Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

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

 

"Nearly twenty-five centuries have passed since the burning of the Pythagorean Institute at Krotona.  One by one the old Mystery Schools have disappeared.  The truth seeker of today may no longer beg admission at the temple gates. The disciple must discipline himself... Each man is now his own high priest, his own initiator, the master of his own metaphysical life.  Having realized this, your own integrity must strengthen you for the path of discipleship." 

 

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. (The image to the left, on the other hand, is one of Augustus Knapp's splendid illustrations for Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages.)     

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.

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

[(Anonymous)]

1) What do you make of the way so many people seem to be absolutely obssessed with Donald Trump? I know people who simply can’t seem to go more than five minutes without bringing him up; and who can find a way to bring literally any topic to him. The weirdest part is the insistence, on many of their part, that it’s literally impossible to avoid this obsession.....

2) I've seen it discussed here that it's possible Hughes' workings have been used to bind Hughes', and everyone who does the workings, from ever harming Trump's reelection chances. If this is true, would it imply things will finally revert back to normal more or less immediately after the election, as the binding no longer matters?

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe it’s a game. 6 Degrees Of Donald Trump. 😄

Lady Cutekitten

[(Anonymous)]

After Casaubon blew away the theory Christian Hermeticists used in justifying their beliefs, what rationalizations were used to salvage Christian Hermeticism?

[ecosophia]

If you're referring to the supposed date of Hermes Trismegistus, that's a fetish of modern scholars, not something that Christian Hermeticists worried (or worry) about. To them, who wrote the Corpus Hermeticum and when it was written are minor details. What matters is that the Corpus Hermeticum offers the basis for a Christian theology they find deeper and more meaningful than the standard versions, and that would be true if Hermes Trismegistus lived last week.

Auspicious Beginning

[(Anonymous)]

I intend to complete an online course of study with the end-goal of acquiring a real estate license. For a most auspicious beginning, do I enroll in the program on Thursday during the hour of Jupiter?

Thanks for the fantastic opportunities you provide to engage with amazing topics and people.

Tangerine Hyperactive Pangolin

Re: Auspicious Beginning

[ecosophia]

Yes, that would be a fine time to do so, since (among other things) Jupiter rules the 9th house of education.

The Johnny Appleseed Report

[(Anonymous)]

Hiya John!
This week, for the first time, I’m very pleased to report that I have nothing to report. As usual, I incorporated reading the poem into my weekly practice of the grove opening and closing. Other than feeling pretty good when I was done, nothing happened. But… I did get a sense of the rite continuing to run. Later that day, the Not for Hire gave me a checking-up-on-you nudge. So… praying for peace while wearing war paint – bad idea. Adopting an attitude where reconciliation is possible – difficult, but worthwhile.
Anybody else wanna weigh in?
Changing topics – Do you suppose there might be occult or magical components to Hunter Biden’s laptop fiasco and the Supreme Court confirmation hearings? If so, what happened?
(On the first question, my Gypsy Witch cards say 38, 23, 60, and 11, 9, 6 respectively. (Flames, ring, wine. Fox, Birds, Lion.) She sometimes likes to answer red-black, so: two red, one black, and three red. I’m taking that as yes plus substance abuse for the first, and yes plus internal party politics on the second.)
And in the department of sheer nosy – Any update on the fellow who cursed himself to collapse now and avoid the rush? Having done it the hard way, he might have chosen a better route…
Many thanks,
Rusty… err… Citrine Anthropoid Tulip, rather…
PS – I’ve gotten bogged down in the gee-whiz-it-all-fits-together of flipping between TDH, TDMH, GW, and TDR. Decided to sit down and read all of them cover to cover before proceeding.

Re: The Johnny Appleseed Report

[(Anonymous)]

PS – I’ve gotten bogged down in the gee-whiz-it-all-fits-together of flipping between TDH, TDMH, GW, and TDR. Decided to sit down and read all of them cover to cover before proceeding.

You too? :)

[(Anonymous)]

How do prophecies work? Is it possible to consciously assemble them from chains of divinations, and is there a structured approach to that?

