Category: Divination and Dreams

So you want a reading?

Let’s say you want a reading. Be it tarot, divination, oracle or whatever and you’ve even found a diviner you want to use. But what do listing you choose? What’s the best choice for you? How do you word your questions? What can you expect?

Let’s first talk about what divination can do for you. Divination can do a lot of things but mainly it falls into two camps: telling the future and introspection. These two purposes often coincide (for example, you might get a reading about your career but also glean some advice on what to work on so you can be the best for said career). Some readers specialize in just telling the future and others will only use it for introspection and will go so far as to say telling the future is impossible. I’m of a mind that both are good and can be useful depending on the kind of question you have. My own readings tend to be a mix of both future insights and suggestions, advice, or warnings on what you can change to help yourself or change a future foretold that you didn’t like.

I know what you’re thinking. “Wait? Change a future?” Yup. I believe and operate that for the most part you have the power and ability to change your future. Channel your inner Merida and change what you don’t like. That being said, I also believe that some things are bound to happen give circumstances so unless you wildly deviate from course they’ll happen. xxxHOLIC and CLAMP fans might recognize a term called hitsuzen which is similar. The end result is the same: by and large, you can take advice given to you by the cards and use it to help alter things to your liking. The future is not set in stone.

I’ve already written on what to expect once you purchase a reading insofar as my specific process but you can help your chosen diviner by ensuring and understanding the following things:

  1. Be ready to hear what’s being said. The answer might not be good or what you’re hoping for so you have to be ready for that too. Listen to what the reader says. If you’re asking for a reading, there’s an expectation that you want to be told what’s being read. If you’re closed to the idea that nothing can change or be helped then the reading is probably going to be useless for you. Going to several readers isn’t going to change what’s been read unless you change it yourself. If you’re not ready to hear what has to be said, then don’t ask.
  2. Readings are usually only good for six months and specific dates are hard to pinpoint. While some readers can divine far into the future and narrow down futures to the an exacted time and date for something to happen, many readers prefer not to go that route so you won’t be disappointed when something doesn’t happen. Many readers will only read six months out at most and many times only a few weeks in advance. I tend to use three to six months as an average time frame and give suggestions of a couple of months when dating things.
  3. Accept that the reader may get things wrong. Most of the time the diviner doesn’t know the details of your life so they speak in non-specifics or try to get as specific as possible without knowing those details first hand. Many readers can get some amazing details but there’s going to be times where they’re just off. It happens.
  4. We are interpreters of the cards not advice givers. While many of us can and do serve in a mentor position and some readers are even counselors, we are by and large not advice givers. While some readers will make suggestions or give advice, many readers do not. We just read the cards. That’s what you’re paying us for.
  5. We are worth our rate. It’s just rude and insulting to try and bargain with us. Don’t do it. We work hard to learn the cards and spend many hours crafting spreads and learning how to read for others. Many of us study for years to be able to read professionally.
  6. Every reader is different. Some readers will focus on the metaphysical or pretty imagery. Others will work on empowering you towards your goal. More still want to help you help yourself. There’s lot of different reasons to read and divine and every single reader uses their own experiences, personal symbolism, and knowledge to read the cards or divination tool different. No two readers will read exactly the same way. It may take some time to find a reader that matches up with your style.
  7. Know your questions. Sometimes you don’t know what you want. That’s OK but having specific questions to be answered can help cut down wasted time for both you and the reader. You might even want to write the questions down in advance. Check with the reader to see if they’ll even read for those specific questions. Some readers won’t read for health related issues or for a third party.
  8. Ask questions. If you don’t understand what the reader is saying or what a card means, ask questions! Ask them to clarify what’s going on so you really understand.

OK. Now you know what to look forward to, now to pick a divination style. There are hundreds of thousands of ways to tell the future. I’m not kidding there. I personally use a couple of dozen and have actively tried at least fifty or more. There’s so many different and awesome choices out there to pick from! Cards are a classic so when in doubt, it’s probably your best choice. Tarot is the best known system but oracle and lenormand cards can work just as well. Pendulum readings are excellent for yes or no questions. Scrying techniques, like crystal ball reading, water gazing, and so on give the diviner mental and/or psychic images and information. This can be very informative or very vague, depending on the reader and the question. If you’re a book lover and want some general fun advice, a stitchomancy/bibliomancy reading using a favorite book might be a good way to go. Lots are divination systems where the diviner tossings or randomly selects from a collection of objects and uses the correlations, associations, locations to one another and possibly even a metaphysical map layout to divine the future. These are usually highly individualized but that can lead to some pretty amazing results. (And yup, I do all of the above and more).

