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 more than 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 image on the left?  Another of the alphabetic wheels from Giordano Bruno's On the Shadows of the Ideas, showing the thirty letters he used for his system of mnemonics and conceptual algebra. The business in the center is made up of the five vowels AEIOU, because you can combine each letter in the wheel with one of the vowels: AA, AE, AI, AO, AU, BA, BE, and so on. 

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With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

Salamander Thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

What were some representations of fire elementals before the term Salamander was applied to newt like animals?
As always, Thank You. - Loquacious Boghog

Re: Salamander Thoughts

[ecosophia]

They look like wingless dragons with a row of stars down the back. Here's one:


Here's another:


And here are two more:

[(Anonymous)]

What are your thoughts and feelings about the theory and practice behind cartomancy, in particular with regular playing cards? How effective do you feel that they are in their use for divination and prediction of future events? I feel that it is best suited towards reading a person's psychological characteristics, and I have developed my own spread for that, which works very well, for some odd reason that I haven't been able to figure out.

[ecosophia]

My take has always been that divination is a talent of diviners, not of their tools, though people often have an easier time with some sets of tools than with others. Thus it's not a matter of whether cards foretell the future, it's a matter of whether you as a diviner foretell the future -- and if ordinary playing cards help you do that, you're part of a grand old tradition. Ordinary playing cards were being used for divination long before anybody started using the tarot for that.

The Watcher

[slithytoves123]

I think I've run across the Watcher.

I've been practicing the Heathen Middle Pillar for about two weeks now. A thought occurred to me in meditation that's been bothering me: the sword Sumarbrandr is used as the artifact of fire, which makes sense if it is indeed the sword used by Surtr, but then that association is bothersome to me.

I recognize that it was Frey's sword initially, but it bothers me nonetheless. I think I'm having trouble internalizing the notion that mythical time is not linear -- another thought that came up in meditation -- so you can't say Frey used to have it and now doesn't.

Anyway, last night, when performing the LBRP, I saw in my mind's eye Surtr to my right (not standing in the room, exactly, but it's hard to describe in what sense I saw him), and this persisted through the Middle Pillar. Then when I was doing the final Hammer Sign, as I extended my arms, I saw him reaching out to grab my right arm, and retracted it in fear, finishing the rite with my arm retracted.

(a) Was this the Watcher, or something more sinister?

(b) Given that there are other parts of the system that have needed to be changed, are my anxieties around Sumarbrandr pointing to a real concern, or just me being silly?

Re: The Watcher

[ecosophia]

It's routine to get garbled or intrusive imagery in the early stages of magical practice. Ignore it and keep on going, and it'll go away.

[(Anonymous)]

You've mentioned before that a lot of people who have past life memories of having been historical figures are allowing their egos to get in the way of reality, but I'd like to know how to tell if you may actually have been a significant historical figure. I'll start out by saying that it's not one that most people have heard of; in point of fact I was rather spooked when I starting to look into it and found out that yes, a person who did what my past life memories were talking about did exist. He belonged to a culture and part of the world I knew next to nothing about; and a lot of odd details line up there as well, including a great many things I doubt I'd have ever come across. (ex: diet, clothing, names, other important figures, etc.); additionally, a good many oddities of my personality make sense as carryovers from this life; and finally, my divinations appear to be telling me that these are authentic past life memories.

Are there other things you can think of to test whether or not these are in fact authentic past life memories?

[ecosophia]

To my mind, the best test is to watch how you live this life. If you were a significant historical figure because you had certain virtues or strengths, those virtues or strengths should be evident in your behavior here and now. It's not too hard to see when somebody's confabulating glorious past lives to make up for being a complete loser here and now -- the instant question that comes to mind is "so how did you lose all your talents and charisma?"

I tend to believe that Gen. George Patton was telling the truth when he said that he had been a general in many past lives, because he acted like someone who'd been a general in many past lives. If you were a great king, let's say, then I would expect you to display kingly virtues and strengths in this life, no matter what your circumstances happen to be.

