Pagans Lacking in Wise Council
As many of you know, I've been very sick the last few days. I've not been of a creative, external mind, but of a deep internal one. Ideas have been seeping into my mind not out.
This is the natural course of things. The Yin and Yang, the flow and the ebb.
Today is the first day in many I can put two brain cells together. The first big one was the little mantra of "recycle, renew, reuse". It's a great saying from earth conservationists, useful for batteries, waste products and trash bags. It's a shame we don't use it for everything else. If it was adapted to the rest of our lives, we could be more thrifty, frugal and prosperous.
The second big thing that bothered me this week was clicking through personal finance and thrift sites. I love "The Simple Dollar" because it's not religiously based, but many of the ones I did click through were-- www.christianpf.com and the like. Christians have a plethora of these resources because there is a mandate for it in their Bible. I remember sitting in my minivan waiting to pick my children up from school when they were little and listening to "Money Matters" from Crown Financial Ministries. I tolerated the constant references to God the Father because the finanical advise was very, very sound and solid. The program is free on the radio-- so hey... you get what you pay for! and I can't complain too hard when it's free!
Despirate to find a Pagan Oriented Tightwaddery/Thrift/Personal Finance site... I spent an hour googling. NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. The closest thing are websites on kitchen witchery-- the venerable branch of Witchcraft dealing with the hearth and home. They're great at bringing the sacred into every day life, drawing us closer to Hestia or any of the other Domestic Goddesses out there... but it's still not what I'm looking for. Being a great chef is one thing. Being able to afford being a great chef is another. Fresh herbs, spices, choice cuts of meat cost some pennies--either that or you do it yourself.
I feel we Pagans are being left way behind here. We're not in the world of Post-Apocolyptic Y2K Hale Bop Comet Survivors if we honestly discuss strategies to succeed in our constructs. It's okay to talk about all those things concerning daily survival. The Christians do it... all of Buddhism does it... but wow... we are so sorely lacking.
What philosophies do we have to work with anyway?
The Three Fold Law and An it Harm None are the two big ones in Neo-Paganism and Wicca, but how do they apply here? The Three Fold Law is the concept of return. You get into life what you put into it. Generally it means that what you do will be returned to you multiplied by three. I always considered it diffrently though. You'll get your actions returned to you on three levels: mental, spiritual and physical.
Rampant consumerism for example will effect you on all three levels. Mentally, it might cause you stress over that big fat credit card debt you just accrewed. Spiritually it might cause you karmic burden because you just killed some trees and animals for your selfish gain and waste. Physcially it might show up in your waist line. All those plastic Twinkie cakes you ate this morning chocked full of preservatives are going to your lard ass and putting chemicals in your liver.
The second philosophy "An it Harm None" needs to be understood in it's complete form. "An it Harm none, do what thou wilt, Love is the Law, Love over Will". This was written by Crowley, a gentleman of hedonist excesses, occult brilliance and insanity. The last half of the sentence is the key. Love, caring, passion, desire can only be supported with a foundation of willpower, mind, clear thought and discipline. "Love over will" doesn't mean Love is more important than Will... it means to use concious consideration. You can't follow the first part "and it harm none" unless you really use your mind and think first about who it will hurt.
So who will it hurt to be a financial wreck? High debt, poor planning, not preparing for the future-- it hurts you and your loved ones. It can ruin your marriage, your relationships, your pride, your security. Carpe Diem can't happen until you have the freedom to and power to do it.
What do you want in your future? Where do you want to be in five years? Ten? I know where I want to be. I want to be in harmony with my world, master of my domain, mistress of my wallet. Time to seize my day... grab it by the horns and tell it who's boss.
Aggie
This is the natural course of things. The Yin and Yang, the flow and the ebb.
Today is the first day in many I can put two brain cells together. The first big one was the little mantra of "recycle, renew, reuse". It's a great saying from earth conservationists, useful for batteries, waste products and trash bags. It's a shame we don't use it for everything else. If it was adapted to the rest of our lives, we could be more thrifty, frugal and prosperous.
The second big thing that bothered me this week was clicking through personal finance and thrift sites. I love "The Simple Dollar" because it's not religiously based, but many of the ones I did click through were-- www.christianpf.com and the like. Christians have a plethora of these resources because there is a mandate for it in their Bible. I remember sitting in my minivan waiting to pick my children up from school when they were little and listening to "Money Matters" from Crown Financial Ministries. I tolerated the constant references to God the Father because the finanical advise was very, very sound and solid. The program is free on the radio-- so hey... you get what you pay for! and I can't complain too hard when it's free!
Despirate to find a Pagan Oriented Tightwaddery/Thrift/Personal Finance site... I spent an hour googling. NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING. The closest thing are websites on kitchen witchery-- the venerable branch of Witchcraft dealing with the hearth and home. They're great at bringing the sacred into every day life, drawing us closer to Hestia or any of the other Domestic Goddesses out there... but it's still not what I'm looking for. Being a great chef is one thing. Being able to afford being a great chef is another. Fresh herbs, spices, choice cuts of meat cost some pennies--either that or you do it yourself.
I feel we Pagans are being left way behind here. We're not in the world of Post-Apocolyptic Y2K Hale Bop Comet Survivors if we honestly discuss strategies to succeed in our constructs. It's okay to talk about all those things concerning daily survival. The Christians do it... all of Buddhism does it... but wow... we are so sorely lacking.
What philosophies do we have to work with anyway?
The Three Fold Law and An it Harm None are the two big ones in Neo-Paganism and Wicca, but how do they apply here? The Three Fold Law is the concept of return. You get into life what you put into it. Generally it means that what you do will be returned to you multiplied by three. I always considered it diffrently though. You'll get your actions returned to you on three levels: mental, spiritual and physical.
Rampant consumerism for example will effect you on all three levels. Mentally, it might cause you stress over that big fat credit card debt you just accrewed. Spiritually it might cause you karmic burden because you just killed some trees and animals for your selfish gain and waste. Physcially it might show up in your waist line. All those plastic Twinkie cakes you ate this morning chocked full of preservatives are going to your lard ass and putting chemicals in your liver.
The second philosophy "An it Harm None" needs to be understood in it's complete form. "An it Harm none, do what thou wilt, Love is the Law, Love over Will". This was written by Crowley, a gentleman of hedonist excesses, occult brilliance and insanity. The last half of the sentence is the key. Love, caring, passion, desire can only be supported with a foundation of willpower, mind, clear thought and discipline. "Love over will" doesn't mean Love is more important than Will... it means to use concious consideration. You can't follow the first part "and it harm none" unless you really use your mind and think first about who it will hurt.
So who will it hurt to be a financial wreck? High debt, poor planning, not preparing for the future-- it hurts you and your loved ones. It can ruin your marriage, your relationships, your pride, your security. Carpe Diem can't happen until you have the freedom to and power to do it.
What do you want in your future? Where do you want to be in five years? Ten? I know where I want to be. I want to be in harmony with my world, master of my domain, mistress of my wallet. Time to seize my day... grab it by the horns and tell it who's boss.
Aggie
Labels: karma, mastery, pagan philosophy, tightwad
posted by Aggie Janicot at
2:51 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