Now to determine how long or how many cards are needed. Traditionally, a reader has a timer set and you pay for their time (often by every fifteen minutes or an hour). There’s another method out there that I actually prefer: card number. You pay for the amount of cards drawn. I generally recommend selecting between five to seven cards for a reading. If a particularly complicated question, go up to ten. For me, a five to seven card reading is equivalent to fifteen or twenty minutes. Ten for me is about half an hour (therefore 20 cards is around a hour’s time). Too few cards and you don’t get enough information to do anything with and too many cards can become overwhelming or begin to repeat the information already said. It’s a careful balance and sometimes it’s better just to ask.

Some readers even let you pick out what deck of cards or divination tool to use. They might let you shuffle or touch the cards and others won’t. It depends on the reader or the sometimes even the tool itself. Ask first before touching. When picking a deck or tool to use the best advice is to pick the one you’re drawn to the most. Maybe the deck has some specific energy or the art style really appeals to you. Maybe you like dragons or the color purple. Whatever you decide know that while the tool chosen might have some influence on how the information is relayed (a gentler voice versus a brash voice with cards, for example), it’s probably not going to change what information is given.

So now you’ve set up a time or purchased a reading and now it comes to the part where you ask your questions. As mentioned above, be sure to check with the reader to see if there’s any questions they won’t answer. (I’m liberal when it comes to the questions asked of me whereas some others aren’t). The best way to word a question is to be clear and concise but to focus on what you can do. Here’s some examples:

“Am I going to die?” Well, yeah. We all do. This is a pretty rough question for a diviner to get and many won’t even attempt to answer it. A better way to word it is “I’m seriously worried about my health. What can I do to reduce my chances of serious illness or death?”

“Is Avery going to ask me to prom?” Yes/no questions can be difficult to divine. It may depend on the tool chosen or the reader themselves. A better way to ask this question is “What can I do to encourage or raise my chances of Avery asking me to prom?” This gives you information that you can do something with.

“I hate my co-worker. Will they get fired soon?” While worded appropriately, a better question would be “What can I do to get along better with my co-workers?” Again, this put you in a position to change things rather than just information that might not help in the long run.

“[Insert paragraphs of life story here] So what can I do?” Cut down on the background information. Often times having some information is useful so the reader can get specifics but many times too much information is just confusing and you may not get the question answers at all. I tend to reword long stories like that into useable questions for the reading.

Now that you’ve done all of that you just have to sit back and wait for the reading. As mentioned above, I’ve already described in an earlier post what my reading process is like. If in person, give the reader a second to really look at the cards and understand what’s going on. Ask questions but let them speak too. You might want to bring a notepad and pen or break out a note-taking app on your phone to jot down some information as it’s relayed to you. Online reading are by far easier for you. Simply wait until the reader sends the reading your way. Often times it’s sent through email with photos attached or in an assembled .PDF file. If you have questions, email the reader but be sure to check their policies. They may only allow a certain number of questions or clarification cards drawn before a new reading is required.

And that’s it! That’s how you prepare for a reading! Not too hard is it? So go out there and learn your future!

The Dreaming Way Tarot Review

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My favorites! The Queen of Swords, Page of Swords, the Hermit, and the Tower from the Dreaming Way Tarot

My favorites! The Queen of Swords, Page of Swords, the Hermit, and the Tower from the Dreaming Way Tarot

Dreaming Way Tarot by Rome Choi and Kwon Shina

Status: Currently reading with it

Best for: This deck loves to lay down some truth and to give you a boot when you need to get moving. We get along beautifully so I find the deck to be rather literal.

Favorite cards: Hermit, Queen of Swords, Page of Swords (with a bonus of the Tower!)

Acquired from: A beautiful surprise birthday gift from hellboundwitch

Probably my current favorite deck, I use the Dreaming Way all the time as my clients can attest. This deck is so soft and gorgeous. With a Korean manwha art style, it combines strong lines and simplified art style with incredible details and patterns in small form.