[jprussell]

Good evening and I hope you're doing well. A couple of questions on signs and portents tonight.

1. My daily ogham readings this past week have been pretty clearly indicating that there's something I need to know about that I don't (Luis and Fearn reversed twice each, Uilleandh reversed once). Earlier today, I asked for further clarification about what the thing hidden from me might be and got Muin reversed. This matched up with a dream I had earlier in the week where I created a painting by ceasing to try so hard and doing what came naturally, and it was the best I had ever done. Besides continuing to do divination, journaling, meditation, and prayer to my favored divinatory deities, any recommendations on how I might sort this out? In case part of your response is "what magic do you know": I am learning the SOP and am up to the gate of fire. I do the SOP, 15 minutes of meditation, and an ogham reading daily.

2. On Thursday morning, my wife and daughter heard a sound from the window next to our front door, and my daughter asked what it was. My wife went to look, and there was an eastern screech owl hanging onto the screen. It calmly looked at her for a moment, and then flew away. Besides being a good theme for meditation, any traditional lore on the portent of owls as omens?

[ecosophia]

1) Given where you are in your magical practices, keep on listening; the message is clearly being repeated, and you'll figure it out in due time.

2) Owls traditionally indicate an approaching death somewhere in the extended family or circle of friends -- more likely your wife's family or friends than yours.

[reid_pnw]

JMG

Couple things to inquire about this week, plus a small story that I know you’ll appreciate.

1. I was falling asleep the other night and got woken up by a weird, hard, pressure moving around in my forehead. It went side to side for a bit, slowly settled slightly above my eyebrows, and then started circling counterclockwise for a long time. I took a guess that it might be my third eye stirring for the first time. I did my best to relax my whole body and just let it work itself out, which took probably 20 minutes.

Does that guess check out with you? Is there any reading etc I should do if that’s the case? Just isn’t something I was expecting to deal with and I’m a bit clueless. Obviously I have no interest in forcing it open or anything dumb like that.

Sorry if this one was some real bunny slope type stuff. Google is full of trash when you search 'third eye' so I thought was better to just ask.

2. A co-worker of mine recently moved into a new room in a new house, and thinks that there may be a presence of some sort keeping her up at night. She has a vague idea about my occult interests and asked me if there was anything I could do about it. I told her the standard MM fare and recommended a bowl of vinegar, and floor washes. I don’t think there’s much else I can do here considering my skill level right? (for reference: I’m up to being comfortable with the Rose Cross, and am now starting to learn the first Opening/Closing rituals in COP).

3. (I hope this doesn’t sound made up). A particularly annoying Resistance type — wearing a ‘Make Racists Afraid Again’ shirt if that says anything — came into work this week. When I was scanning her pile of books at the till I had to stifle a laugh when I suddenly found the King In Orange near the bottom. Unfortunately she caught on and asked what the deal was, and if i had read your books before. I told that yeah it’s good, I just wasn’t expecting to see it then. She shrugged and went on her merry way. Maybe she’ll see the light, but probably not.

Regards,
reid

[ecosophia]

1) See if it happens again. Sometimes odd little thinkgs like that just come and go.

2) At your present skill level, yes, that's what you should do.

3) Ha! Well, I've said more than once that that book is most likely to be thrown across the room than any other.

[mollari]

I've been looking at the Magic Resistance as a potential elaborate honeypot, and have realized that while most of the Magic Resistance still looks utterly incompetent, such a hypothesis explains certain oddities around Michael Hughes in particular.

a) A great many people seem to have found his earlier work far more competent than his work in the Magic Resistance.

b) In other interviews I've found, of him, he comes across as much more thoughtful and intelligent than he did in the “How Not to Do Magic” post.

c) He stated in one of these interviews that one of the best things you could do in any kind of magical conflict was get your opponents to underestimate you, and that one of the worst things you could do was underestimate your opponents.

d) On the comments for one of Violet's posts*, two alt-right mages discuss divination telling them to stay far, far away from the Magic Resistance.

