The Cost of Your Craft

I was going through my bookshelves, putting things in some semblance of order this past week (the post-holiday cleanup), and mentally started adding up what the cost of this one shelf of books added up to and then kept going (I have many many shelves of books).  Talk about a reality check on what I had invested in my religious practice and study over the years - and I didn't even get to the Magical Cabinet of Stuff and Things (candles, incense, tools, statuary, candlesticks, herbs, oils, bottles, etc...)

Many of my books are old friends, bought many years ago, and certainly cannot be replaced for the same price I paid for them.  They have my notes in the margins, the occasional autograph if I've been fortunate enough to meet or study with the author, bookmarks or sticky flags (or badly bent spines) showing me where the really important stuff is.  I don't even have a comprehensive list of all the books I own anymore. 

I then opened up the Magical Cabinet of Stuff and Things and did a very quick mental count of the cost of what that would cost me to replace the contents that I have been accumulating for about 25 years.  I have hundreds of dollars of incense alone - given that each little package is about $5 (I like the good stuff) and I have an assortment of scents for every magical occasion) - not to mention the essential oils (high quality steam distilled), beeswax and parafin candles - etc - and then there is the hardware of candlesticks, altar cloths, incence burners, jars of herbs, trays of crystals and minerals, and drawers and shelves of other weird and wild stuff (feathers, shells, bits of leather, string, cord, fabric, all the stuff to do the symbolic work of my faith).

Then I looked around at the many gifts I have received of chalices, statuary, braziers, more incense holders, etc.  for doing handfastings, house blessings, baby blessings, requiems, menarche ceremonies, etc etc... and contemplated having the world's largest pagan garage sale. (sorry, not going to happen).

While all of these materials are not Necessary for the practice of my Craft - it certainly makes it more "fun".  I love to do magick, and "make my prayers" - having a tactile relationship with the symbolic manifestation of my request, or offering, etc is important to my faith practice.  It doesn't (and can't) exist soley in my head as a mental endeavor - there often needs to be some external active work done as well, and the energy raising that goes with it.

So - going forward, how do I integrate the values of a Frugal Pagan into all the stuff and things I need for my religious practice?  In the next couple posts, I will be exploring the Magical Circle from a Frugal Perspective.

"Nature uses as little as possible of everything" (Keppler)

The Frugal Pagan