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 blossoming of the flower is a manifestation of universal law flowing through the plant; it is the will of the Infinite made manifest in the finite.  Illumination is the blossoming of the soul in man; it is just as natural, simple, and inevitable as the flowering of the rose. [...] When through realization we come to understand the divine energy that causes us to exist and grow, we cease to impede its natural flow in and through ourselves. " 

 

That's from Manly P. Hall's Self-Unfoldment by Disciplines of Realization, arguably Hall's best book and one of the classics of the Golden Age of American occultism.    

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.

 

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With that said, have at it!

***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

Improved Sleep

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a practice of placing a basin of water at the head of a bed to improve mental clarity and lucid dreaming capability?

[(Anonymous)]

"Synchronicity" was not really part of my vocabulary before your post on the topic, so I'm very ignorant about it. Meanwhile I've seen a lot of discussion here of Neopagans and others who think that they're serving gods but, people here believe, may actually be serving something else.

Can a synchronicity that seems to be leading someone to aid and/or to a relationship with a god, actually be leading them into the control of malign entities? (Like Beckett's claim of a relationship with the Morrigan which a commenter here mocked?)

[(Anonymous)]

Last week I mentioned picking up the LBRP for addressing an internet addiction. It seems to help a lot, but I’ve realized part of it is also built up habits. I know I need to build knew habits; my current objective is to build a decent evening routine without internet, then I’ll target building a morning one, and I’ll keep at it, building new computer free habits until such time as I’m happy with the role the internet plays in my life. I’ll also resume journaling starting October 1. Now my questions:

1) I’ve got a weird imagery problem with the LBRP: Michael is described as wearing red and green, which in my mind is apparently strongly associated with Christmas. So when I imagine his presence he’s sometimes covered in Christmas ornaments and lights. I can make them vanish, but it takes a bit of effort to do it. Is this sort of thing normal? I assume it’ll get easier with practice, but it’s still a tad irritating...

2) I’ve started remembering dreams. I think I haven’t remembered any since I was a kid; but several days in a row now I’ve remembered a dream. Is this a common occurrence when someone starts banishing?

3) Is there a problem with vibrating the names of the archangels? I saw you say you don’t, but I’ve been doing it since I started, and it seems to work for me.

4) Would “I live an analog life” be a good affirmation to use here to further my goal of reducing the internet’s role in my life?

Re: Improved Sleep

[ecosophia]

Good question. Presumably, since you've heard of it somewhere, somebody does it, but I'm not familiar with it.

[ecosophia]

What determines the grade of entity you contact is your own state of consciousness. If your mind's in a grubby place, you're not going to contact anything less grubby, while if you raise your state of consciousness through spiritual practice, you end up keeping a better grade of company. That's what leads people to think they're serving gods when they may be hanging out with something considerably less positive.

[ecosophia]

1) Don't make it generic Christmas red. Make it the color of flame -- he's the archangel of fire, after all.

2) Yes. If you want to explore your dreams, keep a notebook by your bedside and write them down as soon as you wake up.

3) No, some people do it that way; I simply learned it otherwise.

4) Nice, short, simple, and sweet. Go for it!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm getting quite worried about a civil war possibility. It’s gone from being implausible (June) to likely enough I need to plan for the possibility. This means assessing where I am, what I have, what skills I have, etc.

I’m starting on the practical elements, but I’m realizing I’m very fragile. I’m middle class, and Trump’s victory in 2016 shook me. I don't think I'm still that fragile, but I know I'm still very sheltered, and extremely fragile. If things go the way it looks like they could, I’m worried I’m going to just fall apart. Do you have advice on how to build mental strength to be able to handle the likely events of the future?

I have a little less than two weeks of Qabalistic magic (LBRP) at this point. Not enough to be useful as is, but figured I’d add this.

[(Anonymous)]

1) I've tried: my mind seems to think "oh, red. Christmas!" It's actually entertaining: this towering winged figure with flaming red and bright vibrant green clothing with Christmas ornaments on it is rather strange. I suspect this is also my mind messing with me, in the way some people describe things.

2) I’m not really that interested in exploring dreams, but it was just a weird observation.

4) I’ll report on how it turned out in a year!

[ecosophia]

Sure. Keep working with the LBRP, and consider adding a few other basic practices -- a daily discursive meditation and a daily divination are good choices. (You can learn about discursive meditation here -- start at the bottom.) Those will begin the process of strengthening your subtle bodies, which is a core part of what you need to do. Get much more sleep than you think you need -- most middle class people these days get much less rest than their bodies actually require -- and make sure your diet has plenty of animal foods in it, since those help keep you focused on the material plane. If you haven't yet thrown away your television, do so as soon as possible -- it's a major stress generator, among other things -- and consider doing a complete media fast, no internet, no media at all, one day a week. Those will do for starters. Down the road a bit I'll be posting a series of things on training the will, which will also be helpful, but one step at a time!