*https://violetcabra.dreamwidth.org/182027.html#comments

The hypothesis I'm developing is that Michael Hughes created these apparently utterly incompetent workings, splashed them about the internet to try to draw alt-right mages to attack the obvious weak points, and sprung a variety of traps on them when they did. On another of Violet's posts* an anonymous woke mage mentions in fact setting in motion such a trap...

https://violetcabra.dreamwidth.org/182764.html?thread=926700#cmt926700

Finally, I suspect that the image of the deranged lunatic so consumed with hatred and overconfidence that he presented on the How Not to do Magic post where you debated with him the merits of the working was an act: getting attacked by a fairly well respected occultist who also had a lot of alt-right readers would be a great way to encourage a lot of alt-right mages who were still learning the ropes to pile into attacking his workings, and thus straight into whatever traps he might have set.

1) Do you see any ways to further develop this hypothesis?

2) This is an open question for the commentariat: did anyone else do divination about messing with Hughes' workings? If so, what were the results?

[ecosophia]

Interesting. It doesn't correspond to my divinations or intuitions, but I'm perfectly capable of being wrong.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not asking for a dream interpretation, since I know you don't do that, but I had a dream the other night that had some interesting elements, and I'd like to know how they line up with the relevant lore.

I was a young boy who, along with a young girl, was on a bus. We were travelling with the Doctor from Doctor Who. The Doctor announced that soon we would be in the dark fairy land. Soon we found that aside from the three of us, all the passengers on the bus were slumped over as if dead. I think they were crying black or dark grey metallic tears, and these tears were coming out small holes in the side of the bus as well. (I could see the outside of the bus because dream.)

We somehow left the bus, and found ourselves in a gigantic parking lot full of old cars. The occupants were also slumped over and the black tears were there as well. I and the girl then got separated from the Doctor and were alone. At one point, I sensed that something bad was coming, and told the girl that we needed to lie down and pretend we were asleep. I couldn't see him, but I sensed that a man in a dark gray suit, with dark gray hair and a pale face, walked over. I made the mistake of looking up a bit, but quickly put my head back down.

The man leaned down and grabbed my arm. He said, in a creepy, not-quite-human tone of voice, "Are you Eva?" Then, when he got no respond from me, he walked away.

After this, we got into a fight with some fairies. They looked like normal humans, but when the Doctor showed up he sprayed them with water from one of his gadgets and they became flattened against the ground (reminds me of how water can disrupt etheric energy). Blowing on them seemed to also repel or defeat them. Only one wasn't completely stopped, so the Doctor set her hair on fire, which caused her to scream. He realized she wasn't a fairy, she was a human who had been raised in fairy (I suppose like a stolen baby), which had driven her crazy.

The gray man in particular interests me. Likely he's a pastiche of things I picked up from pop-culture, but I'm curious if there's anything about beings like him in the lore.

[ecosophia]

I haven't made a particular study of fairy lore, and don't know of anything corresponding to this. I think it's best treated as a dream, and interpreted by someone who knows how to do that.

[yuccaglauca]

JMG,

I've been meditating on the DA Grade V triads, and am attempting to understand the distinction between the door of invocation and the door of evocation (Note to non-DA readers: These terms have specific meanings assigned to them in this course that may differ from other discussions.).

I've gotten to a point where I kind of have two possible interpretations, and I'm wondering if you could clear up the author's intent here.

The epistemic interpretation: These descriptions outline a general epistemology.
Evocation is how you see spiritual beings in general--you see their reflection in your Magic Mirror of the Cosmos. (And, possibly, how you see everything outside of yourself: A reflection in your own MMotC, rather than the thing in itself.)
Invocation is how you improve the quality of the thing you're viewing, by moving closer to the spiritual being in question, in order to make the reflection more faithful to the real thing.

