Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight as I write this, so we can proceed with a new Magic Monday. Let's start things out with a quote again: 

 

"The initiate is entirely unperturbed amid catastrophe and horror.  He possesses many of the qualities of a traveler in wild lands, especially an ability to arrive right side up and smiling in the most surprising circumstances.  He is equally contented and at ease in the humblest cottage and the most imposing and ceremonious surroundings.  This harmonized, free-moving poise is the inevitable result of the discipline to which he subjects himself, for he learns control of emotion and desirelessness." 

 

That's from Dion Fortune's The Training and Work of the Initiate, one of the books of hers that did an enormous amount to shape my understanding of magic and the occult.   

Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. Any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. (Any question received after then will not get an answer, and will likely just be deleted.) If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 143,916th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.0 of The Magic Monday FAQ here.

 

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use the button below to access my online tip jar. If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here.

***This Magic Monday is now closed -- see you next week!***

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com!  

Comments

[ecosophia]

One fast note before we proceed. I'm starting to field comments labeled DO NOT POST asking for private responses. That defeats the purpose of Magic Monday, which is to give everyone the chance to learn from questions and answers. I'll occasionally respond to one private-response request, but rarely more than that. If you don't want your name to be known, please post anonymously and be vague about identifying details where necessary!

[(Anonymous)]

1) I’ve had a rather weird experience: about a week ago one of my friends asked me for advice, since she knows I’m into the occult, and one of her friends has come across something which will supposedly bring up past life memories, she wanted to know what I thought about it. I immediately said it was a bad idea, since it’s impossible to say what would come up. The entire thing made me very uncomfortable and unsettled me a lot; there’s nothing in my background to suggest it should.

I also recalled about a story I thought was in the occult lore of someone who did just that as a teenager, discovered she’d done something absolutely horrible in the past, spent the rest of her life high out of her mind because she absolutely could not cope with what she did, and then killed herself shortly before her thirtieth birthday. The issue is that when I tried to place this, I drew an absolute blank. I had no idea where this story came from. I can’t even remember reading anything which could plausibly include such a story.

Things clicked when I read Grape Juice and Saltines’ post on the other blog: I found I could relate very well to it. I’ve had anger issues, terrible anxiety, and depression since I was a little kid, which journaling is revealing I’ve used to cover intense feelings of guilt and shame which I can’t seem to place. So, it’s possible they belong in a prior life, and at this point I’m starting to think that to be the case.

I also remember you discussing before how drug use in one life can screw up a future life’s nervous system, and I have a world class example of a dysfunctional nervous system. I also refused to drink any alcohol until my mid-20s; this despite the fact that most of my peers were into it as teenagers, and it’s legal to buy it from age 19 and up where I live. This wasn’t a taste thing either: I was concerned about what would happen if I drank, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why I would be so cautious about it.

This has me wondering: is it possible that the story didn’t come from anywhere in the occult lore, but rather what I was thinking of was my last life? I don’t remember anything about it, or any of my past lives, but it seems like it would fit.

2) If it’s possible this is a past life issue, do you have advice on how to deal with it? I’m doing basic Qabalistic spiritual work, and planning to do a fairly large amount of effort at transforming myself into a better person. Are there other things I can do to reduce how much of a karmic burden my future lives will have?

3) I'm assuming I can use divination here, but this is probably something best left for once I'm fairly confident with the art. I can't get consistent results on the day to day practice just yet, so I'm going to leave it for later. How long does it normally take to get good enough to be able to divine profitably on something major like this?

[ecosophia]

1) That might well be a subconscious memory of a past life. I've disliked being in cars since I was a small child, and as it turns out my last life ended in a head-on car crash.

2) Pursuing an active spiritual life is the best thing you can do in this kind of situation. Be aware that you may have burnt through a lot of karma in your last life, and this life may be a period of recovery while you process things at a deep level and prepare to move on.

3) It really depends on the individual. Once your divinations reliably give you accurate answers on situations in everyday life, you'll be prepared.

