Witchcraft: The Cost of Belonging – Exploitation or Appropriate?

Recently I was scrolling through a popular photo sharing app, when I came across and advert. It was for a local witchcraft shop advertising for a “pay to play” coven. They were charging £25 per person, per month. I was shocked, when did witchcraft become so commercialised? When did capitalism become the godhead that must be satiated? After picking my jaw up off the floor, I decided this would make a great introductory post for my blog.

Witchcraft for Sale?

Where to start on the research for this post? After a quick skim of the Wicca subreddit, it seems to be a lot more common than I imagined.

I know the subject of money and paganism is a touchy subject. Let me preface my post, by saying I understand that everyone must eat. I understand that running magical groups can be expensive and that you may be asked to contribute to running costs. But this should be limited to things like renting rooms or equipment.

I understand and agree that authors are going to charge for their books. Hell, I don’t even have a problem with paying for magical workings/spells. Additionally, most tarot readings you have cost money. When receiving a service like a handfasting or funeral rite, it is expected that these clergy-like services will come with a cost. I am also not talking about exchanging money for learning a skill in a lecture or workshop setting.

The problem I have is the people who are capitalising on others desire to connected to the sacred and find companionship through joining groups. After all the desire for money attracts greed, and greed, attracts con artists. One thing I am adamant that should never come with a fee, is initiation. Initiation should be awarded through someone’s hard work and dedication to learning their craft. The initiator should not profit from bestowing the initiation, or grade, in any way no matter how gifted or skilled the teacher is. If someone offers you this, then run as fast as you can.

Examples

Let’s take for example, a post by u/ringwormpants [1] (amazing username by the way). Ringworm shares their experience after attending an equinox festival. They spoke to a local coven leader who was charging $200 (£150 for us tea drinking Brits) for a basics class and an intermediate class, both of which were online and both of which had to be completed before you could be considered for membership of the coven. Even then, you needed the agreement of three over members to obtain an invite to the inner circle.

The student was expected to purchase all reading materials. The consensus was that this was a scam and should be avoided. Others commented on the cost of running these groups and that it is fine to ask for donations, or even to charge a small amount, but that quarterly financial statements should be available to see were the money is spent.

Another case was shared by u/gingersnapxo [2] who wrote that they were reading a blog that had been recommended to them as a valuable resource. The blog’s author had a page advertising entrance to her coven for $500 (£376 for us island dwellers) a year! To me that’s wild, I would want a guarantee that I would get training from Ceridwen herself to pay that.

Kingstone, Alexandrian, Silver Crescent and Gardnerian witches, are by my understanding, forbidden from charging for teaching their traditions [3]. This approach has some benefits in that it prevents people from buying their way into covens and leadership positions (or collecting lids from Cornflake boxes, as me and great shaman friend like to say). Everyone should have got where they are from hard work and commitment. Likewise it is important that you know they are doing it for the love of teaching and not because they are reliant on the money it generates.

Money and Witchcraft: Is it Taboo?

This leaves us with the question of should making money be taboo when it comes to connecting with the gods? My answer is no, after all time and energy are being exchanged and as touched on above, resources cost money. But there are ways to go about this that are more inclusive, and frankly… less scam like. One way is to charge a reasonable amount based on your time and the resources put in.

I would stress that if you go this route, I feel it is important to have a concession option. I am currently doing the British Druid Orders Bardic course and while I am paying full price, I have a online friend who has had a wonderful experience accessing the order through their concession service. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for another large British Druid order. Another option is to have an anonymous tip jar, where people can give what they think your time is worth.

The most important thing is that no matter what you need to be comfortable with the system you choose. In most groups I have been a part of it is unclear who is teaching who. If you are a group of peers, working together, you should be learning from each other, including the group leaders (if there even is any).

Have you experienced this “pay to play” issue in your practice? I would love to hear from you below.

Sources

[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Wicca/comments/1fmbgjy/how_common_is_it_to_pay_to_be_in_a_coven/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/Wicca/comments/4yqezw/paid_membership_coven_common_practice/
[3] https://www.patheos.com/blogs/pantheon/2010/05/charging-money-to-teach-witchcraft/