Magic Monday
Jul. 4th, 2021 11:19 pm
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.The illustration? Another bit of Rosicrucian theory, this time having to do with the redirection of sexual energies into the upper centers of the subtle body. Max Heindel, whose system this describes, draws the usual distinction between the mystic and the occultist; in his view, the mystic path focuses on the heart and the occult path on the brain, but the energies activated by their work follow predictable patterns that eventually bring both to adeptship, as shown in the diagram. Heindel recommended celibacy for those who wanted to pursue either path; other Rosicrucian schools had other approaches.
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***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 03:57 am (UTC)I want this incarnation to be one of my last. What can I do to ensure this is so?
Thank you in advance.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 04:08 am (UTC)To clear away your karmic debts, first stop adding to them -- that means among other things behaving toward other people with fairness and compassion, no matter how they treat you. Then -- well, it depends on just how much karma you've got piled up and how much misery you're willing to endure in this life. You can, if you learn enough magic to do effective invocations of divine energies, call upon the forces of karma and ask them to give you the opportunity to clear things; just be aware that this may involve something on the order of dying slowly of an agonizing cancer, or being arrested and jailed for the next thirty years for a crime you didn't commit, or something else on that scale. It all depends on what you've got coming your way as a result of your actions in previous lives.
To finish awakening on the mental plane, systematic spiritual practice is essential. The basic daily regimen of a banishing ritual, 20-30 minutes of discursive meditation, and divination is a good start. If you feel called to ritual magic, any good system of magical training will give you plenty of rituals for spiritual development you can use to shift your inner maturation into high gear. If you feel called to mysticism instead, daily prayer will do the same thing; Evelyn Underhill's book Mysticism will give you some pointers. More generally, studying classic spiritual literature will help by giving you the conceptual frameworks you'll need to guide your practice.
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Date: 2021-07-05 04:01 am (UTC)On the other hand, I tend to chatter on, so it finally hit me to tell myself to practice silence and practice stillness instead of using any of the usual expressions in the negative. Report pending application this week.
Also, I’m still struggling with When a Pagan Prays by Nimue Brown. Prayer never clicked with me, but my curiosity is turning the book into a wrestling match every bit as good as anything on TV. Anyway – Aside from incense for Beli and often remembering to say grace, I’m struggling with a new concept. Wisdom and advice welcome.
Many thanks.
Rhydlyd
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Date: 2021-07-05 04:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
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From:Cell Salts Protocol question
Date: 2021-07-05 04:12 am (UTC)I hadn't been participating in the cell salts protocol experiment you began last year because I couldn't find an affordable source for cell salts where I live-- the shipping costs were too high to handle. I have recently come across a source, though, so I plan to order the necessary salts and come late to this party.
I was looking at the original directions, and it has listings for each sun sign 0°-10°, 11°-20°, and 21°-30°. My own birth time puts me right in the middle of 20°. Just to double check, this means I should order the salts listed for 11°-20°, is that right? No rounding up, even if it's close?
Re: Cell Salts Protocol question
Date: 2021-07-05 04:19 am (UTC)Re: Cell Salts Protocol question
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Date: 2021-07-05 04:16 am (UTC)Also, would sea salt be fine?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 04:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-05 04:17 am (UTC)I've been thinking about silence and one of the areas that it clashes with my upbringing is the somewhat simplistic notion of you should never lie. I actually think lying can be very useful sometimes, for example when one is trying to conceal something or when trying to dodge unwanted attention but I am facing resistance with this. According to you, when is it wrong to lie? And how can I deprogram myself that it is always wrong?
I had a fairly traumatic high school experience with abuse, and through journaling I realized that I've become aggressive in some areas of my life as a way of dealing with the shame. It turns out that is a thing, men become aggressive when you make them feel weak. I no longer want to feel anger about this, and I've found that the primary feelings are shame from being publicly ridiculed and frustration with being powerless about this. I remember you say that part of the healing is by allowing yourself to feel those but I think I am stuck. How can I even begin to forgive people that did me so much harm and make the anger go away?
Lastly, can the consequences of my actions that I need to face that start to pile up in front of me do to magic practice manifest as repeated diseases instead of events? I've had quite a few weeks of abnormally high injuries and infections.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 04:27 am (UTC)2) Forgiveness is overrated. The challenge you face is in letting go of the burden of pain they inflicted on you, so you can go on to live your life despite them. Don't try to make the anger go away; accept that you feel angry about what was done to you, and that you don't have to let the anger run your life. Some people find that journaling helps; some people find that joining a martial arts school and pounding the bejesus out of a heavy bag helps. Massage nearly always helps. It's a long rough road to outgrow something like that -- trust me, I know. Take it a step at a time.