[seasidehermit]

A short while back, a message relayed to me through a friend had me holding my nose and wading over to Patheos Pagan to check something out. There seems to be a discussion over there and elsewhere, with multiple reports of people experiencing a sudden distancing from the gods: that the spiritual connections they had have either gone very silent or are seemingly not there anymore, and this was a fairly recent thing. Most of them do seem to be part of the radical progressive left (of course, it is Patheos Pagan), have allied with the Magical Resistance if they aren’t active members themselves, way too much of their blogging is taken up with Orange Man Bad, Cancel Culture is Awesome, Why Everyone is a White Supremacist and if You Think You’re Not that just Makes you Grand Wizard of the KKK, so on and so forth.

Down times happen, but I’m not sure they happen all at once to whole blocks of at least semi connected people without there being some other reason for it. I don’t think I buy the idea that the gods are all just collectively too busy in the Otherworld right now, preparing themselves to battle the forces of Trump at the upcoming Repubnarok or whatever it is. Some people sound very depressed on top of the TDS that some admit is a distraction. There was one or two that had a tone like fine, stay gone, I don’t need you anyway.

Could this be yet more blowback? The first stirrings of the mass Pagan exodus where all the ideologues drop the last thin veneer of religion and just become full blown activists? A divine message of some sort or other? What do people here make of this?

[(Anonymous)]

“Repubnarok”! *chortle*

My best guess is, maybe the gods are getting bored with All Trump, All The Time, and have withdrawn till the people talk about something else in their prayers?

[ecosophia]

That seems like a very solid interpretation. Merch as the Left Witness can mean that you're creating an unrealistic image of the Perfect Occult Friend -- in my experience, Merch in a chart cast by a straight man or a lesbian, or Mab in a chart cast by a straight woman or a gay man, will sometimes stand for an ideal image. That's the one addition that occurs to me, though.

[(Anonymous)]

What are the correct pronunciations of RIGR, IDUN, and Sumarbrandr in the Heathen LBR?

[ecosophia]

If I understand correctly -- and I'll gladly accept correction from those who know their way around Old Norse -- those work out to REE-gr, EE-doon, and soo-mar-BRON-dr. Try not to put a vowel sound before the final R -- it's gr and dr, not gur and dur.

Tooth Removal

[(Anonymous)]

If one has a tooth removed, how long does the tooth retain some of its owner's etheric charge? Do you know of any recommended cleaning or storage techniques for teeth once they've been removed?

Re: Tooth Removal

[ecosophia]

A very long time. Your best bet is to keep removed teeth somewhere safe. I don't know of any specific techniques; the teeth I've had removed are in little plastic bottles in a safe place.

[causticus]

Hello JMG,

1. (a) Here in North America are sightings of phenomena like Sasquatches, Bigfoots, Jersey Devils, ect. most likely nature spirits? And if so, would these be nature spirits specific to North America. If not, what are these most likely? (

b) From reading around the internet, it seems to me that in North America, people’s self-reportings of spectral phenomena out in the woods tends to be a rather negative or spooky flavor. Do you think the spirits here in NA are more negative toward humans than in other places?

2. Which gods/goddesses (or types of) are especially helpful to venerate during these crazy/frightening times?

-Maroon Exogenous Stoat

[ecosophia]

1a) Heck of a good question. In most cases the honest answer is "no one knows."

1b) Well, how much do Americans do to maintain good relations with local nature spirits? The places where humans and spirits get along well are places where humans make offerings, set up shrines, recognize that certain places are to be set apart as sacred, etc.

2) The ones you personally feel most drawn to. This is emphatically not a one-size-fits-all kind of situation.

-- Turquoise Palpitating Chicken

Cristian druid practices

[vitranc]

Dear JMG,

I have been following your DH and DMH for 9 months now and a post on SOP last week got me thinking.
1. What are the appropriate names for the cross and elements parts of the ritual. When I do it I call:
Cross:
St. Peter head
St. John chest
St Brigit right
St. Mary Magdalen left
Gates:
East Raphael
South Michael
West Gabriel
North Uriel
Below Sandalphon
Above Metatron
Within AOWEN (vibrated)
What is your opinion on this SOP for a Roman Chatholic?

I am a Roman Catholic, baptised at birth and guided trough all the rights and sacraments until I got baptised at 14. Later I went trough an atheist life period, then agnostic and when I wanted to start the DH practice I was pretty shure there are Gods and Spirits out there, but I did not know any. At my first attempt at SOP I wanted to do an impersonal calling, but got a tremendous amount of resistance/revulsion, I reconsidered and went with Father, Son and Holly Ghost. I stuck with cristian themed names ever since, first with the names of God, now with the archangels. I obviously have a connection to the egregor.
2. a. What is your opinion on cristianity in this times?
2. b. Any advice for a druid/mage that is connected to roman catholicism.
2. c. A couple of Ogham readings have indicated, that I need to reconnect with the spirits of nature. How would a druid in my position do that?

