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.

The illustration? One of the famous Rosicrucian emblems of Daniel Cramer. The Latin word on top means "I become soft;" the heart in the center is being made softer by the repeated blows of the hammer of earthly experience.  

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use the button above to access my online tip jar. If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 

 

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

Friday the 13th

[brenainn]

Is there any truth to the belief that Friday the 13th's are days of bad luck? My sister, mother, and other family members will be making a car trip out of state on Friday, August 13, and if it is truly an unlucky day, I'd like to know if there are any measures they, or I, can take to counteract any bad luck. I will, of course, get their permission for any magic done on their behalf.

Re: Friday the 13th

[ecosophia]

I've never found any truth to that particular belief, so I wouldn't worry about it.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John
1. Happy Lughnasadh!
2. I might have missed something, but what does one do with the bread placed on the altar today? Midnight snack comes to mind… then again, I’m on my first trip through TDH.
3. You might recall that I asked you about Beli, and that I found burning incense and talking to him like a good conjure man worked. Well, last Saturday, when I dumped the ash and sand from my burner into the creek, I asked him if he’d like an ancestor altar. He said, “Nope, move on.” (He’s still helping me, though.) After casting around a bit and having an epic brawl with my Watcher at the Threshold, I signed up for the AODA study course for TDA.
4. Upon signing up for the course, my threshold experience went from Ed Norton’s crash through the glass coffee table in Fight Club to the smiling guy falling backward into a swimming pool in that old iced tea ad. (Ironically, one of the more disturbing billboards from my childhood.)
5. A data point from a very red corner of Ohio – The mood in Red State is FOUL. Political awareness seems generally up… the denizens know who to blame and why, and the memo that liberals actually do hate them is circulating rapidly. (Comically, I shrugged off my bad mood just as bad temper became fashionable.)
6. Another data point – The climate in Ohio seems to be shifting to cooler and wetter as usual when the Southwest turns drier. Evidence includes feral pigs, giant hogweed, and poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) inching north.
Many thanks for all your good works.
Rhydlyd

[ecosophia]

1) Likewise! I had a very pleasant celebration.

2) Eat it with gratitude.

3) Glad to hear it.

4) That's one of the advantages to being part of the egregor of a sane and well-established esoteric order.

5) That doesn't surprise me at all. Things are definitely moving toward crunch time.

6) Same here. We're having an English summer here in Rhode Island -- most days mild, cloudy, some rain, some genuinely cold gray days.

[(Anonymous)]

Good evening JMG,

1. I noticed that cats seem to be a lot friendlier with me since taking up magical practice. If I cross a random cat on the street, instead of running away, they tend to approach me and lie fat on their backs, something that never happened before. Could there be some truth behind the stereotype of cats being associated to witches and magicians?

2. Are there any occult effects of living in an apartment building rather than some other type of living arrangement, such as a suburban house? Would the energy of all the people surrounding you in an apartment building you tend to interfere with occult practice in any way?

3. Where would you place the individual ego on the Tree of Life? As I understand it, in natal astrology the ego more or less corresponds to the Sun as the individual's basic purpose and identity, but on the Tree of Life, the Tiphareth center is commonly held to belong to the Higher Self, which I'm assuming is trans-egoic. As I see it, a reasonably strong argument against attributing the ego to Tiphareth is that most people have at least semi-functional egos while the vast majority of people have not developed their Tiphareth centers much at all. This would leave Yesod as a natural candidate, but I associate the 9th Sphere more with the subconscious than the conscious mind. I've meditated on this question quite a bit so I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

[ecosophia]

1) Most cats love magic. Back when we had one, she would curl up underneath my altar every time I set things up for a ritual. So, yes, quite probably.

2) I've lived in apartment buildings for most of my adult life, and live in one now. It's never slowed me down.

