Magicians, nowadays, are broke financially.
Not all of them, I’m sure. You’ve probably met plenty of higher-ups in MMS who have successful businesses and careers under way; in general, though, magicians tend to be pretty strapped for cash, as a rule.
I have theories about why this stereotype exists, and is fulfilled. By scraping so much of the energy around us out of our personal space, we can sever our relation to the natural abundance of the universe.
This, coupled with a societal prejudice against woo-woo, can detract from our ability to foster successful business relationships. (Notice how insular communities like fundamentalist churches are populated with successful businesspeople who always do business together, and you can see the disconnect I am describing.)
Magicians don’t patronize each other’s businesses like Christians do, because there’s not nearly as many of us, and so many of us are broke.
We like to trade.
Barter works well for us, because we rely on money from outsiders (non-Magicians) outside of our circle to pay our bills, so we CAN’T be insular.
However, I wonder if we can step out of the classification of ‘broke magicians’ and into the demographic of ‘successful people who happen to be magicians.’
Any thoughts on how to firmly make that shift?
Traditionally (hundreds of years in the past) magicians were very well off. They were the wealthy, the kings and fiefs. They were the only ones who could read, study or even have the time to focus on ‘magic’ perse because they didn’t have to go scavanging for food.
More recently, there is an economic movement which is paving the way for ‘alternative’ ways of living.
Aljazeera has a great article here:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/03/2012361233474499.html
Even Damanhur has been relatively ‘currency-free’ and sustainable for years:
http://www.damanhur.org/
I have met (and actually know people who currently live there), and the way they have set up their society is fundamentally different to how we have shaped our culture over hundreds of years. I’ve been associated with Damanhur (through various friendships) for the past 6 years. They are really amazing people with so much to share with the world.
The point is…
As society moves from a heirarchial/supply & demand/Masculine/Yang society back to a more Universal/Inclusive/Feminine/Artisitic/Ying Society we will see more and more people employing ‘trade’ or barter systems rather than monetary systems. Ideally, these two theories will co-exist in harmony in a universal way for the ultimate sustainable culture. This is the idea of the Adam Kadmon (or perfected (wo)man.
We are getting there, slowly but surely. The advention of the internet has sped this process up. Only 100 years ago, knowledge was power. Now, with Google, you really can’t say that so much.
p.s. I have a new chiropractor. Which only bears onto this conversation because I am seeing him 5x a week, plus massage, plus x-rays and he is only charging me a flat rate of $150 a month. I am trading the rest of it with social media services (setting up his twitter, facebook and yelp accounts), reviews, write-ups and press-releases….
So it is happening and the more we (as a society) support people who support our community, the more I think it will happen quickly.
p.p.s. that was what your $100 that you were paying me was going to go for. So, now, the cash has to come from somewhere else, but there is still bartering involved. I barter with the chiropracter, then I barter with you, then people buy my books, then I can pay for the x-rays. Slowly but surely, slowly but surely.
*****
and while we are on this topic…
Check out this article on Huffpost. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthieu-pigasse/we-must-invent-a-new-world_b_1335992.html