Best regards,
V

Re: Cristian druid practices

[ecosophia]

1) That seems perfectly sensible. There is no one set of appropriate names -- that's one of the beauties of the SoP; even within a single faith tradition such as Christianity, there are many appropriate forms. If that one works for you, go with it.

2a) My opinion? That it's not my religion, but a lot of people seem to find it very satisfactory to them, and I wish them blessings from their faith.

2b) If you haven't read it already, Meditations on the Tarot by an anonymous Catholic occultist might be worth your while.

2c) Pray to the archangel Sandalphon for guidance. In Christian occultism he is the archangel who guards and guides the planetary spirit of the Earth, and thus can lead you to the contacts with nature spirits that are right for you. You might also consider taking up a personal devotion to a saint noted for his or her closeness to nature, and ask the saint's help as well.

Way out of my depth...

[(Anonymous)]

1. This week, I was able to read “In Praise of Johnny Appleseed” straight through without gasping for air, doubling over from surges of rarely-used patriotic emotion, or ending up sweat soaked and panting. Last week, I’d mentioned sending my late dog from my ancestor altar to go find Samuel Clemens. This week, I set out crackers for the dog and whiskey for Mr. Clemens, then played “Mississippi Queen” by Mountain. The feel of this reading was like using an overhead crane – umpteen tons of steel float into the air and glide along with only a little effort. (But it is still there.) Any ideas about what changed my response? And – Is this working? And-And – Anyone else gonna weigh in?
2. Did you notice that the DNC convention closed with a cover of “For What It’s Worth,” Buffalo Springfield’s 1967 Vietnam protest song? Umm… K… The Muppet Show had a better version, and this fan video is pretty good… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-8eGnfLvAQ
Anyway – the RNC convention closed with an opera star singing “Ave Maria.” The relevance of propitiating the patron saint of the USA is not lost here in flyover country. Might be another tick in favor of the GOP, might be confirmation bias on my part. Your opinion?
3. I’ve gotten started on The Druidry Handbook. Is there a “best” incense for druids? I’ve got a pile of conflicting information about everything from brand names to nutmeg and sage – and no idea where to start.
4. Since math overlaps magic, I hope responding here to your suggestion to get a slide rule back in production on open post day is OK. (Math is magic, right?) The tough question is which slide rule. The answer reflects the needs of the user. Maybe we should take the vocational approach and consider what kind of calculations a Green Wizard might need to perform first? What do you think?
Here’s a link to An Easy Introduction to the Slide Rule by Isaac Asimov. https://archive.org/details/easyintroduction00isaa/mode/2up
Mauve Orthogonal Tulip

Re: Way out of my depth...

[ecosophia]

1) The work is going ahead extremely well; thanks for all that you've contributed to it. Have you ever pushed something that took an enormous amount of effort until it started rolling, and much less afterwards?

2) I didn't watch either convention. Interesting choices!

3) The best incense for Druidry is the one you like to burn. Yes, Druidry is like that.

4) Exactly -- figure out what kind of math you need to do, and choose your slide rule on that basis. My first rule had trig scales, because I needed to do a lot of calculations involving electronics, and those require trigonometry. Asimov's book is quite decent -- glad to see it available.

Hey I wrote a thing and some questions too!

[open_space]

Hello again JMG!

In the past weeks dreamwidth transformed from "the site where John writes" to a social media platform I have started to use myself so I decided to write something of my own, and probably will keep posting from time to time if anyone is interested.

My first post is about my experience of a month of CGD and some other bits I have gathered from studying your work. With due perseverance the tags will go from "mussings of an ovate" to "mussings of a druid" in a few years. This one is called A Tree for a Post: the ironies of addiction and you can find it here should you want a break from answering questions ;^).

Now to some questions:

1) During the LIRP I feel something like a push or energy circulating from the sides when I am saying the respective element. I have felt this sensation too at other times. It is almost like what we feel when a goosebump is about to happen but very pleasant. Is this my etheric body?

2) I have noticed that the sensation above increases if I am breathing in while doing it. Should I time the visualization with my in-breath?