Dreaming Way deck back and LWB compared to a standard Sharpie.

Dreaming Way deck back and LWB compared to a standard Sharpie.

Published by US Games, the deck’s standard tarot card size with a fairly standard size LWB. The card stock is pretty much spot on in terms of perfect in my book. The deck shuffles easily and smoothly.The back of the deck is a vibrant patterned green which I love. It reminds me of eyes and gives the cards some flash when shuffling. I ended up crocheting a bag to match the card backs rather than the general theme of the deck because I loved the colors so much.

The Dreaming Way LWB

The Dreaming Way LWB

As far as the little white book goes, the Dreaming Way tarot is standard. A little blurb on the card itself plus it’s upright and reverse meaning, if you choose to read that way. I don’t tend to refer to this LWB at all unless I want to understand what a minute detail in the card might be when studying the deck.

One thing that’s worth taking a second to glance through is the introduction to the Minor Arcana. It’s about two pages in that tiny book but I liked the way the ideas there were expressed with the characteristics of the suits as mind, body, and soul.

Dreaming Way Tarot's King of Wands, Magician, Five of Swords, and King of Cups

Dreaming Way Tarot’s King of Wands, Magician, Five of Swords, and King of Cups

The deck reads as a RWS deck but it’s not entirely a carbon copy. There’s some original and smart thinking that went into this deck if you look at the details. Take a look at the King of Wands in the above (kind of blurry) photo. There’s a lizard on his clothing. Wands are generally associated with fire so the link to salamanders is there, ready to be made. The King of Cups (above photo) is also smartly done. A king standing alone awash a sea eyes closed from the dangers around him? Speaks of a man who feels and trusts his feelings despite any mocking or danger that might comes his way from such trust. Even the poses of the characters have meaning. This is mostly true of all decks but it’s showcased in a subtle (and not so subtle in some cases) way here. Of course, that’s just my interpretation but I really like how each card has just a slight difference that makes this deck special.

Fool, Two of Swords, Queen of Wands, High Priestess of the Dreaming Way Tarot

Fool, Two of Swords, Queen of Wands, High Priestess of the Dreaming Way Tarot

This deck reads extremely well. I find it a very intuitive deck that has a lot of offer. Incredibly intimate and emotional (look at all the water references) it has a punch of creativity, movement, and quiet energy in most of the cards. Wands are everywhere in this deck and the intricate backgrounds combined with little details such as the Torah the High Priestess is holding makes the deck worth a second look.

The deck’s great for honest, gentle truths (but it can still throw a mean punch when needed) and is great for introspection and exploring the details of a situation without being smacked over the head with over the top symbolism.

The Dreaming Way Tarot's Devil, Eight of Cups, Lovers, and Page of Wands (another favorite!)

The Dreaming Way Tarot’s Devil, Eight of Cups, Lovers, and Page of Wands (another favorite!)

One thing to notice is that there’s some interesting interpretations of the cards here. I love the Devil here. Instead of a gruesome visage it’s a winged and horned woman wearing a her straight jacket like a cloak holding chained lovers. It speaks more of the chains we create for ourselves rather than a connection to sins which I wholly enjoy in this deck.

The Lovers here is another interested card. Winged beings are shown in the deck, such as the Devil, Temperance, and Judgment card but in those cases the Devil has bat-like wings and Temperance and Judgment have more of the feathery angel wings. But the Lovers is different. Here we have butterfly fae like wings. The birth and change of something that was brewing into something beautiful. There’s a bit of a leap of faith reference in there too with the fae’s closed eyes. It’s very much on purpose and a warm, lovely Lovers’ card. The hard choices that the Lovers’ card is there too though. Notice only sky background. What would happen if one of the potential lovers let go? Would they fall in love or fall out of it? What would that choice do?

Dreaming Way Tarot's Hanging Man, Star, Seven of Cups, and Moon

Dreaming Way Tarot’s Hanged Man, Star, Seven of Cups, and Moon

The Hanged Man and Moon (above) are other great examples of the slightly different interpretation. The Moon has no direct association to water here in the card and instead the spectacles-wearing figure is playing with the Moon’s common card companion, the crustacean. Here, the crab is traded for a lobster. This, to me, plays with the less emotional impact of the Moon cards and more of the confusion and mystery of the card. Looking past the confusion, illusion, and unnecessary fear and seeing the clarity and truth behind it.