The literal interpretation: Invocation and evocation are actually separate modes of interacting with spiritual beings.
Epistemology aside, something you see through invocation is as separate from you as other incarnate humans you see on a day to day basis, you've simply moved your consciousness close enough to another plane to see the inhabitants there. This experience is clearly different from imaginal experience.
Evocation, by contrast, involves seeing the reflection of something else in your MMotC. Because the MMotC reflects the entire cosmos, the thing you want to see is already there in some sense. Because the MMotC is also the canvas upon which you see your own imaginings, the experience of viewing the MMotC is essentially the same as imagination, but you can learn which parts reflect internal things and which reflect external things through practice and study.

I immediately assumed the epistemic interpretation, but now I'm leaning toward the literal interpretation. The fact that I worked intensively on Leibniz in college might have lead to certain biases on my part.

So,

1: Which, if either, interpretation is the text meant to convey?

2: Are the details and implications I listed correct for that interpretation?

3: If it's the literal interpretation, I'm wondering if evocation as so described is a 1-way process or a 2-way process. If you're viewing your own MMotC, does the external entity actually know you're doing it and interact with you back, or is it like imaging a conversation with your own mental image of a person?

[ecosophia]

1) The text does not define how it is to be interpreted. I'm pretty sure that's quite deliberate.

2) That's not a question the text answers, and your guess may well be as good as mine.

3) To my mind, the best way to figure this out is to test these and other models against your experiences of magical practice.

[temporaryreality]

I have a few questions that I'll ask separately because I'm also interested to hear other commenters' opinions and it'll be easier to keep replies straight that way.

1. Prayer

Would you be willing to share the kind of wording you use when praying for situations when you hope things will be OK for people, communities, countries, ecosystems, etc., in general, in spite of it looking like the problem is karma that can't be avoided.

I'm thinking here of drought, climate disruption, pandemic response, bumpy downslope, re/public and political turmoil, etc.

I go to pray that the gods might intervene (?) Or grant mercy (?) But get rather tongue tied in my small-fry perspective and the enormous complexity of varying parties' varying degrees of responsibility and innocence.

Do you ask different things of different gods and what do you suggest for those who don't have a "home-team" pantheon or established deity relationship?

Thanks,
Pallid Comatose Mermaid

[ecosophia]

The way I do such things is that I bring the situation vividly to mind as I stand before the gods, and then say "I pray that you will bless and heal (or whatever) this situation; nonetheless, not my will but yours be done." Of course what I ask varies from god to god, since different gods and goddesses have different blessings to impart. With regard to the last point, all you have to do is pick one -- the gods generally are very tolerant.

[open_space]

Good Evening once again JMG,

Thank you for not letting my rant come through (on two counts I believe) on your open post, my apologies as well. Deep breath taken.

I had a question regarding my personality and how to heal aspects of it that are causing trouble. I've started to think of the human being as a filter or a stream where certain things on the bigger scheme of things are embodied in the shape of who I am --my body and my mind. If I see my life and my mind as the consequence of a portion of the things that flow through me or that I am attuned to then it would mean that instead of quarreling in the mud with some little things trying to change myself it would be much easier to change the things that pass through me and thus for such things to stop manifesting or to shape differently the things that pass through. For example, in meditation I realized an in-between-mental-thing, for lack of a better word, that seems to be anchored in a past experience which is shaping my stream of consciousness when things get close to that topic. It hurts and it seems to be always there but not available to me in the same way say my grocery shopping list is but always, or almost always acting itself out. So I have pinpointed how I feel, why I feel that way and in which ways it is altering my mood and personality but I am unsure on what to do about it.

1) Would you say that metaphor makes sense or I went off? If it does, then I am not sure what is it that makes me "me" because then I would be a manifestation of something else! Which is a bit confusing.

2) I don't think I have what it would take to make "something else" flow through me or change my mind in a potent way so perhaps would an affirmation work? In particular this situation is something that has made me selfish and defensive and makes me want to withdraw from situations that I would like to engage again in. Do you think that if I focus on an affirmation it would take care of it by replacing what hurts or would I need to keep working on that aspect first to remove it manually so to speak and then place something new in its place?

[ecosophia]

1) It's quite accurate. The human soul is an interface between spirit and the manifested universe -- it opens in both directions, and influences flow through it from both sides. As Bucky Fuller used to say, "I seem to be a verb." -- not a noun.