3) When visualizing the animal guardians, do I imagine the whole scenery as towering in front of me occupying the whole from the edge of the circle outside?

4) It has been twice now that I read something, very clearly sometimes for a few seconds or just a split of one that it is not on the page. When I shake my head and read again, it is not there. Sometimes too while walking on the street there seems to be something in the in-between of two moments that I cannot really point what it is but sometimes it takes shapes. Is this a known thing with an occult explanation?

5) I've been doing a lot of Tarot and have a question regarding the "outcome" part, say for the simple three card spread you have suggested. I tried to avoid the outcome that the spread suggested one day but I only found that through this avoidance the thing on the cards happened! How can I use the foresight of a reading in my own benefit rather than something less recursive?

Re: Hey I wrote a thing and some questions too!

[ecosophia]

1 and 2) Yes and yes.

3) Depends on what works best for you. If what you've described gets good results, go ye forth and do that thing.

4) Hmm. It could be several different things. See if it continues.

5) That takes a lot of practice and, usually, a more complex spread. For the time being, don't worry about that; once you can read the cards reliably and can handle 10-card spreads, there are options we can discuss.

Fasting

[hungryghost108]

(Sorry accidentally just posted this anonymously. Keep this and delete other, or delete this as you will.)

I’m embarking on a 5-day fast today, and I wonder what you think of the practice.

It has gotten more and more popular as of late, but this leaves me kind of conflicted. On the one hand I think it’s an incredibly valuable practice almost everybody could and should benefit from; on the other hand...it’s kind of a pearls before swine situation. Fat loss is the *least* of the benefits, as far as I’m concerned. To me it’s like walking around a couple inches above the ground all day. It’s an altered state that is beneficial and rejuvenative. But not to be taken lightly, either.

Re: Fasting

[ecosophia]

It's a very traditional method to sensitize yourself to the Unseen. Like most such methods, it works very well for some people and not so well for others; I've done it, and found that it puts a strain on my body that's not compensated by the results, but that's my own idiosyncratic response, of course. If it works for you, by all means!

Assigning words to Tarot cards

[(Anonymous)]

Dear John,

Thank you for Magic Mondays.

I am working through LRM and have a question about assigning words to Tarot cards. Apologies if this has been answered already and I missed it.

In the case of some cards, the word that comes through strongly from the card is not really related to the Sephirah in question. For example, I'm in lesson eight, and the word 'tradition' stands out for me for Four of Swords, which (at least to me) doesn't seem to have a connection to Chesed (Mercy). I sort of bridged things by bringing in the memory aspects of Chesed, how we remember our ancestors and traditions, and so on. For other cards even such a tenuous link did not materialise (e.g., Four of Cups and 'hope').

Just wanted to request your advice on this.

Thanks!

Re: Assigning words to Tarot cards

[ecosophia]

Don't worry about it. The word doesn't have to match the Cabalistic symbolism; it's a reflection of the card in and of itself. As for "hope" for the 4 of cups, isn't that the attitude of someone who seeks mercy?

Astrology questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, I'm a newby to attempting astrology interpretations and I have a couple of newby questions;

1. In a Westminster democracy like NZ the head of state is considered to be the queen. However I assume that for the purposes of an ingress chart it would be the NZ prime minister. Does that sound right?

2. In trying to generate an ingress chart I've found lots of websites that will do me up a natal chart for the time and date I want. I can get the houses and aspects etc. but then I have a whole bunch of natal interpretations I don't want that are generated for me. Is there somewhere ( a website?)I can get just a chart for ingress charts? i.e. that will helpfully provide the houses and aspects nicely mapped out for me but nothing else?

Thanks heaps. I wouldn't be trying this except for your work.

Shadow Rider

Re: Astrology questions

[ecosophia]

1) The prime minister. I tend to look to the 12th for the Queen in any Commonwealth nation, as the monarchy these days is more of an institution than a functioning part of the government.

2) If you go to astro.com, click on Free Horoscopes, then click on Chart drawing, Ascendant, you can enter your data and (if you define it as "event" rather than "male" or "female) get a bare chart with no interpretation at all.

