Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

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

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With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***

Comments

[ecosophia]

Teen Vogue is more than twenty years behind the times. A book titled Teen Witch, which included this sort of stuff, became one of the bestselling titles in the Neopagan book trade in 1998. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

As for the Second Religiosity, yes, very much so. One of the things that's gutting the Neopagan scene right now is that so many Neopagans have gotten into negative magic and have no idea how to deal with the blowback. Religion is the one readily available way out, and a fair number of them are already taking it.

[(Anonymous)]

I visualized the patterns and saw and felt the shape of the patterns. I felt the rhythm and the ‘feeling of the music’ in my body as it came out of me. The only way I can break this down in language right now is that I was able to sort of project my knowing-feeling into the music, and feel it into my fingers, my breath, and my sense of being with the other musicians, if I was playing with any at the time.

Visualizing and feeling into the patterns is simpler with folk music that is in the form of jigs, reels, polkas, etc. But if you know a classical piece well - for instance - if you listen to it, and play around with your senses, it should be possible to break it down into chunks.

I don’t know if any of this makes sense to people other than me - I am strongly visual and kinesthetic, so feeling and visualizing into things became instinctive for me.

If you have other strengths, my suggestion would be to certainly try this (carefully and gently at first, as if you were starting to learn discursive meditation), but to also think about how your own strengths might help you feel into the music and your body’s building muscle memory.

Here is a bit of lesson that might provide you with a place to start.

If you learn by ear, then listen to the piece you want to learn, and internalize it (by this, I mean to know it so well that you can, if this is a strength, ‘play’ it in your head). Then feel into it as you try to work it out with your fingers (and breath or bowing or whatever) and try to start picking up phrases, and find whatever visual imagery makes sense to you.

If you learn by notation or letters, you can try listening to the piece and follow along while looking at your music as a first step before the rest. I did both methods and found them helpful in different circumstances.

All that said, I have no idea whether this will be actually helpful to you in learning as a beginning musician. When I used to teach beginners, I started with technique and the notes - this sort of stuff never came up because it was something I just did, and not anything that I’d thought anyone might want to hear about at the time. So please don’t frustrate yourself trying this.

If it were me, I’d certainly explore this, but also listen very carefully to what your teacher has to say to guide you. Follow that advice. And then practice, practice, practice.

[(Anonymous)]

Woodwind player again - could be. Worth exploring!

[ecosophia]

You can definitely influence the astral with a radionics device. As for how it "feels," I have no idea how to describe the difference except in metaphors that probably won't communicate. ("It feels more horizontal.")

Re: Prayer

[ecosophia]

The usual habit for quite some time now has been to use "So mote it be." The Neopagans swiped that from older sources, in case you're curious.

[(Anonymous)]

It has given me a feeling of hope with this that I have lacked. It was and has been a major wound.

I know it wasn’t intentional to help to this degree, but I think it is a very good example - we sometimes don’t know in life how we might sooth and energize others toward good things, through simply the act of being ourselves. And engaging with the world in a polite and thoughtful manner.

Good job, you!

Vaccine protection?

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG/Commentariat,

I realized recently that I’m inevitably going to have to get vaccinated. I’m currently unemployed and there is a nearly 0% chance that vaccination won’t be made mandatory in order to work where I live some time in the future.

Obviously, we still quite literally don’t know about any of the possible long term side effects of these vaccines, so are there any practices that I can start now that will affect change to help keep my physical body safe in the long term? Or is that even possible?

I’m still ultimately quite new to magic, but I do have some experience with the LBRP/MP/etc.

I feel a bit ridiculous asking this, but I’m at the point where I’d rather take the “woo” seriously, than put my faith into contemporary science.

Thank you,
R

Reflection

[(Anonymous)]

So in my occult readings I've read numerous descriptions of the "active" and "passive" principle. Fire and Water, etc etc

But for some reason I've never seen the concept of reflections talked about in places like the Kybalion. Which seems somewhat important, for the concept comes up in magical practice and thought a lot (Magical mirrors, Images, Moon physically reflecting light from the sun and so on) Does the concept fit into your cosmogony at all?

[(Anonymous)]

It feels like after doing the LBRP that all the energy built up and maintained in the final seconds (when the archangels, the pentagram circle and the 6 pointed star) falls like a house of cards, even if I do the QC right after.

What am I doing wrong?

[ecosophia]

1) For the same reason people wash or shower before they get dressed in the morning. The first thing you need to do is cleanse your aura of the astral and etheric crud that it's picked up from its environment, and from your own misapplied thoughts.

2) Your question is based on an inaccurate assumption. In the United States, repression of occultism and alternative spirituality has never been the norm. You might want to go read the last couple of years of monthly posts on occult history on my blog, where I explore how occultism has been a constant and generally accepted feature of American society since colonial times. The idea of a fundamentalist takeover has been brandished about by the political left for decades now as a scare tactic; if you check out the numbers, you'll find that Christian fundamentalism in the US peaked a couple of decades ago and has been losing ground rapidly ever since. As for the jackboots, do you mean the ones worn by Antifa goon squads? Those are the ones that concern me.

Re: Healthcare Crisis

[ecosophia]

That's correct. The lunar eclipse on Wednesday perfects in the 6th house in the US chart, and one of the things that could mean is a serious health care crisis, because the 6th house rules public health in mundane astrology. That doesn't necessarily mean an epidemic, though it could mean that, and it's impossible to tell in advance whether or not it will have anything to do with the coronavirus. Mundane astrology deals in general categories and in probabilities, not in exact predictions.

