and for spiritual people, that includes prayers, rituals, and spells.
For most, they are not growing their money but growing the state of worry. I’ve been doing reasonably well with focusing on prosperity and all the wonderful things I do have, with a few exceptions. The last time I caught myself worrying about small change, someone broke into my car in my garage and stole the loose change that Aislinn and I had been saving for a special trip.
There’s nothing like dating someone whose financial assets are significantly less to start to see your own wealth through someone else’s eyes and realize how much you really do have, especially when you’ve been comparing yourself unfavorably to financially successful friends who earn mid-six-figure incomes. So I am focusing on the fact that I live comfortably and have all I need and enough to share with the people I love. I am still careful with my money, but I’m also happy and aware of what it does for me. It’s better for my blood pressure than fretting about rising taxes, rising expenses, rising bile.
When fear of the economy becomes rampant—and for many, it is—there comes a desperation with every match set to the wick of a green candle dressed in patchouli oil and inscribed with symbols for wealth. That desperation becomes part of the energy that is increased, and any gains are small ones. Instead, I think it’s best to begin a prosperity ritual with a few moments of enjoyable consideration of all the things we do have and let that energy of “having it already” start to spread. It’s often referred to as a gratitude list, but regardless of the buzzwords, it still works because counting your blessings gets you into the right “mood” to be prosperous.
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