The Challenge of Manifesting Your Beliefs

With more and more Pagans being solo these days and buying most of their Pagan bling online, the former gathering places of brick and mortar metaphysical bookstores are becoming fewer and fewer than in the past. Time for the new model to emerge of physical centres set up as central Temples and places to come to workshops and do research like the Maetreum and the New Alexandrian Library project in Delaware. Unlike the bookstores these places for practical reasons are in rural settings rather than the more urban former bookstores.

Most forms of Paganism came from rural roots and it is time to return to those roots for so many reasons.

Setting up such a project takes time, planning and a few very dedicated visionaries with charitable hearts.  Pagan centres that failed in the past did so for fixed reasons, failure to pay as you go, ownership by individuals rather than non-profits, expecting to raise large overheads by community donations and overlooking that as Pagans, our efforts need to be as green as possible.  They need to be as inclusive as possible of other Pagan paths and when combined with community housing they can provide a much improved standard of living for folks with limited means willing to work for the good of all.  This is what Paganism looked like in the pre-Christian era and must look like again for the sake of the planet and each other.

You start by incorporating as a religious non-profit and then applying for IRS 501(c)(3) status.  You then locate property bearing in mind that if you incorporated you might be able to get the property donated for someone's tax write off. Don't try to make it all happen full blown out of the gate, be realistic and start small scale.  Do look into tiny houses remembering that you can build them yourself.  Don't be afraid to ask help from those who are doing already or even by lending a hand with projects already underway as a sort of mentor-ship.

There is built in resistance from some in the Pagan communities, ignore that and understand the greater Pagan communities probably will not provide much in the way of donations.

Paganism is at a crossroads right now and the choices are into the shadows once again and eventual erasure or standing proud and doing and manifesting your beliefs into the real world.  The choice is yours but those of us manifesting are going on with or without you.