Jun

16

8 Comments so far

1. jessica Shepherd June 17, 2009 4:00 pm

   okay, that rant is too friggin’ funny! Who are these people who say we are money grubbers? Not to compare public servants to, well, public servants, but just for kicks I typed in ‘Janitor’ and learned: a Janitor earns on average, $22k.

   That’s 5 k more for the Janitors than the Astrologers.

   Oh well, better than scrubbing toilets right? Not that it’s a contest.

2. PWS June 18, 2009 9:19 am

   Well, I am just snorting with laughter over this one. Big piles of money??? LOL.

3. April June 18, 2009 9:19 am

   Ha! When I first started out as a self-employed astrologer I actually *did* scrub toilets (and sang in coffee houses, and typed masters theses for people, and, and…) to make ends meet. Not the happiest way to spend time, but for me it beat being an executive secretary, which I could no longer stomach at all (although it paid very, very well).

   I once heard someone say that jobs no one wants to do (cleaning toilets) should pay more than the ones practically everyone wants to do (rock star, professional athlete) – but weirdly, it never seems to work out that way. Except in the case of astrologers, who get to do groovy work but generally have a tricky time earning a living from it.

4. Neith June 20, 2009 10:48 am

   In it for the money?! ::::howling with laughter::::

   I worked cleaning houses for people for awhile but even that paid better than being an artist. Do you think the idea of Patrons of the Arts (including astrology) will ever come back in vogue?

5. April June 20, 2009 10:58 am

   If only, Neith. If only…

6. Beth Turnage July 5, 2009 4:21 pm

   Yep, goin’ to quit my day job any day now. I’ve been saying that for twenty years.

7. Molly August 6, 2009 5:12 am

   Good post. I was accused of this just last week, when I insisted on payment up front for a reading (which is my standard policy and usually no problem). Yep, just a big old greedy money grab.

8. April August 6, 2009 6:35 am

   Molly, that’s my policy too, and I have been questioned about it a few times over the years. I understand why people wonder about it – some clients really don’t understand how much of their consultation happens before they even show up! It only took getting stood up by a couple of clients before I put that policy in place.

   I once had someone ask, “How do I know that if I send you the money first, you will send the reading and not just take my money?” (I record all my readings instead of doing phone consultations.) To which I replied, “The same way I know that if I send you the reading first, you will send me payment for it afterwards.” The penny dropped; she hadn’t thought of the chance an astrologer takes by doing work before getting paid. I also pointed out that she is protected by the fact that I’m the one with a reputation to protect; I couldn’t pull that trick more than once without it showing up all over the internet, whereas most clients can “stand up” an astrologer with relative impunity.