3) Yes, if that's the form your karma takes. Be patient with it and keep up with your practices.
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Date: 2021-07-05 04:24 am (UTC)1. Is it possible to perform too much banishing by repeating the LBRP too often over a period of time without any corresponding invocation to balance it out? What would be the psychological state that would result, and how should one get out of it?
2. I’m looking for a ritual in the GD tradition to improve focus and memory for work purposes. Due to the nature of my job, I need to be able to stare at a screen and concentrate on some fairly boring material over an extended period of time while being detail-oriented and rigorous. The ritual would ideally be one that I could combine with the LBRP and perform on a regular basis, say, prior to starting work. Do you have any suggestions? Perhaps a GIRH of Mercury followed by an affirmation to that effect, while burning some white sandalwood?
3. What is a polite way to break off a relationship with a deity? Is such a thing a good idea in general?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 04:33 am (UTC)2) The classic GD way to do this would be to work up as quickly as possible to making and consecrating a talisman of Mercury -- that's far more effective than doing a ritual every day. If you can do hexagram rituals with effect, and know how to open and close a temple using the Watchtower ritual or some similar method, you already know what you need to know to consecrate a talisman, and that's a good piece of training too.
3) Sure. It happens all the time. Burn some incense, thank the deity for the help he or she has given you, explain that you feel called to work with another deity now, and finish with another prayer of thanks. That's polite, and has good results.
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Date: 2021-07-05 04:31 am (UTC)A couple of questions for this episode:
1. How would you interpret a stellium in Aquarius in the 8th house consisting of the Sun, Saturn and Mercury? This isn't for me, but for a friend of mine ;). I understand that a full analysis is beyond the scope of a simple comment, but I would be curious to hear any insights you might have.
2. Let’s say that you have a great idea for a book project that you’re incredibly excited about and which you believe has the potential to become your best work to date. However, upon performing a divination on whether it would be a good idea to go forward with the project, you get an overwhelmingly negative response. What would you do? To what extend do you trust your own judgment vs. the oracle's?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 04:35 am (UTC)2) This happens to me from time to time. The divination is quite reliably correct. Writers are not usually the best judges of their own ideas! I'd encourage you to shelve it for the time being and see what happens.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 04:43 am (UTC)Is there an equivalent to the Christian Tithing in occult philosophy? My understanding is that Christianity is much more behaviorally prescriptive than something like the Golden Dawn tradition, for example.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 05:06 am (UTC)Puberty and subtle bodies
Date: 2021-07-05 04:59 am (UTC)I have a pretty uncomfortable question for you. Obviously I’m not looking for medical advice here, I know you’re not a doctor.
When I was 11 years old I lost my left testicle due to testicular torsion (and some light malpractice, honestly). I’m in my mid twentieth now so it doesn’t cross my mind very often, but I have been thinking about it this past week. Outside of the psychological, could this have had any negative impact on the development of my subtle bodies or anything else in that sphere being that it happened in such an important developmental period? If there is, are there any steps I could take to mitigate them now?
I thought on this quite a lot and couldn’t come up with anything conclusive but I thought perhaps you might know better.
As usual, thank you for all the guidance you unfailingly provide every Monday.
Re: Puberty and subtle bodies
Date: 2021-07-05 05:07 am (UTC)Re: Puberty and subtle bodies
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2021-07-05 11:43 am (UTC) - ExpandNorse Religion
Date: 2021-07-05 05:02 am (UTC)A friend is interested in starting on a path of Norse spirituality. He considers himself pagan but does not have any spiritual practices and would like to being. I thought you might know of know some safe and helpful rituals to get him started.
Maxine
Re: Norse Religion
Date: 2021-07-05 05:08 am (UTC)Re: Norse Religion
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Date: 2021-07-05 05:23 am (UTC)I'd hate to dump a wall of text on you this week, but I finally had a true, proper, "what the hell just happened?" moment this weekend. I have a theory, but wanted to see if it checks out with you.
On Friday night as I was drifting off I was startled awake by a strong growl from above me. I’m pretty used to hypnagogia etc, but this felt more, say, external. I did a shorthand LBRP laying in bed to clear my mind and went back to sleep. The next morning I woke up and stumbled out of bed naked as usual to find myself standing in my doorway quite exposed. Amusingly, the door was wide open and my roommates were right around the corner. I’m extremely keen on my privacy, so my door is always closed and locked. Granted the knob isn’t amazing, but I’ve never had it just pop open like that in the five months I’ve been here.
