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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I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain other gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I now have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online. 

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)]

Talking with people I know who are into occultism, I’ve seen a weird pattern emerge in the past few months: a lot of people who claim to be into magic and the occult also claim to basically never read books and often lack anything approaching a full liberal arts education. This has struck me every time I’ve heard it as truly bizarre. I'm heavily informed by Dion Fortune, who writes in _The Training and Work of the Initiate_: "The good occult student should have a sound general knowledge of natural science, history, mathematics and philosophy," and goes on to explain that in order to successfully undertake esoteric studies one benefits from a good grounding in the exoteric. All of that said, I like to keep my snobbery closely in check and I value open-mindedness and flexibility. What’s your opinion on the degree of importance for aspiring occultists having or attaining a broad base of general knowledge?

[(Anonymous)]

If magic is the art and science of causing changes in accordance with consciousness, then I suddenly see that it can be used to address quite a few things which I was missing until now. These questions unfold from this.

1) Can it be used to address an addiction? If so, what would you recommend? My addiction is a porn addiction, if that matters.

2) Do you have advice for dealing with the aftermath of growing up with parents who strongly expressed the devouring mother archetype? I'll be moving out in a little over a month, and intend to cut ties as much as possible; I'm doing some journaling, but I'm also hoping there's more I can do, since it's currently a very slow and painful process.

3) My parents are filthy rich and have used money as a way to control me; and one result is that they left me with a pathological fear of being poor. I'm quite sure that it will go away on its own once I'm living on my own and clearly able to get by on a fraction of what I currently subconsciously think I need, but do you have any advice on how to get over this fear?

[(Anonymous)]

I've been practicing DMH for a little while now, and was hoping to learn more about the higher self, and bringing about an awakening. Hopefully this list isn't too obnoxious: Are there any books you can recommend on the subject? Are there any practices you can recommend for awakening/contacting the higher self? Is Druidry well suited to this sort of thing or is there another path that is more appropriate to such an aim?

[(Anonymous)]

Astrology question: given how lots of people make a big deal out of a lot of things and blow stuff out of proportion, how significant is the presence of a grand cross in a natal chart?

[ecosophia]

It's absolutely essential. My essay "A Magical Education" (in the book of the same name) goes into this in some detail. An ignorant mage is an ineffective mage; because the powers of magic are subtle, they need to be aimed skillfully at their targets, and a good general education is essential to provide you with the background that makes that skill possible. I specifically recommend that students of magic study mythology, philosophy, and at least one natural science, as a good basic framework for their work. As for snobbery, just don't parade around that requirement; smile and nod when you encounter ignorant mages, and save your advice for those who ask for it, and you'll do fine.

[(Anonymous)]

Two questions:

Is there a difference between hypnosis and trance?

Are they connected to meditation?

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, but not immediately. You need to build strength of will and self-knowledge before you can tackle a well-entrenched addiction. Concentrate on other things first.

2) The essential trick is to remember that your parents are not the archetype. They're just a couple of aging people with psychological hangups. The archetype, the thing that gives them power in your emotional life, is internal to you and you can confront it in yourself without having to mess with them.

3) The only cure I know of for that fear is to become poor and discover that it's not a problem. It's like losing a job -- everyone I know who was terrified about losing a job got over it once that happened and they found another one. "Plunge thee into the maelstrom of life!" That's Thor's advice, and it's worth taking. ;-)

Thank you!

[brenainn]

I don’t really have a question at the moment but wanted to make an observation and to offer my thanks. I really enjoyed your book, “A King in Orange.” Among other very helpful aspects, I found especially helpful the part on the tamanous spirit. As I consider this spiritual quality of North America, I’ve found that it acts almost like a decoder ring and makes sense of data as diverse as “spiritual but not religious” and Jesus as one’s personal savior.

I was even amazed to see it reflected in the homily I heard on Sunday morning. Even in a sacramental, liturgical church like the Catholic Church, the priest’s homily was about our individual relationship with the Holy Trinity and how we can develop it as individuals. I wouldn’t be surprised if many thousands of other liturgical Christians were hearing similar “tamanousian-influenced” homilies about the same time as me.

I can even apply it to myself, and can now see how I’ve been working on my own “Christian vision quest” for the past 20 years or so. And this is probably the most helpful part for me. Ever since accepting a basic polytheism and learning about the occult, I’ve felt pulled in multiple directions. It was disorienting at first but now I realize that it has been part of this tamanousian process of developing a very individualized personal spiritual relationship.

So, I want to offer a heartfelt thanks for your book! For many reasons, I got a lot out of it. It was very helpful in understanding the current political situation and how things might play out in the coming years. But perhaps the most lasting impact your book will have on me is how its given me an unexpected direction as I walk my spiritual path. Thank you!