[ecosophia]

1) Then just ignore it and keep going. Yes, your mind is messing with you.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm fascinated by the Plutonic Current, and am planning to discuss how it's fading out around us. Since what you contemplate, you imitate, this seems risky, as the cult of Uglicism is rather unpleasant. If Pluto and Ceres are polar opposites, then could I use this to my advantage by spending time looking at Romanticism to balance out the influence of focusing on Uglicism?

The Johnny Appleseed Report

[(Anonymous)]

Hiya John!
This week, I read “Johnny Appleseed” during my rehearsal of the Alban Elued ritual from The Druidry Handbook. (Open, SOP, AE, ask blessings and read, close.) Nailed it. I forgot to visualize a steamboat this time, but I did get the sense of a big engine running right along. (Yes, I like Philip José Farmer, why ever do you ask?) Seems a method for reading finally arrived for me… er… unless you want it changed, of course.
And, as usual – Anybody else wanna weigh in?
In other news, the ideas of your circle are moving into the mainstream. Judith Acosta penned “Ten Great Deceptions Designed to Destroy the Republic” for American Thinker. Boy-O, this stuff sounds familiar.
And another other thing – The idea of salvaging science keeps coming up here and in some other venues. Well… is it possible to reconnect science to the sacred, or at least to a better sense of ethics?
Speaking of ethical considerations – We Green Wizards here at Tower 440 might have a new motto. “Gather what you can. Share what you have.” The favor of your opinion is most welcome.
Rusty… I mean… Heliotrope Exogenous Tulip

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for the advice!

I plan to start with the media fast this Saturday. As for the TV, I don't watch the thing but my family does; so I can't throw it away right now. As for animal products in the diet, done! I find I need a decent amount of meat in my diet to function. So, I'll add meditation this week and divnation fairly soon as well.

I figure it'll also be wise to try to extricate myself from my current social circle, consisting mostly crazy middle class people, but that’s something I’m going to have to figure out how to address carefully: I'm in my mid-20s, and due to virus restrictions I wound up in a situation I needed to move back home...

Books on Greek Deities...

[lunarapprentice]

Last Monday, Kimberly Steele had asked about book titles on the Greek gods. I missed the window to reply then, and I hope Kimberly and JMG find this late reply helpful.

In terms of classical sources, Ovid’s 'Metamorphoses' is a primary source from which many contemporary retellings derive. It’s a good read in its own right, and I think it has more feeling than most modern retellings; Ovid respected the belief people had in these myths. Another source which is relatively comprehensive, though rather dry and terse, is Apollodorus’s 'Library of Greek Mythology' (it’s a book). There is a classical Roman discussion of the gods by Cicero, 'The Nature of the Gods' (and is bound in the same volume with 'On Divination').

A excellent contemporary retelling is 'The Wisdom of the Myths, How Greek Myths can Change Your Life', by Luc Ferry. He retells a large swath of the myths, helpfully organized into linked themes. He gets into some helpful exegesis. As good as the book is, there are problems: Luc Ferry is an atheist, and argues that the ancient Greeks were, to all intents and purposes, atheist, as the myths really don’t get into the afterlife. But he neglects the explicit devotional stances of Socrates/Plato, and ignores the development of Hellenistic religious ideas as expressed in Neoplatonism. (Digression alert: Luc Ferry is real privileged schmuck. He is a former French Minister of Education, who last year opined that the police should gun down Yellow Vest protestors in the street. Here is a source on that:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6570491/Police-use-shoot-kill-tactics-Yellow-Vest-protesters-former-education-minister-says.html )

I recently discovered a modern scholar and apparent devotee of the Greek gods, Karl Kerenyi, a Swiss of Hungarian origin (died 1973), who was prolific in his writings on the gods and goddesses. I understand he was a friend of, and collaborator with, Jung. Karenyi has at least 15 titles which include:

The Greek Gods
The Religion of the Greeks and Romans
Zeus and Hera, Archetypal Images of Father, Husband, and Wife
Hermes, Guide of Souls [applies to incarnated souls I understand]
Goddesses of Sun and Moon
Athene, Virgin and Mother in Greek Religion
Dionysus, Archetypal Image of indestructible Life

That’s my belated 2 cents.

BTW JMG, what’s your opinion of Kerenyi?

[chronojourner]

Hi JMG,

A friend of mine asked me if there were a spell to break or otherwise negate magic intended to reflect spells back on the caster. I told him that I didn't know and certainly had never heard of one. Have you heard of such a spell? If anything like that exists, I don't know about it.