[ecosophia]

No, prophecy and divination are two different things. Diviners use symbols to grasp the subtle patterns shaping events. Prophets get their messages straight from the gods. The diviner goes looking for omens; the prophet is told what to say.

Plants and Progress

[boulderchum]

Salutations JMG!

1) Since "The Sign of the Outhouse Moon" is dropping your books, will there be any plans to print a new edition of The Encyclopedia of Natural Magic alongside the new edition of Monsters with updates based on what you've learned since you wrote the first ENM? I'm about to go through crossing out and correcting the differing entries in ENM with the updated data from The Celtic Golden Dawn, and wondering what a new edition of ENM would look like.

I wanted to report a stunning success with my CGD practice working on breathing the light in and out of my body. Although it may ruffle some feathers, I ended up applying a bit of Buddhist rhetoric to release tension and emotional trauma from my body. My first day restarting practice I just worked on breathing the light in and out. Something strange has been happening ever since I started the course - when I start focusing my mind to meditate, scenes from an old movie called "Batteries Not Included" keep popping into my mind. It wasn't a particularly good or interesting movie, and I'd rather forget it. I figured trying to force it out of my mind too forcefully the first couple times created some kind of accidental memory link between those old memories and meditation, so I've been doing my best to ignore it and refocus. This time I tried to meditate on what this memory might mean, where it might have come from, etc. I came to the conclusion that "this isn't me" in the Buddhist sense, that this memory was not a core part of "me", that the emotions and patterns of thinking it always spawned whenever I remembered it were hollow echos and reflections of my real thinking. Other intrusive memories of movies surfaced, and I gave them the same treatment, zeroing in on a sort of "centre" of my consciousness where I could sense my will and direction came from. As I was doing this, my right leg (the one with major blockages and tension) began to buzz and tingle with the feeling of energy, almost as if by releasing those thought loops I was releasing more of the blockages that have plagued me for many years.
Today while working on releasing tension and inhaling/exhaling the light before discursive meditation, I realized that I was absolutely full of tension. I realized that all this tension came from the way I dealt with life - tense and precise, as if constantly trying to execute a perfect German goosestep - and realized that this tension had come from my early experiences in life. I realized that, although these things had happened to me, they weren't part of me, and I didn't need their negative aspects to accomplish my goals. One breath at a time, I released so much tension it felt like I was a fluffy cloud compared to the tight and tiny bundle of tense muscles and twitching nerves I was before. Closing the temple took on a joyful sacredness, and for about an hour afterwards I felt more peaceful contentment than I've felt in my whole life (I also got a bit of discursive meditation done on the first sphere of the tree of life). I can't wait to go again tomorrow morning!

2) Through the rest of the day though, I felt similar patterns of mind and tenseness of body slipping back in, and I've been re-relaxing and bringing my mind away from familiar loops all day. Aside from regular practice, is there anything that can help "lock in" the improvements that come from magical development to prevent old patterns from slipping back in?

Re: Plants and Progress

[ecosophia]

1) They haven't dropped that one yet. If they do, I'll place it with another publisher -- it'll only take a day or two -- and then I'll look at possible updates.

2) Excellent! Regular practice is the only way I know of.

[(Anonymous)]

Does developing the habit of lucid dreaming have any effect on our experience of the afterlife?

[ecosophia]

Yes. Anything that gets you used to retaining continuity of consciousness makes it easier for you to navigate the afterlife. Treat the transition out of the body as a lucid dream and you should be able to make a good clean separation from your material body.

Golden Dawn discussion group

[flanerieoconnor]

Hello- no question this week, but, if it’s all right I’d like to repost my comment from last week more visibly near the beginning of this week’s thread as you suggested:

“A couple weeks ago, a commentor posted the following: “Are there any groups that get together to discuss your Golden Dawn books like Circles of Power? It seems like there are a fair amount of us, and it would be cool to get together and talk shop sometime and share insights we've had.

If not, any tips for creating such a group? Maybe some sort of Dreamwidth discussion board we could start?”

I’m working through Paths of Wisdom at the moment, having finished LRM earlier this year, and couldn’t see any reason not to just go ahead and finally register for a dreamwidth account and create the requested community. So, assuming no one else has yet done so, this space is now available:
https://pathsandcircles.dreamwidth.org/profile
I hope folks of the Golden Dawn-y persuasion here might find it useful!”