The next day during my practice I had a very strong intrusive thought right towards the end of my LBRP. Calling me by name, it said something like “Hey Reid, don’t you know there are spirits ALL around you ALWAYS?”. I was creeped out but tried to carry on. After I finished my MP I sat down to do my daily discursive. It was going pretty well until I realized that there were two different voices distinct from “me” dialoging with each other about the topic in my head, as opposed to my normal one track ruminations. Again, I was pretty creeped out but did my best to keep going. Pretty quickly after I felt this very strong thick presence pass through my body from the back to the front. The atmosphere was palpable enough that I internally asked “Is there something else here right now?”, but I didn’t get an answer. I had a strange ringing in my ear too. I eventually got too uneasy and had to stop my meditation early, and I haven’t prematurely ended a mediation since probably December.
After that, I did the closing gesture and immediately went to my magic journal to write the entry for the day. I don’t keep my phone in the circle when i’m practicing and I set it on my bed when I use the stopwatch to time my rituals, but guess what was suddenly acting up and wouldn’t let me see the times.
As I was writing I remembered the two strange events the night before and the morning. After I finished my the entry I did a another quick LBRP just to clear the air again, and then, in true Magic Monday fashion, I immediately went and got the vinegar and a bowl, haha.
So after quite a bit of reflection I have to ask: 1. Do you think that this just the Watcher suddenly getting very fancy and tricking me into scaring myself?
I have a few reservations about this explanation but I reasoned this possibility out from the fact that A) I don’t think I did anything out of the ordinary that would dredge up weird spirits on Friday, B) it obviously knew my still remaining materialist hangups, and since I banished I don’t think anything other than me would be hanging around, C) I mentioned this in my comment last week, but I’ve been getting a lot of internal and external pushback (sudden depression, apathy, unexpected errands, etc) and reasons I shouldn’t do my practices, and it would seem natural that the complexities would increase I think.
The reservations I have are mostly about the amount of the weird things that happened and the intensity of them. I don’t mess around with it much at the moment, but my experiences with proper invocation haven’t been anything remotely close to this. The door being open is also tripping me up, but I guess that's assuming is all assuming that and the stuff on Friday night isn’t entirely unrelated.
A few additional questions:
2. Is there anything I could have done to have handled this better?
3. Would divination be appropriate way to get insight into what happened? Do you have any pointers on what a tarot spread for that might look like?
Thanks a million,
Reid
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 06:57 pm (UTC)2) As long as you keep doing your practices daily, you're doing fine.
3) Yes. I like to do freeform spreads; I shuffle the cards, cut the deck, and say, "this card is me." I draw a card and turn it up. "This card is (some part of the situation)." I draw another card and set it down near the first. "This card is (another part)." I continue until everything I want to know about has a card, and then I see how they relate to one another.
(no subject)
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2021-07-06 01:31 am (UTC) - Expand(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 05:23 am (UTC)Hope you are doing well!
1. What's the proper method to go about figuring which deity you should or could develop a relationship with? And should archangels, say like St Michael, be approached from the religions they're tied to?
2. In the Sphere of Protection ritual, I noticed that Earth is the one element to not include a banishing section of "all my doings". I had two thoughts, either Earth is a special element (given its solidity compared to the other elements) or rather its a test to see if the initiate can move past just the listed instructions. I'll be testing out the addition of the phrase to verify.
3. You've mentioned before that your memories of prior lives came to you over time as you developed your magical practice. Were there any odd quirks or instances from childhood (aside from your aversion to cars) that pointed to these memories or lifetimes? I look back at my earlier life and notice a few instances, like recurring nightmares of falling to my death or even an instinctive use of energy color breathing that matched what I've read in DA and Taoist sources, that seem unusual for a normal suburban child.
4. Speaking as someone who'll be getting back into dating eventually as I recover from the last one, what would be your advice on disclosing a magical/spiritual practice to a partner? On one hand, I'd prefer 100% honesty, but a) To know, to dare, to will and to be silent and b) I can see that being a bit of an intimidating hurdle and disclosure.
5. Lastly, what would be your general advice on ethics? I've already generated enough karma this lifetime as it is. I take it Aristotle and Epictetus are two strong recommendations?
Thanks for all you do,
Tamanous
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 07:01 pm (UTC)2) Good. By noticing that, you passed a test of sorts. I'd encourage you to add in the banishing.
3) Yes, quite a few of them.
4) I recommend looking for potential partners among fellow practitioners. It makes communication easier and also provides the two of you with something congenial to talk about.
5) I recommend Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius as starting points. Stoic ethics are rock solid and won't crumple in the face of adversity, as so many modern ethical notions do.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 05:26 am (UTC)I don’t see the link to “Heathen” in the most popular tags section, which linked to those.
Maybe my eyes are just tired staying up too late because of all the mortars being fired in my neighborhood this 4th of July evening. 😆
Thanks again for your generosity, JMG and Sven.
OtterGirl
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 07:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 05:31 am (UTC)She frequently writes on all things Heathen, and polytheism generally, and has been a Heathen for several decades.