The Hanged Man has clothing hangers on the branches. Do you see them? Not only that but notice the figure’s tie is perfectly upright despite the bonds that hold them still be affected by gravity. Here the halting a take a moment of contemplation while at a standstill is clear. Donning off the nonsense and looking at the truth is implied. Beyond this, growth is possible once you work to free yourself and get moving again.

Another set of favorites from the Dreaming Way Tarot. Four of Swords, Seven of Swords, Page of Cups, Page of Pentacles

Another set of favorites from the Dreaming Way Tarot. Four of Swords, Seven of Swords, Page of Cups, Page of Pentacles

Issues with this deck include a lack of noticeable POC and the fact that the colors don’t show up well in photography. At all. The text on the cards pairs well with the deck but the combination of text and soft color palette seems to mess with camera focus. This is especially true is you have more than one card in the photo.

Overall, I highly recommend the Dreaming Way Tarot if you like introspective decks and the art is pleasing to you. It’s one of my favorites and every time I use it we build a much better rapport. While you can easily jump in and read the deck, it’s definitely worthwhile to spend some time and pick out the differences in the cards and what’s similar to other decks to see how this one reads. It’s a great all purpose deck, especially if you do a lot of soul searching or introspection.

Dreaming Way Tarot by Rome Choi and Kwon Shina © US Games Systems

Introducing Divination Tool Reviews!

I’m really excited to announce this new, on-going series of blog posts! Diviners use all sorts of tools to get their readings from looking up at the sky and watching birds to using a tarot deck. There’s thousands upon thousands of different tools out there, especially in regards to cartomancy methods. A lot of diviners end up with large collections of decks they hoard and adore.

However, not a lot of people actually post about their experiences with various decks or tools and that’s really a shame! Divination tools can be expensive and if you make a purchase and end up not liking it, the tool itself can be hard to rehome. Reviews can make decisions far easier in terms of whether or not a deck will mesh with you personally.

Each deck tool I use is one I personally own and use. This doesn’t mean each and every tool will be the same. My aventurine pendulum won’t be the same as yours due to lots of reasons such as where it was mined, shaped, and sold from. It can all vary and that’s part of the fun! I’m an average consumer in terms of tools, especially since I’m willing to try a bunch of different divination techniques involving a lot of different tools. Some things I’ll make myself and others I’ll shop around or save for. It’s fun and should be fun. Hopefully my reviews help a little.

What will each review include?

Each review post will include images of the tool in question. Physical specifications such as the size of the tool, the material and quality, where it’s purchased from, and a discussion on my experience with the tool itself. Discussions such as art style, feel of the tool, any associated books or items that the object came with, and favorite aspects of the tool.

Each review will then be cataloged in the “Tarot and Oracle Decks” page, as you see linked above. (The page title is something of a misnomer since there’s more than just cartomancy tools in there but shh.) As a bonus, that page will be cleaned up to be more user friendly because it’s kind of ridiculous right now.

Posts will be using the tag #divination tool review and the category Divination Tool Review.

I bought an online reading. Now what?

Sit back and relax! Within a few days you’ll receive your reading via email or etsy conversation.

When a reading is purchased online, I review the request and schedule a time to do your reading. Sometimes this is immediate and other times it may be a day or two after the purchase is made. An average day for me will be described in a later post but essentially, my work is just like everyone else’s work. I sit down at my reading table with a cup of coffee or tea and set to work.

The first thing I do is consider your order’s requests and unique circumstances. You can also request a specific deck if you want (etsy even has the option to select the deck when you place the order) but if a deck isn’t selected I’ll pick one out. Sometimes a deck is chosen because of the nature of the reading or even the personality of the client. Other times I’ll use whatever deck “feels” enthusiastic for the specific reading. If you’re a repeat client, you may find a deck used numerous times with your readings. Some decks prefer certain clients and will produce better results because of this.

When I read for my clients, I think of the person who made the request. Sometimes I only have a name or pseudonym to go by and other times I have information such as birthdays or pictures. My readings don’t seem to lack with however much or little information is given so give however much information you’re conformable with. The more information simply allows me to put the cards in a more specific context. When I physically read, I take a second to clear my mind then I shuffle the cards thinking of you, your situation, and the specific questions to be answered. I shuffle until it feels right to stop and then lay the cards out.

