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 even more relevant than most: 

 

"The philosopher is attempting to attain an eternal existence.  He is striving for release from impermanent attitudes, beliefs, and habits...he must stop fuming and fussing over this candidate and that party, and get to the place where he can perceived that all the varied and often contradictory procedures of mankind are contributing to an eternal pattern.  Growth, integrity, and ultimate perfection are inevitable.  There is nothing more disheartening to see than a group fretting itself into a frenzy determining whether a certain political party is going to overthrow civilization." 

 

That's from Manly P. Hall's Self-Unfoldment by Disciplines of Realization, arguably Hall's best book, one of the classics of the Golden Age of American occultism, and a reminder that over-the-top political passions are nothing new. (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

[emmanuelg]

Hi JMG--
A question about the Aspects to Geomantic Houses--
I cast a geomantic chart where the Quesited was in House VI and the Querent passed to House XI. I tried to look that one up on table 6-1 (Aspects to Geomantic Houses) and--Hmmm, its not there!

So I am wondering if you might have left out some columns, or if the apparent missing columns aren't there for reasons of Astrology;
Going strictly by the diagonal procession of numbers through the table, there could be an additional column before the Dexter/Sextile column. Others would appear between 'Dexter/Trine' and 'Opposition', between 'Opposition' and 'Sinister/Trine,' and after 'Sinister Sextile.'

Two of these missing columns would refer to the houses on each side of the house in question, so I guess I am mostly curious about the two apparent missing columns in the middle of your table, on either side of the 'Opposition' column. Are these undefined, or something else?

Thanks for fielding all these questions! This grand, ongoing conversation has opened up new worlds for me ;-))
--EG aka Maroon Amphibious Muffin

[ecosophia]

Those relate to nonclassical aspects. In classical astrology (and thus also in traditional geomancy), the opposition, trine, square, sextile, and conjunction were the only aspects that mattered. Johannes Kepler added a bunch of additional aspects, and the two you're talking about (the semisextile of 30° and the inconjunct of 150°) are among them. However, not everyone uses them and geomancy hasn't added them. It would take some serious research into geomantic charts to figure out whether they're significant and, if so, what their significance might be.

Seeking better spiritual company

[(Anonymous)]

I suspect some bad spiritual company is hanging around me, I presume because of my own past actions and current state of mind. Fairly often I get unbidden negative thoughts and feelings, including sometimes rage. This is partly the result of leading a rather difficult life characterized by much frustration. It's worst when I'm tired and run down; sometimes it seems as though someone is trying to goad me into doing or saying something mean.

I practice a banishing ritual pretty regularly, and occasionally a variant of the Rose Cross. Is there anything else I can do to clean up my scene and keep nasty thoughts at bay?

Re: Seeking better spiritual company

[(Anonymous)]

Hi There,
Have you considered the possibility that you are an empath? That is not empathic, but an empath that feels the emotions and sometimes even physical sensations of others as if they are your own? I ask because this is a very common condition. It may help you to ask, "Is this even my emotion?" If it is not, the question seems to make the foreign emotion dry up.

I have also had great success in bathing in cold water every morning. I also add crystals, floral waters and essential oils to the bath to help the cleaning process but really cold water washed etheric crap off you just fine. I also have a weekly Hoodoo bath and find I am quite calm and happy.

I hope this helps.
Maxine

Astrology: Synastry

[(Anonymous)]

I've noticed a few similarities and interactions with my birth chart and that of a close family member with whom I have a difficult relationship.

Both parties share Mars in Scorpio, Mercury combust, Neptune in the 12th, waxing moon.
The composite chart on astro.com has moon opposition Saturn, which sounds about right.
One party has a T-square and the other has planets (including the Sun) where the fourth point of the Grand Cross would be. The Grand Cross is often talked about as karmic and there are features of the relationship which can seem karmic.
One chart has many retrograde planets, the other none at all.

Do you have any advice on what aspects and times to look out for when this relationship might be easier? Or would that be more dependent on other features of the charts?

Re: Astrology: Synastry

[ecosophia]

I'm not yet up to professional levels of skill in natal astrology, and synastry requires crackerjack natal skills. I'd encourage you to take both charts to a good professional astrologer who specializes in natal work and get their advice.