3) The ego is located in one of the four lower spheres depending on where you anchor your identity. If your identity is anchored in your physical appearance it's in Malkuth; if it's anchored in your sexuality, in Yesod; if it's in your lower mind, Hod; and if it's in your emotions, Netzach. Remember that the ego is nothing more than your conception of yourself. It's not actually you, or anything particularly real -- it's just a self-concept. That's why it dissolves once you awaken to your actual identity in Tiphareth.

Positive Vibes & Divination

[reid_pnw]

JMG,

1. The metaphysical store I’m working at now has a *very* old hippy type vibe (we aren’t required to wear shoes or socks), and the energy throughout it is genuinely very positive in a non-forced or corporate way. My problem is that it’s honestly maybe too positive, and sometimes when I’m home it feels a bit drab and miserable in comparison. Apart from banishing after my shift is there anything you can recommend here that will help balance things out a bit?

2. What’s the etiquette to dabbling with more than one divination system? I’ve been making great progress with the tarot lately (and don’t intend on interrupting that work), but as a side effect I’ve been having a strong calling to learn more about some of the other systems. I know the GD has you learn three separate ones, but I don’t know how compartmentalized that work is.

Oh, and I got a very personally significant reading when I asked the tarot whether or not I should do the upcoming OSA work. It was basically a big resounding “Yes!”, so i’m looking forward to starting.

Hope you’ve been well.

Cheers,
reid

Re: Positive Vibes & Divination

[ecosophia]

1) It depends very much on the nature of the positive vibes. You might see if there's an equally positive but complementary energy you can develop in your home.

2) Most people who practice divination use several systems. I certainly do! As long as you maintain your tarot practice there should be no trouble learning something else as well.

[(Anonymous)]

About this week’s illustration – Repeated blows cause steel to work-harden… and that definitely happened to my heart. Annealing to soften it again has been quite the trick…
Wait… Am I being too literal, misunderstanding blow, or something like that?

[ecosophia]

Good! Now keep on exploring the image and see what else it has to teach you.

Circles of power

[ecosophian]

Hi JMG, I recently purchased The Circles of Power (3rd edition). Great book, wish I had it earlier, but there are some things I'm hoping you can clarify.

1. You don't mention the use of signs of the Enterer or Silence for LRP. Will using them make the ritual objectively more powerful? Likewise, the signs of the veil for GRP?

2. In the Vibrational formula for the Middle Pillar, you say vibrate the name of god and send it in the direction of the energy you want to invoke. How do I choose the direction for a sephira on a tree of life? Do I use the GD elemental correspondence for the sephiras?

I have more questions, but I'm trying to meditate on them on my own.

P.S. I can't wait till you release the Order of Spiritual Alchemy course.

Re: Circles of power

[ecosophia]

1) In classic GD practice the signs are not used in those rituals. They're used in more complex ritual work. No, I don't think they'll make those rituals any more powerful.

2) In classic GD practice all the other sephirah are due east of Malkuth.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Mr. Greer,

I had two questions related to geomancy. The first is if there are any special precautions or caveats to consider when using geomancy as an aid in making a big life decision?

The second is if there is a guideline as to how frequently geomancy can be used? Could I for example ask multiple questions in a single session?

Thank you for providing this forum.

[ecosophia]

1) Practice it until you can get reliable results on less important questions before using it for major questions.

2) As often as you want -- just don't repeat the same question more than once. (People who use that are usually trying to force the oracle to give them the answer they want, which is a bad idea anyway.)

Fake Rain

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Husband sat looking out the living room window early evening yesterday, and remarked on the rain. I went to the same window and all was dry as a bone.

Tonight, I too saw the “rain” as did husband.

We’re thinking since we both saw this, it really is not an eye problem. Etheric energy, maybe?

Any idea what we saw, and the significance, if any?

Thanks as always,
OtterGirl

Re: Fake Rain

[ecosophia]

Seriously weird. I have no idea. Where are you located?

Recipe Thank You, Holiday SOP, Creator Protection Working, Earth Path, Spirit Etheric Bodies

[jprussell]

Good evening and a good Lughnasadh to you!

