by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground

A pewter and topaz right that calls on the power of Vampion – $1,008.
A coin that has had spells cast on it to bring unlimited wealth to the owner – $100
Angel spirit protective ring amulet that grants powerful psychic protection and financial success – $11,250.
Realizing that the economy must not be in as nearly dire of straits as all of the other markers seem to indicate – Priceless.

This morning, while I was trying to come up with something to blog about, I suddenly had the urge to browse the completed sales on eBay to see if people were purchasing “magical” objects. Apparently, if it is on eBay and it promises amazing powers of financial success or other forms of magic, it sells. For big bucks. Maybe the economy isn’t in nearly as bad of shape as the media would have you believe. Or, maybe there is always money for the necessities like a powerful jade ram skull that brings good luck ($399) or a plastic ring that allows you to read others’ minds ($100).

Times are tough, it’s true. My county currently has 13% unemployment. Even intelligent, talented people are out of work and unable to find a job. As a matter of fact, the more talent and experience a person seems to have right now, the less likely they are to keep their job and/or find a new one. Companies are cutting from the top down – keeping the less experienced, less expensive employees.

Naturally, people are looking for something to believe in. Of course they are. When times are tough, a belief in magic in all of its forms rises. When there is nothing tangible on which to pin our hopes, we turn to the intangible.

Several years ago, I decided to return to the church; however, I was looking for a church that was free of the dogma that I had associated with my previous experiences with religion. That is why I settled on what my mother termed, “The Church of What’s Happenin’ Now,” the Unity Church. I found Unity attractive at the time because their belief was that any and all paths to God were equally valid. Not only that, but they accepted all lifestyles and sexual orientations into their membership. As a social liberal, I found this attractive.

Off we headed to the Unity church. We began attending fairly regularly – a few times a month.

One of the big teachings of the Unity church was how to achieve prosperity. According to the church, there were three elements that would make you prosperous – they called them the three Ts. Time. Tithe. Talent. In other words, give your time and your talents to the church. Oh yes – and 10% of your pre-tax income. Including child support, poker winnings and other found money.

I didn’t learn about this teaching right away. I first became familiar with it one night when I attended a “prosperity” workshop at the church. The speaker, who was a fun and dynamic woman, talked to the few hundred people attending about the path to prosperity. Was it visualization? No. Was it positive thinking? No. Was it hard work? No. Was it creativity? Nope! The secret was tithing! If you wanted wealth then you needed to share the wealth you had with the church. Why? Because that created the mindset that you had more money to give away, which brought in more money.

In the course of the workshop, several people stood up to talk about their experience with the three Ts. One woman stood up and said that she gave her 10% of everything that came in, because if she didn’t, the universe always found a way to take it anyway. She then told a story about receiving a child support check and not thinking that she needed to give 10% of that. The next day she got a ticket that was for exactly what 10% of her child support had been. Her point? The universe took her 10% when she decided not to give it. Everyone in the church that night nodded approvingly. Well – almost everyone.

Another man stood up. He was a nice man who had been out of work for months. His unemployment had run out, and he was surviving on what little work he could pick up as a day laborer. He asked if he should tithe pre-tax dollars or if he could tithe gross income. The facilitator of the workshop told him that his question was a “masterful” one. And then she told him it was pre-tax dollars.

I did not attend the Unity church for long after that evening.

During tough times, we are all looking for that magic bullet to ease our troubles. There’s a saying, “You have to spend money to make money.” Somehow I don’t think this refers to spending money on promises that make money magically disappear.

Does this mean I believe these things don’t work? No. I can’t say whether they do or not – I have no experience with that. Maybe for some people they do work because they create hope, which generates a mindset that allows those people to begin to tune into their inner guidance and find ways to prosper.

Still, it seems to me that, if magic exits in the universe, it is something we find inside of ourselves and not from an external source. We have the ability to create the lives we desire. I believe this 100%. I’ve experienced the power of visualization, although I can’t say how it works. I don’t know if it lights a fire in me or if it draws on some mysterious universal sources. I’ve experienced the power of writing goals and having a dream I spend a little time nurturing each day.

Human beings are capable of generating miracles. By tapping into our desire, our creativity and our indomitable spirits we can be, do and have anything we choose. We can create our universe and we can change the world. And we don’t need magical items we purchased on eBay to do it. All we need is desire and a belief in ourselves. Now that is priceless.