I’ll look at the cards and make a perfunctory reading. This preliminary step usually includes any feelings I get or general keyword meanings the cards provide. Sometimes the cards speak easily and this first step goes into all the details that are included in the full reading. Other times the cards need to be parsed for specific details and connections. Think of this as taking notes. This is a “quick answer” and is the first impression I have with the cards drawn.

Usually I’ll take photos between the drawing the cards and finishing the reading. This is because when I read I tend to pick up the cards and study how they work together and how they speak to the situation being asked about. Putting them back is never as pretty as when the cards are first laid out so the pictures are taken before this step. For each reading, I tend to take three to four times as many photos as the amount you receive and pick through the best of them to send to you.

I’ll go through the reading, fleshing it out with the information the cards give me and any psychic impressions and tidbits I’ve gathered intuitively, completing the reading in depth. While you may recognize a common meaning of a card, each reader interprets that differently with every reading and situation, the information the reading gives you isn’t going to be quite “by the book”. This is a good thing! If a by-the-book answer is what you were looking for, then you wouldn’t need a reading! Then I go through to make sure I didn’t miss any details and fill out the “format” for my readings. (For example, writing the introduction greeting and salutation is done at the end.) The file is saved on a secured cloud server in a folder dedicated to you.

I’ll then go through and edit the photos of your reading. Editing the photos is usually a simple process. I crop the photos down, adjust the lighting and contrast to make the colors pop while staying true to the cards, and add in a watermark. Then I’ll pick my favorite ones and save the files as .jpgs in the cloud folder, labelling them accordingly.

Finally, I’ll send you a copy of the reading and the photos through etsy convo or email and mark the order complete. If you request the reading to be sent though email and you placed the order through etsy, you’ll receive a second copy of the reading through convo (unless requested otherwise). I can and sometimes do make the reading into a .PDF on request.

That’s it! Sometimes the process is switched up depending on the situation as each and every order is unique and different but that’s generally what happens. Seems like a simple process but it can take several hours depending on the size of the reading to complete. I highly prefer that my readings are done in one sitting so finding the time to properly sit down and read the cards may be challenging (who doesn’t have a busy life these days right!?) but worth it in the end. I hope to have sample readings up soon for everyone to explore.

When you receive your reading, keep an open mind while reading it as some of the information may be hard to face truths or advice. It is up to you to put the information in the reading to use and in context. Sometimes the reading involves seeing the future or future events that haven’t occurred yet. I’d recommend putting the reading away and going back to it at a later date then. Since we make our own choices and our lives aren’t written to any great extent, your future can change from what’s been foretold because of the choices you’ve made! Usually this affects the timing of when events will occur but sometimes it will render foretold events moot. If I see that this may happen, I’ll say as much. You may also find there are times where you aren’t asking the right questions or have a reading that doesn’t reveal much information. This is because you’re at a crossroads of a sort – a decision must be made to proceed. If I see this in your cards, I’ll say as much. I may be able to parse out the details or the right questions to be asking.

I’m perfectly happy to discuss my reading process so feel free to ask questions! I’ll be happy to answer if I can!

How to Determine Your Worth as a Witch or Reader

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One of the most frequent questions I get as a witch and reader is how to determine what to charge. I see hundreds of readers or witches great under charge their worth for fear of not getting sales or that they are overcharging. Chances are, you’re not and I’m here to tell you why.

First off, let’s conquer this idea that witches and/or readers shouldn’t charge. It’s absolute bullshit to say that these services should be available for free. I mean literally the most absolute bullshit in the highest scale imaginable and when I’m told this I literally stare at the speaker as if they were on fire. Because in my mind I’m probably lighting them on fire. By saying that readers and witches should offer their services for free, you’re doing five things:

