For those who know me and have worked with me for years: you already know the drill.
Good, real work has a cost. I’m not going to dodge the question or beat around the bush:
“Why is your work so expensive?”
My answer is simple: my work is not overpriced. The online occult-services marketplace has made it difficult for people to see what careful, skilled, ethical work actually costs.
I’ve seen the same listings you have. Etsy shops, social-media pages, websites, and marketplaces offering spellwork anywhere from five dollars to several thousand. And the hard part is that there is no universal price guide, no industry regulator, and no single test that tells you who is skilled, honest, experienced, or simply making promises to get a sale.
That leaves people vulnerable.
A cheap spell can feel like a low-risk option: if nothing comes from it, you have not lost much money. A service costing hundreds or thousands of dollars feels much harder to take a chance on. On the other hand, a high price does not automatically mean someone is legitimate, either. Some sellers use fear, urgency, or dramatic claims to pressure people into paying more and more money.
Scammers exist at every price point.
I cannot tell you which other practitioner is real, ethical, or effective. I can only speak for my own practice, my own standards, and the way I price my services.
You are receiving the same quality of work
I have worked with everyday people, working professionals, business owners, public figures, artists, celebrities, and people in highly visible careers.
My approach to magick does not change according to who you are. Unless you are commissioning custom work, you receive the same listed ritual work, the same care, the same materials, and the same level of seriousness as anyone else.
My pricing reflects materials, preparation, labour, experience, research, and time.
The materials are not cheap, and I make much of them myself
I do not rely on pre-made, store-bought consecration oils or generic incense blends. I source resins, herbs, tinctures, waxes, oils, and other ritual materials myself, then prepare them according to the needs of the operation.
And I do not cut corners on quality.
Frankincense is a good example. I use a great deal of it in ritual work: burning it as incense, dissolving it into oils and absolutes, adding it to fixed candles, and using it for fumigation.
Standard consumer-grade frankincense can be relatively inexpensive. I typically use high-grade Royal Green Hojari frankincense whenever it is appropriate for the work. It costs significantly more, especially when I am sourcing the best tears available. I choose it because I value traditional materials and want the work to reflect the seriousness of the systems I study.
The same goes for oils. Certain traditional formulas call for specific ingredients, not merely whatever happens to be cheapest or easiest to find. For example, when working with Abramelin-style oil, I use true Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum) rather than ordinary cassia cinnamon. It is a different material, generally imported from Sri Lanka, and it costs more.
These ingredients are often only one small part of a much larger process.
Oils need time to infuse. Some ingredients are prepared or consecrated during particular lunar phases, planetary days, or planetary hours. In the end, a ritual may only use a few drops of a prepared oil on a candle—but those few drops can represent months of sourcing, preparation, timing, and ritual attention.
Even the olive oil I use matters. Fresh, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil is perishable, and quality declines over time. When you are buying and storing materials in larger quantities, the cost adds up quickly.
Yes, I make the candles too
Depending on the purpose of the work and the burn I need, I use paraffin and/or beeswax. I purchase wax in bulk, melt it, pour it, colour it, scent it, and prepare it myself.
Some oils used in this process are extremely expensive. Bulgarian rose oil, which I use regularly in love work, is one of the most costly essential oils available.
Is that overkill? Maybe.
But this is my life’s work. I am not interested in offering the fastest, cheapest version of something simply to maximize sales. I am interested in doing it well.
Ritual tools, offerings, and preparation
Some operations require specific ritual tools, seals, engraved materials, offerings, or other implements. I do not casually reuse everything from one client’s work for another. When a ritual requires a particular material or method, I make the necessary effort to meet that requirement accurately.
That can mean hand-engraving tools, using a laser engraver where appropriate, purchasing materials such as metals, and spending time creating implements that are specific to an operation.
Timing also matters. I cannot always perform every ritual at a perfectly specific planetary hour; life and scheduling do exist. But the materials I prepare are consecrated at their appropriate times whenever possible.
Some traditional requirements are extremely precise. When I made my Brazen Vessel for Solomonic work, it had to be made on a Saturday, while the moon was waxing, and while it was in Virgo. It sounds intense because it is intense. This work can be meticulous by design.
You are also paying for experience and labour
I have practiced magick for more than twenty years. I have been trained and initiated in traditions that require serious study, discipline, and practical experience.
I am not pulling a spell from a quick internet search and calling it a service.
I maintain a large library of historical and antiquarian material. I compare editions, study sources critically, and research historical, archaeological, and linguistic context where it matters. I have spent years learning languages and working through difficult material because it was necessary to understand the source texts properly.
There is also pre- and post-ritual work.
Before an operation, I may need to prepare through cleansing, spiritual baths, specific clothing, prayer, banishing, and ritual purification. Afterward, I complete further cleansing and banishing work to close the operation properly and maintain the boundaries of my practice.
If spirit work is involved, the preparation expands further. Offerings may need to be made or purchased, the petition must be prepared carefully, and the work requires discernment, experience, and clear boundaries. I do not treat that lightly.
What you are actually paying for
A spell may appear to take a day or two from the outside. In reality, the materials and preparation behind it may represent weeks or months of work before your ritual even begins.
That is because I treat this craft with care from the moment an idea is conceived.
Many clients come to me with tender, serious, and life-changing concerns: love, grief, safety, work, money, opportunity, confidence, healing, and direction. You deserve a practitioner who handles those concerns carefully, not someone who rushes through the work with generic supplies and empty promises.
My prices reflect the real cost of materials, the time involved, the care I put into each operation, and the decades I have devoted to this path.
This work matters to me. It is not a quick hustle. It is my practice, my study, and my devotion.
A note about accessibility
I am open to reasonable discussion when pricing is genuinely an issue. From time to time, I may offer a sale or discount. Please do not pressure or repeatedly ask for one.
For services or bundled work exceeding $2,000, payment plans may be available. If cost is a concern, you are welcome to email me. I cannot promise that I can meet every budget, but I will do my best to be clear and fair where I can.
I am sharing this because you deserve transparency.
-James