[emmanuelg]

Very interesting! Sometime, I will have to see what Kepler thought about them with respect to Astrology.
The chart was on the query,
"Will I become gravely ill this Winter?"
Since I work in healthcare and am around sick people every workday, it is relevant for me;
For the compulsively interested, Populus, Fort Major, Puer, and Albus gave this house chart;

https://shedivesin.github.io/emoji/western/house/0c/b4.svg

Seems to indicate that I won't personally be gravely ill, but also seems to say that there will be a large amount of illness here in South Central BC, possibly in late Winter.

[ecosophia]

You'll be fine. The first and sixth houses have no mode of perfection connecting them.

How to be a healer

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, I would like to ask about establishing oneself as a healer.
At this point in life I am looking at several educational options, medical doctor being one among them. (for information; medical education would be free in this country) I also recall several statements, made on this platforms that you administrate, more or less in the direction of:
- in the chaotic societies of the caribbean pirates healers and navigators were still protected due to their value
- the modern medical university does not train healers
- the people that do best are the ones that can work for themselves

So my question is, if one had an interest in druidry, wanted to get a medical doctor education, become a healer and open his own doctors office; What study course would one have to pursue?
Obviously enter university (tuition is free here) and complete the 6 years degree + 4 years of general practitioner post doc.
What exoteric points would you point out to concentrate on.
How would one build oneself up in the esoteric way to supplement the practice?

Scarlet Hibernating Muffin

Re: How to be a healer

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
I have added healing to my practice and am having great success making medicines for my friends and family from my herb garden. You could easily pursue herbal studies in your own garden. I think you will be amazed at the results; I was. By the time you are a Doctor, herbal medicines may be easier to get than pharmaceuticals and much cheaper for poor patients.
Maxine

[(Anonymous)]

"Growth, integrity, and ultimate perfection are inevitable." That sounds a lot like Co-Masonic jargon. Was Manly P. Hall initiated into Co-Masonry?

[ecosophia]

That's one of the major mysteries around Hall. He didn't officially become a Mason until 1954, but his most famous book, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, which is full of Masonic symbolism, was published in 1928. It's entirely possible that he became a Co-Mason in the 1920s, but quietly let that fact get swept under the rug when he became a regular Mason in 1954.

[booklover1973]

What is an inconjunct aspect and what does it mean? What does it mean when a planet is peregrine?

[ecosophia]

An inconjunct is an aspect of 150° between two planets, measured from the location of Earth. It's an aspect of frustration, delay, and denial; while it's normally counted among the minor aspects, I've found in my own practice that it's very often as powerful as a sextile.

A planet is peregrine when it is neither dignified nor debilitated by its placement in the zodiac. Every planet has some signs, and some portions of signs, where it receives dignity, and some signs where it receives debility; when it's in none of these, it's considered peregrine, and weak.

[(Anonymous)]

On several occasions, you have mentioned the distinct probability of a prophetic figure being born about the time of this upcoming Grand Mutation. Given the 700-800 year pattern of the cycling of Grand Mutations, we have prophetic figures arising ~0CE and ~700CE. What particular prophetic figures arose then in the ~1400CE period, following this pattern?

[(Anonymous)]

Well, there's Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, though he wasn't born until 1469

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
A little of your wise advice if I may.
I have been doing the SoP for a year now, based on the instructions on this site, and using the Shinto pantheon. The results have been generally positive, and I have tried to incorporate meditation and divination as well, notably studying geomancy from one of your books.
I have followed up various other suggestions and mentions in your posts, and became quite interested in the Sephiroth: I have been reading Dion Fortune's book on the subject, and I wondered if I could use it to meditate on energy centres, as I have done quite successfully in the past with the Small Circle in Qi Gong. But although I have found lots of references to Cabalistic meditation on the Internet, and videos from organisations like the Brotherhood of the Eternal Light, there seems to be no agreement on how to do it, or even something as banal as which point to begin. Two questions if I may:

- Are there any problems of principle in doing Cabalistic meditation as well as the SoP (evidently at different times of the day)?
- Are there any reliable guides to how to do it?

Thank you.

[ecosophia]

1) None at all. I've combined several different systems of energy center work with the SoP with good results.

2) The reason you've found no agreement among the different versions of Cabalistic energy center meditation is that there are at least half a dozen completely different ways to do it. That's commonplace in spiritual traditions, because many different methods work. Choose one that appeals to you, follow the instructions precisely, do it for a year, and then see what results you've gotten and decide if you want to go on with it.

[(Anonymous)]

Does the astrology of someone's time and place of death have any effect on their afterlife and next incarnation?

[ecosophia]

Not that I've ever heard.

