Read Online A Teaching Handbook for Wiccans and Pagans by Thea Sabin - Free Book Online Page B

who want to do this as their primary occupation.
    Both Thorn and Christopher pointed out that it’s very difficult to make a living solely teaching Paganism. Thorn was hesitant to provide any sort of a “formula” for others to follow to make teaching Paganism a successful career:
    Most Pagans have deep distrust of professional clergy, and I don’t see this changing anytime soon. Most people I have encountered who have set out to try to make a living teaching magic or spirituality full-time in a Pagan context have not been successful. I live in amazement and gratitude that I’m able to make a living this way. It feels like a fluke or a confluence of so many factors that it would be difficult to even tease out the components necessary to making it work.
    Christopher’s advice was about diversification:
    If you want to do it as a full-time vocation, have multiple streams of income. Don’t think you can make a living just teaching Paganism. If you are going to teach, branch out into other topics that have an audience with a little wider range and more disposable income—tarot, crystals, mediumship, Reiki, etc. Classes just on Paganism don’t have enough of a draw for a large-enough income to live on.
    Along those lines, one thing that is very important if you are going to build a career for yourself as a Pagan teacher is to diversify and market. In addition to branching out into other topics, as Christopher suggests, it’s a good idea to supplement your teaching and build your reputation as a teacher by doing teaching-related things that can get you noticed, such as blogging, creating a website, doing free workshops and “guest teaching” in others’ classes, having a strong presence on social media sites (especially Facebook, Twitter, and Google+), and posting podcasts and videos online. All of these things will help you become better known in the Pagan community and give potential students a taste of what your teaching is like. You are basically building a brand around yourself and your offerings.
    Although Thorn was hesitant to mark out any sort of pathway others could take to make teaching Paganism a career, she did offer these words of advice:
    There are five things I can share: Do your work. Maintain integrity at all costs. Stay clean. Don’t get into public personality battles. Know your worth. Other than that, all I can say is good luck, because I don’t think this is an easy way to make a living. I really should say “good fortune” because success requires a combination of us showing up at our best, with all of our talents and effort, but there is also chance—the roll of the dice cup—that will either meet our efforts or not. I’m more interested in people following the course of their soul’s work, knowing that the current might shift in a direction that is different than what we first thought. That certainly happened to me. If you asked me fifteen or twenty years ago what career I was working toward, I would have said “novelist.” But here I am, because I kept following the energy as it opened in front of me.
    Legalities
    It’s certainly not the most scintillating aspect of teaching, but Pagans who are considering teaching professionally need to consider legalities, such as insurance and taxes. The information here is meant to give you a starting place for examining these issues, but it’s not comprehensive, and different rules apply in different cities and states.
    Insurance and Waivers
    If you’re teaching out of your home, it doesn’t hurt to check your homeowner’s or renter’s policy to make sure you’re covered if someone has an accident on your property or tips over a candle and sets the place on fire. If you’re teaching in a building or on land you don’t own, whoever owns the space should have insurance. Ask the person you’re renting/borrowing from about the insurance policy