[ecosophia]

I'll take those in reverse order. (1) The style of Druidry taught in the DMH is as effective at doing that as any other system of magical training. (2) Daily meditation is the essential practice for this -- it's not fast but it does the job. (3) I don't know of any, and there's a reason for that. One of the very common problems in magical training is that people confuse their egos with their higher selves, and the more details about the higher self they get from books, the more likely their egos are to dress up in the mental equivalent of drag and prance around pretending to be their higher selves. It's much more useful simply to do the practices, concentrate on other goals, and let the opening of contact with the higher self unfold in a natural way, as it will.

[(Anonymous)]

1. Since Alban Heruin is three weeks away, might you be persuaded to give an introduction to the lore of Beli for we beginners? (I’m on my first trip through The Druidry Handbook.) Everything that isn’t in his description in The Druid Magic Handbook seems a bit… jumbled…
2. Boy, howdy, I’ve just found a very big hole in my religious education – I don’t know much of anything about prayer. When a Pagan Prays by Nimue Brown looks hopeful, but I just started it. Might you say a few words about prayer for Druids, and/or suggest a title or two?
3. Did you pen anything about the well or fountain of Galabes and why it is important, or could you point me to a good start? Aside from our good friend Geoffrey, it seems largely overlooked… though The Holy Wells of Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1954) is still available…
Many thanks.
Rhydlyd

[ecosophia]

Depends on the natal chart. A grand cross where the four planets aren't especially strongly placed, essentially or accidentally, needn't mean a great deal. A grand cross where they're strong is another matter. The crucial thing to remember is that squares and oppositions (which is of course what a grand cross is made of) are sources of strength to the personality; a chart that's all trines and sextiles often results in one of those vague ineffectual personalities that drift through life in a warm blur. Look in the charts of people who accomplished great things in the world and you'll usually find squares and oppositions, and quite often a grand cross.

[ecosophia]

Hypnosis is one of the ways of getting into trance.

Meditation is the opposite of trance. Trance is a lowering of the level of consciousness; meditation raises the level of consciousness. It makes you more awake, aware, and reflective, where trance makes you less of each of these things.

Re: Thank you!

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome, and I'm delighted to hear it.

[(Anonymous)]

Wait a minute... you mean I finally picked up on magic last year because I'd gotten the last bits of the foundation in place...
(Edison light bulb flickering on...)
R
Really?

[ecosophia]

1) We don't know much about him, or any of the gods of the Druid Revival tradition. Invoke him and find out for yourself.

2) Prayer is simple. Talk to a god the way you would talk to a wise and powerful elder. Then listen. Don't do the cringing, on-your-knees, I'm-so-pathetic sort of thing -- I suspect a lot of gods sympathize with God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "Oh, don't grovel! If there's one thing I can't stand, it's people groveling."

3) Have you read The Quest for Merlin by Nikolai Tolstoy?

[ecosophia]

Heh heh heh.

[(Anonymous)]

In my chart I have Mercury and Venus in Gemini, Mars in Virgo, Jupiter in Sagittarius, and Saturn in Pisces in a grand cross, with all but Saturn angular, and Saturn ruling the chart. Does this sound like it could become a source of intense strength?

How do you go about making hostile aspects into a source of strength?

[(Anonymous)]

Nickel tour of the Fludd illustration, please!
And... Is there similarity to the cosmology of The Cosmic Doctrine, or am I seeing a face on Barsoom?
R

[ecosophia]

Nice. With Mercury in Gemini and Jupiter in Sagittarius you've got two of the planets in their rulerships, so strong and positive, and nobody in their detriment or fall. That could be a very strong chart. You'll need to work on controlling your enthusiasm with clear thinking and careful attention to the details, but that should be doable. More generally, you make hostile aspects into sources of strength by learning to balance the forces they represent, holding them in equilibrium in your life and going to one side or the other only when you choose to do so, to the degree that you choose to do so.

[ecosophia]

Okay, this diagram is the structure of the human individual. A is the nous, the "simple breath of God" at the core of the self. B is the intellectus -- what we'd call the higher, intuitive mind -- and C is the mens, the thinking and reflective mind. D is the spiritus, what we'd call the astral body, and E is the anima, what we'd call the etheric body or body of life force. F is the corpus or material body.

Maybe you're seeing Dion Fortune's face on Barsoom!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, also, Neptune is in Capricorn, which I think means there's mutual reception, but I'm not sure what that means exactly. Does that matter?

Tai chi and sop

[sea_spray]

Hi JMG
I have a friend contemplating starting the SOP who has done tai chi for a while, though not in the last 14 months. I know they don't mix, so is it safe for him to start the SOP without the tai chi, and are there any warning signs to look out for?

Thanks

[(Anonymous)]

1. Thank you.
2. OK, and chortle.
3. Nope. Duly noted
Thanks!
R

[open_space]

Good evening!

While I was meditating I stumbled into a thread that took me a little bit too far and got some intense visuals, I got spooked and jolted back to the awareness of my body. I felt I was loosing it in a way, not that I would slip and die accidentally but it felt I would, or something would happen. Do you know what happened? I am not even sure on the last links that I was meditating on.

OCD

[(Anonymous)]

Are there any occult explanations and/or treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder? In particular, a compulsion to repeatedly check one's actions for accuracy and correctness.