First, not a question, but a more specific thank you. This weekend I went on a camping trip with some friends, and since it was Lughnasadh/Hlaefmaest, I thought it would be a great chance to try out the "Druid Bread" recipe from the Encyclopedia of Natural Magic. It was my first ever time baking bread, and I not only enjoyed making it immensely, everyone agreed it turned out very tasty (though a bit overly dense - I'm not sure if the yeast didn't activate enough or if I over-kneaded, or both, but hey, learning experience). So, thanks very much both for the recipe, and for something you wrote that I read recently about how baking bread is something pretty straightforward that folks have been doing for thousands of years and doesn't require any equipment more sophisticated than a bowl or two, a flat surface, and an oven - it was exactly the nudge I needed, and I found it very rewarding.

1. Related: I'm working through the DMH and so far only have the gate of Air in my SOP practice. By Alban Elued, I'll likely be partway through learning Earth. If I perform the Grove Ceremony for the holy day, should I include the partial SOP, or perform the ritual without the SOP as laid out in the Druid Handbook?

2. I've seen some references to a working you have put on your books to make them not work for those who don't purchase them. I've purchased your books that I have, but I would like to ask about a potential edge case, and if needed, make up for it: I used to travel a lot, and I developed a preference for electronic books that I'm now rethinking. I bought most of these through the usual enormous suspect (something else I'm rethinking). I had a problem with the idea that all of my electronic books could be rendered non-functional by a single corporate decision, so I have removed the DRM from all of my electronic books, allowing me to read them with non-proprietary software. I have not and do not intend to post, share, or otherwise distribute these books to anyone else. Have I harmed you or the publishers by doing so? If so, how might I best make amends?

3. I am currently meditating my way through the elemental correspondence of each few of the Ogham. I'm having a bit of trouble fleshing these correspondences out and not just going over the same basic insights over and over. It feels like the root of the problem is that I don't yet have strong intuitions for what each element is like (that's part of what I'm working to develop, of course!). Are there any sources, meditation themes, or (other) that might help me better get to know the five elements?

4. I'm pairing the DH with the DMH, and one of the sections I'm (predictably) struggling with is the Earth Path. I'm noticing ways that I'm being wasteful, but having trouble identifying alternatives. One example: I burn candles as part of daily prayer. They're colored to suit the deity honored by each candle. That's a lot of paraffin! I've read that beeswax candles are healthier, and I'd like to try buying some beeswax from local beekeepers to make some of my own, but my experience of buying commercial beeswax from larger suppliers is that this might be a bit expensive for ongoing religious/magical use. Any thoughts on striking the right balance?

5. Do spirits of the astral or higher planes have etheric bodies? My current understanding is "no" - instead, they can affect nwfre in some ways, just as they can affect the physical world in some ways, but are not actually manifest in etheric/material vehicles. (Not asking for any practical working, just curious and trying to develop my understanding of the planes and subtle bodies from different angles).

Re: Recipe Thank You, Holiday SOP, Creator Protection Working, Earth Path, Spirit Etheric Bodies

[ecosophia]

0) Glad to hear it. Very often when it comes out too dense, you're pushing too hard when you knead -- concentrate on gently stretching the dough to build the gluten.

1) Until you have the whole SoP together, leave it out of seasonal rituals.

2) You're fine. I didn't authorize the DRM and have no stake in it remaining in place.

3) The best way I know to enrich your sense of the elements is to deal with their physical forms. Spend more time paying attention to fires, winds, water, and earth, and to the presence of life in them,

4) Only you can find that balance. I don't know what your budget can handle!

5) It depends very much on the type of spirit! There are immense numbers of different kinds; some have etheric bodies, most do not.

[vitranc]

Hi John,
And I wish you a very happy Lughnasadh!

1. I have been rereading DMG on multiple occasions as I work with it. And there was a statement about fire in the section about calling on the elements: „ it corresponds to passion in an unawakened mind and intentionality in an awakened mind“. What is the difference between an awakened and unawakened mind? I assume it isnt just reading about it in a book.

