How many times have you heard this one? Actually… how many times have you asked yourself this question?
In this post, I’m going to do my best to offer the long-time, studious, hard-working practitioner an explanation. This will not only answer the question for the disillusioned outsider challenging you, but it will simultaneously provide a higher level of understanding to those who actively beat themselves with this very stick—a habit that can have harmful effects on your spiritual and mental journey.
The Illusion of the Quick Financial Gain
First and foremost, I understand that the illusion of quick financial gain is the most popular attractor for starting a journey in Magick and the Occult. And I won’t BS you: it can be had once you attain a certain level of knowledge and understanding.
The problem is that people only focus on the first half of that statement and completely ignore the vital conclusion:
"...once you attain a certain level of knowledge and understanding."
Meaning, it is only after you learn how this information affects your life and the world around you—and exactly how and when to apply it—that you can begin to improve the quality of your reality.
But before we delve any deeper, we should clear up a few things: you do not need to become a Magician or Occultist to obtain wealth and riches. However, those who do obtain wealth and riches are actively using occult principles, whether they realize it or not. I will delve deeper into that in future posts (so make sure you follow this blog and brand everywhere).
What the Occult Actually Is (And Isn't)
For clarification, if you are reading this and think the Occult is strictly about demonic possession, symbolism, and casting spells to hurt people, then you are a victim of the internet and not a student of the mind.
The Occult is a broad range of fundamental topics studied to make sense of how the world works. I define it as the study of the connection and affectation of patterns in:
- Mathematics & Science
- Language & Sound
- Nature & Health
- The Universe within Humanity
This is not evil, and this should be taught to everyone. Instead, this information sits out in the open because the masses of people prefer an entertaining lie over scientific truths.
And yes, Occultists—with our disciplined approach to study—are indeed scientists. We measure, experiment, record data, track time, compare, test, analyze, and rinse and repeat our findings all day. That is the core of our study, and at the very least, that is how I teach.
Defining "Riches" Beyond the Mundane
Before anyone can declare they want to be rich or wealthy, they must know what wealth and riches actually are, because the Occultist surely holds a different perspective.
Wealth is measured in different ways for different things by different people, and so are riches. Are we talking about money, material objects, information, knowledge, or raw ability? How exactly are you defining “riches”?
When I formally began my study back in the early 1990s, I was not fueled by a desire to gain wealth or love. I was captivated by the simplest idea: that people had the inherent power to make things happen. That was the draw for me. Once the initial fear of what that meant subsided, I became obsessed with learning, reading, and studying. Casting spells wasn’t even a secondary interest at the time.
Plus, being born into an upper-middle-class background meant my economic baseline had been firmly established. This gave me the psychological cushion to actually learn and absorb my studies, as opposed to quickly performing scarcity-derived money spells out of desperation.
The Cold, Unfeeling Laws of Nature
No matter what lured you to the path, the initial reason one studies Magick and the Occult really doesn't matter. Science and nature, as cold and unfeeling as they are, do not respond to emotions or pleading; they respond entirely to how well you honor or dishonor their laws. They do not care if you are kind or loving, greedy or stingy. As long as your formula is correct, you will obtain what you’ve asked for.
This goes for deities as well, though it is common for people to anthropomorphize them. Still, they bless and curse indiscriminately—blessing the cruel and the patient equally, as long as all boxes are checked and the magical formula is correct.
So when it comes to wealth, this individualized path reminds us every step of the way that we all begin and end as solitary practitioners—no matter how many groups, covens, or orders we may join. Our Will is ours alone, and so are our choices.
On this path, you have the choice to become rich or poor financially. However, many practitioners surprisingly choose comfort and happiness instead, as they know that material increases require you to expend far more personal energy to achieve and maintain what you receive.
The Choice of the Solitary Practitioner
Secondly, such questions clarify who possesses genuine spiritual understanding versus who only has finite knowledge. Please make no mistake: with rising costs, everyone needs money to survive. Additionally, I’ll repeat that wealth and riches can be, and are, obtained on this path. Surely, I can attest to this due to what the application of my own knowledge has helped me—and still helps me—achieve. I regularly manifest goals that I hear people begging for every single day.
However, how much one wants to obtain is an individual choice, not an impossibility while on this path. Also, in a world with declining mental and physical health, wealth is measured in so many ways that money may not even be a practitioner's first request. Furthermore, money and happiness (and no one mentions happiness as a success marker anymore) are simply end results—byproducts of growing properly on this path.
The Danger of the Magickal Band-Aid
Lastly, Magick is a band-aid. It can bring you all the temporary love, money, and health with which you may, or may not, be energetically matched.
This volatile cycle can be observed in certain practitioners who undergo extreme, unstable changes—such as starting with nothing, receiving a massive increase in their quality of life, and then crashing straight back down to nothing. Or, they receive a large request and later appear as if they are being punished for how they’ve handled their manifestation.
The lesson here, and everywhere, is clear: if you want wealth and riches, you better be prepared and learn how to receive, manage, and maintain them—or else you will surely lose everything. This same rule applies to love, partnership, health, and every other area of life. It is this exact weight of knowledge that many casual practitioners fear to tread, leaving finite fools to rush in blindly.
Take Your Studies Deeper
For raw occult and mind power content, join my Patreon at 25% off for your first month using code GGBLOG(which amounts to less than $1 dollar per day). Learn what the benefits are for becoming a member here.