Thanks!
NPM

Re: Golden Dawn discussion group

[(Anonymous)]

I plan to start LRM tomorrow, so this is quite timely! Thank you!

Dwarves

[davidtrammel]

I've read of people having encounters with and working with the Fae. What do you know about the race of dwarves, called the Dvergr by the Norse, or their relatives.

Re: Dwarves

[ecosophia]

I haven't encountered them and I haven't read anything by anyone who has. Anyone else?

[(Anonymous)]

I hope this isn’t a medical question. I consider it a cosmetic question, but understand the government may not agree. My question is: is there any potion, tincture, that sort of thing that will fade a MRSA scar on my hand? It shows through Panstick after a couple of hours and I can’t find a Dermablend shade that doesn’t look phony. The scar is dark and mottled. The rest of my hard is neither.

—Lady Cutekitten

[ecosophia]

I'm afraid I don't know of anything that can help that.

A dream of Bastet

[(Anonymous)]

Good evening JMG, I have posted on other magic Mondays several times already, but being a young beginner I am still figuring out my way in magick and the metaphysical. I have two questions for you if you don’t mind:

1. Before I have asked and tried to incorporate Christian theology into my practice, forcing myself to use the trinity in my sphere of protection, but it never really stuck or felt right. (for probably very obvious reasons) Recently, just a few days ago, I had learned about Bastet, the Egyptian feline goddess. I was intrigued in her immediately and felt drawn to her. The day after I had a dream about myself going through tunnels of ice that were about to cave in and at the last minute, one of her followers had saved me and brought me to her. I cannot recall her exact words, but she had said something about “the worship of her is the expression of self” could this be a sign?

2. I am drawing away from technology and deeply resenting it’s presence in my life, I think this is a great thing, but I am worried about being able to relate to the people I care about when they are still “plugged in” so to speak. Is there a way to be comfortable with my views and interact with the technological lovers that are in my life?
Thank you so much for your answers I really do appreciate them!

Re: A dream of Bastet

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, that's a typical sign -- and those words are very typical of her, for what it's worth. You might consider praying and burning some incense to her.

2) It's going to be a challenge. A lot of tech addicts are very uncomfortable with those who aren't addicted, and will get very nasty about it at times. You'll simply have to maneuver your way through the resulting difficulties one step at a time.

Copper ?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG ! I just found a gold plated ring and I noticed wearing it had a quite strong astral and etheric effect. I dont really feel it as all that masculine per say but very much as "sun-like". Weirdly enough it seems to make the visualizations of the sun, head star, and the light-traced pentagrams much more vivid during the RoR and the LRP. Im going to engrave the three rays of light on it this week.
1) If I am to consecrate it as a tool to help me perceive ternaries and manifest the forces of the three rays in me, can I use the same procedure as the consecration of the druid wands (barring a few changes in the sentences) ?
2) I also heard that copper had etheric/astral effects, do you know what they are ? I have copper laying around and making a ring would be easy, Im thinking doing the same thing as with the gold ring but wearing it on the other hand with the three rays going in the opposite direction , do you see any issue with that ?

Re: Copper ?

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, the consecration of the Druid wands is a good template for other consecrations.

2) Copper is the metal of Venus, and so you can expect a copper ring to activate the emotional and creative aspects of yourself. You can certainly experiment with it.

[(Anonymous)]

Ethical problem: If I were to win the lottery through magic, how would I explain my luck to the person who would have won the same lottery had I not used magic? In other words: how do I avoid creating a negative outcome for others when I create a positive outcome for myself? Is "white magic" for me - necessarily "black magic" for someone else?

[ecosophia]

If you use magic to take something away from someone else, it's not "white magic" even if you call it that. If you want to do ethical magic, do workings that benefit everyone involved rather than taking from someone else so that you can gain.

