Materialism

                                 
I've never been much impressed when a preacher in a $500 suit, speaking from
behind a $1000 pulpit, in a million dollar church, tells me that materialism is
wrong.

There's nothing wrong with materialism.  Greed, now, is another story.

There's an old saying, or rede, among witches:  "Let no silver cross your palm
in the teaching of the craft."

It's been said that the only difference between paganism and New Age is a
decimal point!  It costs a lot more to get involved in New Age.

You'll find a lot of wealthy TV preachers out there, and ministers of some of
the New Age churches draw down 6-figure salaries.

But your normal witch will produce her income doing a job like everyone else.
No one should get rich from sharing wisdom.

The Church is wrapped up in an uncomfortably hypocritical position.  On the one
hand, the leaders of the church (look at Rome, for example) surround themselves
with opulence.  On the other hand, official Christian dogma says that material
things are inherently evil and spiritual things are inherently good.

A lot of New Age people talk the same way, using the word "spiritual" as if it
were a more important word than "material."

Witches look at the universe completely differently.  We recognize the Earth as
sacred.  All material things (including we ourselves) are in and of the
Goddess.  The so-called spiritual world is merely another aspect of the
physical one -- and no more (nor less) important.

We use the term "spiritual," of course, but we use it to describe the world as
it really is.

Sharing food and drink with good friends is a spiritual experience.

Shared sex between two loving persons is a spiritual thing.

Touching the grass, smelling the new-plowed earth, breathing salt-laden ocean
breezes ... these are all spiritual experiences.

Yet they are also very physical -- material -- ones.

Witches accept the material world as being fully as worthy of honor and respect
as is the spiritual world -- because we see no difference between the two.

Blessed Be!