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We’ve written elsewhere
of just how precarious the finances of most Pagan clergy can
be. We don’t have congregations supporting us, paying our
rent, covering our medical care, bringing us groceries, etc.
Most of our community is so donation-phobic that it never even
occurs to them to pass the hat after rituals or other major events.
Yet those of us who work with large numbers of people, or who
trudge around the country presenting workshops and seminars,
or who have dedicated large parts of our working lives to helping
our community, usually wind up living at a much lower economic
level than the average Neopagan, while dealing with higher stress
levels.
Isaac is still handicapped from
his long-ago tryptophan poisoning (see
below), especially during cold and/or wet weather. He cannot
hold down a secular job because employers and clients get upset
when he falls asleep after a few hours, his marketable computer
skills are obsolete, and few companies want to hire older workers.
He can’t write for more than a few hours at a time because
of the pain in his hands. No matter how “famous” he
may be as a writer and speaker inside the Neopagan movement,
his income from writing and presenting is tiny (especially compared
to equally famous New Age authors).
Phaedra is mildly handicapped by
arthritis and sciatica, which prevents her from taking a second
job. The job she has now barely covers the rent, with little
left over for utilities, car payments, medications, groceries,
etc. We would not have made it through last winter without losing
our home, if it hadn’t been for the generosity of a couple
of dozen folks.
This winter looks even worse, as
the Bush Depression has killed the festival movement (the source
of Isaac's income from speaking) at the same time buyers of home
furnishings (Phae's source of income) have been cutting back
drastically. Even with the start of our two wedding sites, Hudson Valley
Civil Ceremonies and Unusual
Ceremonies, we had an income drop of 20% for both 2007
and 2008, even while the cost of everything (including rent,
utilities, and groceries) has been rising.
Phae’s commuting expenses
are low, thanks to a branch of her Select
Comfort Sleep Number™ store (be sure to contact us for
her work phone number after you browse online) in the
huge Palisades Mall in West Nyack, NY (a mile and a half
from where we now live). Your purchase of goods and services
enables us to keep doing our work. The lower our stress levels,
the easier it is for us to write additional new books, update
older ones, travel to teach, run an online school, create new
graphic and jewelry designs, perform unique weddings and other
rituals, and make other contributions to our healthy Neopagan
culture.
Your donations in 2005 and 2006
kept us off the street and enabled Isaac to finish three books:
The Pagan
Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers, Bonewits’s
Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca. and Bonewits’s
Essential Guide to Druidism. Your donations, purchases
of books and other products, and the donations for speaking and
performing weddings in 2007, supplemented Phae’s salary
and commissions to make possible yet another new book by the
both of us: Real
Energy: Systems, Spirits, and Substances to Heal, Change, and
Grow, and Neopagan
Rites (formerly Rites of Worship), Isaac's groundbreaking
work on public Pagan liturgy.
Special thanks must also go to
our Sponsors,
especially the ones who make regular monthly donations. Even
a little bit, given regularly, can make a very big difference
in our lives. After receiving requests from donors, we now present
Subscription Donation Buttons to make those monthly donations
as easy as possible:
Is there a solution to involuntary
vows of poverty for Pagan Elders? We both have noticed over the
years that most Neopagans (even during hard times) may
have money for the things they really want: books, music,
jewelry, clothing, fancy magical tools, beer, pizza, CDs, videos,
iTunes, etc. (although we know that even fun purchases are dwindling).
So we have been spending the last few years trying to produce
tangible goods and services, with which to support ourselves
in ways that won’t offend those who believe in the holiness
of poverty (at least for Pagan clergy). Read on to see what those
products and services are. We know everybody is hurting financially
right now. The Bush Depression wiped out the moving money we
were beginning to accumulate. This year Isaac will turn 60 and
Phae isn't that far behind (sorry, dear). There is no retirement
plan for Pagan Elders, only the generosity of those who think
our work has been valuable. And as Isaac notes in the essay
called Adopt
an Elder, many other Pagan Elders are in serious straits
this year too. If you can't help us, at least help someone else
who has dedicated their life to Paganism.
After a great deal of thought,
we have decided to cease selling autographed books, jewelry,
or music CDs via this website. It just is not cost effective
to lock money into inventory when our turnover is so slow. We
encourage you to purchase our books at your local metaphysical
shop, though they are also available at Amazon.com and major
bookstore chains. Naturally, we will be happy to autograph your
copies no matter where you purchase them! For jewelry and CD
purchases, see below.
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