Mental and meditation

[vitranc]

Hi JMG,
I would like to gauge my progress with meditation.
I have been at this, meaning your DH described method, for 10 months and have settled on a sequence of:
1 cleansing breath
1 minute relaxation
5 minutes color breathing
10 minutes meditation
1 minute color breathing
Cleansing breath

1. I just reread the chapter in your book and am wondering if 1 minute relaxation is enough? Should I do 5?

2. How do you gauge your progress? Is there supposed to be a special feeling while doing it? I just recently added the 1 minute breathing at the end and i have the feeling I am more out there during it.

Best regards,
V

Re: Mental and meditation

[ecosophia]

1) Experiment with a longer period of relaxation and see what results you get.

2) You can't gauge your progress. That's one of the challenges of meditation! It's like polishing a mirror that you can't see. Eventually -- and this may take several years -- you'll begin to notice changes in yourself that you can trace back to the meditation.

[nomad0]

1. I had a question on a synchronicity I'v been experiencing. My study room tends to be messy and on the exact day after a cleanup; I've seen a truck moving away from my apartment on the road viewed from my window (it's a mover truck with the company name Clutter on it). This has happened twice and twice towards my apartment when my place has been messy. I had two newer instances when I saw the truck move towards my apartment on consecutive days even when everything was fine at my place, which concerned me. I took it as a sign and meditated on other aspects of my life but ran into dead ends. Do you recommend I meditate more on this or should I drop it?

2. I've been doing journaling on the habits of will that you posted last week. My dreams over the past week have gotten more vivid than usual and I'm able to recollect better as well. Could it be an outcome of the exercise or something else entirely?

[ecosophia]

1) I'd keep track of it, but don't worry about it too much. If it had a message for you, it might simply be that you still have a lot of clutter you could get rid of.

2) Very hard to say, as lots of things can cause that.

[(Anonymous)]

When doing planetary devotions, is there a difference in how the effects manifest, when working with angels vs the Greco-Roman gods?

[ecosophia]

You'd have to talk to people who've done the latter -- I haven't.

TV Use and hurting the Planet

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there Mr. Greer

1) I live together with three friends in a shared apartment in Berlin. We have a big corridor that functions as our living room. One friend likes video games a lot and bought a really big flat TV when he moved in. He plays daily and we join him some times. He and the others watch YouTube videos every evening or just sit there and scroll through Netflix to see what they should watch (sometimes for a long time without actually watching something). I try to go to my room as often and friendly as possible.

Two weeks ago – inspired by your post some time ago – I taped the blade of a box cutter behind the TV. Since then it seems that they spend even more time in front of it. Are there other methods I can try to release the grip of that flickering monster?


2) Since June me and my partner are the stewards of garden plot (Schrebergarten in German). We go there every day to work in the garden and the house that's on the 900 square meter big plot. We already grow food there and try to reintroduce some local plant species to increase the biodiversity and welcome local birds and insects. Your book "Green Wizardry" also helped a lot.

We are also renovating the house. Its around 45 square meters and mostly build of thick adobe walls. While renovating we found newspapers from 1926 on the walls, so the house seems about 100 years old. The previous owners lived there in the summer times for 43 years. I got rid of the floors (accept the original wooden flooring), meaning layers above layers of linoleum flooring. To keep the moisture out (not necessary anymore, because two big birch trees in front of the house keep the ground super dry) they used a lot of oil trenched papers and plastics and tar. To get rid of this stuff we use the local waste management plant.

But every time we get rid of all the toxic stuff I feel bodily sick the day afterwards and really sad. It feels like I'm directly hurting the planet. The house itself on the other hand feels freed and as if it can breathe for the first time in a 100 years. Is there something I can do to minimize the hurt a inflict on the planet by getting rid of the toxic stuff? Parts of the roof are made out of asbestos and we have to get rid of that next.

Thank you very much. Those Magic Mondays help me some much.

– Alex

Re: TV Use and hurting the Planet

[ecosophia]

1) The knife thing was an experiment; it worked for some people, and not for others. I don't really have any other options to suggest; if people are addicted to a drug -- and TV is an electronic drug -- they have to want to get clean, or there's not much you can do.

2) Are there alternatives to the waste management plant? If not, you may have to put up with feeling sick and sad. Remember that the house and the land it's on are also part of the planet, and a small area that's relatively clean and full of living things can help heal and reseed a much larger region in the long run...

[pikko]

What is a good book on developing story telling along the bardic tradition?

