Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight, so we can proceed with a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything ***about occultism*** (ahem) 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!***

Comments

Am I doing this rite right?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, John.
OK – good news is that my brain finally got over the surprise of having copy 440 of 550 of The Dolman Arch appear on the doorstep of Tower 440, GWB&PA. Unfortunately, my first official act after that was a wisecrack – “Maybe I should write the Green Wizards’ Standard Monitor, squirrel it here and there, then find it again in a couple lifetimes when the American Renaissance needs fraternal lodges.”
Oh. Boy.
Well… I’ve been doodling a grove rite to ask Hu to bless my rototiller by pulling bits from the Charming of the Plough, borrowing the idea of Oiling Day from the steampunks, and generally being a good magpie… The other holiday I have in mind is the Celebration of All Slain Hope. That’s a Dixieland funeral for our old friend Progress. Six more for a full wheel of the year.
Anyway – I asked my Ogham staves what the most important thing I need to know about this rite is. Ur, Huath, Uilleand. Be patient and plan, I think. A few days later, I asked what I need to understand. Ioho, Duir, Phagos reversed. Looks like I have the ability to do the work, but I’m missing something, not confident, or…? So, I asked what I need to understand about that draw. Huath, Eadha, Koad reversed. Quit being a Cowardly Lion.
Since this is my first attempt, might I ask your opinion? Umm… is asking possible, or is this strictly individual effort?
Anyway, my staves have a really good sense of humor, but talking with them is often like being in a sports bar with my fraternity brothers – kinda hard to remember the good advice when I’m laughing at the bon mot it came wrapped in. Is that normal?
Many thanks.
Rusty

Re: Am I doing this rite right?

[ecosophia]

1) Remember that the best way to see if a ritual works well is to write out a rough draft and then do it a couple of times. You don't have to wait until the canonical day, just walk through it a few times, saying the words and doing the actions, and see how it affects you. Edit it, then set it aside for a few weeks and do the same thing again. Since you won't need it for a couple of lifetimes, why rush? ;-)

2) Some oracles are like that with some people.

[(Anonymous)]

a) I've started banishing shortly before bed (LBRP, Classic Golden Dawn) and have found I sleep way better. I fall asleep easier, sleep deeper, and have started waking up earlier and feeling more rested. Is this normal?

b) The effect is not consistent, but since I started banishing I've found my interest in porn and the internet has skyrocketed. This seems like a really weird thing for banishing to do, but it appears to be related based on timing. Do you know what could cause this effect?

[ecosophia]

1) Yes.

2) If something in your environment was sapping your vital energy, and the banishing was clearing that away, vital energy does tend to go one place first of all if you're within a decade or two of puberty...

Dune

[(Anonymous)]

Since I mentioned the new film version of Dune last week, a small fact about it rose to my attention. Chani is played by Zendaya, a popular actress with good action-adventure chops. Hordes of fashionable young ladies who have been reading Harry Potter, Divergent, and The Hunger Games might be reasonably expected to discover the novel. Perhaps Green Wizards could divert some of the resulting synergy away from petitioning Ben and Jerry to issue Kumquat Haagendasz ice cream. (Blue vanilla with cinnamon swirls and gummi sand worms, of course.) What do you think?
R

Re: Dune

[ecosophia]

If that's the work you feel called to do, go ye forth and do that thing.

Cosmic Gravel Field?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I’ve done the Heathen LRBP, Middle Pillar, and ALU rituals daily pretty much from the time you posted each one.

With all but the ALU, I can visualize the sense of light. It gets easier as time goes by. But the ALU light seems to fight its way through what seems like big chunks of gravel. It clears it away eventually, but it takes a few moments to break that stuff up.

Any idea what that’s about?

Thanks as always!
OtterGirl

Re: Cosmic Gravel Field?

[ecosophia]

The ALU rituals, like its equivalents, calls down energy from a considerably higher plane, and so the experience you're having is not uncommon -- it's having to filter down into the world of dense matter. That you're getting it after a few moments is a good sign.

Precession of the ages

[vitranc]

Greetings JMG,

I would like to continue a thread from last week.
https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/116786.html?thread=13615922#cmt13615922

Thank you for the wonderful representation. This got me thinking, well dreading. Those gnostic and similar people in the last age saw that we were moveing into the Aquarian age and then there is the Capricorn age still to come. 4 thousand years of all the bad things that they have been dreading. And they might have seen this happening a thousand and a half years in advance and bolted out. Good for them, they had that option. I do not. I am a novice now and all indications accordingly I have no previous life investment so to speak. So I am in it, no choice but go forward.