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

Yes, or you could focus on beauty of any type that strongly appeals to you, whether or not it comes from the Romantic movement.

[ecosophia]

Understood. Do what you can do now, and lay the foundation for doing more as circumstances permit.

Re: The Johnny Appleseed Report

[ecosophia]

Delighted to hear it -- and not surprised that the Not For Hire put in a spectral appearance. As for my ideas moving in toward the mainstream, I've been watching that with wry amusement for some time. Being on the fringes can be a position of remarkable power, so long as you don't mind never being credited for your work.

Science has to be reconnected to the sacred if it's going to survive at all. You might look at Rupert Sheldrake's work as an example.

It's a fine motto!

-- Carnelian Apoplectic Wombat

Re: Books on Greek Deities...

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. I haven't read much Kerenyi, and it's been a long time; if he ran with Jung, he's probably worth a try.

[ecosophia]

Oh, sure. You can play magical volleyball with spells, tossing them back and forth until everyone's liberally smeared with the consequences. I don't use or teach such spells, though; people who fling around noxious magic deserve what they get.

[causticus]

Hello JMG,

There's a particular "condition" (if we could call it that) I've had for as long as I remember. That is, I tend to feel a lot more calm, tranquil, clear-minded and creative on cloudy/overcast days than I do when it's sunny. Cool weather also helps in that regard too and I tend to love rainy days. In fact when it's sunny and hot I often feel quite lethargic and uninspired.

(1) Have you heard of this sort of condition before? And it might have something to do with a sensitivity to etheric energy? Possibly related, but busy/frantic activity makes me want to hide and retreat, and the times of the day when less human activity in general is going on is certainly calmer for me.

(2) Earlier today I watched a video of a very recent pro-Trump gathering in Maine and the main speaker there was a young woman who just a year ago was a staunch Democrat and suddenly switched to giving Trump a chance after Wokesters invaded her internet knitting community (yes, they try and subvert/take over even those!!) and demanding that everyone there start paying lip service to all the usual woke causes...or else, "Reeeeeeeeeeeee!". She was taken aback by this and then she attended a Trump rally just to see what all the fuss was able and discovered that, whoah....these are just normal, friendly people! And not the hopelessly irredeemable demonspawn the media had told her Trump supporters are. Fast forward about 8 months later and she's a super enthusiastic Trump supporter, and not only that, a very skilled public speaker. Anyway about halfway through her very rousing speech (IMO) a few people in the crowd suddenly pointed up at the sky, and lo and behold, there was a Bald Eagle very closely circling overhead!! The people in the crowd exclaimed, "look, it's a sign!" Then later on social media I read various people reporting Eagles circling over similar pro-Trump gathering. Of course, I assume there must be something extra-normal to all of this. Knowing that the Eagle is associated with gods like Zeus/Jupiter who preside over matters of statecraft and justice, I see that this has to be more than a mere coincidence. Could this be a good omen for Trump? And have you heard of omens or signs like this happening before?

3. Following up on your recent blog, it seems like there is going to be a massive return to traditional religion following the fallout of the Woke scourge, among other things. And am I right it's going to be nearly all in traditional/established religions, as opposed to fringe or new/faddish ones? You mentioned before that you see the various flavors of Neopaganism and pseudo-Occultism going the way of Theosophy. It seems like the spiritual needs for people is something reliable and established; something that could fulfilled the Spenglerian 'Second Religiousness' (This is one of the reasons I'm studying up on Mahayana Buddhism to supplement my magical studies; there's a lot of themes in it that can square with Christianity, without getting stuck in the very narrow theological and cosmological boxes that's Christian dogma)

[(Anonymous)]

How do you tell if you have an energy blockage in the womb center, and what is the best way to unblock it?

I am working through the DMH, but haven't yet done the Grail workings. Earlier this year, I did the workings to awaken both currents, and since then almost every time I invoke Spirit Below I get a rush of energy during the SOP.

So I thought things were going well, but several months ago I pulled my lower back, and the pain still isn't going away even after many appointments with an osteopath. There is a specific point which is stiff and aches in the lumbar region of my spine which aligns perfectly with the womb center in front. I know you can't give medical advice and I will continue to consult the osteopath and a doctor, but I was wondering if you had advice about the energy side of things.

Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

1) Why does your mind mess with you when picking up rituals?

[temporaryreality]

Would you be able to say a bit about guardian angels or guardian spirits and if those are the same or if they're related in any way to one's higher self? Is contacting and working with such beings/aspects part of any particular magical or occult system, and what might that require and entail? Do you recommend any written works on the topic?

Thanks!

[chronojourner]

Excellent point!