  1. Pushing your opinions, ideas, and values on others and in many cases using your religious, spiritual, or personal morality and ideology to silence others and force them to conform to your beliefs on this topic. That’s a horribly shitty thing to do and it needs to stop. Now.
  2. You’re saying that their services and skills are worth nothing. Please go out in the street and flag down the nearest electrician. Now tell them they should spend hours rewiring your house and, while you do that, tell them that their skills aren’t worth shit and they’re overcharging. Tell them there’s dozens of other electricians who charge less, many amateurs who aren’t trained or licensed who would do it for free, and clearly they should just not charge you. Then go to your therapist or doctor and tell them the same thing. When you say that there’s lots of readers out there and thus someone’s overcharging and/or they aren’t worth what they’re charging and/or they should just give these services away, that’s exactly what you’re saying. You’re saying that religious and spiritual services are not worth paying for. You’re saying that they, as people, are doing something worthless. You’re demeaning them, their practice, and their faith. Essentially, you’re being a piece of shit.
  3. You are ignoring the INCREDIBLY long history of these services being paid for. Village healers were paid for their services in kind or with money. History guarantees this. Why do I say this? Because there are just as many tombs of valued priestesses and healers as there are rulers and warriors.  I can literally walk into a museum and see the crown of a priestess next to the crown of a fucking king. You can bet your ass those priestesses didn’t go dig up the gold and smith it themselves. So when you say shit like “no TRUE [whatever] would charge for this” you are LITERALLY shitting on every single one of those practitioners before you that makes up those traditions you so viciously defend and adapt to your practice.
  4. You are saying that working in an religious or spiritual field is a waste of time and not a profession. You’re saying religious and spiritual organizations shouldn’t make money. And that is clearly false as shit. I present to you: the Christian Church, one of the richest organization in the history of the world. You’re welcome to have this belief but you don’t get to force it on others (see #1).
  5. “It doesn’t work!” I can’t prove that faith works either but tithing is still a thing. And if you’re using THAT as your fucking basis of an argument, then you’re once again committing #1 and forcing your beliefs on others. And for fuck’s sake, so long as the client’s fucking happy, who gives a flying fucking shit? Additionally, it’s basic fucking science that there’s no way to prove something doesn’t exist. Just saying, the possibility is absolutely out there.

Now that we’ve covered that, moving onto the business side of things.

I recently posted this comment “if you’re going to run a business then run a damn business.” I completely stand by that. And the tips I included are really simple:

“Get a business spreadsheet for prices, put in the materials, how much time you spend doing the thing, how much base pay you want, taxes if applicable, shipping if applicable, what kind of profit margin (if any) you have and presto! Instant price. Pop that into the “how much box” and call it a damn day.”

This is absolutely true and has saved me so much trouble and heartache. If left to my own devices not only would have (and have I) undercharged my services, but I still struggle with this today. (Actually, I struggled with it less than an hour ago before I said fuck it, typed in what the numbers said, saved it all, and starting writing this.)

Why do this? It takes out the emotion of it. It’s entirely and completely clinical and that makes it far easier to sell the item and to actually charge what the item is worth and make money off of it.

“Be honest with how long it takes you and round up, not down. It shouldn’t matter whether it’s for tarot readings or if it’s for selling homemade candles, break that shit down and work it out.”

This is sometimes the hardest thing but absolutely, positively the MOST IMPORTANT. You need to be charging an hourly wage, especially if you need to make a certain amount each month or this is your only occupation. For example, I charge $25 an hour for my services as of this writing. Right off the fucking top. That price was determined by how my bills and expenses and what kind of savings I wanted to make. To be honest, it’s not enough to do what I want to do (like actually repair my car) and I’m thinking of raising my hourly wage to reflect that. Am I worth that? Fuck yes. For what I do and in my area I can charge $75 a hour or more. I don’t because I like my services to be accessible to all. And yes, I do mean all. Charging what I’m worth allows me to donate to charities and organizations. I offer free readings to inmates and spells for the homeless upon request. I have the time and materials to do that because I charge what I’m worth. It means I’m less stressed and can cater to my clients properly. Plus I can pay my bills which is really kind of cool.

“You shouldn’t have to feel guilty asking your worth.”

This is arguably the hardest part of it all. We have been told time and again that our services and this field isn’t real, is a waste of time, and we should feel obligated to not sully out gifts this way (please tell Beyonce she shouldn’t charge for her shows or albums because she’s a gifted singer. Go on and tell her. I fucking dare you.) You are worth something. Your time is worth something. So charge for it. You have literally no idea how happy I was once I said “fuck it” and stop letting others determine what I was worth (which, BTW, is about what a living wage should be). Is that possible for everyone? Fuck no, but that’s literally the debate on minimum wage. I wish this was possible for everyone. I really fucking do.