2) An affirmation is a good choice, but you should also spend time reflecting on the things that put that pattern in place, and let yourself accept and work with it. Ironically, the OSA work is all about this...

Class and Culmination

[goatgodschild]

Mr. Greer --

This week, I throw myself on both your recommendations and those of the commentariat. In an effort to broaden my horizons and observe what is being released into the world, I signed myself up for a Gender Studies class this semester. We are supposed to be developing our own "healing journal", where we write down our self-care and activism methods, both physical and spiritual, their effects, as well as observations on...gender, I think? I have been thinking of doing this in the form of the scientific method, but I suspect that will get me in trouble. Suggestions?

The karmic culmination still hasn't ended after another week. I'm still unsure what I was avoiding that led to such an intense response, and have jested with a friend of mine that I must have been a real hellion in a past life.

Re: Class and Culmination

[ecosophia]

I have never taken a wokester class and so have no idea what will or won't get you in trouble! As for the culmination, well, that does happen, you know...

SOP compatability

[(Anonymous)]

I have read the FAQ's a few times, and at the end you mention that you talk about 3 separate streams of magic and that they are not compatible with each other.

WHich one is the sphere of protection compatible with ?

Which forms of divination are compatible with which streams, as you say that doing a daily divination is good practice.

You have, if the paper issues get sorted, a book and cards for divination being published, which stream is this compatible with ?

Once the protective amulat mentioned needs to be replaced, what is done with the old, used up one ?

Re: SOP compatability

[ecosophia]

1) The SoP is part of the Druidry Handbook/Druid Magic Handbook/Dolmen Arch line of work.

2) You can use any form of divination with any of them.

3) It's related to the Druidry Handbook system, but to some extent it'll be a fourth.

4) Bury it in your front yard. If you can't do that, open it, wash the salt down the drain with plenty of cold water, and throw away the nail and cloth, preferably in a trash can somewhere outside your home.

[temporaryreality]

2. Three-card divination spread

I'd be interested to hear the variations people use: what quality or perspective do you assign each position?

Is there any system that allows for duplicate draws in two or more positions (or has anyone tried re-shuffling each card back into the pile so it has a chance to be redrawn? Pros/cons to that?

Thanks!
Pallid Comatose Mermaid

[jprussell]

Continuing with responses to your multi-part question:

I'm currently learning the Ogham and I use the spread recommended in the DH and DMH: three draws, one for past (Knowledge), one for present (Peace), and one for potential (Power). I tend to look for a throughline that makes sense to connect all three, but sometimes the past and potential seem linked without the intervening present, in which case I'll interpret the present as a commentary or influence on the path from past to potential.

In the past, I've used a three-rune spread for the Elder Futhark, where the three were "Urdh, Verdhandi, and Skuld". This is very close to "past, present, potential", but there's some nuance to the Germanic way of looking at the Norns that makes things interesting. For example, "Skuld" literally means something like "What is Owed/Obligated" or maybe even "Debt". Not exactly the usual interpretation of future/potential - there's an idea that it reflects what must follow from choices made and things done in the past and present.

More tactically: for the Ogham reading, I use cards, and I keep track of upright or reversed. For the 3-Rune spread, I don't use reversed/mirk runes, in part because of the way I select them, but to make up for that, I try to make sure I consider the "reversed meaning" of each rune when interpreting the overall spread.

[temporaryreality]

3. Would anyone who has been doing any variation of the Judson exercise be willing to give a little report on what they've changed and what the reason was and the effects of the change?

I'd also be interested to hear the experiences of those who either followed Judson's original instructions or JMG's exactly as given.

Thanks!
Pallid Comatose Mermaid

[yuccaglauca]

I resonate strongly with the invocation Judson gives in the original texts, so I adopted that and have found the rite better than other options I considered. I also adopted that invocation for general use whenever I want to relate to "the infinite life in which I live and move and have my being" in a New Thought sense.

I found Judson's original instructions very good, and think that studying her commentary on the rite--especially the mental attitudes to aim for while doing the rite--is very helpful, whichever variation you use.