Interestingly Tolkien came to mind:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
and later:
“Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens”, said Gimli

1) Bitter encouragement. Would a wise druid, have any words for us, since this is our lot?
2) I went on and researched a bit, and something struck me. Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn, but the ruler of Aquarius could be either Saturn (traditionally) or Uranus (modern) and I know you referenced Aquarius as being uranian in nature before. Is there a glimmer of hope for us yet? :-) (i am being over dramatic)
3) Saturn is the lord of time, limits, material wealth. And a stern teacher. He does have something to teach. Would that mean, that those of us who have to go trough this will benefit from this despite the hardship?

Best regards,
V

Re: Precession of the ages

[ecosophia]

1) This is an essential part of the cycle of human evolution. When the vernal equinox is in Leo and Cancer, the gods and spirits are very close to us; when the vernal equinox is at the other end of the arc, in Aquarius and Capricorn, they are very far away, and we develop our own strength. Our species will go around the whole circle many times -- I suspect the final number will be seven, but that's a guess -- before we finish our period of material incarnation and proceed to other things.

2) As I see it, Aquarius is Uranian, and gives us both the freedom and the burden of working out our own individual relationship to the cosmos, however eccentric that turns out to be. Uranus is a malefic planet, like Saturn, but where Saturn is the lord of limits, Uranus is the lord of liberty: our burden for the next two thousand-odd years is that we get to cope with the consequences of our own actions. After 2160 years of that we'll be ready for the more structured era of Capricorn, and begin the long journey back to the presence of the gods.

3) Of course. It's all part of an initiation.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm doing the LBRP daily as part of LRM, and finding it hard to visualize the archangels. I can get everything else clearly, but when it comes to them, it's blurry, hazy, and hard to visualize. It's been getting better, but is this something normal, or is it a sign of something being off?

[ecosophia]

This is absolutely normal. Most people have problems visualizing at least one thing in the ritual -- some, as I did, have trouble visualizing anything at all! -- and it takes plenty of practice to get past that.

[(Anonymous)]

Last week you mentioned that a lot of people tried to find a way to jump ship before the precessional cycle took us somewhere quite ghastly, and it made me think of something: given the universe's warped sense of humour, it occurred to me that trying to jump ship to avoid something ghastly could lead to getting to skip the good times before it.

Is it possible that part of the increase in bodies in the past century or so is caused by souls who managed to jump ship, skip the Age of Pisces, coming back in time for the Age of Aquarius?

[ecosophia]

That would be very much in keeping with the universe's sense of humor. Poor b******s.

Electronic glamor

[lterrell]

Update on electronic glamor
Our DVD/Blue-ray player has been having difficulty turning on for a year or more. Power button would have to be pushed a half dozen times for it to come on, player would blink each time but then not come on. mid-january the player doesn't come on at all, a light blinks a few times when the power button is pressed and then goes dark again. Again and again I try and it doesn't work. I resigned myself to knowing that I have to throw this DVD player away. So I disconnect it and take it to the trash, I know I should take it to the recycling center but I took it to the trash instead, and while I'm about to throw it away I notice that there is a exacto knife blade taped to the bottom. I think can it be? May 2018 I taped an exact knife to it. I remove the exacto knife and carefully run a stream of water next to the DVD Blu Ray player next to each of its surfaces figuring that this might dispel bad energies that I have caused it to absorb. I take it back to the living room plug it back in and it works as if it had never had an issue. This issue had been slowly getting worse for a year to a half a year with the DVD player refusing to turn on or turning on then turning off immediately, and eventually if you press the power button enough times it will come on. It has been three weeks since I discovered the blade and removed it and it has continued to work without any sign of the issue.

Re: Electronic glamor

[ecosophia]

Many thanks for the data point! That's quite remarkable.

[open_space]

Today, some speeding i***t killed my father’s beloved cat. We went to pick him up and burry him in the front yard. It’s been long since I’ve had to face death and I wonder what is best for the people that lost someone and in this case, for the cat that now has a journey ahead. There is definitely some amount of healthy recognition of one’s own loss but is it any good for the process? Say, mourning or the likes? I would assume it is mixed since having someone in ones mind and sending painful and sad feelings could potentially interrupt or make the cat’s journey’s difficult and my father potentially sadder.