So that’s all well and good but HOW???

Spreadsheets. I downloaded and looked at dozens of hourly wage and pricing spreadsheets, combined them at will to best suit my needs, and moved the fuck on. I plug in the numbers and go. Don’t know how to use spreadsheet? Tutorials are your friend. Look at the help page and just copy and paste the formula at will. Save and make numerous copies of both untouched and touched spreadsheets in case you fuck up royally. Cry a bit in frustration when something doesn’t work and ask for help as needed.

Here’s some areas to consider for your spreadsheets:

  • Materials. Put in each material you used, down to the tiniest screw. Determine how much that screw cost you. If you bought 50 screws for $4.00 that means each screw costs you 8 cents. You divide the the price (include that tax!) into the number of items and call it a day. 4/50. Use a calculator, the spreadsheet formula, or just type the math into Google.
  • Overhead. This is what you spent each month. You can also pro-rate things. For example, I recently bought a sewing machine for the shop. I include that in my overhead. My rent, bills, food, gas, any tools I use (screwdrivers, for example), fees I pay out for services, business cards/advertising, and so on all get plugged in. Then that number gets divided by the number of items I produce each year. Here, I’ll perfectly admit I’ll fiddle with the numbers. I divide it by the number of items I could produce a year. This is primarily because I make things to order. I have a set number I use as a base and I alter it if I go over the set number in sales. (Example, my set number of items sold might be 300 but if I sell 500 readings, I’ll use 500 instead which will reduce my overhead cost.) This does mean I am potentially, yet again, undercharging for my items.
  • Labor. Break it down. How long does the reading take you? Divide that by your hourly wage and call it a day. Making a candle? How long to buy the ingredients? To melt the beeswax? If you’re going to do a batch, divide those numbers by the amount of items you produce. And the spreadsheet do all the math so long as you put he right numbers in.
  • Adding all the above will give you the price of the item that you should be charging. However, there’s one additional item to consider. Profit margin. Some folks use this, others don’t. Usually it’s a percentage. This is going to be absolutely pure profit, extra money for the item. Use this wisely and at your own desire.

No, but seriously, HOW????

How do I decide how much something is worth? I do it. I make whatever item I’m going to make and time myself on how long it took me. Then I multiple that by however much I want to make hourly and call it a day.

Look and talk to fellow practitioners of the same craft of you in the area. How much are they charging? You should match them relatively in price. Don’t go by online prices. Go out on the street and get the prices there. Why do I say this? Because there are so many people charging less than they should online and it’s a fucking tragedy. If you’re an artist, go up to street artists and ask how much they’re charging. If you’re a reader, ask other tarot readers how much per a reading and what that reading entails.

Make your product different and unique. This can be really hard if it’s the same kind of service. Flaunt your experiences, skill, and personality. Offer fantastic customer service or free gifts. (I like my gifts to be a surprise because it’s really cool and I love it when I discover I got something extra whereas when I’m told I’ll get a free gift I expect it and eventually start to think of that item included in the price of whatever I’m buying. Having a cohesive aesthetic and running with it helps. Most of all, make your products unique and then see what clients say about your prices. Do they think they’re getting a great deal? Then you can probably charge more. Have they not mentioned the price at all? Then you’re probably in a good place price-wise. If they mention that you’re overcharging or it’s price-y (and it’s consistent on a single item for example), check around for what others are charging, change your target audience, and/or look for ways to reduce cost.

This is a lot of math.

 

Yes it is. But you can do it. I swear to all your gods and mine that if I can do it, you can too.

Why do I say this? Why am I so certain? I am absolutely math stupid. My six year old brother can add and subtract better than me. I am absolutely fucking serious. It’s a game by brothers play to throw numbers at me. I don’t get angry, I literally stop. I stop functioning because I simply do not get numbers. I stop while my brain tries to figure out numbers, even simple addition like thirteen plus five. (It’s called Dyscalculia and it’s occasionally the bane of my existence. I wish to everything that is holy I was diagnosed as a kid because maybe I wouldn’t have ended each homework session crying into my multiplication tables. )

ANYWAY, remember that intelligence doesn’t negate learning or cognitive disabilities so you can absolutely fucking do this.

