When Are You Ready to Teach
Through all of the Witchblr drama lately, there's one thing I've not seen commented on much and it's something that's been stuck in my head for weeks now - how does someone know they're equipped to be a teacher? And it's not just because of some of the questions raised, it's personal. I am constantly questioning whether I should be teaching workshops or giving talks, even with them being unpaid. I am always trying to walk the path of sharing what I know as ethically as I know how to and it's an incredibly difficult process to navigate well. So I wanted to share some thoughts, almost as a letter to my younger self, on whether and how someone should go about teaching esoteric, occult, and witchcraft practices.
After thinking about it quite a bit, the best way I can think of to tell if you're suited to be a teacher is to share what you know without positioning yourself as a teacher at all or charging money for your work.
Before you even consider teaching, I recommend putting out what you are doing for others to see and doing so regularly. For folks who read tarot, what spreads are you doing and how are you thinking through them? For witchcraft or occult practices, while you may not be able to share details, are there any insights or realizations you've had that you can share for others?
I think this is key for a few reasons actually. For one, you'll quickly see whether you have the ability to accept and grow from criticism - which is a hugely vital part of the teaching process if you accept that role. Or at least, it has been for me. I was born with the gift of what my family calls Foresight, not the gift of teaching and so learning that skill has involved taking feedback into consideration. Not all of it has been kindly given, but almost all of it has been valuable.
Another reason is that it will quickly show whether you seek to teach for your own ego and or to genuinely share what you know to help others. If you are comfortable sharing what you know without an ounce of expectation of respect or clout, that is the best indication to me that stepping into a teaching role is possible at some point. I do not know how anyone can teach effectively without being deeply humble. Especially in spiritual traditions. Otherwise teaching quickly becomes a means to control and left unchecked can lead to abuse.
One other reason to share without positioning yourself as a teacher is that it'll pretty quickly let you know where you seem to know more than most folks and where you know less. When I first created this account, my first post was literally just a write up of my intro lesson I'd been giving friends who'd just bought tarot decks and wanted to pick it up as fast as possible. I wrote it specifically as a record they could come back to. I had no intent to position myself as a teacher, just as a way of sharing what I had gathered over my 10 years of reading cards.
The response to that and later my shadow work posts showed me that people were getting a lot of what I was sharing. The responses to my deity veneration posts showed me that people weren't getting as much out of them and that I had a lot to continue learning. I was able to shift my approaches for both. I put more work into figuring out how to share what I knew about tarot and shadow work and more work into continuing my learning about deity veneration. It was a year of writing like that before I ever took a leap and taught my first tarot and shadow work workshop where I again got feedback about what was actually helpful and what I needed to learn more about. That process is valuable and I'm thankful for it everyday.
Another reason for sharing without expectation is that it will allow you to begin to develop a radar for teachers who aren't going about their work ethically. You'll start to notice when people present something as absolute fact or as their observations and experiences. The latter has been far more useful in my own spiritual education than the former. You'll see where people are charging for information they never write about deeply. They'll position themselves as needing to charge for freely available information because they "did the work" of reading it at one point.
Which brings me to the complicated question of when is it right to charge for what you're sharing? I think personally the best way to handle it is to just set up a donation link and let people decide how much your work is worth to them. If you manage to make a little money while you're still figuring out whether teaching is right for you, then it's a bonus! I see the “fuck you, pay me” mindset in so many places if has no right to be in my view. It’s not other peoples job to pay you while you’re still bad at what you do. And believe me you will be for a while.
Personally - I'm still in that transition period and I've been writing and putting out work for about 3 years. I do charge for my zines and my digital workbooks but that's less because of the information I'm presenting and more for the work it took to write and format it all. I have a Patreon I maintain and add bonus materials to as I'm able and I often stick a donation link on the bottom of my posts just in case folks feel lead. While lots of folks have asked me to develop a course, I have a feeling it'll be another 2 years before I know how to really walk the walk of being a teacher proper and feel comfortable putting out something so involved.
I don't take the work of teaching lightly. I see it much more as an additional calling to my work as an Oracle/Seer as it's in line with my mission to use my gifts for the betterment of others. When asking yourself about the role teaching plays in your life, ask yourself whether if furthers the work you're called to. What you're sacrificing to be a teacher? How are you seeking out feedback and training? Does your work actually improve the lives of others? Does it further your spiritual callings or does it merely support your ego?
Some folks will consider those questions and still not have the self awareness to know it's not their path and that's fine. I'm not really trying to reach those people. My hope is that someone truly called to teach will get some use out of hearing about how I'm navigating that transition of competent practitioner to facilitator and teacher. If that person is you, the best advice I can give you aside from the above is take it slow. If it's truly you're calling, the path will unfold a little at a time as you are ready.
These are just my thoughts and how I'm navigating it. I'd love to hear how other folks are!
