From the article: Pagan Living on a Budget
Do you have a great idea on how to save money within your magical and spiritual practice? Share your tips for financial survival with our other readers! Share Your Ideas
Candles from others
- I have no money for candles so this is what I did. I asked my neighbors for the candles they don't want or those that aren't pretty any more. They came through. I went to the second hand store to buy some too. It doesn't matter what they look like. Chip wax into small chips to melt better. color with crayons, old ones are great. I bought some wicks and plan to melt down the old candles. Separate according to color in say a butter bowl or something larger like an ice cream bucket. After you separate the colors you remelt them down and pour into a milk carton, pop can or jar to remake candles. Look up on ehow on how to do this. Continue to recycle the wax till it is gone. You should have wax and ceremony items till times get better.
- —Guest Deborah Nelson
Herbs and Incense
- I'm always amazed by the price of dried herbs and pre-made incense. Did you know that most magickal work can be done quite well using common cooking herbs? The best thing about them is that most can be raised on your kitchen counter under growlights -- yes, even in an apartment. Simple, no-nonsense loose incense and magickal potpourri are both dead easy to make at home.
- —pschristmas
We are Pagans
- Pagan means "Of the Earth" in Latin. Financial difficulty has no bearing on how the trees grow, how the bees make their honey and wax or how the stones lay in your path. Look around yourself. Communicate with nature and reconnect with that which is the basis of our spirit path. If you need a wand. . . walk in a park and ask the trees which wood to use. If you need a candle, find a local bee keeper and ask them to exchange your time for wax and learn the ancient art of candlemaking. If you need graveyard dirt. . . ya get where I'm going yet? We are the people that get to embrace the earth more closely, let her show you the way and forget the worries of the modern dollar or the yen or the euro. Nature only asks that you give back as you may and that you do no harm.
- —kiltedbear
Candles and Supplies on the Cheap
- I buy candles after each holiday. Post Halloween means lots of black and orange candles. After Christmas I can buy gold, silver, green and red candles at a bargain. Easter is good for yellow and pink and light blue. I stock up, then store them in a cool corner, away from my incense and oil supplies and altar. A lot of herbs are available at the grocery store in the spice aisle. Coupons and sales can help a lot. Scott Cunningham's "Incense, Oils and Brews" is an excellent investment, and can often be purchased used at a discount. It contains substitutions, so if you can't afford that really expensive herb you don't have to panic. Also, I have found some good discounts on herbs on eBay. I've found oils at the health food store and even a retail pharmacy on sale. Most importantly, decide what you need before you go to the store or order online. Make a list and stick to it. It doesn't take a lot of herbs to make a lot of incense.
- —Guest Persephone
Monthly Book Exchange
- My friends and I get together once a month, and we each bring books we've read, and we pass them around the circle. The next month, we all bring back the books from the previous month and give them to someone else. This way everyone gets a chance to read new things, and no one has to go broke doing it.
- —HighlandWench
