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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And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

A couple of questions about drugs and the occult today:

1. Could the psychedelic experience be controlled using occult means? For example, would a capable Golden Dawn magician be able to control the entities encountered on psilocybin or DMT, and if so, how?

2. Are there any spells that would aid a magician to better navigate the psychedelic experience (e.g. to interrupt the experience prematurely, or to protect oneself against hostile spirits)?

[d_mekel]

Not jmg, but if I recall correctly, don't mix the two

Omens and divination in odd places

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Mr Greer,


This is not so much a question as an update on omens and communications with higher powers.

I am currently in transit. I have a job in Japan, but I cannot get my work visa until the border re-opens. So I have been learning Japanese and waiting...

I pray regularly to the Lady Bast, who I have been close to for many years. Often I use language videos for "shadowing", where you repeat with the native speaker to fix language chunks and make the hearing/speaking automatic. More often than not, I see messages in the random sentences that appear, often with a dry sense of humour evident. Phrases such as " all in good time" when I have asked to get me to Japan.

Recently I began to despair and I applied for a job in Indonesia and started learning Indonesian as a backup plan. So I am waiting for the Indonesian company to reply and I go to the only large bookshop in town to look for a phrasebook. To my surprise they have not a single Indonesian phrasebook and a whole shelf of Japanese books, odd since the last time I went they had but one.

I thought it over and decided I really did not want the Indonesian job, I wanted to go to Japan more than ever.

Add to this, recently I have been seeing foxes all over the place in daytime. This is somewhat unusual, but then I have been praying to Amateratsu the chief Kami, Sun Goddess of Japan, in polite Japanese, and her messengers are foxes. So receiving the message I have withdrawn the Indonesian plan and rededicated myself to learning Japanese and trying to be patient...

Most of my greatest errors in life have happened because I disregarded the direction of forces in life and tried to go against the flow. Now I am at least trying to pay attention...

Many thanks for making this space available.

Best regards Ben from the north.

Re: Omens and divination in odd places

[(Anonymous)]

You may also wish to try praying to Hachiman. Despite being known as the patron of warriors and protector of Japan, he seems to have a great deal of say in who and what gets in and out of the country. Best of luck to you!

Attention and Bodily Distraction

[(Anonymous)]

The attention practice in chapter one of Learning Ritual Magic recognizes you might get itchy (or uncomfortable or restless). It says to "attend to [such sensations] calmly and easily." I'm not clear whether this means:

1. to scratch the itch in the least distracting way possible and get back to standing still, or
2. to just wait it out as one more bodily sensation being experienced.

Which reading is intended?

~Plum Shabby Pug

Re: Attention and Bodily Distraction

[ecosophia]

The second alternative. Notice the sensation, don't act on it, let it pass.

Marijuana use and Druidry

[(Anonymous)]

Hello sir,

As I have an dependence on the cannabis plant (and have for many, many years) your responses regarding practice while under her effects (or rather, NOT doing same) struck a nerve. I abruptly stopped my practice which I’ve been doing daily for about six months because I am positive you are correct that I shouldn’t be doing this while under the influence. I need to kick the habit (or at least get control).

But I’m in a catch-22 situation, where a primary source of nascent personal strength and will is the practice I stopped. I understand I should just not do the bad thing before my practice, easy! But also, as a person with a dependence, maybe not so easy. It’s gotten to the point where I feel normal when under the influence. (My coworkers would plotz if they knew.)

Do you think that in my situation, it could be OK for me to continue to do the SOP (since it’s such a safe and helpful ritual generally) and journaling while working towards control of the dependence and waiting to progress with divination and meditation once I’ve managed to gain the upper hand? (Might take a while, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, innit?)

To be clear, I don’t have what I call a “dude weed lmao” type of relationship with this plant. I respect her enormously and appreciate all she’s done for me in helping me to kick an opiate addiction. (I differentiate between addiction and dependence based on the effect to my life. Addiction is awful and destructive - dependence is manageable and legal.)

