What Not To Teach

I was in New Orleans last weekend and visited the New Orleans Chapel of Santissima Muerte, which is now located at Botanica Macumba. I posted a photo and one of my students asked if they should expect a course on Santissima Muerte soon. I simply responded “no”.

But the questions stuck with me. First, I didn’t want to be short with the person who asked – it is awesome to be asked to teach anything and have people actually give a shit about what I say, so I hope I did not come accross as hurtful to the person that asked.

The reason I was so short though, is that I am pretty passionate about people teaching things that they actually have invested serious time in. It took 25 years in the occult before I wrote my first book on magic. It took 15 years of work before the Sorcery of Hekate Course was ready. It has taken 9 years for me to feel like I had something to teach on Cyprianic Magic and now opening the Black School to the public this fall. So it stings when I see students who just started out already looking to gather students under them.

I visited the shrine because Santa Muerte is a powerful force in America that is spreading. It is paying homage and connecting. Perhaps I may one day have a shrine of my own, but that doesn’t make it something I should teach. I have several practices and spiritual connections that I keep, but do not teach on. That is how it should be. Somethings you should just take the medicine and not worry about playing doctor.

So, I guess the reason for this post is just to tell students: don’t be afraid to ask your teacher why they are teaching and where it comes from. If they spin a bullshit story, then check it out. If it sounds suspiciously like what someone else was teaching (like when Papa Hood stole my course and sold it as his own, placing himself in stories that happened to me) then be wary. If you are a teacher, don’t race to set yourself up a a teacher. Take some time and hone your knowledge and your craft, then do some peer-mentoring when asked, then put your sign up if that is what people are asking you to do.

That last thing is, incidentally, my answer to “when should I start teaching”. When people ask you to and you can no longer ignore it.