Hawk’s Cry

Your Calling vs. Your Job

I read Gary North, an economist of the Austrian School of Economics. He has a useful site where he discusses many aspects of economics, job, life, etc. in a newsletter and forum. One thing he illustrates well is the difference between a calling, a job and a career.

He describes a calling as “the most important thing you can do in which you would be most difficult to replace.” A job is that which “puts food on the table.” He says they rarely are the same. When they are the same, it is a career.

In the Pagan community, I see many people fight with themselves about this. They believe that their job and calling should be the same and are extremely stressed when they are not. Some go to an extreme to resolve the conundrum by losing (or quitting) their job and then refuse to find another. They look for the “perfect” job that will resolve the question by being their calling.

Though seeking your career is a noble idea it is very difficult and takes time. It’s impossible if you have not decided what your calling is, as most people haven’t.

Your job’s purpose is to fund your calling. For many, the most important thing you can do in which you would be most difficult to replace does not pay very well, or at all. As a result, you need to have a separate job that pays the bills and allows you to invest in your calling.

For me, I have a couple of callings. I am a husband and father, which automatically become callings by their very nature. If one is a spouse and/or parent, there is little they can do that is more significant in this life. I am also a minister and servant of the Gods. I serve my Gods by helping to manifest Their purpose on this planet. All of these are volunteer positions.

It’s important to do my job well so that it can fund my callings. The energy I put into my job determines the quality of the energy that I put into my calling. It is like the food that feeds my body. If I eat negative food, I become diseased. If I fund my calling with money gained with my putting out negative energy, it becomes corrupted and I grow bitter and resentful.

As a result, it is important to think of your job in connection with your calling. Even if it is working as an hourly worker at McDonald’s in your 30s (which I have done), you need to put positive and enthusiastic energy into it while you’re there. It is this energy that determines what you feed your calling and what mental and emotional outlook you will go into it with when you clock out of your job.

This leads to the idea that all jobs have purpose and dignity, even if it doesn’t appear that way initially. The dignity a job has is not inherent to the job itself, but is brought by the worker to that job.

This is important as many Pagans I know are unemployed. They say they cannot find fulfilling work, meaning they can’t get hired for their career. What they need to learn is that when one is unemployed, it is better to take a tedious job that pays the bills than wait for the perfect career position, especially when the unemployment benefits run out.

This is why I worked at McDonald’s as an hourly worker for a while a few years ago. It helped pay the bills while I searched and performed spellwork for a more fulfilling job. After a few months, my prayers and spells became manifest as a better position appeared in the form of a phone call from a former employer.

There are a few steps you can follow to create a career for yourself. First, if you don’t have a job, get one. Take any job that will pay the most important bills, such as rent and cheap food. If it takes two jobs to do this, then so be it. Or move to a cheaper place to live. If you don’t have a job that pays the important bills, then you are living in basic survival (panic) mode. You can’t think properly if you don’t have a place to live and basic food.

After you have a job, then work to discover your calling. I have previously discussed the methods for this. The best way to approach this is to start at the beginning of the Witches Square with Perfect Love, but if you wish to go directly to finding your will, you may.

When you know your calling, work to spend enough time at your job to pay the bills and the rest of your time on your calling. Keep in mind that your job feeds your calling and it needs to be fed with good, positive energy that leads to an unbreakable desire.

Over time, you will see job opportunities open that bring you closer to following your calling while at work. When the two merge, you will have a career. Professionally, this is the dream job that everyone fantasizes about.

Until then, make sure to keep sight on both your job and your calling. Don’t sacrifice one for the other, as that will lead you away from happiness.