Last week I was super sick after a horrible allergic reaction and was in bed for a few days.  While I was hanging out I had plenty of time to read Facebook and found myself reading a very long conversation centered around a new online course that Denise Linn was holding through Hay House on space clearing.   I have been debating taking this course myself.  I’ve taken a few other courses with her through Hay House and loved them but I wasn’t sure about this one so I wanted to see if anyone in the comments had done this work with her before.  I was not expecting what I came across instead.

Rather than people talking about the matter at hand it was a contentious conversation about the $477 price tag on the course,  a price which is set to almost double after the live course ends in November and it becomes and “on demand” course with Hay House.

People were pissed.

“How can you charge this much for an online course?”
“Don’t you know that the people who need this most can’t afford this?”
“It’s utterly shameful that you would charge for this to begin with, never mind the hefty price tag you’d attached to it.”

Honestly I was surprised about the reaction.  It’s a professional certification course and in-person this would cost thousands of dollars!

If you do spiritual work, readings, healing, coaching or teaching chances are you’ve come up against a version of this yourself.  I know I have!  The reasoning for this reaction?  “It’s a gift from the Divine and should be giving as a gift to those that need or want it.”

No.  I’m sorry but no.

 

First let’s address the idea of “gifts from the Divine.”

We all have some kind of Divine gift or “god given talent”.  Once we start to realize what it is, whether it’s a killer sense of style, a keen ability to hit a high note or the gift of divination, we make a choice – do we want to develop it or do we want to leave it in the background?

Many of us see finding this gift as a calling toward our purpose.  So we study, we practice, we learn and we implement.  We hone that skill and then make our next decision – how shall we share it with the world?

For those who are really passionate about their gift they often make the choice to turn this gift into their way to earn a living.

Why is it that we can say someone with a natural gift of athleticism is worth millions of dollars a year but someone with a gift for delivering healing and spiritual wisdom doesn’t even deserve to earn a modest living with their gifts?

 

I think it’s because we don’t understand what we’re paying for when it comes to spiritual services.

Spiritual wisdom is universal.  All the spiritual wisdom that anyone is going to teach or share is already out there in some form and you can find it for free with your friend Google.  That’s the truth.

When we go to a teacher, a coach or intuitive we’re not really going to them for the teachings but for the way they present it and tailor the experience to our needs. It’s their personal life experience that this wisdom is filtered through that makes all the difference.

We’re paying for their time and the personal experience we get when we work with someone. 

Centuries ago spiritual teachers were cared for differently than they are today, but then society was different.  Money didn’t usually change hands but instead their basic needs would be cared for. They would receive livestock to feed their family, their homes would be built and maintained for them and so on.

Today cash is what gets our basic needs met so cash is what is exchanged for goods and services, even when they are spiritual in nature.

Money also gets a bad rap because it gets associated with greed and seen as the opposite of being spiritual.  You can be rich and be highly spiritual just like you can be broke and completely separated from the Divine.  It’s not the money but how we value money that makes the difference.

 

We need to change our perception of money so we can change how we value the things we do with it.

When we pay someone for coaching, for instance, we should be excited that we’re supporting someone’s work and dream while getting the help and guidance we need.

We’re exchanging something of value to us for something else of value to us.

We put a lot of value on money given how hard we work to get it, how carefully we save it and especially how critical we are when it comes to spending it. We feel guilty if we spend a certain amount of money or we selfish spending a big chunk of cash on certain things.

While we all have to have a budget, instead of focusing on what we’re losing from our wallets we need to focus on the value of we’re getting in return for the spiritual things we choose to invest in.

At the end of the day it is your choice how you spend your money.  But it’s also the choice of the person charging for their product or service what that price should be.

And let’s be brutally honest.  Just because something doesn’t fit into your budget, no matter how spiritual the service or product and no matter how much you think you may need or want it, if you can’t afford it that’s something you have to figure out.  Lashing out at the person providing the product or service and condemning them as a fraud, a cheat or just plain greedy says more about you and how you feel about money than it does about them.

The more spiritual workers have, including money, the more we’re able to do and give.  When we’re making money with our spiritual work we’re able to offer free content with ease {blog posts, newsletters, videos, audios, ebooks}.

When we support spiritual teachers and healers who have messages and gifts that we value and know are needed in the world, they are able to spread their message farther to can help the world like they are meant to.

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