Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight, so we can proceed with a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. Any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. (Any question received after then will not get an answer, and will likely just be deleted.) If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 143,916th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.0 of The Magic Monday FAQ here. 

  I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use the button above to access my online tip jar. If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 

 

I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain other gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I now have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online. 

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***

Comments

[michaeliangray]

To add to point 3. I grew up poor and I suspect I will die poor - this middle bit with a little bit more money but a passing phase.

I don't want to glamorize being poor, but it can be a very good teacher on how to be a strong individual that knows how to work their way out of a tough situation. A calm sea never made good sailors. You can usually tell when someone has come from a poor background, they are interesting people. They aren't just another identical person that comes out of a little box, or plastic people as Frank Zappa called them. They have had to face adverse times and have also figure out how to overcome them. In over coming issues of lacking they become stronger people. It is like building muscle, you have to damage it and then repair it better.

[ecosophia]

I grew up middle class -- never once in my childhood did I have to worry about where my next meal was coming from -- but I had the great advantage of deciding on a career as a writer. If you do that, you're going to be poor for a while, and that gave me plenty of experience at how you can be poor but comfortable and happy. It's a crucial skill!

[(Anonymous)]

If I may ask then, do you have any practical advice to offer?

[ecosophia]

No matter how little money you have, spend less than you make. If that means you need to live on rice and beans, learn to like them. (At this point they're one of my comfort foods.) Get a cheaper place than you have to, get your entertainment for free from the public library, and so on. The more wiggle room you can open up, the happier you'll be, partly because you'll have extra money when you need it, and partly because you'll know you can do just fine if your income drops even further, and that will decrease your stress considerably. When a $25 check from a magazine publisher feels like a gargantuan windfall, and you spend $10 on something nice and stash the rest, you're getting the hang of it.

[(Anonymous)]

It sounds to me like this means unlearning nearly everything I learned about finances in my middle class upbringing....

[ecosophia]

Yes, it does. What you learn about finances in a middle class upbringing is intended to keep you enslaved to the system. Treat it as enemy propaganda and you won't go wrong.

Working man

[(Anonymous)]

One of the best decisions I made in my 20s was quit my telecom job and go into landscaping, then start a carpentry apprenticeship. Not just for the practical skills, but you meet so many different kinds of people and see how they live which gives a much broader perspective that put my dysfunctional background and generational baggage in context. If you find the right trade school with something you are interested in then it can be really fun, not to mention it will horrify your parents. Going against their wishes, having a good time, and being successful really helped me break my psychological dependence on their approval. I also have friends who got on a plane and never looked back.