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Monday 5 October 2009

Question of the Week - Question #10 - Pagan Pennies

Sorry about the delayI've been focusing on a couple of other projects over the past few weeks. Questions of Faith the book is very nearly 2nd draft, and after that it will be in the hands of a few beta readers and then on ward after that. Here is the 10th Question of the Week in which we focus our attention on our Pagan pennies. This can be a tough concept for a lot of people, because it can make them face some personal prejudices that they may not even know that they had. Everyone no matter how rich or poor they might be when it comes to their own personal finances only has so much money to spend. What is important is how they spend it.

Now like with most of the questions I'll be asking there is no right or wrong answer to this one. This one is just about putting some thought in to what you do with your money and making some informed decisions. In my early days as a Wiccan everyone I knew who was on the path was short on cash. Over the course of the past 15 years things have changed a fair amount, but there are still a high number of people at the poverty line or below. Maybe this is more a local thing I'm not sure, how do things look in your area?

People often joke about people of the Jewish being rish or tight fisted with ther pennies. Have you ever wondered where the jokes come from? Think about it for a few minutes, the last time you where at an event hosted by someone from that community where did they get the supplies for it? In my experience they likely will have purchased them from another member of their community. As a community they support growth within the community by purchasing from and encouraging others to purchase from other members of the community. Interesting why to spend your money isn't it? Not to mention a great way to support your community. So what do you do with your Pagan Pennies? Do you make a habit of supporting the small local merchant? Do you buy from the big chain story because it is a little bit cheaper? Or do you fall some where in the middle supporting them when and where you can, but going for the cheaper option when it is there?

One of the things I mentioned in the last paragraph is the idea that people support and encourage others to support a locally owned Pagan Business. In your experience is that what we do with Pagan/Wiccan stores? I've seen it go both ways with communities being hugely supportive of a store and I've seen communities it stores alive as it where. I think in the case of stores it comes down to the owners and what they give back to the community.

As always I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.


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