Supporting the arts

Over the last month while I’ve been madly posting about Dionysos, I’ve had several people come forward and say that they really appreciate what I’m doing and would like to know if there is some way that they could help out. I am terribly conflicted about this. On the one hand, yeah there is. I’ve been out of work for over a year and a half now and while my unemployment covers rent, bills, groceries and religious supplies it doesn’t leave a whole lot for much else and it’s not going to last indefinitely. But on the other hand, I’m doing what I love, what I feel is my spiritual vocation and I’ll always find a way to do that regardless if I end up on the street tomorrow. I don’t do it for payment or any other sort of recognition. Although I love sharing it with you guys and all of the wonderful conversations we have here over this stuff, I don’t do it for anybody but myself and my gods. If all of my readers went away tomorrow, I’d still be plugging away writing this stuff, because it’s in my heart and soul and I can’t not do it, any more than I could stop breathing.

So while my instinct is to say, “Naw, don’t worry about it. Just sit back and enjoy the ride and think good thoughts about Dionysos and the other gods,” I also feel like I owe it to those readers who want to do more, who want to show in some tangible way that they’re getting something out of all this, that they can. After all, I like supporting the artists and authors who have touched my life and I feel sad that I’ll never have the opportunity to do that for some of them, either because they live far away and fairly secluded from the rest of the world or else because they have long since passed on to Amenti. So here are a couple different ways that you can help out. But don’t feel obligated to. Your continued reading and commenting is more than sufficient.

1a. Buy my books. I’ve currently got four of them out there – Gods and Mortals, a series of interconnected short stories about contemporary Hellenic polytheism; The Balance of the Two Lands, which collects the bulk of my writings on Greco-Egyptian polytheism; Echoes of Alexandria,  which contains poetry and short fiction in honor of the Greco-Egyptian gods and From the Satyr’s Mouth, a miscellany of essays, rants and humorous reflections on life in modern Paganism. I’ve got a fifth title on the way, which I’ll be talking about in another post later in the week, but the rest of them can be found here and purchased through Amazon or Createspace. It’s better to get them through Createspace since I receive a larger cut of the proceeds that way, but it’s easier for some folks to go through Amazon and that’s perfectly fine.

1b. So what if you’ve already got copies of all my books, and purchased some for every one of your friends and relatives as well? Then, my excessively obsessed reader, the obvious next step is to write a review for them and post it to your own blog, journal or website as well as on Amazon and other book review sites. Once your review has been posted I’ll add it to the list and mention it here on The House of Vines, which could help get some extra traffic to your site. (Not to brag or anything, but I regularly get around 200-340 hits a day, which is fairly impressive considering the rather obscure topics I discuss on this thing.) Why are reviews important? Well, they help boost sales for one. People are more inclined to buy something if they see that it’s a known entity and a lot of folks are talking about it. It doesn’t have to be an exhaustive commentary – something from the heart that explains why you liked it and would recommend it to others would more than do the job. A couple minutes out of your busy schedule could end up really helping me out.

2. I do commissioned work. A couple times now I’ve done a creative writing pledge drive where people provide me with a topic and for a small fee I’ll compose a poem, essay or short story for them. Although this has been staged as an event in the past, there’s no reason why it couldn’t be done whenever folks felt like it. So if there’s something you’d like to see me write about – and would be willing to spend a little money on it – drop me a line. My rates are competitive (and detailed in that link) plus you’ll be supporting the arts and have your very own original work to show off. (I can even send you an autographed copy of the piece for your personal collection.)

3. In addition to writing I supplement my meager income through fortune-telling. I do this on the street corner here in Eugene and out of Metamorphosis Garden, a local Pagan shop each Wednesday. However, there’s no reason why I couldn’t do this for you over the phone or through e-mail. I use Tarot and a variety of ancient Greek divinatory methods, which are detailed here (along with my rates and contact information.) All of this is distinct from the monthly Dionysos Day oracles that I do, which involve direct trance-possession and do not rely on any sort of mechanical divination. Since these are the gift of Dionysos to the community I never ask for any type of payment for them, but divination is a different matter entirely. I charge considerably less than most Tarot-readers I’ve seen and yet the information I get tends to be startlingly accurate, to the point where I’ve got a sizable clientele that come back for numerous repeat readings. You, too, could be one of them!

4. If you don’t feel like doing any of the above but still want to help out in some way you could always donate through PayPal where I’ve got an account under sannion@gmail.com. Alternately, you could write and I’ll give you my home address if you wanted to send a check, money order, gift card or donate ritual supplies or other items. If you want to do this anonymously be sure to let me know because otherwise I’ll shout the praises of my euergetai far and wide.

So, there you go. Hopefully I’ve provided a sufficient answer to the question “what can we do” and now I can get back to doing what I do best, which is writing about the gods that I love so much. Thank you to all the people who have asked this question, all the people who have helped out in the past, as well as all of the people who would have liked to but weren’t able because of their own difficult financial situations. But especially my thanks go out to all of you who continue to read and comment here. You make all of this so much more enjoyable.