I bounce between JMG's arm movements and Judson's original ones. The probably have slightly different effects, but mostly my choice is either random or based on how much space I have available--the original ones can be done in a smaller area if you're careful.

I currently use the rite "as needed," where that means multiple times a day for blocks of time when it seems useful, as the SoP is my main daily practice. Judson mentions some things about improving her ability to act confidently in social situations she would otherwise find overwhelming, and that has indeed been a major benefit of the rite for me.

I have not noticed significant differences between the variations and have not made other changes.

natural magic

[(Anonymous)]

how would I find out where to start with natural magic ?

Re: natural magic

[ecosophia]

Well, my book The Encyclopedia of Natural Magic was written specifically with that in mind, so it might be worth a look.

[(Anonymous)]

Not sure if this was previously addressed but just got through reading about the people who might have sold their souls in COVID week 4 semi open post.

Is there a way back to the light?
What is it?

I.E. let’s say someone who had sold their soul got hit by a clue by four and wanted to get it back/cancel the contract. As someone who went down some dark paths when I was younger, it might help people to know the way out.

[ecosophia]

You have to let go of everything you gained by making the bargain. Then you have to turn to the Divine in some form, ask for help, and accept the moral and behavioral restrictions that go with a relationship with the Divine. It's that simple -- but of course "simple" isn't the same thing as "easy," and there's always going to be karmic issues anyway.

[(Anonymous)]

What’s the foreign lettering between the Z and the A?

—Lady Cutekitten of Lolcat

[ecosophia]

The Greek letters psi, phi, omega, and theta, and the Hebrew letters ayin, tzaddi, and shin.

Dogs barking

[abrahamjpalma]

Hello, Mr Greer.

This question might be silly. I've noticed, since I started to perform an almost daily ritual, first the middle pillar, now the sphere of protection, that something weird is going on with dogs.

Before any of this, some dogs barked at me, some didn't. Now, for the most part, dogs ignore me and I ignore them. But there are some days where all dogs bark at me, as soon as I am in a 3 feet radius or so. All dogs, no exception. They don't attack, but they seem angry. This barking usually takes me by surprise, since I'm lost in my thoughts while walking.

I must say that I dislike dogs. I don't hate them, I understand that some people love them, but I think their numbers are way over their ecological niche, and that their current function is fighting people's solitude since apparently, even families with kids feel alone, which wouldn't be necessary if people weren't so much into the spell of the individualism of modern society. Brief, there are too many dogs.
Also, I am still not certain about this, the days I am barked at most, are the days I am not able to perform any daily ritual.

I don't think they want to bite me, they just seem angry for a reason. It would be nice if they didn't do that, it's kind of annoying, but if it is some kind of warning I don't want to deaf my ears.

Re: Dogs barking

[ecosophia]

Hmm! That's really rather odd. I don't know of anyone else who's had this happen, so it may have to do with your feelings toward the species. Have you done divination to see what's going on?

Geomancy houses

[bendithfawr]

Hi JMG,

a geomancy question: seeing the archetypal currents stirring, I'm curious about the future population of my country. I want to ask the oracle if in 2025 my country would have less than 2/3s of its current population but I'm unsure about the houses.

My question accordingly:

1) What house governs countries and (federal) states?
2) What house would be the quesited (population reduction)? Could that be the 12th, restrictions and limitations?
3) Should I rotate the house according to the querent? So, if I were to ask about the population of my city in 2025, I suppose it would be 3rd house (towns and cities) and 12th house (restrictions and limitations). The latter, adjusting for the third house, would come out the 2nd. Is that correct?

Thank you for your help!

Re: Geomancy houses

[ecosophia]

You're venturing into what, as far as I know, is new territory, so there's going to be some guesswork involved. There is no single house for a nation -- as in mundane astrology, each house represents some part of the national whole. The 1st house represents the population; the 4th represents the land itself; the 10th represents the government, and so on. Death is an 8th house matter and sickness is a 6th house matter; 12th house is worth watching as a source of hidden dangers. The mundane geomancy charts I've read in Renaissance writings all took that direction, and didn't use modes of perfection -- they simply cast a chart and read the figures in each house.