2. Last week I asked about the strange Ogham readings telling me to keep isolated. I did further readings and meditation on it and it told me that I need to learn self-control, self discipline and reconnect with spirit. I guess relying on a group to „pull one along“ is something I shouldn’t rely on.
Are there benefits to a purely solo practice of the occult?

Best regards,
V

[ecosophia]

1) The awakened mind is aware of its own thinking processes and can think about its thoughts. The unawakened mind simply reacts unreflectively.

2) Yes, solo practice has important advantages. You build a stronger will when you don't have the help of a group, and of course you also avoid group politics.

[alexandermarcus]

Howdy, JMG.

If someone had spent a past life as a magician who attempted to extend the life of their personality via an etheric revenant, or had otherwise chosen the path of the personality over that of the individuality, how might that affect their current incarnation?

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

Good question. I'm not on a first name basis with the lords of Karma, you know, so I can't just ask them!

Physical Effects from Magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Mr. Greer,

I have listened to your everything imaginable interview. I was struck by two things.

First, I really wanted to say I appreciate your point about how the main thing we need to do right now in America is free ourselves from the screaming contests, be nice to each other, and get back to constitutional limits to government. For anyone outside of positions of power, such as myself, this is an uplifting message.

Anyway, onto my question. You mention in your interview that you have never been able to physically conjure a spirit or do astral projection. With that said, I am curious to know what is the most physically impressive thing you have been able to do using magic (that you are comfortable sharing, of course). I once remember hearing you mention the ability to turn invisible by making all those around you avert their gaze. Have you ever been able to have prophetic dreams, cure a sick person through non traditional medical means, or something like that?

Re: Physical Effects from Magic

[ecosophia]

1) I'm glad to hear this. The more people who take up that approach, the better.

2) Well, it depends on what you consider impressive. One of my workings resulted in me being able to go to college for two years and finish my degree without spending a penny of my own money or taking on a penny in debt; that's the one that always impressed me most!

[(Anonymous)]

Last week someone asked about modifying the SoP while doing the DA, including whether substituting in the Norse pantheon would be all right, and your answer to the whole thing was do it as it was written while om the course modify only after it's complete. But about a year ago, I'd asked here about what pantheons were appropriate to DA work, if you were limited only to the examples in the book, and I was told no, other pantheons are perfectly fine (and I did check to make sure I wasn't misremembering).

Sadly starting the course work never quite got off the ground, I got swamped with emotional issues and am now eagerly awaiting the OSA. The answer to that question was one of the things that kept the DA on the table as option, so I wanted to check in again to be sure. Did the recommendation change, or was the reply to last week's comment more about changing everything up midway through a course (as opposed to starting out doing things differently, based on an already more or less established semi regular practice)?

[ecosophia]

It was about changing things midway through a course.

Two questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG! Hope your doing well! Thanks for the wonderful space; after a mildly terrifying week of vaccine pressure and intimidation, the calm, rational egregore of this blog is a pure relief.

I remember you talking about how you have Uranus in the first house of your natal chart. I do as well, and in Aquarius to boot! Also, I saw on your birthday MM that you are a Gemini as well, that is of course if that was your real birthday. Something that I realized the other day is, that when my surroundings were liberal, I was a raging leftist, and now that my surroundings are leftist, I have trended towards moderate conservatism! Obviously, it is quite undesirable to have one's beliefs be defined by opposition; love and reason should be the foundation of a point of view. Do you have any advice for navigating Uranus's frenetic, eccentric energies? My Uranus, unlike the other outer planets in my chart, is unaspected by luminaries or personal planets, and just as that would suggest I have had many problems with not fitting in, and with an isolatingly intense desire for uniqueness.

One more thing; when I asked the Ogham about whether I should do the OSA program, I got reversed Ruis. I was a bit lazy interpreting it, so I shrugged, went "reversed means no I guess" and went to bed. When I woke up, I felt the urge to do another reading, and again got reversed Ruis. Not being TOTALLY stupid, I looked up the meaning in the DMH, and I quote from you "Endings and departures. The need to release things that are past their time." Well then! Based on the subject matter, this is a yes, right? I assume so, based on the extremely pertinent nature of the explanation, but I wanted to ask what you thought.