1. From and occult perspective what is the best way to process the death of a dear one as for to make it easier for everyone involved?
2. Death by trauma sounds like a horrible way to die and possibly make it harder on the cat. I take prayer would be appropriate here. Is there a period after death that is most beneficial to pray for someone be it human or feline?
3. I know that Saturn rules over sorrow and death from your natural encyclopedia, I don’t know in which sense though. Would it be beneficial to do a candle working using a black candle to make his passing easier besides prayer?
4. Would it be good to visualize my father, with his permission, in my lbrp with me or would it be better to just do it around my house?

[ecosophia]

1) I don't know of any way to make something like that easy.

2) Prayer is especially important for the first forty days.

3) No, Saturn would simply make things worse. Burn a white or light blue candle at dawn, irrespective of the day of the week, and pray for blessings on everyone affected by this.

4) No, just do the ritual.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you know if anyone has looked at conjunctions involving Uranus or Neptune to see if they work like Great Conjunctions? (ex Jupiter-Uranus, Saturn-Neptune, or Uranus-Neptune)

[ecosophia]

There are people investigating it but I haven't seen any results yet.

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

1. What is the difference between the Ruler of an element and the Elemental King? (Follow-up: I know that the Elemental King is described as the "collective consciousness" of an element, but as I understand it elementals don't have a consciousness in the human sense. In that case, is it more of a collective "consciousness" on the etheric level?)

2. What are the consequences of cremation as opposed to burial on the separation of the various subtle bodies from the material body after death?

3. Do the LBRP or other banishing rituals banish divine presences from the area, and thus inhibit prayer?

4. Could you briefly describe the early stages of your involvement with magic? What were you doing in the first couple of years of practice? What mistakes did you make, in hindsight? What do you wish you could have known back then?

[ecosophia]

1) The elemental kings are equivalent to planetary spirits, and elemental rulers to planetary intelligences.

2) Cremation is generally preferable because it sharply decreases the risk of anything going wrong between the First Death and the Second Death.

3) If you think anything a human being can do will banish, or even mildly inconvenience, a deity, permit me to encourage you to think again...

4) To explain that I'd have to summarize about a dozen years of my life, and go into a lot of personal details I'd rather not revisit publicly just now. Sorry, but I think I'll pass.

SoP

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John Michael,

I've been practicing the sphere of protection for a few years now and believe I'm beginning to get the hang of it :D

I have a request for you assistance if you may, please:

I am pretty solid at, and/or grasping several of the elements with increasing understanding and depth. I've performed the ritual with increasing regularity over the years and have of late seemingly achieved some new and seemingly better understanding of what's involved.

My specific inquiries are related to the spirits, above, and within. I seem to instinctively am drawn to spirit below and have little difficulty connecting with this and generating solid response, but less so above - I cant seem to get the same visual intensity imagining the sun, wider space and it's vastness, and have trouble with the color.

Also with spirit within - I am not able to conjour up the intention combined with imagination in the same intensity as with the elements or spirit below.

I was hoping you might be willing to go into a bit more detail, or maybe say the same things as in the books but differently to help me approach them from another angle of insight. I have trouble with the visuals, color, desired intention, and overall connection.

For what it's worth, as a data point, similar to what others reported, I received the same number '10' with both of the special editions of the dolmen arch books as I saw many others had also.

Thank you in advance

Re: SoP

[ecosophia]

It's very common to have trouble with one or two of the three forms of spirit. I think it has to do with basic orientations of the subtle body -- some people are more oriented toward one source of energy, some to another. I'm sorry to say that a different explanation won't help. Simply keep on doing the ritual, and proceed through the rest of the work; bit by bit, it'll all come into balance.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm practicing the rituals from your book Circles of Power and I had a couple of questions:

1) How often should the Sun/Spirit version of the GRP and GRH be practiced relative to the specific elemental/planetary versions? Is it OK to practice all of them more or less equally in rotation, or should one of the forms be given priority?