If you want to use modes of perfection, I'd suggest using the 1st as the house of the querent (the population of the country) and 8th as the house of the quesited (death and pestilence), and see if you get a mode of perfection. Also read very carefully the figures in both houses and any other houses to which they spring.

[emmanuelg]

My son took a gender studies class a few years ago. He said that most of his classmates were women, and that they and the female professor seemed to be constantly angry with him, though he could not figure out why. He failed the course in the end because he did not sufficiently agree with the opinions of the professor in his essays. The other two young men in the class also failed-- So I'd suggest that, if your gender is male and/or you are not fully on-board with every woke idea held by your professor, drop the course or change it to 'audit' to avoid damage to your gradepoint average.

[(Anonymous)]

That's the knock on Gender Studies/Women's Studies. It is 80%-90% Women and a couple of homosexuals for the most part. Being a straight white man in that place you are quite literally the enemy. It's by and large a lot of people who want to be put upon and looking for a safe space to hate. It's also interesting because it is by and large a useless degree. (There are lots of them, this is one.) Though they are always at a loss as to why they aren't taken more seriously and greeted with eye rolling for the most part.

At least that was my experience in college 2004 to 2008 ish. numerous breaks, degree remains unfinished.

Just stay clear if you can. Take a sexuality class instead, at least some biology will be involved and you won't be the evilest evil that ever eviled.

Druid prayer in German

[bendithfawr]

Hi JMG and commentariat,

a few years ago, I posted my German version of the SOP (I reposted it on my Dreamwidth in case someone is interested). I've since pretty much got stuck with the Druid Magic Handbook, only doing the SOP and meditation more or less daily. From your comments, I was happy to hear I'm not the only one.

I resolved to try again and did the Grove of Druids a few times. From that, I'd like to post my German version of the Druid prayer in case it helps someone:

Gewähret, oh Heilige, Euren Schutz;
und im Schutze, Kraft;
und in der Kraft, Verständnis;
und im Verständnis, Wissen;
und im Wissen, das Wissen um Gerechtigkeit;
und im Wissen um Gerechtigkeit, die Liebe derselben;
und in dieser Liebe, die Liebe zum Leben;
und in der Liebe zum Leben, die Liebe zur Erde, unserer Mutter und zu allem Guten.
AWEN

(I posted it to my Dreamwidth as well.)

Comments and suggestions welcome!

Oh, and a question: I used the Druid prayer or a visualization of the Circulation of Light of the SOP a few times to protect myself from the current astral onslaught. However, I've since read that some commenters use a pentagram to dispel unwanted entities and protect themselves in a pinch. Would that be in keeping with the DMH as well? If so, the oak or the heather pentagram?

Thank you for everything you do here!

Re: Druid prayer in German

[ecosophia]

1) That's really quite beautiful! I read it aloud and it resonated very well indeed.

2) You can certainly do that, and the oak pentagram is the one to use.

[emmanuelg]

An expected upcoming event in our neighborhood may possibly damage our house, and/or some of the furniture in it. One of the geomantic readings I did on this event was,
"Do we need to move some of the furniture in our house from one place to another to prevent it from being damaged?"

I looked at the House Chart with Querent = I and Quesited =II.
Mothers: Tristitia, Cauda Draconis, Carcer, Rubeus.

House Chart image can be viewed at this link;
https://amissio.net/gen/house/87/92.svg


Querent and Quesited both look negative (Tristitia, Cauda Draconis),
but they have a compound demi-simple relationship (Jupiter).
Also, the quesited travels to form a conjunction (XII)

Question:
When a chart perfects, but does so with negative figures, would that answer be, "Not just 'no,' Heck No!" or does the perfection of the chart indicate 'Yes?'

Thanks always for any comments you & the commentariat may have!

