Should We or Shouldn't
We ?
Accept Money for Divination
That
is the question
I am a Diviner
I read Runes .. Tarot
.. Cartouche ..
I have done so for many
years
Now while its true I
have done 90 % of it for free
I
have also been paid to do it from time to time
*
And it worked just fine
no matter which way it
went ..
So I think that answers
where I stand on it :)
However..
why is this even an issue at all ?
Does the word Charlatan
ring a bell .. ?
*
At one time the role
of Diviner was an honorable trade
for Trade it was, often
a very highly
respected and highly
paid one
*
The fact that it was
so lucrative is most likely what led
( and sorry to say )
leads to it's mis-use and abuse
*
I have been told by Pagans
and Non pagans alike
things like
*
"
your not supposed to accept money for THAT "
or
"
If you keep selling the gift ... it will leave you "
and
"
how do I know your telling me the truth
since
I am paying for it "
*
The first and the last
are the problem ,
the middle one I wont
even dignify by discussing
as it's hogwash plain
and simple,
but it comes from the
other two
*
If one is given a talent
for say ... singing
No one thinks it odd
if one gets paid for singing
in fact if your very
good, they would
think it odd if you did
not
*
Why should the Goddess
given talent of divination
be any different ?
People have always wanted
and will always want
a peek into the window
of tomorrow
*
Which is what most people
think
divination is all about
.. the future.. and it often is
but it's not a concrete
future . It's a possible one.
based on what the person
does or does not do,
the reading often changes
the course,
by giving them information
*
Which is the whole point
of getting one
to begin with
*
A good reading will give
you
not only the possible
tomorrow
but the events leading
to it
this is the point of
possible change
for better or worse..
it's a hint about the self
Yet
*
I am still asked., foolish
questions like...
"Who will I marry ?"
To which I tell them
"whoever they want to" ,
ya don't need a reading
to answer that
*
Now if the question being
asked is
what may happen if
I marry .. ?
That I might get an answer
to .. and so it goes
*
Now that's the way the
system works,
but what of this payment
business ?
Well the image of
"
Cross my palm with Silver and I will tell you your fate"
*
Comes to mind like something
off a bad melodrama
.. but consider this
.. the Old gypsy fortune teller,
no matter if she was
real or not would most certainly say
money first .. for anything
.. as anyone
could stiff them anyway
they pleased,
to whom could they complain
?
*
As nomads they came under
no ones jurisdiction
as a point of law, so
were outside of its protections
*
And were not trusted
by anyone to boot,
since they were
nomads ,
they could cheat
you up one side
and down the other, and
be gone tomorrow
*
But they offered such
exciting entertainment
that people tended to
speak
from both sides of their
mouth about them
*
Decrying them in one
breath ,
and sneaking off to go
have their future read ,
when they thought nobody
was looking .. :)
*
Much the same as they
do now
with modern day diviners.
People use them, like mad,
but it's like it's some
little dirty secret
*
Anyone who openly admits
going to one ,
Especially anyone who
takes it seriously,
is treated like they
are some kind of Nut :)
Now what I have found
with regards to payment
.. is this.. I have often
charged a fee for my services
Particularly with total
strangers, say during Festival's
Where having regular
John Doe Public walking up to the table, was the norm
Which is quite another
affair than persons who visit a readers private
room in the back of the
local herb shop or something.
So I would make a point
to charge a fee
simply because I wanted
the person to listen to me,
And not treat the matter
as some kind of parlor game
As such persons may never
have gotten a reading before,
In their lives, and are
often skeptics.
*
What you get for
Free you often tend to ignore,
especially if it's not
something you want to hear
*
But if you paid good
money for it ,
you tend to listen more
...
at least this has been
my experience
*
But its been set in the
social mind .. that paid = Fake
So it's 50 50 odds as
to which paying for it
is going to invoke ..
Belief or skepticism
There's also this to
consider, way back when,
when the idea that such
things should be free,
was begun in our mind
set, was an
attempt to control
rampart Charlatans
*
Swamis of every kind
were coming outa the
woodwork ,
sucking up money like
a vacuum cleaner
But you couldn't outlaw
something
you couldn't "prove"
was fake
( not to mention had
to admit it even existed
at all, in order to
outlaw it )
*
So the campaign began,
to infiltrate
the social mind with
the concept of ....
