Welcome to The Divination Nation blog!
We are Pleasant Gehman and Crystal Ravenwolf, a duo of divination divas, “spiritual sisters from another mister”. We’re life-long Tarotistas, obsessed with all things esoteric and paranormal. We’ve created this blog to share our knowledge and to connect with the vibrant worldwide, and would love for it to be relevant for metaphysically-inclined peeps at every stage of development from beginners to professionals. Our posts will range from basic concepts and info that many of you are undoubtedly familiar with, to interviews, how-to’s and reviews on events and products.
We hope this blog is as fun for you to read as it is for us to write…Enjoy!
The relationship many metaphysical
practitioners have with money is often somewhat ambiguous. Many of us are not comfortable taking money for our
services, and there are several reasons for this.
To begin with, though several
spiritually minded individuals dream of becoming a professional card reader-or
astrologer, energy healer or palmist- they have little to no idea of what to charge, and/ or feel extremely
tentative getting paid at all, let
alone getting fairly compensated for what their services are worth. There are even professionals who don’t charge what they’re worth. Often, this is because many of the spiritual
skills we posses- even if it’s “just” being intuitive- are usually something we
have a gift for and are extremely passionate about. We love what we do. We love it so damn much that we’d do it for
free. And it goes without saying that
when we love something that hard, we want to do it as often as possible!
Also, though fortunetelling, crystal healing or
having the chakras realigned is intriguing to the general public, many our
clients typically come to us when they are at a low phase in their lives. They’ve reached a significant turning point, they’re
in pain. It doesn’t matter if it’s
physical or emotional, they’re hurting. Perhaps they suspect a spouse is
cheating, they’ve gotten a worrisome medical diagnosis or they’ve just lost a
job. They come to us because they want clarification on an important matter or
because they need healing; they want a tiny shred of hope to hold on to. Because
we are human and because we are compassionate, seeing that sort of pain is
painful to us. Our first instinct is to soothe, to make it better to give
advice… and it goes against our moral compass to take money for doing that.
Last, most of us metaphysical
peeps have become absolutely conditioned
to the fact that society marginalizes what we do. While maybe seven out of ten
“average” people will admit that they’ve played with a Ouija Board, experienced
synchronicity or have watched every episode of Ghost Adventures, those are the same folks who poo-pooh the idea
that there is any such thing as the spirit realm or that a medium can
communicate with the dead! In fact, many esoteric folks are so self-conscious
about being seen as “weird”, that we valiantly try to masquerade our true
selves by being as normal as
possible.
In fact, we've had plenty of conversations
with our colleagues - at Pagan Pride events, at Tarot conventions, at energy
healing circles- where the typical
disclaimer at the beginning of a story
someone’s telling goes something like this:
“ Not to sound all woo-woo, but….”
Hello? Look where we’re having this
conversation! We’ve all become so used to being “other”, that we feel as though
somehow we’re not allowed to make
money by having a professional career in
the “woo-woo” field at which we
excel.
In global our society, money is a requirement. In order to survive, we
need cash for the basics: food, shelter clothing. We also need it for
healthcare, power and water, phone service and transportation. We gotta
have the Benjamins on hand for our kid’s braces, for their education…and
to continue ours. All those hours spent in workshops and classes learning
various forms of divination add up! Maybe you took them because you enjoyed the
subject matter, but they weren’t free,
right? Ok, so maybe we don’t exactly need money for luxuries (that Tarot
deck you simply must have, even though you’ve got nine on your shelf already or
that gigantic amethyst cluster that costs more than your phone’s monthly data
plan) but we still want them… and the only way we can get them is by paying for them.Doctors charge, mechanics charge; dieticians, housemaids, tutors, arborists, rock-climbing instructors, yoga teachers and acupuncturists charge for their services… so why don’t you? Because you are doing something spiritual? Priests, ministers and rabbis charge for officiating weddings; according to the Bridal Association Of America, in January 2015, the median price for this service was $263.00!
What is your time worth? How many hours have you put in studying your craft? It doesn’t matter if you're a pharmacist or a Lenormand reader, a copywriter or a Reiki master, your time equals money. While giving back to the community is commendable and often extremely fulfilling, realistically speaking, there comes a time when you do need to be compensated for your services. If you’re spending most of your precious time putting your natural abilities to use and practicing the traditions you studied to make herbal tinctures, cast enchantments or douse for water, then how the heck are you going to have time to make the cash you need to live? By flipping burgers part time? No, you need be compensated for your skills and time practicing the modalities you trained long and hard for.
If you are unsure of what the “going rate” for your services is in your area, by all means ask a local professional. Far from being offended, they will undoubtedly level with you…because the people who make a living this way don’t want to be undercut by someone who is giving the service away!
If there’s no one in your area to ask, spend some time looking up your chosen profession on line, and seeing what others charge. While it will vary from place to place, choose a point somewhere in the middle, not too high and not ridiculously low. For example, there are full Tarot readings touted on various sites for as little as five bucks, but there are also seasoned professionals or very well-known, in-demand readers who charge upwards of $200.00 an hour…and are booked up for weeks if not months. Consider your skill set and expertise as well as where you are working before deciding on a price that you- and your clients - will feel comfortable with. If you still feel “funny” about getting money in exchange for your services, using a sliding scale with clients is a good way to take payment and not feel bad about charging.
The exchange for your service doesn’t necessarily need to be cash; barter is always good. One Tarot reader we know has a regular client who’s paid with produce and fresh eggs…for years! While that might seem odd, that reader’s kids literally grew up on organic food straight from the farm.
And here’s one last point: not to sound all woo-woo but…when you come right down to it, money is an exchange of energy. Make sure you don’t have any underlying issues with this energy. If you do- and it’s likely if you’re stressing over getting paid for your metaphysical work-examine those issues, write them down, reason them out, or banish them completely, and heal your relationship. The issues could come from your childhood, could be cultural, or might even be that you’re feeling guilty at the prospect of doing something you love (and, as we said before, would do for free) to make a living. Know that if you are thinking with abundance- as opposed to coming from a place of scarcity, you won’t see money as “dirty” or something that goes against your spiritual beliefs.
Welcome cash into your life as opposed to pushing it away… and watch your life change.
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We wanna connect with you!
Visit our website: www.thedivinationnation.com
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To find out more about Pleasant click here: http://www.pleasantgehman.com/
For more on Crystal’s background, click here; http://crystalravenwolf.com