-Derpherder

Re: Two questions

[ecosophia]

1) Learn to live with it. Uranus in the 1st means that the road less traveled is always going to be your route of choice. Since every majority needs to be challenged by outsiders, and since love and reason are present in every political and social viewpoint, you might as well get comfortable with your oppositional nature and put it to good use helping to keep your community and society in balance.

2) It's a very strong yes.

[(Anonymous)]

The Essenes and Spiritual Alchemy courses both public first stages and susequent levels have to be applied for. What are the reasons for not making them all public?

[ecosophia]

The advanced levels aren't meaningful unless you've done the preliminary work. Some things in life really do have to be earned!

[(Anonymous)]

To the extent it can be seen, what does the astral body look like?

[ecosophia]

Like this.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey jmg

I found this awhile back, and due to your interest in hoodoo and etheric tech I thought you would like it.

https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/36140440/Conjurational_Contraptions.pdf?1420391836=&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3DConjurational_Contraptions_Techno_Hermen.pdf&Expires=1627895561&Signature=CGrNFOtMHs5nzUeMYg2iEPwSTJQgOBwXpwnJT7DPKDf006pP5K278xRMUdbvtSHalVkYOQwJEDZHA8-hbN4QqPUvxX6QDmqEfxomNhn3lNsosfeD1B4qZk4w1MQdhdcROEg~Yq37eWhhvfWBI4Xdh5zfpZLhlsbyu-2WXmw2uxIwR1gsZoM-wxJ-IggVu-U5ODhw18FbNVO20amd-U7oPd9kLg12f1rdv9vdUqIPheH~RoZgC27to3cs~v21o1olRn2nrNuwaiItpTN19HVgHyAgjq0RDeVWjbDIEb~yoRsi1~7ZD7eXm~g7ULI3W2zRsaznJ6ucFNDu58DDqt~82w__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA

[ecosophia]

That came up "no such file" when I searched for it. Did you by any chance mean this?

Fattucchieria, fattura, feticio, fetishes, factum, make believe, facts and "facts".

[(Anonymous)]

I am a folk magician, my grandmother initiated me into folk Christian magic but the traditional one that kept syncretistically the pagan ritual. But by old standards I am a rather unskilled one, I don't remember any of the chants and all, but in terms of magic I feel like the guy from Idiocracy going out there in this world where people don't know anything about magic other than the weaponized aggressive version of FU magic. Now I will get back to the meat, I am Romanian, and in Romanian the same word with slightly different plural means two things that today will be rather opposed. Bare with me please till I present my case because it is connected to all Latin(as in Rome and Europe and not America) world. Fapt (pl. fapte) means fact. Fapt (pl. fapți) means fetish, spell agent/object both come from factum. But is in all Latin languages like port. feitiço "spell", whence Fr. fétiche, also feticcio in Italian. It goes for other words too so is not isolated. For example fattura in Italian is also invoice but also a magic spell (I like this a lot). Also in Romania făcătură also from factum means a magic spell and enchantment but also something copied poorly. In Italian: fattucchiera comes from the same root meaning a witch, fattucchieria means magic practicing. And we all that the word fetish is derived from the French fétiche; which comes from the Portuguese feitiço; and this in turn from Latin facticius, "artificial" and facere, "to make" The first sense of the Greek verb ποιέω is „to make“ „to manufacture“, and for extension „to create" – but ποιέω has also the secondary sense of „make that something happen“, where, if you want, you can see also a magic aspect. It is in English too, like make belief. Also it seems like the Kek the Frog god and PEPE thing it comes back into present to that the fact has come to have both a concrete sense and a magical one like when the Media straightens you to the "facts". This is only my research but I don't find anything on this except this Wikipedia page (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fattura_(magia)) From your research in magic in other languages Latin, English, French, did you came across this matters? Given that is present in most Latin countries my speculation is that it might be part from the Greco-Roman system of magic. If this second sense is present in Latin then the Christian creed "Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum", gets a new sense, I see that in Greek in the creed this word is ποιηθέντα which also I don't know if it has this second sense as a magic spell. I kindly ask you also what you personally think about this from a magical point of view and not the epistemic, scientific one? Also that the word is powerfully charged with the magical aspect attest the fact that the world fetish was adopted by psychology because they wouldn't have a better one, but like many words borrowed it took only a superficial aspects and left forgotten much from the real sense.