Maybe I just swapped them out, but Mama Cannabis is a much kinder, gentler mistress than Daddy Poppy is a master. With proper respect and intimacy, I’ve found the cannabis plant can have great assistive effect for me in ritual. But as a clearly inexperienced practitioner, and one who clearly needs to enhance my will quite a lot, I fully understand and agree that may not be a good thing.

Thank you for this forum.

Magenta Exogenous Seahorse

Re: Marijuana use and Druidry

[ecosophia]

I'd encourage you to do the SoP first thing in the morning, before you light up for the first time that day, and you can certainly practice journaling -- it's one of the safest and most fiexible practices I know. Since you're coming off trouble with opiates, some wiggle room is appropriate -- and if what you can do in this life is the SoP and journaling, that's fine too.

[(Anonymous)]

Two questions:

- What is the specific grade and part of the Tree of Life that is related to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel attainment?
- It's common to hear that some evil spirits can masquerade as good ones on the subtler planes, is there a common and simple hack that everyone can use for discernment in these conditions?

Cheers,
Scarlet Hibernating Octopus

[ecosophia]

1) That's traditionally associated with the Adeptus Minor grade and with the sphere of Tiphareth.

2) Watch your level of consciousness. (Regular meditation makes this easy.) Contact with angels and other beneficent spirits produces a calm, cool, expanded feeling; contact with demons and other malevolent spirits produces a hot, confused, murky feeling. Once you get used to the difference you'll recognize it instantly.

LRM

[(Anonymous)]

Good Morning! I'm currently working on Lesson 8 in LRM and seem to be a bit stuck. I have a couple of questions.

1. This is my sticking point right now. I've done several meditations on the Four of Cups and how it expresses Chesed and I'm as mystified now as when I started. There seems to be an incredible amount of depth to this and I'm completely stumped as to what word best summarizes this card for me. Is this something I should just accept and move on to the next card or should I continue to meditate on it until I find the word that summarizes it for me?

2. In performing the MPE, is it best to imagine yourself expanding to a great height each time one does the Qabalistic Cross or to continue to visualize oneself at that great height until the end of the ritual? Odd that I've been doing the MPE for months but just began to wonder about it.

As always, thanks for providing this forum and the opportunity to ask these questions.

Sincerely,
Brother Josephus

Re: LRM

[ecosophia]

1) Just accept it, choose the least inadequate of the various inadequate words, and go on to the next card.

2) I always just expand each time I do the Cabalistic Cross.

The Artist’s Way

[(Anonymous)]

I’m curious if you or anyone else here has thoughts on Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way from an occult perspective. It’s been on my list of things to do for years but am finally taking the plunge this summer. After making way through the intro and week 1, many of the exercises feel like something that could be included in OBOD’s bardic grade (which I am ever so slowly working my way through by keep getting derailed). The book clearly has some explicitly Christian framing, but the idea of a greater force working through you when engaging in creative work feels very primal (and also reminds of a Nick Cave audio essay I listened to a while ago). She also addresses the notion of replenishing the creative well as a form of, in her words, magic. I also wonder if the daily morning pages could be seen as a way or practicing strengthening your will.

Anyone complete this text and find it helpful? Any suggestions for getting the most out of this from an occult perspective? I’ve been stuck on the water ritual in OBOD for months now, so I’m also thinking this is timely for finally unblocking my flow and subconscious a bit.

Re: The Artist’s Way

[ecosophia]

I can't speak to it from an occult standpoint but I know people who think highly of it.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, and thanks again for these MMs.

Background: I personally have found the christian god either dead or in absentia, with whom I wish to have no relationship whatsoever. I do not yet have an active relationship with or felt a particularly strong calling to any of the other acknowledged pantheons. When I realized that god wasn’t following through, I told him off in no uncertain terms and parted ways. I'd asked you before about finding a new pantheon and you mentioned that I should read up on them and pick one based on what I felt a connection to. I've done (and am still doing) that, but while there are a few individual deities from various pantheons I'm curious about, no pantheon as a whole really stood out to me. And pick-and-choose doesn't seem to be a good idea. So...