2) In the GD tradition, are skills transferable between the different rituals? I would assume that any practice of the pentagram ritual would make it easier in the future to perform any other pentagram rituals, and similarly for the hexagram rituals. Does the experience gained with the pentagram rituals transfer to the hexagram rituals, and vice-versa?

3) You often advise beginners not to experiment with a system until they've mastered it and gained a thorough understanding of the subtleties involved, which is why I'm going to ask the next question rather than going ahead with experimentation:
3a) Would it be advisable to modify the vanilla LBRP, replacing the pointing at the pentagrams prior to vibration of the Names with the Sign of the Enterer (followed by the Sign of Silence), and performing the Sign of Earth for each pentagram?
3b) If so, what effects might this have?

4) How would you recommend students to go about procuring the small warehouse of equipment required in the Golden Dawn tradition? I understand that in general, students should go to great lengths to make their own tools, but are there any guidelines for procuring the materials? I assume exotic sources from far-away lands aren't any better than the local hardware store? Is it expected for a student to keep his hands clean of the global capitalist economy?

[ecosophia]

1) I recommend doing all of them in rotation.

2) In my experience, skill in one ritual transfers to all other rituals in the system.

3) Why do you want to do this?

4) This is much less of an issue than it's been made out to be in some of the literature, I made some of my own tools, and purchased others -- my air dagger and water cup, for example, were purchased and painted -- and I didn't find a noticeable difference; I also know people who bought their working tools already made and painted, and had good results with them. If you want to make tools, your local hardware store is fine, and what you do about the global capitalist economy is a matter of your own personal politics and conscience.

Geomancy

[(Anonymous)]

I study geomancy via your book.

I am bit confused about the meanings of inner and outer elements.
I don't really understand the difference nor their functions.

Can you clear up a bit the misy for me? Thanks!

Regards

Re: Geomancy

[ecosophia]

You and everyone else! I got the traditional lore on inner and outer elements from old books on geomancy, and included it because it's part of the traditional material. I find in practice that the figures work best if you ignore that and simply focus on each figure as a diagram of how the four elements relate, line by line:

Top line, fire active * or passive * *
2nd line, air active * or passive * *
3rd line, water active * or passive * *
4th line, earth active * or passive * *

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

In Paths of Wisdom, you talk about the difference between the yechidah and God, and how it would be a mistake to think of the yechidah as a fragment or splinter of God, at one with substance of Ultimate Reality, although this view is popular in certain branches of contemporary spirituality. However, doesn’t this establish a separation between the individual and Ultimate Reality, in a way that most of the mystical traditions of the world have spoken against? If we are ultimately separate from God, then there is a duality in the universe, between Creator and created, master and slave. If we partake in the act of creation, doesn’t this imply at some level a kinship with God?

[ecosophia]

How do you get from "creator and created" to "master and slave"? Why not, for example, "parent and child"? Or "dreamer and dream"?

Question for geomancy

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, is a geomancy question along the lines of "Should I do..." etc. reasonable? I wondered if it was too vague but on the other hand I can get tied up in knots trying to be specific and miss important nuances

Re: Question for geomancy

[ecosophia]

That's the sort of thing that varies from person to person. Try it and see if you get good answers!

[(Anonymous)]

So, I have recently come across a number of reference sources that have said that, before the 20th century "topaz" referred to any yellow gem, not just the material we call topaz today, and that before the 19th C "chrysolite" referred to any of chrysoberyl, prehnite, and peridot (and perhaps other minerals, depending on the source). When you discuss topaz and chrysolite in your Encyclopedia of Natural Magic, you give the modern definitions for the substances, but I suspect your sources are from further back than that or draw on sources which are. Do you happen to know if those sections in your book apply only to the modern substances or should be taken to also apply to the other ones those names used to refer to? For instance, citrine is more common and easily obtainable than modern topaz, but citrine is one of the primary things that pre-20th C "topaz" referred to.

Also, on a completely different note, I have have been doing the Christian version of the Middle pillar exercise since you posted it nearly a year ago (https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/84104.html?thread=7996296#cmt7996296) (and the LBRC since before that). When you make the currents of light circle around you, does it matter how far away you put them from your body? I seem to get three different effects depending on distance. Right on top of my skin is very sluggish and hard to move; a few inches out seems to be easier but still relatively sluggish and tending to stay no more than a few inches away; and more than a foot out is much more easy to move, but doesn't feel like it's doing the same thing. Putting it more than a foot out also gives me the feeling the white current is in the middle of some kind of black emptiness like space that I don't get if I put it closer in. The Art of True Healing makes the statement that "Naturally this circulation is visualized as persisting within the body rather than as traveling around the periphery of the physical shape. It is, so to say, an interior psychic circulation rather than a purely physical one," which at first seems to say the current is to be visualized inside the body, but then I can't figure out what that second sentence is trying to say about the first one. What should I make of all this? Thanks!