Re: Fattucchieria, fattura, feticio, fetishes, factum, make believe, facts and "facts".

[(Anonymous)]

The wikipedia page is
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fattura_(magia)

Magic practice to become sovereign!

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a magic practice to renounce the slavish mindset and adopt a more sovereign one, on and individual level?

Re: Magic practice to become sovereign!

[ecosophia]

All ceremonial magic has this as a central theme. It's not a fast process or an easy one, which is why ceremonial magic is as complex as it is.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

A happy Lughnasadh to you!

I am getting close to finishing my scrying of the Ogham fews, just the spirit fews left, so I have been reading ahead in the DMH about pathworking on the Wheel of Life. This involves going from one Station to another along one of the paths corresponding to a few. It's easy to understand that I go from Alban Arthuan to Imbolc along Beith, for example. Which direction do you go in from the Central Grove to the Stations? Do you go from the Central Grove outward to a Station? Or the other way around?

After scrying the Earth fews, this direction may be becoming clearer, but I wanted to make sure first that there wasn't a specific instruction that I'm missing. It does say earlier in the DMH that the Central Grove represents the world of ordinary experience, which may imply that you always start in the grove and go outward. On the other hand, the spokes of the Wheel are either Earth or Spirit fews, so perhaps the direction changes depending on this.

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

I went from the stations to the hub in each case, thus anchoring each of the stations into the world of everyday life. Your mileage may vary, however!

Failed geomantic prediction - any idea what went wrong?

[(Anonymous)]

A few weeks ago I interviewed for a new job; and after the interview, I attempted to use geomancy to answer the question "will I be offered the position at I applied to?"

The reading seemed pretty favorable: mothers were Conjunctio, Amissio, Puella and Populus, LW Caput Draconis, RW Albus, Judge Acquisitio. Even if one were to look at the house chart instead (although I was looking at the shield chart), career should be a tenth house matter, I think, and the chart perfects via Fortuna Minor in XII and IX.

Well, I did not get the position. I'm particularly heartbroken about that: it was honestly a pretty long shot (I know who won instead, and they were frankly more qualified than me for it), and I think that my interview gave a favorable impression in ways that could benefit me later anyway.

Still, I'm wondering what I did wrong. Does anything jump out as an obvious mistake?

Thanks!

Re: Failed geomantic prediction - any idea what went wrong?

[ecosophia]

That's a favorable reading, no question. The odd thing is that I know some people who reliably get inaccurate geomantic readings on questions about getting a job, and they're always inaccurate the same way -- they give a favorable reading and then they don't get the job. You may be one of those. No, I don't know why that happens.

Planetary charity for kept things?

[(Anonymous)]

Twenty years ago I found a beautiful red scarf on the street in Dublin, I knew right away that I should've left it there and yet I kept it and I still feel guilty about it. I can't give it back, so maybe there's a planet that may take it, so to speak?

Thank you for this forum, it's helped me change my life.

Re: Planetary charity for kept things?

[ecosophia]

Buy seven warm, comfortable scarves and donate them to a place that provides clothing for the poor. That will balance things out nicely.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you noticed Druids have a T-shirt gap with other religions? (D&D logos don’t count.) There isn’t some prohibition for us, is there? Well… do you think there might be a market for Grimfrost-like products for our kind? Especially plush toys…

[ecosophia]

Druids are an independent-minded lot, so you'd have to have lots of different tee shirts! Yes, I think there's a market, but not for some kind of Grimfrost-style Celtic rehash. Druidry as it now exists is a modern spiritual tradition -- the enduring indigenous nature spirituality of modern Anglo-American culture. What's more, a lot of us Druids had to put up with the triple-distilled nastiness of the Celtic Reconstructionist scene back before that self-destructed, and we've also had to put up with an endless parade of Faux Celtique™ gewgaws on the part of the people that trad Irish musicians sourly call "plastic Paddies" -- that is, people who think that the Celtic cultures are a set of fashion accessories they can use to manufacture a fake identity for themselves.

