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

The Method or the Goal

Say what?

I'm already hearing that frugality is anethema to the Pagan lifestyle - aren't we supposed be wild and free, living our life according to our will and our whim - unencumbered by artificial strictures and structures?

Hogwash. (anyone ever try to wash a hog? just asking)

Like my esteemed colleague over at Wise Bread, 

I view frugal living as essentially hedonistic: I don't deny myself things. Rather, I spend less on the things I don't care about in order to be able to spend more on the things that matter to me. 

So as we enter this new calendar year, with all it's possibilities (silly humans that we are - using mental tricks like changing a cluster of papers hanging on our wall to initiate change - some would call that "magic" at a world-wide level) - how do we (individually and collectively) determine what is important.

We, each of us have needs - food, clothing, shelter, transportation, recreation.  The "wants" determine what those needs look like? Here are some extremes - and real life is in between.

• Food - organic or regular? discount days & coupons vs gourmet food boutique?
  
• Clothing - kmart or Calvin Klein? Value Village or Designer Boutique? knock off vs home-made?
  
• Shelter - A small house in the inner city versus a palace in the outlying suburbs. 
  
• Transportation - economy or luxury - smart or suv - bike or transit  - plane or train?
  
• Recreation -  expensive evenings out vs renting a dvd with popcorn at home? Every new electronic gizmo that appears, or a 4 year old game console and some old favourite games?
  

All these choices have an impact on our physical well-being, mental health, levels of stress, and sense of spiritual connection.  Each person - each family unit gets to make their own decisions about what is right for them.

Pagans are just people - with widely varying priorities - but we share the same basic needs and our quality of life is determined by our wants.  So - Pagan Reader, what do you need vs what do you want - and how will you make that happen? 

In order to live a life of total hedonistic pleasure - meaning having the things that are important to you - you need to know what they are - and you need to know what is less important so you can divert time / energy / resources to obtain what matters.

And that is the essence of being a Frugal Pagan.  Living a life in balance, connected to each other, in harmony with Nature, in the service of our Gods, and having the best that a life well lived and well planned can offer.

Let's enjoy the new year together!

If the Universe wastes nothing...

The Frugal Pagan

Frugal Is As Frugal Does

Hello, Earth-Mart shoppers!

Everything we have comes from the Earth - the ultimate big box store shaped like a globe and full of resources. On levels big and small - how we manage those resources is entirely up to us. How we do that has a cumulative impact on our individual and collective quality of life - because life is for enjoying - that's why we are here.

Its all in the choices. The Frugal Pagan realizes that we all need a helping hand when it comes to making those incremental changes in our lives that improve our immediate world, balance the household budget, preserve our resources, and ultimately, help save our environment and improve the quality of our life.

I wanted to start this blog with a definition of "frugal" - and I like how Wikipedia defines "frugal". It says, in part:

Frugality is the practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal.

This makes perfect sense to me. How can we enjoy the bounty of Our Mother Earth if all we do is squander it as it passes through our hands?

What frugality is NOT is miserly-ness, penny-pinching for its own sake, an excuse for mean-ness, cruelty, or other bad behavior. It doesn't mean not sharing, not helping those in need, or refusing to be hospitable.

It is a means to an end - to a responsible joyfilled abundant life. A life where we are able to have our needs met, have some of our wants fulfilled, and have a little left over to share with those who are less fortunate than we are.

There are lots of blogs etc on frugality - especially in these challenging times. I want to speak directly to the Pagan perspective when it comes to managing the Abundance that we all share from the Goddess and the God. We see the world differently. We are called to live in it differently. That is the Pagan way.

So, I welcome your contribution to this forum - both in comments, and perhaps even for some of you to become fellow regular "post-ers" on this blog. A good idea shared becomes a great idea! I will be sharing as much as I can from my own Frugal Pagan Life and from what I learn from other forums.

If the Universe wastes nothing, we should follow its example.
The Frugal Pagan


*all photo images from stock.xchng.com