This is a lot of business jargon.

Look, my hatred of math made me avoid all math and, in turn, business. As soon as I could, I dumped math off my to-do list forever and never looked back until recently. What I know of business I learned from reading books and articles, asking questions, trying stuff and seeing if it worked or failed. I started my business up because I was broke as fuck and with my chronic sleeping disorder I can’t hold down a nine-to-five (At all. I fell asleep on a TV once. I’m not kidding.) I learned so much and I love my business. Love it now. It makes me want to actively seek out business stuff. I don’t understand most of it without breaking it down (and calling friends who get numbers to ask them to explain things to me) but it’s a journey I don’t regret in the slightest. I might not have a head for business but I have a love of my business so I will do what I have to do to make it thrive.

Final words are this: Just because we work in a spiritual and religious field doesn’t mean we can’t make a living off of it and still remain accurate, authentic, and true to ourselves and our beliefs. Best of luck everyone!

Rambling Dreams

I dreamed.

After spending many hours drinking I returned home to dream.

There were two of distinct memory.

The first was of a bear. A black bear, likely the American black bear to be honest although I’m not much for recognizing species by type. A bear is a bear including all that entails being a bear – a dangerous predator and a fierce mother.

In the dream a bear had wandered into the house. For those who are unaccustomed to bears, this does happen in real life. Maybe not as often inside the house but they are often found wandering in suburbs, even in Rhode Island. This bear was not causing havoc and really was just being inside the house. Sort of like if a squirrel or bat had gotten inside. In the dream I fetched out a thin metal staff with a hexagon shaped top to it, carved. Dull steel though the curves and arches of the head’s design where sharp despite the roundness of the head. With this I gently nudged the bear around to get it to leave. At one point, the bear had said fuck it and rolled up in a pile of laundry, half covering itself to sleep (why there was a pile of laundry in the corner of the living room I have no idea but let us not question the machinations of dreams shall we?)

Then the dream is gone. I have no idea how it ended. I know there was a time difference. I believe I woke up (I never sleep fully through he night, constantly waking and falling back to sleep a dozen times in a few hours of rest). Eventually I went back to sleep and this time dreamed a bit more bizarrely.

In this dream, I was half-lucid. I remember thinking thoughts that my dream-self did not but I did not bother to try to control the dream. I let it play out as it liked.

I was speaking to a council. I was me, dressed for business. The council of politicians were on screens but I was speaking and on the floor with schoolchildren. I spoke of abuses that in the dream I suffered but not have personally done so in this life. Malnutrition  physical abuse, ignored by the system, given back to a father that loved me more for being a punching bag than for being his child, and a mother who was absent or dead. I did not know. Abuses I have not suffered here but my dream-self had.

I relayed the story of my abuse to a roomful of children and the politicians far away and yet seen on-screen. I spoke on how the planet Pluto had given me back to my father instead of saving me. It is implied that it is not the not-planet or even the deity Pluto that is being spoken of but rather a government. I spoke on how we should be saving the people, the children, and not our petty differences. How we should focus on saving cultures and not combine religions (there was another part to the dream, less remembered, where two religions similar but not the same where being combined to save trouble and costs. The texts were written in  Japanese, a languages I once knew very well but have since forgotten from lack of practice and use. I remember being surprised in the dream that I knew it at all and realized that perhaps I have not forgotten as much as I had thought but instead have it buried behind many other thoughts and knowledge that it takes too long to remember when necessary. Either way, it is something to ponder about later and not the point of this post.

My speech moved the children and councilors alike. Some had to flee the room, so impassioned it was. Some of the older children had paperwork for me to sign, perhaps it was a way they were voting or would have if they could have. I’m unsure. A girl came up and hugged me, she did not know her mother either and felt my dream-self’s pain.

And then it all went away and I awoke. I have no idea what to make of them. This is not the first time I have dreamed of this bear in my house. I believe I will fall back to folklore and symbolism as much as I can without cultural appropriation to see what this may mean. I’m of the belief that dream interruptions is fairly useless unless you have a personal symbolism dictionary for the things you saw in your dream. For what I attribute to bears might not be what others do but in dreams it’s all about what I see, what I feel, what I think. Such as it is.

Anyway, that is what I dreamed. Fueled by day of alcohol and sleep.