[ecosophia]

1) That's an intriguing idea. The old texts -- which I did indeed use -- don't come with mineralogical samples attached, so it's something that would have to be settled by experiment.

2) Okay, good. You've caught onto one of the secrets of the practice, which is that you can do the circulation at different distances from the physical body and affect different levels of the energy body. I recommend doing the circulations immediately on top of the skin; this is sluggish, because you're engaging your etheric body as well as your astral body, but it has stronger healing effects than just doing it astrally. As for Regardie's comment, the point is that it's a movement of consciousness, not just of astral or etheric substance; let your attention circle with the flows. (I think he did it inside his skin, but that doesn't seem to work well for most people.)

[(Anonymous)]

This is a bit of a weird question, but is it possible for egregors to be afraid of dying? In particular, could part of why the end of Progress seems so over the top be that the egregor is terrified of its death? It would make sense, since conquest of death is one of the big things people who believe in it like to imagine is coming soon....

[ecosophia]

That's an interesting speculation, and not impossible, because egregors are astral phenomena and the astral plane is the plane of emotions.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, thanks for doing this. I have asked you several questions before and appreciated that you took the time to respond.

I have 3 related questions.

I've been reading your book A Magical Education. It's really interesting. In the chapter Healing Through the Elements, you say the following:

Pure dark chocolate is cold and dry in the Second Degree; its appropriation is to the nerves, its property is calmative, and its virtue is as a treatment for lovesickness. Which was a disease discussed in quite a bit of detail in the old texts, by the way; they didn't have chocolate available to treat it, but there were other medicines; there was also the preferred treatment which, if the cause of the illness was available and willing, was pretty much what you would expect.

1. Can you clarify what the preferred treatment for lovesickness is? I don't really understand what you mean when you say it is "pretty much what you would expect".

2. Also, if you have any other remedies that work for lovesickness, I would appreciate you telling me. I suffer from it.

3. Is lovesickness as you refer to it and as it was thought of in the Middle Ages what is called limerence? If you haven't heard of it, limerence is roughly defined as "an involuntary potentially inspiring state of adoration and attachment to a limerent object (LO) involving intrusive and obsessive thoughts, feelings and behaviors from euphoria to despair, contingent on perceived emotional reciprocation"; I've also seen it characterized as love intoxication, as though one has become addicted to another person.

[ecosophia]

1) The whole comment in the talk included the phrase "if the cause of the illness was available and willing." That is to say, the preferred medieval treatment for lovesickness was to have sex with the person with whom you're in love.

2) I'm sorry to say I haven't looked into it. You might consider finding a good therapist or, alternatively, a practitioner of Ayurveda or Chinese traditional medicine.

3) What a gawky way to talk about it! Yes, that's the same thing.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I have an issue which has made reading books a slog; slow, painful, worrisome, and not fun at all. When I read, I have an unpleasant need to not miss any of the words or the writing in the book. In effect, that means I read the bibliographies of books, the dates in the parentheses, introductions, acknowledgements, footnotes [even when I don't want to] and even in some cases the copyright page.

I will feel compelled to read these bits if I read a book -- even if I put the book down after reading the good parts, it will stay in my mind and then, even for a long time later, I will feel compelled to go back and read the bibliography and acknowledgements or whatever boring part I skipped. This is so boring it makes me not want to read books much at all.

But that's not the worst of it. When reading, I feel like I have to get every word. So what that means is there's a process in my head that is running, and it seems like it's checking I didn't miss some word or phrase or sentence when I read. And if I just *might've* I will go back and reread that part of the page. Usually, this rereading is unnecessary -- I hadn't missed anything at all. And this rereading, as well as the constant monitoring process in my mind, make reading stressful, slow, non-immersive, and boring.