Also, I'm still incredibly resistive to journaling.

I feel like I need an outer structure to fill my thoughts into, provided from the outside. I seemingly Hate to create my own structure for myself.

I want to be given a series of exercises to help me get into journaling. I don't want to give them to myself. Why do you think I feel I need that?

Who in the Greek pantheon can I pray to so I can provide my own structures without hating it?

[ecosophia]

1) I don't know of one. Anyone else?

2) My immediate response is to suggest that you take that as a theme for journaling. It may tie into some kind of negative childhood experience -- reactions like that very often do. I don't have a set of exercises to hand out, for what it's worth.

3) Uh-uh! You really do need to confront this yourself.

Is it possible to somehow sense magic?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John, The mention of Hughes and his "working" got me thinking... Is it possible to sense or somehow "see" magic - or do you only suspect it based upon the effects it leaves behind? If it is possible to somehow "see" or otherwise sense it, how do you in particular sense it? Again, presuming you do actually sense it, how did you develop that ability?

I've been thinking about your astrological forecast from earlier this year when you said, if I remember correctly, Trump would do okay and there was some hint that maybe film-making would face a challenge this year and there might be some scandal involving Chinese money and the election. I hope I am generally remembering your forecast okay...because it seems to me you scored a pretty direct hit under really strange circumstances!

Re: Is it possible to somehow sense magic?

[ecosophia]

1) Of course you can learn to see or sense magic. It's a form of clairvoyance, and how people sense it varies depending on what specific modes of clairvoyance come easily to them. In my case, I feel it -- I'm not very good at seeing things but my ability to feel energies is pretty good. As for how I got it, regular practice of basic magical disciplines does that among other things.

2) Keep in mind that I write my predictions by comparing astrological events to history and to the latest news. It's not too hard to score the more than occasional hit if you do that, provided that you don't fall into the trap of predicting what you want to happen!

It's official.

[lunarapprentice]

Hello JMG and all. I suppose this doesn’t qualify as an esoteric-related posting, but I’m not sure where else to post it. Maybe I’m enough of a regular to deserve some slack. Anyway, it’s official:

My medical practice will not renew its lease after 12-31-2020. Not only can I not afford it, the owner is selling the property to the hospital across the street, which will redevelop it. So I’m out of business. As far as I know, I am the last Physical Medicine & Rehab doc in my state in outpatient clinical practice (notwithstanding interventional pain specialists); as of Jan 1, 2021, there will be none. Yeah, I saw this coming from a long ways off, but I’m startled at how stricken I feel.

My revenue stream is down 50-60% and falling. My staff and patients are too scared of Covid-19 to schedule any of the electrodiagnostic procedures that I perform, or schedule any disability rating exams; that’s one of the hits to my revenue. Because of Phase 2 lockdown rules, and the fact that my practice is “non-essential”, the lawyers say we shouldn’t see patients in person under any circumstances. There is no path to recovering a normal, in-person workload for the foreseeable future, so my patients have to be seen online, which generally means I can’t bill my usual rate, and even then, there are frequent technical glitches causing the encounter to not actually transpire. If that weren’t enough, my board certification expired, and while I’ve passed all the tests, and jumped through most of the hoops required for renewal, my specialty board also requires a “Practice Improvement” research project in which the renewal applicant has to come up with a research proposal to “improve clinical practice”, implement it, gather the data, write a paper on the results, and if it passes muster, then you get your board certification renewed. I didn’t do that project; I’ve been up to my eyeballs in alligators for years, the last thing I (or my overworked staff!) have time for is to jump over some arbitrary bar. And it is one high bar. So I had figured worst case, I could just fall back to retaking the exam that graduating residents take for their initial certification. That actually used to be an option, but I learned too late that it’s been discontinued. My board certification is irrecoverable. I’m really done.

As I mentioned recently on the other blog, I had long been angling to become either an electrical power engineer (for which I am credentialed), or an electrician apprentice. At age 62, there are no openings for me, so I’ve decided to start my own business as a sewing machine repairman. I’m now taking a correspondence course to learn this trade, and plan to hang up my shingle by March, 2021. It might even turn out to be a best fit for my Aspergers brain; wouldn’t that be a blessing!