1. Are any of these other pantheons known to not be dead - that is to say, are all of the “old gods” gone the same way as the christian one or are some of them known to still be active and expressing genuine power and having genuine relationships with followers, and if so, which ones? I have a personal curiosity about some of them in particular, but aspects of each also concern me greatly, and while I am not an atheist, I’m not big on the tribal identity aspects of being specifically aligned to a particular religion. That said, I’d like to have “a” pantheon so that I can practice the SOP in more than a vague, earthy form, although I’m fine with the vague earthy forms if that’s most appropriate at this point. I'd also like to be worshipping gods who are actively involved in elevating their devotees and not consuming them.

2. My mother insists on praying for me (that I have a close personal relationship) to the aforementioned christian god. For her however it’s a matter of life and death and she won’t have it any other way (if I told her how I really feel about it I’m sure she’d pray all the harder and for obstacles to be thrown in my way, no less - she’s done much the same before). Is this something I should be concerned about? I’d really not like to have to take hoodoo baths daily or even weekly.

Thank you for your thoughts on this!

[ecosophia]

1) I know people who get living responses from most of the commonly worshiped pantheons -- Greek, Roman, Norse, Irish, Hindu, Japanese, you name it. For that matter, I know people who get living responses from the Christian god, though I also know a lot of people who don't. Take your time, and stick with the vague earthy forms for now.

2) It's not a problem. The SoP should take care of any energetic issues.

Cosmic Doctrine

[(Anonymous)]

One quick (I think) question about the CosDoc: I have the Millennium edition, and in ch. 17, p. 104, it says, "The first swarm... have subjective consciousness." But then the 2nd swarm "have subjective consciousness only." I wonder if there's an error. Should it say that the first swarm has objective consciousness? (I mean, this book is confusing enough without editorial errors...)

Thanks for your time.

Re: Cosmic Doctrine

[ecosophia]

It's a typo. The revised edition gives the same line as:

"The first swarm, entering into the already prepared group-mind, has objective consciousness."

[d_mekel]

I recently watched a documentary called missing 411. It's basically about people who go missing in the wilderness that seem like they were plucked from where they were standing or swallowed by the earth with no trace. A lot of times they are with people and are very briefly out of sight..
The usual assumptions are along the lines of aliens, portals, cryptids, etc. I was curious if you had more of a magical explanation for these unusual disappearances. I thought ascension, like in the bible, could be a possibility.

[ecosophia]

Good question. My working guess, given the wildly inaccurate accounts that are common in alternative culture these days, is that people just got lost and the media gussied it up to make it seem mysterious and sell ad space. I could be wrong, of course.

Memorializing the pandemic

[(Anonymous)]

I heard a discussion on NPRadio yesterday about some young adults lobbying for the establishment of a permanent memorial in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would be, by Fortune's definition, clearly a magical act: preserving/adjusting our consciousness of the pandemic (which (at this time) (seems that it) is waning (in our part of the world)). What sort of unintended consequences would you expect from such a work?

I'm thinking that we're most likely to codify the wrong lessons: heroism of overworked health-care workers and the glory of vaccines, for example, rather than seeding of the vaccine into nursing homes and communities, and the value of vitamins. This will be no place to meditate on the inevitability of death.

Lathechuck

Re: Memorializing the pandemic

[(Anonymous)]

PS: I forgot to mention: there's a "Victims Compensation Fund" aspect to this "memorial", too. And not just for the estates of those who died, or the medical bills of those who survived, but, you know, EVERYBODY who was in some way affected!

After all, they argue, we did it in response to the Great Disaster of their parents' generation (9-11, 2001), so why not something for them, too?