OtterGirl
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 05:34 am (UTC)“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the profits; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will buy any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished.”
Matthew 4:25
I believe that sums up Dion fortune analogy of the rings in one paragraph. The ring cosmos is the law. All things must be accomplished. Then the current ring pass not becomes irrelevant.
I’m starting to think the Bible is the only work of philosophy, and wisdom teaching one really needs. Removed from any particular religious sect. Standing alone.
Really it has everything. All the themes of occult teachings. All of humans plights and struggles with the ego and spirit. All of humans trying to reconcile the coming into awareness of being as an individual center with being everything there is and no center. Understanding of death. How to relate and live in infinity without going bananas. Action, adventure, romance, betrayal, greed, love, hate, life, death, all the good stuff. The rise and fall of civilizations.
Studies of deep time. All in one handy 1000+ paged book.
I suppose I am to ask a question. However rhetorical it may be.
Do maybe “we” in the search for greater truths pass by truths that have been in front of us, as close as our noses to our faces, that have not been considered because they are not in line with our ideological view of how knowledge is supposed to look?
So why not a deep reconsideration of the Bible? Why this superficial and smug discounting of the Bible? Not by you of course, but by the so called searchers of truth and wisdom.
Is it because it is too powerful?
“You look up and away for exaltation. I look down, for I am exalted”
-Zarathustra (who really was Friedrich Nietzsches secret Jesus)
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 07:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-05 05:47 am (UTC)I know this isn't something coming from outside me, my childhood was full of abuse and my adult life hasn't been much better, I have no doubt that's how I feel all the time while I just don't look that closely; likewise the disparaging inner monologue is nothing new, I'm aware of those thoughts (SoP practice has helped me become more aware of them), it's just usually much less intense. I'm never sure what I should be doing when this happens, or if it's an indication I'm doing something wrong. Or, as someone with more than the usual amount of garbage in my head, this is just the what the process of clearing it out looks like? (TSW, even when it isn't fun)
What do you make of this? And has anyone else had this happen?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 07:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-05 06:27 am (UTC)Helen in Oz, speaking of animals I very highly recommend Kevin Behan's book, "Your Dog is Your Mirror." Though not an occultist, and so using a different vocabulary, Behan makes a strong case for the etheric and emotional bond between dogs and humans that might shed some clarity on Milo's grief. You've both been in my prayers.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 05:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2021-07-05 06:37 am (UTC)Or, what do you or anyone in this community recommend?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 06:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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From:Getting to sleep
From:Initiation, Shrines and a Seal
Date: 2021-07-05 06:42 am (UTC)1) I have read that traditions in which you are initiated are more powerful than traditions in which you progress on your own. The implication is that the initiation process weeds out the riff-raff, but I feel the process of reaching the point of self-initiation will do just as well. However, I would like your opinion on the matter.
2) How would you recommend managing a shrine if you suspect the entities on it are not getting along? When I was 15, I purchased two Katsinas at First Mesa -- Ewiro, the Warrior/Policeman Katsina (he rounds up and chases the monster clowns) and Kokopelli, the Storytelling Katsina. I have hung them on the walls of my room for many years. I put Kokopelli where he would be able to read over my shoulder as I wrote, and Ewiro where he could watch out for anything coming to get me. In the past two weeks, however, I have moved them to sit in my main shrine to Pan, thinking this would be more agreeable to them. It seems overcrowded now, and like I don't know what to do with any of them. I suspect they don't like being put together, but I am not sure what to do about it.
3) When I was 18, I dreamed the following thing: I was swimming in the ocean, and a seal came up to me, saying "I'm your spirit animal, dumbass".
He gave me a symbol, which, upon waking, I drew and made into a metal pendant, blessing it with seawater. Ever since then, when I have touched the pendant, it has had some sense of the Seal. However, in the past few weeks, when I have touched it, there has been no response when I touch it at all. I am not sure how to proceed, save for divining on it.
Re: Initiation, Shrines and a Seal
Date: 2021-07-05 07:12 pm (UTC)2) Put the katsinas back where you had them.
3) I don't know -- none of the traditions in which I've worked do anything with spirit animals.
Re: Initiation, Shrines and a Seal
From:(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 07:25 am (UTC)I also wondered about the consequences of breathing in any imaginary smoke. At first I imagined the fire banishing as smoke rising from me. But because I'm imagining a still summer day, it just hung over me in a pall and didn't feel like it was leaving. I imagine the air banishing as smoke, but that's in a strong wind so gets blown away. I switched to the fire banishing being a heat haze rising from me, which can then disperse into the heat of the day.
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Date: 2021-07-05 08:07 am (UTC)Hmmm, I thought celibacy was for only mystics...
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-05 07:17 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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