"resealing the aura"

[hearthspirit]

Well, I guessed wrong, I'd thought with all the other synchronicities I've had lately, you'd quote again from Sane Occultism. Alas, perhaps I'm not psychic after all ;-)

After little more than a week of rest after scaring myself silly, my divinations and..things... began prodding me back in the saddle again. I picked up Sane Occultism where I left off, which was to start Chapter XIV - Psychic Pathologies.

The description of the "untrained psychic" looked an awful lot like the "family curse" I've been stalking. Based on my experiment with "behave as though your fear is driving you 180 degrees in the wrong direction in interpreting what's going on", and the rather astounding results I got on that, it's a good working hypothesis. This may also explain why not studying the occult was an emphatic not-option for me this life, and I kept being thrust back to it, but why I've also been given very strict marching orders from Whomever on who, in the world of magic, to listen to and what each next step is, if it's based on re-establishing past life connections to certain Orders. It's like defusing a bomb. Ignore it and it goes boom. Cut the wrong wire and it goes boom. It does not turn off.

My questions are first theoretic, and then practical based on that:

1) Given the discussions we've been having about the polarities of the planes as they manifest in men and women, I hypothesize that if it is an untrained psychism that afflicts my family, it would then make somewhat sense of why the men tend to disintegrate, while the women merely become anxious or depressives. If being relatively receptive on the astral plane is a more normal state for women than men, perhaps that's why it really blows the men apart, as it cascades faster in imbalancing their health down the planes? Or is it just that the side effects of their own emotional outbursts in a culture that deals differently with male vs female anger creates a more damaging spiral in their interactions and what they perceive from others?

2) My son clearly has the "curse". He has reached the age of 7 (my daughter is 4). I only do the SOP and discursive meditation because of their ages and my own scrupulous fear of Doing Something Bad (Fortune says,"he is terribly afraid of black magic"), but I've caught, now that I've considered noticing, that many times if I've been I don't know how to describe... seeing an omen in something, he will seem to notice too. Like a cat. While nobody else does. He asks questions about what words mean that he seems to be picking up from undercurrents in the adults around him. I can't tell how much is that this is the age it starts, and how much is that I can accidentally prod him with my own leaking astral connections. To date we've just really focused on emotional coaching, those Virtues I mentioned last week, answering his questions as honestly as we can for age, and exercise and outside play like with any emotionally explosive child. Eating more meat than we'd been inclined to lately. Obviously, my own emotional self-regulation has been key. And I've created a habit of focusing on "shut it, shut it" and stroking my 'third eye' as though closing an eye if I catch the sensation of being too open near people, and making sure I keep up my housewifely and weightlifting habits. Are there other things I can do to make sure my untrained self doesn't "leak" or accidentally cause the rapport Fortune speaks of while I start to plod my way through what my divinations said was the safe next step (i.e. switching to the LRP and meditation topics of the Mysteries of Merlin)? Obviously, with my immediate family I can't sever all relations, though COVID has been a great cover for avoiding everyone else! I tried a red salt bag today, and I thought it helped, but I don't know if that's just a coincidence?

Re: "resealing the aura"

[ecosophia]

1) Both of those are probably factors.

2) Certain kinds of psychism unquestionably run in families. As your son gets older he can learn to use meditation and magical practices to help turn down the volume on his psychism; simply knowing that the thoughts and feelings that are bombarding him aren't his will likely help a great deal -- though you'll have to be sure he knows not to talk about such things except with you. Most people can't deal with these matters at all.

poise

[kallianeira]

That is a lovely quote, JMG: makes me think of Modesty Blaise, but where I could not realistically aspire to be much like her, perhaps the state of initiate is more attainable. I hope so. :)

Last week David BTL mentioned reading Steiner on "the three-fold worlds of the physical (body), soul, and spirit" and wondering whether there could be beings consisting of body/spirit only (no soul).

As I understand Steiner had knowledge of alchemy, maybe I could mention that alchemist Jean Dubuis outlines the energetic structure of creation in his text "the fundamentals of esoteric knowledge" in terms that may elucidate those used by Steiner.
http://www.portaelucis.fr/GB/html/publications/TEXTES/GB%20Fundamentals%20of%20Esoteric.pdf
This material is in lesson 2.

In the world, he says, everything made of matter is composed of combinations of the principles spirit, soul, body, which in turn are particular combinations of fire/air/water/earth (levels of energy, not of substance). Each thing has a characteristic balance of these components but everything has a bit of all of them.
Thus, "in the mineral realm, matter contains a little of the elements Fire and Air [=soul] but more of the element Water and a major proportion is the element Earth".