Lathechuck

Desire and New Thought

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry I accidentally clicked post before I finished this post the last time round, please ignore the other one:

For the last few months I've delved into New Thought works and techniques.

I find that one common theme among many of them is to have a strong, burning, clear desire. Atkinson mentions this in a few different places as well as later authors.

I've tried to create mental visualisations of scenes in which my desires are fulfilled, different writing exercises and so on.

I have to be honest, I feel like my desire goes out pretty soon after I start the exercises.

This could mean that I didn't truly want those things after all, but now I find myself in a quandary of not having a truly burning desire.

I desire some things naturally, but nothing that's an all-consuming passion.

For example, one thing I would really love to have is to have a source of income based on activities I enjoy (reading, researching, writing and persuading; potentially fitness and martial arts). I actually applied for a job that I think fits these criteria (B2B enterprise sales) and am halfway through the interview process, but it's not like it's a burning desire that occupies my mind from the moment of waking.

In your experience, is it necessary to have these kinds of burning desires to realize them with New Thought methods?

Re: Desire and New Thought

[(Anonymous)]

Perhaps the ability to discern that you have no "burning desire" is the best wisdom of all?

Or, perhaps you can find a non-selfish desire to serve your community (however you define it). That means discovering what they need, what you can accomplish now, and what greater things you could accomplish with a well-directed will.

Lathechuck

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a way to access your essay on polytheist ceremonial magic without getting that whole Llewellyn book?

[ecosophia]

Nope. It's copyrighted, and they own the copyright for the time being.

Noobs Like Me

[degringolade]

Since your current online course has really intrigued me and I have decided to take this occult thing seriously (and may I add that doing so as a former card carrying senior member of western (commercial) science is quite a jump) I have a lot of catching up to do.
I am trying not to read ahead on "Doctrine and Ritual" and to just be patient, but since the tarot deck seems to be critical to the process, and I missed out on a set of Knapp-Hall cards, I decided to give the Philosophical Research Society some of my hard earned $$ and shelled out for a copy of Yolanda Robinson's "Mysticism and Qaballah in the Knapp-Hall Tarot" and Manly P. Hall's "The Tarot".
I guess what I am worried about is will either of these books and my trying to figure out the tarot/cabala a little bit in advance of your lessons will cause me greater difficulty that I am already having?
Also...I am kind of thinking that I might be needing a banishing ritual pretty soon, any suggestions?

Re: Noobs Like Me

[(Anonymous)]

I too despaired at a lack of a Knapp Hall deck, but I found a “Tarot de Marseilles” deck being sold through Books a Million by Mary Packard. The little blue book is rather informative in regards to the deck’s history, Trumps and minor suits, as well as information on various spreads.

Magic Resistors and Covid

[neptunesdolphins]

I wanted to expand on my thoughts from the other blog... Someone brought up about India and Brazil, not being either anti- or pro-Trump, and getting the Covid virus very badly. The top three in deaths as reported are those two countries and the U.S. I pondered that for awhile to see if there was any connections.

Well the two leaders of India and Brazil are considered to be Trump-like, and they have expressed that they liked Trump or liked how he did things.

Could it be spill over from the anti-Trump spells considering that the President of Brazil got Covid as did Trump?

The other thing is that Michael Hughes was promoting spells of "no boundaries" in regards to immigration. People at the time pointed out how these spells could go completely awry in shutting down boundaries or erasing all boundaries. It would seem that both can explain Covid leaping from boundary to boundary and shutting down countries.

Hughes often included in his spells curses against Nazis and fascists, both who were ill-defined by him other than they liked Trump or supported them. Again, there were people in India who did have statues of Trump that they blessed. Brazil's President wanted to copy what Trump did, and he has been referred to as a fascist.

In conclusion for the time being, perhaps the emotion concentration coupled with the poorly designed spells worked to spread Covid.