The same house also rules the workforce, however, so it could indicate a crisis in labor participation -- for example, if too many people respond to the end of the virus panic by refusing to go back to low-end jobs with lousy working conditions, and the result is a crisis in the service economy, that would also fit the indications.

[open_space]

Thought it doesn't tackle your questions precisely, I'm currently reading a book called Karma by Sadhguru which is worth reading if it interests you. It's fairly basic but it's accurate and has good info.

[booklover1973]

About the language of the Etruscans, there is a book "Zikh Rasna" which deals with Etruscan writing, grammar and inscriptions.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,

I understand that offerings etc to Jupiter/Chesed on the hours of Jupiter, more particularly on the 'day' of Jupiter (Thursday) might be beneficial when making charitable actions etc. To what extent are planetary days and hours off-set by decans? If a Thursday falls within a decan like the one represented by the 8 of swords (1st decan in Gemini) is the benefit of the charitable action thereby negated or reduced? I gather that with this decan, the influence of Jupiter is both at greatest distance, and widely dissipated by the effect of Gemini. So, a charitable action within that time frame might be contraindicated?

A basic preliminary divination by way of the TdM (assuming as per Gareth Knight French images but English system) as to the nature of actions taken with an eye to the planetary hours vs same action with an eye to the decans produced: Effect of honouring the hours: 3 coins; effect taking into account the decan: Lover(s). If the Lover(s) card (as per English system) represents Gemini, then it would seem that it's not just the decan that is having an effect but the entire zodiac sign governing all three decans. In which case - hold off on the intended action until the three Gemini decans are out the way?

More simply - the background question: Is it better to factor the decans relative to the planetary hours with financial decisions or just carry on with the planetary hours on their own terms regardless?

And the foreground question: Does the appearance of the card for the whole zodiacal sign indicate that the negative aspects of the star sign currently outweigh the beneficial aspects of the planetary one? It would be an unhappy thing for any action taken in that context to be 'passing on' the limitations of the time-frame in which it occurred (if such is the case).

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting. Do you happen to know which religions they are getting into?

[ecosophia]

1) There are various theories, but it's the event that comes down to us in mythical terms as the Fall.

2) There's a difference between a universe destroying itself and a universe being destroyed by some of its inhabitants. According to the set of teachings I follow, each universe goes through a life cycle of immense length, and then comes to an end. Certain spiritual beings, due to their own imbalances, are left behind at the end of one universe and have to work out their salvation in the next. In the same way, when our universe comes to its natural end countless aeons from now, doubtless there will be some beings left over who have to do the same thing. (That's not something to worry about now; our universe is still expanding, so it's early days yet.)

[(Anonymous)]

1) There's nothing that makes bad fodder for discursive meditation, provided you can reject ideas as well as incorporate them.

2)it's mostly due to the fact that each niche follows the same core structure of having an ingroup of "smart people who know what's up" and an outgroup of "Easily mislead idiots". Most if not all political groups have this dichotomy, which makes them unable to debate with other sides because the assumption is always that the other side is wrong.

Re: Eclipse energies and time

[ecosophia]

In terms of magical timing, yes, it's purely a matter of the duration of the eclipse itself.

Planetary charity question

[(Anonymous)]

My understanding of planetary charity is that it should be given to an organization, person, animal, building (etc) that you do not currently have a relationship with. Is this also your understanding? If so, is there any etiquette for seeking a relationship with an org you donated planetary charity some time later (like, is it necessary to donate to another org or entity associated with the planet)?

[ecosophia]

On the one hand, the US Navy is clearly testing something in a hurry, and using the UFO schtick in the usual way to cover it up. On the other, I suspect they need a distraction in a hurry to try to divert attention from the assorted mis-, mal- and nonfeasance of the establishment. It fascinates me, though, that they're being so clumsy about it. They were much more competent in 1947.

[ecosophia]

In the US, mostly Christianity and orthodox Judaism, though I know a few who became Muslim.

[ecosophia]

Too many people in the original order became what Regardie called "astral tramps," spending all their time on astral journeys that amounted to a free mix of ego-gratification and random free association, and claiming vast spiritual status as a result of their visions. Mathers thought that making them go through the preliminary disciplines of the Outer Order would help keep that in check. There are other ways to do it, and I think it would have been wiser of Mathers to try less confrontational and restrictive ways of keeping people from running amuck on the astral, but he never was very good at the subtle approach.

Re: Election

[ecosophia]

It all depends on the family member's natal chart. No election is good for everyone or bad for everyone; if the eclipse doesn't aspect a significant planet or point in your chart, it won't affect you noticeably. This is why it helps to consult a professional natal astrologer -- which I'm not, by the way.

Re: Dor engineering

[ecosophia]

I haven't kept up with the current state of the art in orgonomics, so I don't know the answer to any of these questions. The one thing I picked up from reading a Reich bio recently is that even his fans admit that the Oranur experiments, which led to the discovery of DOR, probably played a large role in Reich's mental imbalances during his final year -- so I'm not in a hurry to look into it personally!

[ecosophia]

Start with prayer and offerings to Apollo and Artemis -- he's the patron deity of self-knowledge and she's the patron deity of self-mastery. You can use a ritual based on the Sun hexagram ritual to invoke Apollo and one based on the Moon hexagram ritual to invoke Artemis; see what responses you get, and go from there.