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	Avoiding Pagans for Profit: 12 Red Flags
	Pagan websites abound on the Internet these days. Some offer accurate information while others mislead. It can be difficult to sort out the sites providing accurate information in a nurturing environment from posers. Certain activities on a Pagan website should send up Red Flags of warning as you search for truths among the fodder. Be cautious should you spot any of the following Red Flags.

	DONATIONS:	Many sites have legitimate reasons for soliciting donations. Check for an accounting of received donations and for where the collected funds go. If no information is offered on the site, consider contacting the site administrators for a full accounting. Don’t be taken in by a scammer posing as a legitimate site.
	FEES & CHARGES:	Some websites offer forums, bulletin board systems or Member’s Areas. Some areas may be free while others require a fee. Be sure you know what you are paying for. Talk with site members; ask questions; send email to the site’s moderators or administrators before parting with your money. Use caution if fees are for servers alone. Websites are not huge expenditures. Consider asking the following questions:
		What exactly does the fee cover?
		Are there expiration dates requiring more fees to continue?
		If paying for classes, are the classes complete?
		If not, will they be completed within a reasonable amount of time?
		If the timeframe is not met, will refunds be issued?
		If paying areas of the site later become free to new members, will refunds be issued?
		Have fees changed (increased, decreased, added, removed) frequently in the last year? Why?
	SELLING SPELLS:	Often, we look for the quick fix to our problems, whether they are job related, financial, or matters of the heart. The quick fix, however, doesn’t solve the problem but merely places a temporary Band-Aid over the issue. To heal hurts and solve problems requires our own effort, not simple fixes from others. As with all things, the spells you design yourself will have the most power and meaning in your life. Your intent, your energy and your focus in a spell or working will bring your goal to fruition whether you use a simple working or a complex spell. In fact, some of the simplest workings are the most effective! Ingredients may be few or many, everyday items or arcane specialties. There are many books to guide you or you may simply “go from the gut”.  However you do it, don’t let someone tell you that you must purchase a spell to have it work. A site selling spells may be a site interested only in taking your money.
	SERVICES FOR SALE:	Some people will do anything for money. Don’t be lured in by someone offering to work a spell for you, perform a ritual on your behalf, pray over a candle for you, or any other type of service for which you receive nothing in hand. If you can’t see them working for you, how do you know anything is being done? Don’t throw your money away. Any ritual or spell work, devotional prayer, or energy transfers will have more impact if you perform them yourself and they won’t cost you anything but time and energy!
	SELLING CURSES:	For most Pagans, a curse isn’t something we would want on our conscience whether for reasons of Karmic return, the Three Fold Rule, the Golden Rule, or any number of similar ideals. Spotting curses for sale would make me question the sincerity of the site administrators and their motivations for the site.
	LOVE SPELLS:	Many sites offer love spells. A word of caution here before you delve into them. Love spells interfere with another person’s free will. If you wish simply to draw love into your life, there are many ways to do so. If you wish to bind another person to you, be very careful what you wish for, as feelings change over time. That said, as with any other working or spell, those of your own design cost you little and are more effective. Don’t be lured into a site offering to return the love of your life to you for just $19.95. Question the ethics behind the lure and question the motivating factor behind the site offering them.
	WICCAN MYSTERIES:	Be leery of sites offering to sell access to the Wiccan Mysteries. Wicca has opened up tremendously in the last few years and isn’t much of a mystery anymore. Seek knowledge freely from the Internet, your local library, and through contact with other practitioners.
	PITY POSTS:	Many sites offer members forums to ask questions, encourage discussion, and to offer like-minded individuals a nurturing place to share their views. Site administrators and moderators should take an active role on their forums. Do they participate or do they only appear to issue warnings? Be wary of posts by administrators that invoke pity in you. For example, a site owner complaining about the time and effort he or she puts into the site; a site owner lamenting a lack of appreciation by members; a site owner begging for money in forum posts. These could be indicators that the site owners or administrators are more interested in drawing on your emotions, energy, and money than in providing you with a nurturing environment.
	EXPERTS ALL:	The term Pagan covers a vast number of spiritual paths. Within each path, you’ll find people who have studied for decades and others who’ve only just begun their journey. No one person knows everything about every spiritual path. While an individual devoted to study can certainly accumulate a great wealth of knowledge, a very few would claim to be an expert. There is always something new to learn! Question websites that discourage exploration – of other Pagan sites as well as spiritual paths. One learns and grows through seeking knowledge and questioning the answers one finds. Additionally, be wary of sites wherein the administrators/moderators are referred to as parents, mother and/or father. Instilling familial ties may be another way to bind you to a singular site. Those sites attempting to tie you only to them through loyalty, pity, or financial obligations could fear being discovered as less than the experts they claim to be.
	WHITE / BLACK WITCHCRAFT	Question sites that speak of White Witchcraft or Black Witchcraft. Most Pagans do not consider witchcraft to be either. Witchcraft is a tool, like any other, that allows a person to focus energy. Energy can be used for positive or negative goals; however reducing energy work to “black or white” is misleading and false.
	SHOPPING:	Many Pagan websites offer a shop where items such as herbs, tools, and candles may be purchased. Look for defined delivery times and refund policies before ordering. Internet sales should be delivered within 30 days of the order unless specifically noted. Compare prices with shops known to you and do not buy simply out of loyalty to a specific site. You aren’t doing yourself any favors paying more for items you could spend less on elsewhere.
	MEMBERSHIPS:	Read the Terms and Conditions of the website before you hit that little “agree” button. Do you really agree with everything? Does anything seem odd to you? If so, question it. Get answers before you go on. Look for a balance between the site owner’s terms and the member’s rights. A site heavy on conditions that must be met by all members but light on what rights members have may warrant a second look before you sign up.

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updated June 2006