Saturday, May 12, 2012

Something of Value


     
  The debate about whether or not it is right or ethical to charge for workshops, classes and public rituals is a perennial one for sure. Every so often someone loudly balks at having to pay for these services and then the debate is on.
  Very recently I witnessed such a debate on Facebook and while I didn’t weigh in at the time as it was apparent that others had in well in hand I thought I would weigh in with a different perspective than the one most commonly offered. The usual retort for those who complain about paying is explaining how Pagans stores need these funds to keep their doors open and how the teachers of these classes also need these funds for expenses and while these are true and valid reasons there is another that is equally if not more important and that is the simple notion of value. If you are lucky enough to have a store or a group in your area that does in fact offer these services for a fee then you will have to decide if they are offering something that you want and what it is worth to you.
  There seems to be this rather fantasy idea that once upon a time knowledge was freely given to all those who sought it. What is most true about that statement is that it is a fantasy. If the knowledge is something of value then it has always been the way that some exchange of value would be involved. If you wanted to learn a craft or an art then you would either have had to have been born into a lineage that taught it or you would have to apprentice with some elder in that craft. Depending on the time and the culture that apprenticeship would have to be paid for in some way. In some cultures an apprenticeship would require a payment to the teacher but rather or not there was an exchange of money or some other trade of goods the apprentice would be required to do a great deal of work to pay for the knowledge often to a degree bordering on slavery but in truth it was by the work that the knowledge was paid for. Even if you were born into a family trade or craft you would have been required to do much work for each little tidbit of knowledge. This served a two-fold purpose; on one hand the work that the apprentice would do, which as often as not would have had nothing to do with the actual craft being sought, would free up the elder or teacher to practice the higher aspects of the art or craft and it proved to the elder/teacher that the apprentice truly wanted to learn the craft. In other words if you wanted the knowledge you had to be willing to work for it.
  While it may have been true that in ancient Pagan times that the community rituals did not require a fee in the same way as they do today you have to remember that the temples or the orders or the clergy of said community were supported by the community. Again the way in which this support would have been expressed would vary according to time and place and this has not changed for the most part. Tithes and donations are the mainstay that supports all of the religious organizations that exist even today. When I was a little girl I was always very excited about being the one who got to put the donation in the basket that passed down the long pews during Sunday mass. If a Baptist or Catholic or Jew or a Buddhist wants to have a church or a temple to go to they must pay for it; they must evaluate the value and pay accordingly and many pay tithes that are set percentages of their incomes.
  There are many old traditions often repeated in the Pagan world such as never haggling over the price of a magickal tool, or if someone gives you a knife as a present some token payment must be exchanged or the knife will severe the relationship. As a practitioner of wort cunning I know that when I harvest from the green realms I must pay in some way for what I take; even land spirits require some exchange of value and I can tell you first hand if what you offer is not enough then they will extract payment on their own terms. Many of us even make offerings of value to our Gods when we ask for their attention or help. If these traditions and practices are true then why should we as Pagans not understand the need for an exchange of value?
  In most cases when a store or group offers public rituals for a fee then they usually add the caveat that no one it turned away for lack of funds so if you feel that the ritual is something of value to you but you can’t afford the asked for donation then why not just contact the facilitators and ask them if there is something that you can do in lieu of monetary funds such as help set up or clean up after. If you don’t feel that the ritual is worth the fee or your work in lieu of the fee then don’t go and don’t complain. If there is a class or a workshop that you feel would be of value to you but you can’t afford the fee then contact the facilitators and see if you can work something out; perhaps a reduced fee and trade for some service that you can supply or goods that you can trade. Again if the knowledge being offered is of value to you then you should have no problem offering something of value in return.
  If the opportunity to celebrate and worship with like-minded people is of value to you or if the knowledge being offered at a class or workshop is of value to you then you will not balk at having to exchange something of value in return. What it all boils down to is this: it’s either something of value to you or it’s not and if it’s not perhaps you should look elsewhere. 
Blessings
Raven Womack

3 comments:

  1. People really don't realize how much work can go into a good workshop, to assume that someone in this day and age where more and more of our time is taken up in the constant struggle to keep out of the poor house it becomes an act of greed on the part of those who demand classes from people who do not have the support of an agency like an organized church.

    Also there is the simple fact that if you pay for the information that you are gaining from a workshop then you will be more likely to value it. Putting your money where your mouth is isn't just a dare, it's a fact of life.

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  2. Years ago in our shop in Dana Point we decided to offer a series of free introductory classes on Wednesday nights with each class/lecture covering a different class series that we would be scheduling in the near future.

    We thought that if people, prior to signing up (which would commit them to an expenditure in time and money), could meet the instructor and get a taste of the subject matter that would be covered in each class series that we were offering, they would be more apt to come check out the classes. This would then provide the instructor the opportunity to promote their class to a larger group of potential students.

    We ran the Wednesday night free intro lectures for two months with basically no attendance, and therefore no sign-ups for the various class series whatsoever.

    After discussing it with the instructors, we offered the exact same two-month series of intro lectures using the original ads, but with a $10.00 charge added for the Wednesday night lecture. Attendance was excellent and there was a good rate of sign-ups for the individual series.

    Moral of story: While people complain about paying for knowledge, if they are offered it for free, they place no value on it and may well pass on the opportunity to acquire it.

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  3. It seems to me that this exchange of money for services has to do with how we are in relationship with one another. If we are in a community, everyone contributes to the sustaining of that community. One person teaches, another takes on leadership responsibilities, grandmother serves as healer, the man down the way defends us when we are threatened, others raise the food that sustains us. We are in dialogue with each other through our exchange of goods and services. To not want to enter into this relationship, to want everything for free with no effort put forth, is to be a child.

    Perhaps, as participants in our myriad Paganisms, we should put more effort into creating authentic community, entering into authentic dialogue, and valuing one another enough to not expect our lives to be handed to us for a discount, or for free.

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