What I think would go over well with modern Druids are things that speak to Druidry now -- organic hemp shirts with nature-themed patterns, ritual tools that aren't spattered with a thick layer of oldey-worldey kitsch, cards and gifts and decorations for the solstices and equinoxes, and yes, plush toys. (Give your kids a plush hawk, stag, salmon, and bear to play with!) And, yes, tee shirts with lots of different patterns, especially wry slogans and weird jokes.

[extatic]

Hi John,
I live in Australia and right now we are going through some scary times with lockdowns and forced vaccinations are here. I would appreciate any advice on dealing with this internally. Some days I am ready for anything to come, today isn't one of those days.

Thank you kindly

[ecosophia]

Well, what kind of magical and spiritual skills do you have?

Paths of Wisdom

[randomactsofkarmasc]

I am working my way through Paths of Wisdom and Chapter 5 has me in a muddle. I am trying to reconcile Creation à la Cabala with Creation à la Cosmic Doctrine. I don’t expect you to answer all of the questions I pose, but if you could tell me where I make my first misunderstanding, then I can work on figuring that out, so I don’t build the rest of my metaphor on a faulty premise.

In the fourth phase of Cosmic Evolution, a Traveling Atom completes the circuit of the Rays and is surrounded by belts of matter/atoms that eventually sort themselves out into seven sub-planes (owing to specific gravity).

The first act of creation of the Great Entity is for the atoms on the sub-planes to conceive their own images. The Great Entity projects organization and relationship (Yod) and the atoms receive this impress (first Heh). The atoms conceive their own image (Vau) and the atoms are organized into a miniature Cosmos, each planet being an Archetype of its plane (second Heh). (Do I have the Yod, Heh's, and Vau right?)

Or is the Vau that the Great Entity has developed consciousness and the Heh is the knowledge of Good and Evil (dynamisms and thrust block)?

Is the Yod the first swarm, the Lords of Flame?

The original Spheres were unbalanced forms (‘waiting to be brought into harmony by the influx of energies from above’, POW chapter 5), so first Heh?

The order of sub-planes in CosDoc (Upper SpiritualàPhysical/Etheric) and their corresponding planets do not align with the planets assigned to the Spheres in the same order (so if you follow the Lightning Flash/Sword, the planets are not in the same order as listed in the sub-planes of the CosDoc). It makes sense that the Lords of Flame don’t have to follow the same Lightning Flash we do, but am I correct in understanding the Lords of Flame work their way to each Sphere and then work their way back up (in whatever version of the Serpent path is appropriate to them) until they get back to the Logos? (And then they can go wherever, to do whatever it is they need to do to keep things in harmony…)

Is the second swarm, the Lords of Form, a new Yod of the Logos or are they a Vau of the Yod/Heh of the Lords of Flame?

Mocha Greasy Duck

Re: Paths of Wisdom

[ecosophia]

Excellent! You're on the brink of realizing the key to the Tetragrammaton -- it's a scheme that you can and should apply to any given narrative in many different ways -- and also of realizing that different accounts of creation are not necessarily convertible into each other. The reality of creation is not something that human minds at their present stage of evolution is able to handle, at all. What we have are symbolic narratives, each of which teaches us something about the process -- and those narratives have about as much to do with one another as the reports of the famous blind men who had hold of different parts of the elephant.

These things are tools, not truths, and they do not say the same thing in the same way. It's when you can hold them in consciousness that way, as metaphors that teach you something about the universe of your experience, that they begin to do their real work.