Angeology

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG, and the forum,

Is anyone aware, or experienced with angels as a topic for meditation and spiritual development guidance, that could indicate me a good book to start?
Thank you!

Re: Angeology

[ecosophia]

Other than A Dictionary of Angels by Gustav Peterson, I don't know of any good books. Anyone else?

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning JMG,

I’ve a serious chronic condition in my eye akin to an autoimmune disease.
‘Though not life-threatening, definitely life-changing.
Underwent a number of surgeries to no avail.
As Science doesn’t have anything to offer me I thought I’d turn to occultism.
I’m not a magician but I’ve experienced a fair deal of TSW in my life.
A geomancy divination to know “Will magic heal my right eye?" yielded the
following figures:

1st Mother (1st house):Cauda Draconis
2nd Mother (2nd house): Rubeus
3rd Mother (3rd house): Albus
4rd Mother (4th house): Laetitia
1st Daughter (5th house): Carcer
2nd Daughter (6th house): Fortuna Minor
3rd Daughter (7th house): Amissio
4th Daughter (8th house): Populus
1st Niece (9th house): Amissio
2nd Niece (10th house): Amissio
3rd Niece (11th house): Acquisitio
4th Niece (12th house): Amissio
Right Witness: Populus
Left Witness: Via
Judge: Via
Reconciler: Tristitia

I’m not sure which chart to use.

If I opt for a House chart:

Cauda Draconis (querent – 1st house) says I’ve already decided to try magic anyway.
Question 1 – Which one is the quesited: Populus in eighth (if magic will suffice) or Fortuna Minor in sixth (since it has to do with healing)?
Question 2 - Both perfect with the querent through Amissio. The answer is yes but, if F.Minor is the quesited, an eventual success might be short-lived. What kind of success might be expected if Populus is the quesited ?
Question 3 – Amissio shows up in the 7th (physician), 9th (divination), 10th (treatment) and 12th (limitations). Does this add anything worthy of note?

If I go for the Shield chart:

Populus (right witness) is the past,
Via (judge and left witness), the present and the future. It doesn’t look good. I’d take it as a no but...
Question 4 – Is Via favorable since I don’t want to leave things unchanged?
Question 5 -The Way of the Points leads to Amissio (third daughter/ fourth triplicity). I can’t quite grasp how do family and friends fit. Could you clue me on this?

Thank you

[ecosophia]

Okay, first of all, before you cast a chart, always decide in advance if it's going to be a shield chart or a house chart. That way you don't land in this kind of confusion. Avoid trying to "shop around" different houses and chart methods to find a result you like!

As a house chart, which is how I'm going to read it, it's a sixth house question -- always assign the house of the quesited based on the end, not the means -- and the answer is yes, because Amissio makes a translation between the 1st and 6th houses. Amissio's repeated presence in this chart suggests to me that there's something in your diet or environment that you need to get rid of, because it's making your eye worse. Fortuna Minor in the 6th suggests that someone else's help will be useful to you in completing the cure.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

I have recently had trouble sleeping, and I thought I might try to petition one of the Gods in order to assist me. I considered Saturn may be appropriate, and so I performed an Ogham divination to see if he could aid me to sleep. The reading was:

First card (me): Ailm (reversed)
Second Card (action): Gort
Third Card (result): Mor

My interpretation of this is that Ailm reversed indicates that my selection of Saturn was frankly incorrect, and a result of my naivety, while Gort suggests that despite this, over a period of time petitioning Saturn to improve my sleep will actually work. In turn, Mor indicates that I will be unexpectedly successful.

Do you think this is a reasonable interpretation of the reading? Also, is there a god or planetary spirit that is more appropriate than Saturn for aiding sleep?

Thank you very much for your help.

Sleep Magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
I rely on Morpheus, the God of sleep. Pray to hi anyway you like but this prayer works for me. I did not write it and don't know who did.

Morpheus, I invoke you to let sleep be with me.
Peaceful sleep, restful sleep.
Let my body be eased.
Let my mind be calmed.
Wings of darkness, let the night and dreams be clear.
Let my troubles drift away.
Let me dream sweetly.
Morpheus, bless my sleep.

You may also find relief in a tincture of Valerian.
Maxine

[brendhelm]

When using geomancy to find location, would a health-savings account card (HSA card) be a 2nd house matter (because it's a money equivalent) or a 6th house matter (because it pertains to health care)?

[ecosophia]

That's a very good question. As a rule I'd look to the 6th, but I'd check the figure in the 2nd as well...