HTH

Re: poise

[ecosophia]

Machiavelli wrote that if you want to achieve greatness in anything you should imitate the archer, and aim your arrow higher than you actually expect to hit, so as to get more range. It's good advice, and Modesty Blaise is certainly a target to aim for. ;-)

As for Steiner and Dubuis, I'm not sure whether Steiner knew much about alchemy, but Dubuis certainly knew a great deal about Steiner!

[stuartjeffery]

Hi JMG,

In the Sphere of Protection there's a banishing part to the four elements but not the Spirits Above, Below or Within. I'm keen to understand why? I would have thought there were harmful influences from those directions, and it is a sphere of protection rather than just a circle. Apologies if if I missed something!

Stuart

[ecosophia]

Good! When you run into something like this that doesn't seem to make sense, it's always a good idea to wrestle with it, think about it, and see what it has to teach you.

In this case, if you'll reread the text of the ritual, the banishings in the four quarters don't banish only things coming from those four directions; they banish "all harmful influences and hostile magic, and every imbalance of the element of" whichever, irrespective of direction. Otherwise you'd be in trouble -- after all, there could be harmful influences coming from the southeast, or from north-northwest about 45° above the horizontal, or what have you. You don't banish with spirit because spirit is the integrative principle; it's the elements that limit and exclude.

[(Anonymous)]

Morning John,
Firstly thanks for the magic Monday sessions, they are very much appreciated. My question, If someone commits suicide when they are suffering from a long term degenerative condition which puts them in constant pain, will karma result in them having to go through the process again in a subsequent life?
Regards averagejoe

[ecosophia]

Probably not. They'll likely have to deal with a higher amount of physical pain than usual in their next life, but it needn't be from that same source.

[(Anonymous)]

An initiate being comfortable in any surroundings may be more like a requirement than just an effect of some paths. I remember a story of a wandering Indian holy man. Local rulers had very different attitudes to travelling mystics. So depending where he was, could find himself supping with Maharajas or dossing with the homeless.

[ecosophia]

It's a very useful skill for anyone who wants to get out of their bubble -- and mages, like wandering sadhus, are wise to do that regularly.

An odd query

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

I am currently writing a novel set in my home country in 2059, in a post peak oil setting. As I began writting, very quickly a plot sprang up in my mind that included a sea pilgrimage to a remote island, a sea goddess, a priestess and a bunch of mercenaries off to get rid of the priestess.
(1) Some time ago you mentioned that in december 2020, a new teacher would be born. Do you still think so?
(2) I have not given any name (yet) to the sea goddess and as I don't want to offend any sort of superior powers, is it ok if I keep the sea goddess anonymous or should I give her a fictional name?
(3) Some of the scenes came up while I was in a kind of dream like state. I took that as a good sign from higher powers. Should I risk divination to find out what the higher powers think of my novel?

Many thanks!

Re: An odd query

[ecosophia]

1) Then, or sometime around then, yes.

2) Come up with a fictional name. That won't offend anybody.

3) You might want to try a divination asking if that's a good idea...

Saturn

[(Anonymous)]

Last week you posted advice for a candle ritual and planetary charity to Saturn for someone buying a house.

I had one heck of a Saturn Return (which made some things much better and others disastrously worse) and so I have been very wary of Saturn for over a decade now. Although I do feel I have an idea of what the lessons were.

When I read about doing one of these candle rituals to Saturn I got an inner sense of him saying "*You* want something from *me*? Be careful what you mess with."

Then I read the Wikipedia entry for Saturn, which leans heavily towards Roman Saturn and how he is distinct from Cronos; an agricultural deity and likely and original chief god, and about Saturnalia. This made me feel differently about him as if he is something a bit different and potentially friendlier from the scary force people talk about with reference to Saturn Return, at least the kind I had. But I still had that experience, and now it feels like these two senses of Saturn are in different compartments in my head, and I am not sure what to do with this.

I was too unsure about any of this to do the ritual on Saturday just gone, as I otherwise would have, when it was the waxing moon. This is about more than just one candle ritual though.

How much of how Saturn the deity relates to a person can one assume from the Saturn Return? Any other general advice about Saturn?