Because of all this, to speak nothing of issues with my daughters, I’m pretty busy, and have not been able to as deeply engage with this blog, especially regarding Will, and also regarding Hesse on your other blog. Both of these topics are as near and dear to my heart as anything you, JMG, have written since May, 2006.

Needless to say, my situation has proven quite a workout for my Will. As difficult as things are, I am diligently applying myself to the Will exercises JMG has been outlining.

Please wish me luck and blessings. I’m more than open to intercessory prayers if you are inclined to offer. Please allow that I am a devotee of the Helenistic Pantheon, my patron deity is Hermes. Over the years, many of you have written me some kind responses, and if I didn’t thank you then, please know that I am grateful.

— Lunar Apprentice

Re: It's official.

[(Anonymous)]

As someone who's also on the autistic spectrum the thing that stuck out to me was your choice to be a sewing machine repairman. I'm only in my 30s and every experience is different, but in my time I've appreciated how my intense interests can shift, and aren't as limited as I used to think when I was younger.

I say that because I think there are many things you may be capable of repairing. It may feel like you're fixated on a sewing machine, but from reading this comment it seems to me you may just have general mechanical ability. Think about what other niches you may be able to find.

I'd also trust your own knowledge when embarking on something like this. A correspondence course will definitely boost your knowledge, but there's also a lot that will be gained from experimenting on your own. Don't feel limited by going through an "official" course.

Best wishes and luck

[(Anonymous)]

I know the cards of the Tarot's major arcana have been mapped onto the pathways of the Tree of Life. Has anyone done anything similar with runes, particularly those of the Elder Futhark? What about the worlds of the Norse World Tree - do they correspond to the sephiroth?

[(Anonymous)]

(Sven Eriksen)

Working on it.

Funeral for self...

[(Anonymous)]

It’s long occurred to me that many of my problems stem from vestigial hopes and fears from earlier in my life that are no longer really authentically part of my internal makeup, but are continuing on from sheer inertia. It seemed a good idea to perform a little funeral ritual for Past Me, putting him to rest so that my newer self can continue on without quite so much baggage.

Does this seem like a reasonable idea? If so any things to include or avoid?

Thanks.

Re: Funeral for self...

[ecosophia]

That kind of ritual was tolerably common in the 1970s and 1980s, and people who did such things routinely got good results, so by all means go for it. You shouldn't have to worry about avoiding anything, since you're not calling down magical powers into it -- just go ahead and do it as a symbolic action, and be sure to hold a lively wake with friends. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm doing most of the hoodoo cleansing and protection magic. The options to go further are for specific things - love, money, courage, etc. Are there natural magic spells that are good for general, broad-based self improvement? Like how you do with ceremonial magic, I feel like everything could do with raising up before trying to focus on specifics.

On the same theme, what are some of the widest-scope affirmations you would recommend? I assume there's a limit to how wide you can go before it becomes too dispersed to be useful.

[ecosophia]

1) Hoodoo tends to be very pragmatic and specific in its workings. The nearest thing I can think of to what you want would be a blessing spell; you can find those in any decent collection of hoodoo workings.

2) There are no one-size-fits-all affirmations. Even Coué's famous saying -- "Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better" -- works for some people but not for others. You really do need to tailor your affirmations to your own personal needs.

Magic attack

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I’m having a hard time in my sleep.
I feel I’m being attacked by some lustful person.
It happens as soon as I lay my head on the pillow and
as I wake up, but not in my dreams though I wake up drained.
Vinegar helps it but it’s not enough.

I cast a House Chart and my question was:
“Is someone attacking me magically?”
(Didn’t mention “sexually” but this was in my thoughts when I cast the dice)

1st House: Fortuna Major
2nd House: Conjunctio
3rd House: Laetitia
4th House: Laetitia
5th House: Fortuna Major
6th House: Rubeus

7th House: Fortuna Minor
8th House: Laetitia
9th House: Acquisitio
10th House: Populus
11th House: Caput Draconis
12th House: Rubeus

Right Witness : Acquisitio
Left Witness : Fortuna Major
Judge: Conjunctio
Reconciler: Acquisitio

12th house rules magic done by another person to harm the querent.
6th house rules practicioners of magic other than the querent.
5th house rules sexuality but not love or marriage.
I see no perfection between 1st and 12th.