Lilac Pungent Panda

[ecosophia]

When the chart perfects, the answer is always yes. When it perfects with negative figures, the answer is "Yes, but (or and) you really won't like it." In the same way, a chart that fails to perfect is always a "no," but if there are good figures in the houses of querent and quesited, it's "No, and you'll be glad that it turned out that way."

Maybe a clue for the two currents?

[(Anonymous)]

Hey JMG, today I have a a couple of data point for you.

I've been looking into classical tantra, and one of the things they talk about are two kindalinis - one of them coming from high up and needing to come to ground, and the other coming from the base and needing to rise. It immeditaly reminded me of your talk about the two current. Maybe it's another clue to that?

Here's a video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwzt9XtSq5Q, and the teacher actually cites the orignal sanskrit sources where he's getting the info from.

Also, regarding tantrik ritual, he says, in his book tantra illuminated:

"Daily Tantrik ritual has these three basic components:
I. Worship of the door-guardians and removal of obstacles
II. Five types of purification/divinization (pañca- śuddhi) and inner worship (antar-yāga)
III. External worship

And he goes on explaining what he means by obstacles : "In the ancient Indian view, all kinds of beings are drawn to power-centers, like wild animals to a water hole, and not all of them are benevolent to your practice. Thus the ritual space must be cleared and protected with mantras and visualizations"

I found it really interesting, how simillar it is to a banishing ritual. And once again, he provides sources and translation from source material, so I'm quite confident he's not just copying it from other traditions.

Thought you might find it interesting,

All the best,

Fox

Re: Maybe a clue for the two currents?

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. Yes, Tantrik ritual is very similar in some ways to our Western ritual, and so is Chinese Taoist ritual -- if you can find a copy of Michael Saso's fine book The Teachings of Taoist Master Chuang, you'll notice a lot of similarities! It makes perfect sense so long as you realize that the spiritual worlds are objectively real and so dealing with them requires the same techniques...

Celebration of the rainy season

[abrahamjpalma]

Hello, again.
I put this question in a different reply since it's a completely different topic.

We want to have a party in the garden I am working with. People who come to the garden are usually sensitive people, they love Nature and care for other people. They are not hard workers, though. We all have a Catholic background, and I am sure all of the spanish people here have renegated our religion. I am not so sure about the latin american people, I suspect some of them might still be faithful catholics, but there are very few of them.

We need to make a party. There have passed too many sad days with just work, little results and no celebrations, partly because of covid restrictions, partly because we were left out without water. I thought that a nice topic is the celebration of the beginning of our rainy season: That's the time when we can start planting and seeding again.

Now, my goal for this celebration is to strengthen the links in our little community and to create a sense of hope and purpose in our dryland gardening project. Maybe to communicate our good will to the spirit of the place. I can't use christian imagery (nor I want to), and even pagan imagery might be too much for some people. I think setting things as a game might not offense anyone. Of course, we would explain what we want to achieve to the participants so none is forced to participate.

I am not a party man, I don't know how to encourage people to break their shyness and I even usually refuse to do things that I feel are ridicule. So, any ritual I might do has to be meaningful and not ridicule, but at the same time it must be perceived as a game... it sounds hard.

I've been suggested to use drums, to write wishes in small papers and place them in an open trunk of an old olive tree. We also want to eat something just after the performance. Other people suggested to bring umbrellas and do something with them. We have also found a couple of rain related songs, but not the kind you can sing in choir.

Keeping the same rythm together, having wishes of the same type, this all looks like what a traveling atom does with the divine sparks that it has attracted. I still don't grasp what we give and what we get in return.
I wish there were someone more experienced who could design and perform something like this for us, but the only ones I've found with the experience are people who chase chemtrails, and I am positive that my group will distrust them. If I can't find anyone around here or learn how to do it myself in time, we will have just a simple meeting with some beer and food, and let chaos run. This would be better than doing things wrong.

Re: Celebration of the rainy season

[ecosophia]

I think you should just have a simple meeting with beer and food. Before the party, go out into the garden and ask the spirits of the place to help bring everyone together to make the garden thrive, and leave it at that.