Follow the Money

A week ago I stood before this accounting of what it takes to put on the witchcamp I was teaching at and found myself uncontrollably crying. The financial report had been casually taped up on the side of the dining hall by an organizer. There had been no fanfare, no ritual around it, and no hubbub (other than my crying). There were some questions and comments by those who looked at it, but all in all it was a very low key event. Some revolutions barely get noticed by the time they fully happen.

It's a revolution that has been fermenting for years. I've played a primary part in it and because of the part I've played, I've also paid. Dearly. If anyone eventually does write a history of Reclaiming, odds are this revolution will not be recorded, or if the shift in witchcamp culture and structure does get noted, credit will probably go to those who fought it the most. Such is the nature of history.

Credit, as it turns out, is not the most important thing, at least to me. What is important is that things are shifting radically, that we are finally in the greater part of Reclaiming putting our money where our mouth and magic is. To do magic that invokes creating a culture of beauty, balance and delight calls for us to be accountable and transparent financially, and to create structures that mirror the world we want to call into being.

BC witchcamp is the longest running Reclaiming witchcamp. This year was it's twentieth anniversary. It began as a part of the production business of one woman, Pat Hogan, who graciously turned if over when the community was ready for it to be put on collectively. It was also the first camp to publicly announce that it was doing away with the old pay scale and paying teachers equally.

I was sent this photo of the financial report yesterday. Once again, looking at it, I cried. The change has happened. For the past five years I've taught at camps where there is an understanding that the way we are structured affects the magic we make. Avalon(spring), Spiralheart, and BCWC are all committed to accountability and to working in accordance to the Principles of Unity. They are all non-profit ventures and all pay teachers equally. At BC witchcamp, looking at this financial report, I fully took in how widespread the change has been, how different witchcamps have become from ten years back. I choose to believe it makes the magic we do all the more potent, as the structure of most camps support and mirror the kind of world we are invoking.

The only hold-out, as far as I know, sadly continues to be my "home" camp, California.

Someday, and may it be soon, a financial report might be accessible to the community there as well. Someday, and may it be soon, there might be revolving leadership in organizing the camp, and the one paid producer will turn it over to the community.

Maybe it will never happen, but I bet it will. Seeing that financial report makes me believe that just about anything is possible. And that makes me cry.