There is perfection by mutation between 1st and 6th and
Rubeus is a figure of passion and sexuality.
Should I consider this a yes?

How would you read this chart?
Thank you

Re: Magic attack

[ecosophia]

I would read it as a "no," because there is no mode of perfection connecting the house of the querent (1st) with the house of the quesited (12th). Because the figure of the quesited passes to the 5th house of sex and the 7th house of marriage, what's happening is that your own unsatisfied sexual needs are making themselves felt.

Representations and Lifeworlds

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

In my attempt to understand the nature of representations, culture and shared cosmologies, i've contrasted your first batch of Well of Galabes essays with the Scottish anthropologist Tim Ingold. He writes around the same scientific bias which comes out in anthropological studies, where practicing cultures are seen to have 'invented' or projected their imagination onto the landscape. The researcher always writes from the vantage point as having unique access to 'real reality,' and sees cultures as 'pinning on' meaning. Often this works itself out as a cultural relativist position. Ingold goes against this current and talks about, among other things, how a cosmology comes out from moving through and against a landscape, emerges as a process of 'revelation' (like Gregory Bateson's ecology of mind) and are situated in relational contexts which are skilled and interactive (like hunting), rather than imagined through a process of metaphysical contemplation and then subsequently enacted. My main question was in your passage here: "Neither the presence nor the absence of life mind and meaning in the cosmos is given to us in the raw materials of experience; both are essentially arbitrary, culturally determined ways of assembling the raw material of sensation into the representation or mental construct that each of us calls 'the world.'" I'm interested because is this the late-stage realisation in the 'Dragon age' of culture, and Ingold's anthropological examples deal with cosmologies still within the Unicorn/Phoenix stage of culture? Is the necessary progression a realisation that the cosmology, which emerged from the human integration and interaction with the landscape, is essentially an arbitrary relationship staged by mind for the process of creating a livable lifeworld?

My question was more of a request; i'd like to know how far you like Ingold's position and what you would add or supplement it with. I think too of don Juan who talks about the process of 'stopping the world' when it comes to pulling the handbrake on our seamless 'flow of perceptual interpretations' when we are inside a culture and cannot 'see' outside of its representations. The bias of the scientist is that he believes he stands outside both 'nature' and 'culture' and has a unique vantage point to see 'reality-as-such' but that's, as far as I understand it, not the case. And following Roszak, the 'mindscape' which we in the West act, sense and think within is a cultural fabric stitched together by Science, littered with all the inert symbols of the past, inaccessible because our vision has fundamentally changed. I'm trying to pull this together in a clear piece of writing and would appreciate anything you have to say again on the topic.

(Here is a PDF where I am reading Ingold's work (chapters 1 and 3 deal specifically with this issue): https://leiaarqueologia.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/the-perception-of-the-environment-tim-ingold.pd

Re: Representations and Lifeworlds

[ecosophia]

In order to address Ingold's position in any detail I'd have to put in the time needed to study his work and get a clear sense of what he's saying and what implications he draws from his take on things. What you've presented seems reasonable enough. So-called "cultural relativism" is simply dogmatic scientific materialism in pseudohumanist drag -- it tacitly assumes that the scientific materialist view of the world is objectively true, and so (for example) gods and spirits are cultural constructs rather than nonhuman realities.

As for the three colorfully named ages from my Galabes posts, no, not exactly. We're at the end of Western civilization's Phoenix age -- the second half of a Phoenix age in a literate society is always an Age of Reason -- and the first stirrings of a Dragon age are appearing around us. Many of the traditional societies studied by anthropologists are deep into their Dragon age, having established a stable relationship with their environments centuries ago. The difference is that we're still caught up in the rationalistic fantasies of the waning Phoenix age, in which it was (and always is) standard practice for people to disregard the evidence of their own senses in order to impose an imagined order on the world of phenomena. In a Dragon age that goes by the wayside; consistency takes a back seat to comprehensiveness as the Dragon amasses his hoard and slowly drifts off to sleep on it.