Re: Saturn

[ecosophia]

Look at your natal chart, and see how Saturn is dignified. Does he receive positive aspects or negative ones? Is he in a sign that favors him, or the opposite? That will tell you more than anything else about how you and Saturn will get along. Saturn's well-dignified in my chart, and in favorable aspect to my natal Sun, so Saturn workings are easy and beneficial for me; if your natal Saturn's in bad shape, the opposite will be true.

Dolmen Arch Student Third Grade

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG!

Last week I asked about the taxonomy of the planes in use on your writings, and I have a few doubts:

- Could you please expand a bit on the description of the 3 higher planes, the ones we don't interact with directly?

- If we interact with them indirectly, would it be through relationship with higher beings? Religious/spiritual practices? Inspiration (by the Divine)? Any other ways?

- Would you recommend good sources to expand the study on this taxonomy?

- Yesterday I started journaling as a way to deal with an ingrained habit, and it had a surprisingly clear response, showing me at it's root both a desire for solitude and deep-seated, bottled-up anger, the last of which startled me (awakening the solar plexus probably helped make this an intense experience, I felt a slight physical pressure at it during the journaling). Is there a way to redirect or transform the anger through magical practice, or is it as dangerous as it sounds? (I'm currently at third grade on the DA and made as far as the grove workings of the DMH). Would more mundane methods be best, like hitting inanimate objects, or martial arts?

Thank you so much for your answers and hosting this Q&A!

Re: Dolmen Arch Student Third Grade

[ecosophia]

1) We know very little about them, since we can't experience them directly. All three are often lumped together as "the spiritual planes."

2) Yes. Science is how we deal with the material plane; magic is how we deal with the etheric, astral, and mental planes; religion is how we deal with the spiritual, causal, and divine planes, since religion is how we interact with the beings that dwell on those planes.

3) I haven't written them yet.

4) Now that you're aware of it, it's much less dangerous than it was. Keep journaling -- anger is very often a secondary emotion, something you feel because it's less painful than feeling some other emotion (such as grief, fear, or shame), and if you get below the anger and begin to deal with the primary emotion, the anger will dissolve.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

I have a bit of a technical question about karma. You stated recently that karma only applies to willed actions, and I am wondering how this applies to negative thoughts. As an example, if I read a newspaper article about a child murderer, and became so incensed at their actions that I briefly lapsed into a fantasy about beating them to death, would I be correct in thinking that this would not have karmic repercussions, as the fantasy was reactive and not actively willed? Would I also be correct in thinking that this fantasy would nonetheless be a bad thing to lapse into, as it would add a little bit more nasty psychic pollution into the lower astral?

If I later, deliberately, returned to the fantasy of beating the child murderer to death because I derived a certain self-righteous enjoyment from it, would I be correct in thinking that this would generate a degree of negative karma, as it would have been a willed action?

[ecosophia]

Yes, exactly, on both counts.

SOP addition and book recomendation on astral projection

[sea_spray]

Hi JMG

1) A recent addition to the sop I've found useful and powerful.
Chant Awen 3 times after invoking spirit within
Then "inflate" and spin the sphere.
Next say the Druid prayer while holding my hands extended and maintaining the image of the sphere, with the intention that divine energy shall flow through me and fill the sphere with white light, then chant Awen three times again.
Finaly chant "May all beings be blessed, may all beings be healed, may all beings be at peace" once or three times, with Awen chanted three times afterwards, with the intention that the sphere should slowly radiate out blessings to keep the energy flow gentle on 2 year old's in the house.

The first time I had a strong response to this (on a day when there were no kids in the house) the unexpected energy flow blew up the sphere to a huge size and my hands were left a little sore from the energy flow!

Do you have any comments, cautions or additions to this?

2) Questions have come up a few times about astral projection and you commented that you'd only read about it in one book, by W. E. Butler if I remember correctly. You may find it interesting to read: "The projection of the astral body" by Sylvan J. Muldoon and Hereward Carrington. I'm slowly working my way through it but it describes astral projection as an almost nightly, though unconscious, occurrence for almost everyone. With sound reasoning and empirical observations of the various stages and characteristics of the process. I'm looking forward to the descriptions of how to achieve it. It was also written in 1929 which I think is a positive.