Guardian Spirit and Guardian Genius?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John Michael,

If I have learned the name of my Guardian Spirit from a traditional Full Natal Astrology Reading, would that be the same name as my Guardian Genius if I determined it by the Geomantic Method?

Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge in this forum!

Kind Regards,
Chris

Re: Guardian Spirit and Guardian Genius?

[ecosophia]

Probably not. The spirits in question don't speak the same language.

The Johnny Appleseed Report

[(Anonymous)]

The Johnny Appleseed Report
I’m very pleased to report that I have nothing to report about the week’s reading of “In Praise of Johnny Appleseed” beyond my voice taking on the quality of vibration without effort on my part and feeling energized when I got done.
Many thanks to everyone who helped me get this far.
So…
What’s up with the spontaneous vocal vibration? Or – is that a your-mileage-may-vary effect?
Anybody else care to weigh in?
Rusty

Re: The Johnny Appleseed Report

[slclaire]

At some point, I don't remember where now, I became emotional and near tears during the reading. I don't know why that happened.

[(Anonymous)]

a) What happens on the astral plane around them when people have mental breakdowns?

b) What happens on the astral plane in general when large numbers of people have mental breakdowns?

[ecosophia]

In both cases, it depends entirely on the nature, cause, severity, and course of the mental breakdowns we're discussing.

[allenlincoln]

Excellent choice of quote right before the election! But I want to ask about one part: "Growth, integrity, and ultimate perfection are inevitable". This feels like it's referring to mankind itself, which made me pause. How does this work if anyone who attains enlightenment moves beyond being human, and new souls, just as immature and troubled as the old ones were when they started out, show up to take their place?

Or is it meant to be read as referring to each individual?

[ecosophia]

It's referring to each individual. Hall was a bit of an optimist; he believed that every soul would eventually attain wisdom and grace.

[avalterra]

Either its a slow Magic Monday, the elections have everyone freaked out, or maybe you are just having a slow day putting comments through. In any case here is my question for MM.

I am making a set of Druid wands for Geomancy practice. My plan is to use wooden chopsticks and mark the opposite sides. In essence I've created a fours sided die - two sides marked with a one, two sides marked with a two.

1) Is that acceptable?

2) Which makes the next question obvious. If I could get a standard RPG four sided die marked the same way would that be acceptable?

AV

[ecosophia]

It's a very slow Magic Monday. I assume that half my readers are casting spells to influence the election and the other half are hiding in basements waiting for it to be over.

1) That's perfectly fine.

2) So is that. Anything that will generate four binary digits is a valid way of generating geomantic figures. I've done it with the 41¢ oracle -- a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a penny, tossed at the same time and read in descending order of value from the fire line down, heads for one dot and tails for two.

Dangers of Neo-Paganism

[(Anonymous)]

A question about neo-paganism, if I may. Just how harmful is it to a magical practitioner to get too involved with neo-paganism? In my experience, as soon as one even thinks about identifying as a pagan, one is assaulted with a whole raft of baggage: one is encouraged to hold correct political opinions, to avoid any kind of non-woke behaviour you can think of (cultural appropriation, victim-shaming, transphobia, etc.), and even to hold the correct opinions on the history of witchcraft, the origins of the Celtic myths, which books to read, etc. And if one tries to ignore the above, then the egregore somehow manages to invoke feelings of guilt in oneself, whatever one thinks about it personally, which is a huge red flag as far as I'm concerned.

What would you say is a safe distance from the whole business? Are some parts of it more hazardous than others? I can see paths like devotional polytheism as being relatively safe - I'm just not interested full stop, and I can just happily disagree with even the more opinionated bloggers. But it's the more mainstream areas which seem to be more problematic - 'generic paganism', 'pagan witchcraft', etc. Should one de-paganize one's bookshelf - there are one or two authors in particular I have in mind (not including yourself, of course)? Is it safe attending pagan events (even just for the music)? And however has paganism managed to get a reputation for encouraging people to think for themselves, and reject dogma and doctrine, when (again in my experience) the Anglican Church is far more open and tolerant of dissenting opinion? These days paganism seems to be about as tolerant and open as the Chinese Communist Party.

Re: Dangers of Neo-Paganism

[(Anonymous)]

As someone who's been in and out of paganism for twenty years now, I think this level of intolerance is pretty new. It's always been left-leaning, but in the past people would readily recommend authors because they were expert in the relevant area, who are now not to be touched with a bargepole,for example Edred Thorsson.