*
That
if a diviner asks for money
they
are lying to you
and
just want the money
Now this most certainly
did
take the wind outa the
sails of those
who were riding
the diviners cloak
to fame and glory I am
sure
*
But it also made it real
hard on
the whole idea
of divination as a trade
*
I mean who would bother
taking it up
during those times, when
one did not have time
to waste on non productive
things .. ?
*
Helping your fellow man
in this fashion is great,
but it puts no bread
on the table
if one is forbidden to
make money from it
One must make a living
too, so it took a back seat
to the needs of day to
day living
*
Now it's seeing a comeback
... a major one ..
and a lot of it, in my
personal opinion, bogus ,because why ?
Because it's gone back
to being a very
money making affair
There are new 900 number
Phone lines and such like
put in daily !
Now
is everyone
whose
making money
as
a Diviner a Fake.. ?
Of Course Not !
*
There is now, the same
problem that people faced
during its last heyday,
to weed out the Charlatans,
from those with the real
gift, who will tell you what they really see
But
How
do you know which is which ?
Here's my rule of thumb...for
telling which is which
*
If they ask you for all
kinds of information, before or even during the read
most likely they
are not real, or are very foolish readers !
*
A skilled reader of
people
can draw all manner of
information out of a person
and with that information
give them a reading that
seems like magic
*
As they have let the
person
tell them all they needed
to know,
and the person is always
surprised
as in "how did you know
?"
*
With this kind of "reading"
the answer is simple,
they
know because you told them ..
all they needed to do
is ask the right questions
Now
I get asked " How did
you know ? .. a lot ... !
But then I don't ask
my client a thing,
before I read for them,
nor do I
ask any questions during
it
*
I don't even want to
know, what issue
they want to know about,
until I am done
*
Then .... if they
want to talk about it ..
I will be more than happy
to
*
As too much information
leads to mis-reading
the lay .. it's human nature ..
(
not to mention makes it real easy to fake it
as
I said before .....)
*
We can't help but be
influenced by the information,
so to keep the read free
of any such prejudice, I tell them
*
" Don't tell me what
it's about ..
until I see what the
Cards/Stones have to say "
And tell them all
that I see and sense,
then if they want
.. they can tell me..
sometimes they do ..
sometimes they don't
*
But I know I have given
them
the truth, as it was
shown to me
*
Then its up to them
what they do with the
information
*
But sometimes that's
not enough for them
There's
the other reason for "diviners "
who
lie to the client .. the client demands it
*
I cannot count the number
of times
I see something in a
read that the client says
" no way that can be
right " ,
and demands something
else
*
I had one once who made
me
go through all three
forms of divination
I had with me .. they
all said more or less the same thing
*
She was livid .. until
her friend piped up with
"
Lidia, that's the same thing
you
got told the last time too
(
speaking of another reader
she
had already gone to .. not me )
You
didn't listen .. your still doing
the
same foolishness .. so no wonder the cards
are
saying again .. you need to stop "
*
In this case the divination
said in essence re: the
situation,
drop it and do nothing
*
She wanted a different
answer
*
And if one is making
a living at this
and this is a repeat
customer,
the temptation to give
her what she wants
would be strong ... again
human nature ..
Even through we know
the Client is being self delusional
*
We
are not going to shoot ourselves
in
the foot if we can help it .. which is why
.. Ethics ..
Any reader must have
ethics
*
In this, I do believe
, that the gift can leave you
if you have it , and
repeatedly ignore
it for the sake of pandering
to the clients whims
*
This is not why it was
given you ,
use it well or lose it
...
*
But turn down being paid
for it because of that.. ?
I don't think so ...
just because
there are those
who fake it just to make money ?
*
It's a case of Caveat
Emperor .. Buyer Beware ..
As with all things
*
Just
my two cents
(
pardon the pun )
on
the matter
Companion
work
Seeking
the Sybil