Re: Magic Resistors and Covid

[(Anonymous)]

JMG can answer the magical side far better than I could, but I would like to draw attention to your caveat of "deaths as reported". The previous year has shown us that there is no reason to think reporting accurately depicts reality. There is reason to believe China under reported deaths, and cause of death reporting in the US followed a new procedure that inflated death counts. The appearance of the crisis hitting the opponents of the MSM harder could just be the result of media bias.
You would also expect a curse on right wing populists to affect the Philippines. I don't know if it has suffered abnormally high cases. Boris Johnson in the UK also got Covid though, which matches your theory.
That said, I have considered the idea that the pandemic was either a successful curse from MR that was nastier than even they expected, and the collateral damage was the karmic backlash, or the pandemic was bolstered by the Corona-chan workings on the chans to hurt China, and the backlash was that it hit the right wing even harder.

Magic and sensitives

[neptunesdolphins]

In the other blog, you mentioned how if a sensitive person did magic it was like turning up the volume full-blast. I felt that with my simple spell to ask for Jupiter (the planet) blessings. I was out for the count for two days before I could think or at least function as a human being.

Does that mean I give up magic? Or are there work arounds?

Re: Magic and sensitives

[ecosophia]

You might check your natal chart and see if Jupiter is afflicted. If so, that could account for it. If not, you may need to set magic aside, at least for the time being.

vaccination mandates

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

Hi.

I live in a place and state (Twin Cities/MN) on the paranoid delusional end regarding COVID fears.

I'm a teacher in a public school. I really really don't want to get the vaccine (likely had a mild case of COVID a year ago and also suspect that the vaccine would be bad for my body and soul) and also do not want next school year to face onerous requirements because of this choice(e.g. mandatory masking and weekly testing).

I am aware that I am just one of millions of Minnesota residents and realize that the scale here is huge, but wondering if you have suggestions for magic rituals/prayer that might be helpful to maintain vaccine choice as well as choice about masking and testing for school teachers here.

I have finished one round Learning Ritual Magic and am working through Circles of Power. I feel comfortable praying to Greek gods and also am comfortable praying to Catholic powers in alignment with my esoteric understanding of them.

Thanks much,

Desiree

Re: vaccination mandates

[ecosophia]

If you're working on Circles of Power, you might consider making a talisman of Jupiter with that intention. Zeus Eleutherios, "the Liberator," is the relevant Greek deity.

[avalterra]

I just finished re-reading the Shoggoth Concerto. If the universe has no eyes then why does reincarnation progress in a hierarchical manner that makes sense of human mores? Or is it that human mores conform to reincarnation's progression? Or is it that reincarnation is like music tonality. It is arbitrary but human's engage with it as if it mattered.

Should I get into a comfortable meditation posture?

[ecosophia]

You should indeed. ;-)

Human mores are relevant only to humans, but they are what they are because they more or less conform to the requirements of our evolution. The universe doesn't have to have eyes to make that happen, just as your digestive tract doesn't have to have eyes to sort out nutrients from waste!

[(Anonymous)]

Bunny grade astrology question, in an astrological chart, in what direction do planets move when retrograde, clockwise or counterclockwise?

[ecosophia]

Clockwise on an astrological chart.

one or two comments/questions on Qabalistic Cross and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

Thanks a lot for the space here, much appreciate this public good you so adeptly provision!

After quite some time reading, I have embarked into the first steps of practice (of the LRM). To put things into context, I have been extremely interested in occult philosophy, since quite some years now, but its certainly taken a while until I embarked on a practice (I needed a book readings a some synchronicities to get that going).

I wanted to share something that happened today, as it was a very intense response to my first proper Qabalistic Cross and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. I finished the last part of the Qabbbalistic Cross Ritual, and then proceeded to help my partner with his first attempt too.
I was sitting down and felt quite an energy rush, closest I can describe is like an an "ecastatic" feeling, pleasent, intense, near my solar plexus... and then a warming and an erection as a response. It is not my intention to overshare, but I wonder if this is a natural response?

