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Exploring Pagans and their relationship with that earthiest of earth symbols, money.

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Moneyworking

For all that I write about money, I've never summarized how I work with it, in a religious sense.  In part that's because I only set up a formal money shrine recently, and having that around has caused me to step up my game.  Here's a snapshot of my money practice as of today.  I'm actually hoping that I will come back and read this in a few years and be amazed by it.  Who knows, maybe this will chronicle practices that I will forget, and then reconstruct based upon my own ancient writings!

But even if the internet archaeologists don't find it interesting, I hope some readers will.

My money shrine itself (pictured) has several items.  From the left to the right, they are:

  • A money offering jar, which I incorporate into my festival of Hermes and the opening of the markets.  It gets contributed to by family and friends throughout the year, and then goes to a person who could use it.
  • The brown candle is the top of a honey jar spell which belongs to my wife.  She created it at the first class I ever gave on Pagans and money.
  • My money hunter spell is churning merrily along in the center.
  • In the foreground on the right is an offering bowl to the money spirits which is guarded by Ploutos, or rather by a figurine that is as close as I could get.
  • Directly behind the offering bowl is a ceramic bank modeled after a rubber ducky.  Unfortunately, I can't explain its role because it's a symbol of one of the money mysteries.

In the background is an American flag.  This is where it resides when it's not flying, representing indigo, which was an incredibly important cash crop in this nation's history.  Since I took this picture I moved the saffron from the kitchen to the money shrine; after I started finding cash stuffed into some of the other spice jars, it seemed like a good idea to put the most expensive one there.

My practice has mostly focused on money-focused deities in the Hellenic pantheon, such as the aforementioned Hermes and Ploutos, as well as Poseidon and Zeus.  But thanks to insights from a wonderful teacher, I am thinking about the spirits of money itself.  I was pretty much an animist as a child, so it's interesting to revisit those relationships as an adult.

The eloquent Darragher Foster wrote a prayer to the spirits of money, which e gave me permission to reprint here:

Hail, spirits of money
I praise your resourceful nature
I honor your good works
I seek never to take you for granted
I pray to change my mind about the nature of abundance and embrace your blessings tenfold
I shall respect you and not allow fear of losing you or not having you overwhelm me
I ask to have and hold you and develop so thoroughly in your presence that I can share your bounty with others
I promise never to use you to harm another
I promise to celebrate you, in good times and bad.
I shall make offerings
And accept your blessings
Instead of running from them.
Hail, spirits of money

© 2014 Darragha Foster

I say the prayer as I make offerings to the gods and spirits of money.  Thus far, the most common offering I make is one of money itself, but I have plans to make some incense as well, and as a Hellenic Pagan libations are commonly included in my worship.

While I do include magic in my relationship with money, this isn't a particularly "magickal" shrine.  That's not to say a money shrine can't be, and I'd be interested in learning about ones that are, especially if the magic isn't solely focused on drawing money to the practitioner.

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Terence P Ward is a business writer and journalist who blogs under the rather cumbersome moniker of True Pagan Warrior.  He can generally be found at home, tending to his gardens and the many demands of his cats; in the alternative, follow TPW on Facebook. 

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