Occult careers

[𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊]

I recently applied to join a team of paranormal Investigators. Sounds fun as hell.

 

[therootbeersprite]

I think an occult career is absolutely possible, but it requires a very strong ethical compass and a thick skin. The biggest pitfall, as Robert mentioned, is the pressure to deliver absolute certainty. People who pay for these services are often in crisis, and they want concrete, 100% guaranteed answers. If a practitioner isn't grounded, they can easily slip into cold reading or exaggerating just to satisfy the client's expectations.

To make it sustainable and clean, you have to treat it like a counseling or coaching practice. You aren't there to wave a magic wand and solve all their problems; you are there to offer perspective, align their energy, or read the currents. The moment you take on the role of a savior or a puppet master of their fate, the energetic toll on your own life and well-being becomes way too heavy.

Whenever I do a reading, I always make sure to emphasize that I am not a professional doctor or therapist, nor am I a lawyer. I also remind people that I can only read the situation as it currently stands, but that there are many factors that can affect the future. Part of this is legal CYA, but also part of it is being clear and upfront about what I can or cannot do: I can only offer an interpretation of my divination tools, but it is up to the person that I am reading for to choose how they apply that information to their life. I have had people who have been unhappy with what I tell them, especially when they are hoping for confirmation of something that they want and they do not get it from me, and that can be exhausting. All that I can do is remind them that I cannot make decisions for them. In the end, I am not responsible for them - including their emotional well-being.

It's also important to remove my personal judgement from a reading. Someone may ask me for guidance in making a decision, and I may personally think that something is a bad idea, but it's not my job to offer my own advice. I don't have all the information of the situation, I'm not a guidance counselor, and I'm not their friend. I cannot get involved in the situation, emotionally or otherwise.

Basically, this is a lot of words to say that maintaining boundaries is key.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

I recently applied to join a team of paranormal Investigators. Sounds fun as hell.

But what happens if it's just Old Man Hooper trying to scare people away from the old funfair?

 

[akenu]

But what happens if it's just Old Man Hooper trying to scare people away from the old funfair?

Not gonna lie, working as The Mystery Gang would be a pretty sweet deal.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

Not gonna lie, working as The Mystery Gang would be a pretty sweet deal.

Despite the fact that they go around unmasking normal criminals, whilst ignoring the blatantly supernatural TALKING DOG

 

[akenu]

Despite the fact that they go around unmasking normal criminals, whilst ignoring the blatantly supernatural TALKING DOG

I think Scooby is an eldritch being that keeps them in the illusion for some comedic value

 

[Inimaris]

I wish I could find like an old grandma that has her little divination tent and she offers me to become her student, that would be one of my dream jobs, but my own divinations say that I won't even have any job any time soon, so I guess I'll stay broke and sad

 

[Eldros]

I think you have to do this for a while before you get there to earn from this job. But some people may have more talent, they may even be good observers, they know how to read people well and many times many of the predictions come true, not necessarily because the one who predicts can see into the future but more because they have their senses alert and know how to observe.
I think someone ends up being successful and earning from this job if they get the reputation that they somehow know what they are saying.
It depends on each client who they choose to believe or whose words they take as good words.
If I were to watch 5 or 6 different channels on TV and see what the horoscope says for Aries or Virgo or Libra, I will find that no matter how many channels I watch, there are so many different opinions and maybe no two predictions are alike.
The fortune teller, or astrologer, or exorcist priest, must have a positive background in this profession, a background that makes him trustworthy to those who want to pay for such a thing.

 

[weirdbird]

I recently applied to join a team of paranormal Investigators. Sounds fun as hell.

Sadly from what I gather, it tends to be less about investigating the paranormal and more about making it entertaining. I saw a paranormal investigator job ad a couple months ago and, after reading through the list of responsibilities, it felt more like a tour guide/social media face for their haunted hotel business.

 

[Hakon]

I think it is absolutely possible, but I would place it somewhere between a conventional career and a vocation.

I can use my own experience as an example. I run Bnei Daath, where I work with occultism, traditional magic, planetary practices, teaching, research, consultations and ritual work. Over time, the page developed an audience and eventually became something that can generate income. But at the same time, I also have a parallel professional career outside the occult world. I currently work in the corporate/legal area, so I don't depend exclusively on occult work to pay my bills.

And I actually think this has been beneficial.

When your entire livelihood depends on astrology readings, divination, ritual work, courses, consultations, etc., there can be a temptation to turn everything into a product. Suddenly you need to post constantly, find clients constantly and perhaps even exaggerate what you can offer because rent is due at the end of the month. Having another source of income gives me much more freedom to say no, to study things that are not commercially attractive, to refuse work I don't consider appropriate and to maintain certain boundaries between spiritual practice and business.

That said, I know people who make their entire living from astrology, tarot, occult publishing, teaching, ritual services and similar fields. So it certainly isn't just a pipe dream. But I think people sometimes underestimate how much of the job has nothing to do with the occult itself.

If you want to make a living from it, you are also running a small business. You need communication skills, administration, marketing, finances, scheduling, customer service, reputation management, content production and, above all, credibility. Being knowledgeable about occultism doesn't automatically make someone good at running an occult business.

There is also an ethical issue. In this field you often encounter people who are frightened, grieving, desperate about relationships, money or health, and therefore unusually vulnerable. Someone working professionally with divination or spiritual services has a greater responsibility not to exploit that vulnerability. I think the ability to tell someone “you don't need to pay me for another ritual” is just as important as knowing how to perform one.

Another thing is that reputation takes years to build. Bnei Daath didn't become what it is simply because I decided one morning to become a professional occultist. There is research, study, experimentation, writing, answering people, producing material and gradually building a community behind it.

So my advice would be: don't begin with “How do I make occultism my career?” Begin with “How do I become genuinely competent at something within occultism?”

Become an excellent astrologer, researcher, ritualist, teacher, writer, tarot reader, translator, historian, whatever your particular path is. Let the professional side grow around actual competence.

And I wouldn't necessarily quit a normal career immediately either. There is nothing contradictory about being an occultist and also being a lawyer, programmer, doctor, designer, engineer, academic or businessperson. Historically, plenty of people involved with esotericism had completely ordinary professions alongside their occult interests.

So yes, an occult career is possible.

But I would personally recommend building it gradually alongside another source of stability, at least initially. If one day the occult work becomes large and stable enough that you genuinely no longer need the other career, then you can make that decision from a position of freedom rather than necessity.

For me, at least, maintaining both worlds has worked very well.

What are your opinions on people who want/do the occult as a career

Exorcists, astrologers, soothsayers etc etc

You think it's practical and possible, a pipe dream or something inbetween