I had read heard that the base of our magical powers (as humans) lie in yesod, which has a correspondence with the genial area. Is this somewhat related?

To add more info on the data point. I have been on the lower side of libido for some time now, which I had attributed to the stress of lock down, a removal of my gallbladder year ago, and mourning from the loss of a parent two years ago. 35 male here. I wonder how much of that was some energetic blockage reaction?

In any event, it was certainly a positive experience, just somewhat unexpected!

Re: one or two comments/questions on Qabalistic Cross and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram

[ecosophia]

It's quite natural. You likely had a lot of etheric crud in your aura, and when you did the ritual you cleared some of it away and thus were able to feel your partner's energy clearly for the first time in months, with pleasant results.

the flow of a creators energy into something she creates, and why completion may be important

[laflamme]

Dear ArchDruid,
This is an exploratory question.
When meditating on the three druid elements, I was pondering over how with intention and imagination we can impart energy into an object. For example, charging water. I recalled reading in one of Caroline Myss’ books about a native American tribe that believed that when a person creates something they put some of their own life energy into the object. It was the tribal belief that to start a creative undertaking while ill or elderly was a very dangerous thing that required permission of the tribes medicine man’s, or medicine woman’s, permission, because if the person died before the item they were crafting was completed, they would themselves be incomplete, their life force would be somrhow sundered, and their spirit might not not find its way.
It occurred to me that even if a person does complete a creative effort, it is true that some of their energy stays with that object: yet if the object is completed before death, this is not seen as a problem.
To finally get to my question: what is so important about the act of completion, as far as keeping the creators energy / life force intact? Do Druid teachings or any of the other traditions you are knowledgeable in have anything to say on this issue?
Thank you,
Gunnar

Re: the flow of a creators energy into something she creates, and why completion may be important

[ecosophia]

That may have been true, for complex cultural reasons, for members of that tribe. As far as I know it's not generally true. Certainly nothing in any of the traditions I've studied supports that idea; rather, creativity isn't something you do with your own energy -- it's something that flows through you. The ancient Greek idea that creativity is the product of the Muses, who are goddesses, and who grant it as a gift to the individual, seems more relevant to me.

Natural magic and natal chart

[(Anonymous)]

Is a native with an afflicted planet best advised to avoid natural magic workings with that planet, as with planetary talismans? Or, to the contrary, does an amulet mediate the planet's energy in a way that makes it available regardless of one's chart?

My intuition says that the signatures work as a distinct cause and wouldn't be subject to the same issue.

- Fuchsia Ponderous Weasel

Re: Natural magic and natal chart

[ecosophia]

I've never encountered any situation where someone with an afflicted planet had problems with natural magic that drew on that planet, so I think you'd be fine.

-- Taupe Pretentious Catfish

Arthur Conan Doyle - Spiritualist after The Great War

[(Anonymous)]

