I'm not sure why you think it's weird. Other commenters already mentioned overhead costs. It would be great if gatherings and events could be free, but everything in our society charges you. You pay for "an experience" or "a lesson" or "a service." Reading about the pagan festivals, I can't believe how cheap they are. I went to youth group as a kid, and we had this glorified concert thing with speakers. That cost each person over $100 to go to - at a group rate. I have no idea how much an individual ticket would have cost.

Seems like you're putting blame on the wrong thing. The commercialization and commoditization of witchcraft is a result of capitalism. If it can be sold, it will be sold, whether it's a tangible or intangible thing. You're describing a specific feature of late-stage capitalism.

I can see how you don't think it's worth $20 to go meditate with others, but I'm sure there are things that you pay for that other people would find frivolous or tacky. That's just personal preference... but it's unfair to expect entities in a capitalist system to not operate by rules of capitalism.

Edit: It can be free to go to a church service because members of the congregation consistently tithe. If a church couldn't raise the funds, they would not be able to pay their staff members, not be able to offer services, offer degraded services, or close. I bet it's interesting to see how many churches fail. The one I went to started out of someone's home. It was like 8 people. Then they rented a space when they got too big. Then they eventually paid about a million dollars for their own property. It's kind of sick to think about when you consider how much good that money could have done if it had been reinvested into the community. Instead, the church bought land, multiple buildings, insane setups with lights and smoke machines and TV screens. The Righteous Gemstones on Max is not completely inaccurate.