My dear Witchipedians, I would like to thank you all for your support in 2017 and even back to our beginnings. I have been thinking a lot about how to improve the Witchipedia experience and I have gotten a lot of feedback from our members and readers and have meditated deeply upon them.

Recently, new challenges and expenses have made it necessary to really think about making some big changes in order to bring in some income to keep things going and I have been meditating on this, and talking to people I trust to come up with solutions. My biggest concern is, of course to minimize any disruption on the site and to keep the information on it as free and open as possible. I have no interest in making the Witchipedia less usable by charging for features or installing annoying advertising, but really, a girl's got to eat. Ultimately, I decided I need a multi-pronged approach that combines all of my online assets, not just the Witchipedia.

That all being said, here are my plans for 2018!

The Inner Circle

I will be creating a new membership level called "Dawn's Inner Circle" on my personal blog at http://www.sacredhearth.com. Access to this membership will be $3 per month. This will house my Introduction to Magick Theory and Practice class/tutorials previously held on Facebook and future classes I have in mind (this is discussed in more detail below) and we'll have forums to discuss whatever and if people want to make requests for new articles I will try to honor them.

You can find out more information about this at http://sacredhearth.com/system:join

Patreon

I have created a Patreon account and I hope that some folks will be interested in being a part of that. The lowest patron level is $3 and includes only Patreon content, while the $5 level includes an invitation to join the Inner Circle at no additional charge. In addition to this, I'll be creating PDF versions of much of my works which will be available for download there and will be creating private video sessions. I have calculated that I will need 300 patrons at this level to quit my day job and serve you full time. We'll see how that goes. You can do this at https://www.patreon.com/dawnblack

You are wondering why two options? Well, I don't want to confuse anybody, but I also know some people don't like Patreon and other people will be more confident in Patreon's ability to manage their payments than mine. Also, Patreon has features my website does not and vice versa. And anyway, choice is good. You can pay $3 for just Patreon or just the Inner Circle, or $5 for both. Or more, and get more stuff.

Videos

I have set up a Youtube channel and will be creating videos for various topics of interest to the community. These videos will be embedded in their relevant articles. I've done a few test videos with the limited equipment I have and decided I needed a microphone and a good lamp to do this properly, which I got myself for Yule. Experiments will resume after New Years and hopefully my first videos will begin appearing in January of 2018. I'll keep you posted!

More Classes and Tutorials

The good news about my Introduction to Magical Theory and Practice is that, after this year, there will no longer be a waiting list for it. I am also planning to create videos for each topic, in addition to utilizing videos and articles from other sources and I am going to record the meditations in addition to writing them out. However, it will also no longer be free to all. This and all future classes will be available to the Inner Circle and Patreon Patrons at no additional cost. It will also be a self-guided class (though forums are there for our communication and I do check daily) so it need not take a full year unless you want it to. Even so, you're looking at a cost of either $36 for a year long class, plus bonuses, and I think that is very reasonable. In addition, I hope to add a new class on a new subject each year, and I will be producing these classes in Workbook form so you can download the PDFs (free to Inner Circle and Patrons, or a reasonable cost to casual supporters) and, eventually, in paper format from Amazon or a similar marketplace. The timeline I have for this is September. So Patrons and Inner Circle members can expect to see the Intro class available by September 1, 2018 and the PDF will be available for everyone else to purchase right around the same time.

Apps

People keep asking for apps! I just got my first smartphone and I appreciate that apps are very useful and I am also aware that they can bring in the money I need while still leaving the site itself unchanged, but these are, I'm afraid, a matter of needing money to make money. My old computer can barely run a browser, it is going to need an upgrade or I am going to need to pay someone else to do it. Both are outside the budget at the moment. So let's get through the 2018 plan first! In the meantime, I have made the Witchipedia and the rest of my sites as mobile-friendly as possible and regularly view them through smartphones and tablets just to make sure. I think they look good. So, in 2019- I'm hoping for apps. Not this year.

That, I think, is enough to be getting on with this year. With my personal commitment to create at least one new article a week, I think this is enough to keep me busy. (I do have a day job, and a farm, and kids.) I will be taking suggestions from Patrons and Inner Circle members and I am sure that the group mind will make things even more interesting.

Blessings for all in 2018. I look forward to many more years in your service.

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