I was wondering if you were going to write anything about Arthur Conan Doyle and his influence on the popularity of the spiritual movement in the aftermath of the Great War, or the effect of the Great War and Spanish 'flu on spiritualism and psychic communication.
One of my regular YouTube Channels (TimeGhost) -- produces a series "Between Two Wars Zeitgeist" (you can listen if you don't want to watch, since it's mostly still images anyway) -- just produced an episode for their second season on the rising prominence of spiritualism in the western world and the 1921 speaking tour by Doyle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6R_-zvCEBI&t=527s
Doyle dabbled in spiritualism before the war. After the horrific loss of life during the war and the 'flu afterwards, and the distraught families left behind, convinced him of the immense practical importance of psychic communication.
"By that point he also considered the proof to be irrefutable: a family friend, who had become a spiritualist after her three brothers were killed in the fighting at Ypres, was able to accurately relay to him a strictly personal conversation he once had with his wife's brother long before. Doyle could see no other explanation for how this friend could know this." Using his own Sherlock Holmes' famous dictum, "The Truth, however improbable, is what remains after the impossible is eliminated," Doyle the icon of rational science became Doyle the committed spiritualist and 100 years ago went on a speaking tour to promote the idea.
Even before 1914, he had been producing fewer works of fiction. Afterwards, he produced books entirely on spiritualism.
In 1926, he wrote "While it is true, that spiritualism counted its believers in millions before the war, there is no doubt that the subject was not understood by the world at large, and hardly recognized as having an existence. The war changed all that. The deaths occurring in almost every family in the land brought a sudden and concentrated interest in the life after death. People no only asked the question, "If a man dies shall he live again?" but they eagerly sought to know if communication was possible with the dear ones they had lost. They sought for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is still."
Doyle said he was putting religion onto a scientific footing and that there was no contradiction between rational science and spiritual belief. That religion didn't need to fear or deny psychic communication and effects.
What do you suppose the influence of such a prominent household name -- even to this day -- had on the growth of spiritual movements at the time? His name has not yet come up in your writings, nor have you alluded to the change in public attitude that happened after those events, so I was wondering if you were going to explore that aspect, since I suspect many people who helped support the writers you have mentioned were attracted by exactly that zeitgeist.

Bruce
(Renaissance Man)

Re: Arthur Conan Doyle - Spiritualist after The Great War

[ecosophia]

Well, Doyle was English and my focus is on America, so I wasn't planning on it. Here in the US it was the Civil War rather than the First World War that gave a boost to spiritualism -- remember that unlike Britain and its colonies, we didn't lose that many people in the Great War, and so it wasn't anything like the trauma here that it was in the Commonwealth countries.

[(Anonymous)]

Is there anything wrong with doing the SoP in nature? I have done this before with no ill effects. Is doing the LBRP in nature ill-advised as you would be banishing the nature spirits there? An occultist called David Rankine said that when he tried to do the LBRP in a woodland a white fairy appeared and told him not to.

Also, re Biden's presidency, he is getting handled with kid gloves by the MSM. When do the problems foreseen in the inauguration chart kick in?

[brenainn]

Re: Biden's presidency: I don't know what JMG will say but it seems to me that the problems are already mounting for Mr. Biden. Then again, I don't follow the MSM but get my news via alternative sources that I believe are more reliable.

[hippieviking]

I read a comment you wrote recently about the skills you chose to pursue in your previous incarnation(s) build the basis for the skills at which you can excel in the present incarnation (that's how I interpreted it). I've been pondering this regularly.

I read the first post in this week's Magic Monday about the wide base of knowledge being the basis for a successful magical practitioner to work from along with the poster's aha moment of realizing the ability to practice arose at the synchronous time for them.

When I step back and try to objectively (or at least as objectively as one can) survey the skills I have gathered in my life I find that there is no skill or set of knowledge that I would feel comfortable crediting myself with mastering. I have, however, managed to achieve what I would refer to as a competent amateur level of proficiency in a very diverse and lengthy laundry list of subjects.

I suppose this could make me a good candidate for magical practice. I have picked up a daily practice of the heathen LBRP/LSRP + Middle Pillar. I false started the practice for about six months once before and then dropped it for six months. I picked it up again and have stayed quite devoted to it for about seven months now and have fully built it into a routine. It does feel forced though, I have to make myself go to do the practice, at the same time, I felt a very strong pull to start a magical practice. While practicing ritual though I feel... clumsy? is perhaps the most appropriate term. I don't feel as though I have some great past life basis of advanced practice there to build off of.

I sometimes feel as though I'm being pushed towards something, but I have no inkling of what. I don't know that I have a question, just more of a comment I suppose!

Thanks,
HV

[ecosophia]

It's going to feel forced. Your will is struggling with the inertia of your lower self,. You may well be doing this for the first time, in which case yes, you'll feel clumsy for a while. While you're at it, by the way, if there's something else you think you want to master, why not start working on it?