3) In reading the Jean Dubuis Alchemy correspondence course he emphasis that wine alcohol should be used for the first exercise in spagyrics. I seem to recall you talking about doing that same exercise with high proof alcohol but not specifying that it should come from grapes.
I expect to be able to get a distilled home brew for that but don't expect to be able to get one made from grapes. Would you see this as a problem?

4) Finaly: when I get my ham licence and you get the time to get on air, what band should I listen out for you on?

TU 73

Re: SOP addition and book recomendation on astral projection

[ecosophia]

1) Interesting. By all means keep experimenting with it!

2) No, I've read plenty of books about astral projection; Butler's is the one I recommend to students.

3) I've never found grape alcohol to be noticeably better than Everclear.

4) It's been a while since I've had the chance to get on the air at all -- the only rig I have set up right now is 2 meter (the rest of my gear is in boxes) and other duties have meant that it's been gathering a lot of dust. I'm hoping that things will eventually calm down and I'll be able to get back on 20 and 40 meters.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. Is it a Neoplatonist idea that there are different planes?

With the below questions, it's assumed that there isn't a single path, I'm only wondering if there are actually any generalities:

2A. If society is like an ecosystem, what roles do those who practice magic have?

2B. How can people involved in magic or occultism best serve their communities?

3A. More of a political question: I know you're a Burkean conservative, but because the modern idea of liberalism seems so distorted, tied in as it is to progressivism, is there a way to go back to the core ideas of liberalism in order to rescue what's most useful about it? I know the idea of 'going back' is an anathema to progressives, which is probably why it needs to be done.

3B. If what will be discarded from the Age of Pisces is the universalist impulse, and if a core component of liberalism is a tendency to universalize, then can liberalism even be recovered if the more dissensus and individual-flavored Age of Aquarius comes into prominence?

4. The discussion of the planes in the past weeks over the other blog, and that the planes get more dense the closer you get to the physical, is so useful, and I am starting to be able to sense it. There is such a difference in sensation between the serenity that Hermann Hesse alludes to in many places in the Glass Bead Game, and the tension-filled, emotionally laden thoughts I experience when reading the news, for example, or while having an argument - or even 'positive' emotions such as listening to certain types of popular music can provoke (even though it provokes positive emotions sometimes, it still feels heavy).

After more than a year of the DMH, not only can I start to sense these changes in density, but I can also start to consciously change them. The receptive Air exercise really works wonders for this in particular.

As a result, I find myself reading the news less, skipping over comments on the other blog that are too specific to the politics of the day, staying away from any politic talk with people I know, and generally trying to stay out of the lower astral. Is it unhealthy to become too detached from the goings-on of politics, shouldn't one try to keep abreast of them in order to fill one's civic duty? I sometimes get the sense that the political sphere is so toxic, that it may be more necessary to stay away from it for the moment.

This question was provoked by Dion Fortune's passage that you quoted this week. Perhaps it's not that one stays away from the political sphere, but that one is able to remain unperturbed by even the worst of it.

5. Is there a plane that is denser than the physical plane?

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, though the Neoplatonists don't use the term "planes." The henadic, noetic, psychic, and hylic worlds are what we now call planes, though.

2) Both of those vary from person to person and each occultist needs to explore those issues for himself or herself.

3) An Aquarian liberalism will have to reinvent itself completely and give up on the Piscean notion that everyone should be "helped" to have the same values.

4) That's always a challenge, especially when politics have become so cluttered with the dregs of the lowermost sub-planes of the astral! I find that it helps to pay most attention to local politics, and limit exposure to the national scene to what's necessary to make a good choice in the voting booth.

5) If there is we will never know about it.

Occult Fasting

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks again for making this space available. It's a wonderful oasis in a mad world.

Is there any established practice for fasting in the traditions you are familiar with? If one were perhaps advised by a doctor to consider doing a day of fasting every week would there be a way to sync that up with other practices or auspicious days?

In reference to your Dion quote... arriving "right side up and smiling in the most surprising circumstances" is one of the most British things I've ever heard. Dion sounds like quite the stoic as well!

Re: Occult Fasting

[ecosophia]

1) It's standard in some Cabalistic traditions to fast one day a week. Joseph Greenstein, the Polish-American Cabalist strongman -- the guy could tie an iron horseshoe in an overhand knot with his bare hands - used to keep a water fast every Thursday.

2) Her irrepressible Britishness is one of the things I find most entertaining about her.