I have OCD, so this might be related to that. Still, it seems like a specific problem that can be solved. Do you have any ideas that might fix this? I'm not sure if this is exactly a question about *magic* but because so much of magical and related techniques you describe involve dealing with the mind you might know.

[ecosophia]

I'm not a psychotherapist, but that looks very much like OCD to me. I trust you're getting therapy for it; that's about all I know to suggest.

[booklover1973]

Is it advisable to wait with enchanting the wand and cauldron until all stones for the circumference of the grove have been enchanted, or can I do these things parallel to each other? The question relates to the Druid Magic Handbook.

[ecosophia]

You can do them in parallel.

[booklover1973]

Hello JMG, can you recommend R. J. Stewart's book "The Underworld Initiation"? Can you say anything about his book abou Celtic gods and goddesses? Is it any good? The reviews about these books were somewhat mixed.

[ecosophia]

Stewart is a controversial figure but I've always had excellent results with his techniques and I own a good-sized stack of his books. The UnderWorld Initiation is among his best; the book on Celtic gods and goddesses is quite solid.

Taking care of a nature spot

[(Anonymous)]

Hello mr Greer. To preface my question, I am the manager of a large-ish (for my country) nature preserve, which is mostly forests with some meadows and ponds. I take care of it with my team of volunteers as best I can (clearing the paths for visitors, reaping some meadows yearly to avoid brush build-up and favour endangered plant species, doing regular species inventories to evaluate ecosystem health...)
Thus, I'm always wondering if there's something more I could do, or if what I'm doing is right (should I be reaping this parcel for low lying plants or let it grow into a thicket, should I plant a hedgerow here,...). Are you aware of non mundane ways in which I could improve my stewardship of such a place, maybe learn to be more in tune with its needs, and make sure all the species there thrive as best they can?
I hope this doesn't come across as pejorative, as I'm working off the half remembered notion that practitioners of druidism tend to be very focused on nature. I'm not at all initiated in any occult practices, being a scientist by trade, but my mind has been opened to this in part by reading your blog.
Thank you for your writings!

Best regards
JJ

Re: Taking care of a nature spot

[ecosophia]

No, none of this comes across as pejorative at all; it's always welcome when a scientist gets past the unfortunate prejudices of the scientific community and deals with the wider world in which we all live. If you want to work with the subtler aspects of nature, however, that takes training and practice. You might consider picking up an introductory book on Druidry -- my book The Druidry Handbook is an example, though my forthcoming book Wisdom of the Oaks might be even better suited to your needs -- and exploring some of the practices in it. Druidry does in fact deal with the spiritual in and through nature, and it's an experiential rather than a dogmatic tradition; you might find it a good fit.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. If I remember correctly, there were some threads late last year that discussed the seeds of some new myths or deities among certain urban communities (I can't find the original reference). If I remember correctly, this may have been connected to the grand mutation. Have you noticed anything further in that direction, and if so, where do you think it's headed?

2. I've done enough scrying now to notice several kinds of quality of imagery. Sometimes, for example, a word or thought will appear in my mind, then an image appears soon after which corresponds to it. Sometimes, though, an image will appear directly, and the appearance feels slightly different and usually more intense, and is often weirder than what I normally visualize. What do you think is happening there?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) I've been too busy with other things to follow up on those hints. We'll just have to see what happens.

2) Scrying takes place on the astral plane. The astral is divided into many sub-planes or regions of varying (metaphoric) density; the lower the sub-plane, the more concrete, tangible, and (often) weird imagery tends to become. So your scryings are ranging across several sub-planes.

Androgyny and the Higher Self

[cs2]

I've meditated on gender for many hours, and doing the SOP has helped me to divest myself from the associations society tries to put with gender. I generally think the whole thing is blown out of proportion. From an occult perspective, I suspect alternating physical sex each lifetime is a lesson in polarity, and any kind of identity associated with gender is specific only to that personality in that lifetime.

My question is: is the Higher Self a combination of both genders, having experienced both physical sexes many times? Is this also true of angels? Thank you.

Re: Androgyny and the Higher Self

[ecosophia]

The inmost core of the self has no gender, and the bodies that surround it vary in gender -- in most cases, for example, if you've got a male material body you've got a female etheric body, and vice versa. So yes, it's been blown way out of proportion. As for angels, the traditional lore isn't agreed about that -- some teachings claim that angels have genders, others that they are genderless.