I don't think this intolerance is an essential part of it, and I find it strange that people who are (neo)pagans in the sense used in official classifications like the census have suddenly started to talk about the politics-first left-wing pagans as if they are a separate group altogether, rather than calling them "SJW pagans" or "woke pagans".

Jupiter

[(Anonymous)]

To do a set of planetary charity workings for Jupiter, is it better to wait until after the Grand Mutation? Are there any other important timings for Jupiter in the next two or three months?

Re: Jupiter

[ecosophia]

Planetary charity does not depend on planetary aspects. It's best done on the day and hour of the planet, but other than that, don't worry about it.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,
You have mentioned Egypt from time to Tim on your blog. Are you aware of any modern, scholarly work that deals with, or at least mentions, Egyptian magic seriously?
Many thanks.

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. There's a vast amount of good recent scholarship on that subject; Robert Ritner's The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice is one of many examples.

[(Anonymous)]

1) Is there a particular planet associated with gambling, with which a person can put down a bet on the planetary day and hour? Or is that planet the ruler of a person's natal 5th house?

2) While pondering what activity to do for the will exercises, I began to put down the days of the week and the numbers associated with their respective numbers in an effort to do repetitions of an activity in line with the planetary number. I realized that there was a pattern in which alternating days of the week were ascending in Chaldean order, and their distaff alternating days were in descending Chaldean order. For a week starting with Monday, the planetary numbers are as follows:

Mon(9), Tue(5), Wed(8), Thur(4), Fri(7), Sat(3), Sun(6), Mon(9), Tue (5), Wed(8), Thur(4), Fri(7), Sat(3)...

Given the prior discussion on the planetary numbers of Uranus (2), and Neptune (1), the arrangement of the week was experimented with so that the ascending and descending Chaldean orders would sync up properly. This yields the following order for the days of the week:

Mon(9), Thur(4), Wed(8), Sat(3), Fri(7), Ura(2), Sun(6), Nep(1), Tue(5)...

Testing this out with the planetary hours yielded good results, with either 14 or 22 hour days resulting in a proper Chaldean order crossing over to subsequent days.

[(Anonymous)]

It seems to me that if the number of hours were 1 higher than a multiple of the number of days (e.g. 28 in this case), you could have crossing-over of hours while having a single order for hours and days. (In case you think that'd be desirable.)

(Also, that in both the current and your hypothetical list, both alternating sets of numbers are descending - which they have to be, because they're both derived from the same hour order.)

Mantras & Affirmations

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

I'm working with a Hindu deity (among others) and I began practicing one of her mantra's. I'd also started an affirmation practice the previous year based on your posts. My question is, should the mantra be considered as separate from the affirmation? Basically the mantra COULD be thought of as the general affirmation in the same category as "I Am One with the One Life of the Universe. It now flows through me to accomplish all my worthy desires." Different definitely but of a similar order. Just wondering what your thoughts are about sticking with the mantra in lieu of "I Am one with..." and my specific affirmation or if I'm goood to use the "I Am One With..." affirmation as a distinct thing separate from the mantra work.

Just curious what your thoughts might be.

Carnelian Oracular Toad

Re: Mantras & Affirmations

[ecosophia]

Mantras, like prayers, are separate from affirmations. You can do up to two affirmations, plus any mantras or prayers you may be using.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

1) Which books on occult or esoteric topics would you consider 'must-haves'? I know that interests and abilities vary rather dramatically, but do you own physical copies of any books that have been staples of your bookshelf and that you've found to be well worth the investment over the years?

2) In your experience, what have been the effects of performing the LBRP, MP, divination, and meditation daily over the course of several years? Do these practices affect primarily the unconscious mind?

3) Are you familiar with the book Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz? The core tenet of the book is to practice creative visualization to program the unconscious mind with the goals and objectives that we set for it. Are you sympathetic to this approach in general?

[ecosophia]

1) I have three tall bookshelves full of such books. The kind of occultism I practice tends to be very book-heavy!

2) You wake up. Ordinary human consciousness is best compared to a shallow doze; the regular practice of a set of basic magical disciplines of the sort you've named is one very effective way to wake from that, and become aware of an entire universe of forces and factors of which most people are unaware. No, they don't primarily affect the unconscioius mind.

3) I read it many years ago. That approach works but it's very limited, because it doesn't include any way to listen to what the unconscious mind has to say -- and that's a crucial skill.