Finally.

[ecosophia]

In the late 1990s -- how long ago that seems now! -- I first had the idea of creating an oracle deck based on the core concepts and relationships of sacred geometry. I'd discovered the tradition of sacred geometry earlier in that same decade, first in books on Renaissance occultism and then in the pages of Robert Lawlor's fine book Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice, which I found in the Seattle Public Library by what we like to call pure chance.  I'd incorporated it in my studies and meditations, learned to pay close attention to its roles in the Golden Dawn tradition and in Druidry, and finally let all that crystallize out into a set of 33 images and concepts that could be used for divination, meditation, and other modes of practce. As I worked with them, I ended up sketching out a detailed course of occult study based on them, and when I took the project to the publisher I worked with in those days, I was prepared to make the Sacred Geometry Oracle the first in a sequence of books setting out a complete curriculum of occultism. 

Then, as the ten-year-old wrote on the history test, some other stuff happened. The publisher had a brain fart and decided that the deck ought to be done in a postmodern style full of corroded metal, crumbling concrete, and vaguely radioactive backgrounds, yielding cards I still can't look at without feeling nauseated. When I tried to point out that the deck would find its largest market among Druids, earth-mysteries students, and the like, who wouldn't find that art congenial, I was told "Shut up, we know what we're doing." So it appeared and sank without a trace, and I shelved the whole project until the last few copies gathering dust in the publisher's warehouse got remaindered and I was able to pick things up again. 

This time I had better luck, or a less clueless publisher.  The Sacred Geometry Oracle is now being shipped, though given current conditions, it probably won't reach purchasers until after the upcoming solstice. The first book of the system of occult training that accompanies it, The Way of the Golden Section: A Manual of Occult Training, is also being shipped now, and I've already heard from people who've received their copies. So the project is under way at las. 

Readers of my other books will want to know that this system is not primarily a system of magic -- to draw on a distinction I'm finding very useful just now, occultism works with wisdom the way magic works with power and mysticism with love. (In terms borrowed from Hindu spirituality, these are jnana yoga, raja yoga, and bhakti yoga respectively.) It uses the Sphere of Protection as a basic ritual practice and has a ritual for opening and closing your personal lodge, but its main focus is meditation and study, backed up with ritual, divination, and a range of other standard occult exercises, and building up to a ritual of self-initiation. You'll need a copy of The Sacred Geometry Oracle to follow the system given in The Way of the Golden Section. 

There will be other books in the same system -- quite a few of them, in fact. One, The Occult Philosophy Workbook, is already in production and will be released next year; it's a one-year course of study, meditation, and practice in occult philosophy. Another, The Way of the Four Elements, is being written now; it's a sequel to The Way of the Golden Section, providing a set of further initiatory experiences linked with the four seasons and the four elements. There will be one further volume of training -- the working title is The Way of the Sacred Cord -- and at least two more workbooks, one on astrology and one on sacred geometry. When it's finished, anyone who wants to do so can get the close equivalent of the kind of occult training you got a century ago from old-fashioned occult correspondence schools, just by picking up copies of the books and doing the work. 

Oh, and everything in these books is compatible with the material in my books The Druid Magic Handbook and The Dolmen Arch, in case that's of interest. The Way of the Four Elements, The Way of the Sacred Cord, and the workbooks will also be compatible with a very wide range of other occult systems -- so long as a system contains a basic ritual working and some form of divination, and can make room for discursive meditation, they'll play well together. 

So, yes, I'm delighted and relieved to see these books finally in print. Ask me anything you like about them, and I'll probably chatter on at more length than you really wanted to hear. If you're in the United States, you can get them via my Bookshop page here; elsewhere, you can find them here and here on the publisher's website. 

Comments

[kylec]

Will CGD students be able to use the Oracle cards as a standalone?

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. The deck can be used for ordinary divination, completely apart from whatever else it can do -- and in my experience, at least, it gives good clear readings. (I spent a long time tinkering with it to make sure it would do that.)

[(Anonymous)]

I have both on order, glad to hear they are shipping!

Any plans to eventually do some music theory with a monochord using this system?

[ecosophia]

That's one possibility I'm considering. I have two monochords (scroll down to the bottom here) and several photocopied books on how they're used, and I've also done a lot of work with modal tunings of mountain dulcimers (which are basically monochords with two extra strings and some frets), linking the seven modes to the seven planets. So it could be a very useful option.

Sacred Cord Synchronicity

[sothismedias]

...Oh, so delighted about all this, as I mentioned on the other post.

Is it is a synchronicity that I was looking up the book Meditations on the Sacred Cord by Dolores-Ashcroft Nowicki earlier today?

Cord magic was mentioned in a video I was listening to, and I knew of the book, but haven't read it. I'd come across the use of a cord in a magical training system before, and know it is prevalent.

Can you chatter away about what The Way of the Sacred Cord will be about?

Again, I was really happy to receive my book. I'm reading through it now and seeing how to adjust my schedule slightly so I can incorporate the practices into what I'm alredy doing, which is kind of similar, having been based on posts on some of those subjects here previously. Definitely stoked about putting it all together.

Justin Patrick Moore

Re: Sacred Cord Synchronicity

[ecosophia]

Yes, it's synchronicity. ;-)

I've worked my way through Dolores' Meditations on the Sacred Cord with very good results. One of the things that occasionally makes me tear my hair out is that so few occult writers and teachers either introduce genuinely new instructional methods, and even fewer pick up on those that do get introduced. William Gray's "Holy Office of the Tree of Life" is one example -- it's a brilliant way of working with the Tree, and should have been picked up and reworked for systems other than his very idiosyncratic one long ago -- and Dolores' sacred cord is another. My cord isn't the same as hers, in structure or symbolism, and the meditations that go with mine are different, but the basic principle -- a cord with beads on it, each one of which is the anchor for a series of meditations, the whole thing serving as an initiatory process -- was inspired by her work (and will be credited in the book).

[jprussell]

As I mentioned in MM, I've received my copy of The Way of the Golden Section, and I'm quite excited about it. If nothing else, the solar plexus exercise is exactly something I was looking for but didn't know how to specify well enough to find it, so thank you much.

I've been giving some thought how to fit this work and its sequels into my own practice down the road. I'll state my conundrum concretely and then spell out a more general question that I hope will be useful to some other folks:

The first symbolic and divinatory system I acquainted myself with was the Runes. I very much like the Runes and plan to return to them in a serious way at some point in my practice. For now, though, I am about six months into the DMH, and so I've set aside the Runes for the most part while I learn the Ogham. I'll be starting things like pathworking with the Ogham soon enough, and though I've been divining with and meditating on the Ogham daily these six months, I'd say that it's far from mastered. So, I don't think I'll be incorporating the Sacred Geometry oracle into my work for a while, but my excitement about it now has me rethinking my previous plan to return straightaway to the Runes once I completed my work with DMH and/or Dolmen arch.

So, to generalize a bit: different magical systems have distinct symbolic systems (Tarot, Cabala, and elements for GD, Ogham, the Wheel of Life, and elements for DMH, and so forth). What should an aspiring occultist take into account when considering learning more than one symbolic system besides "don't try to smash them together willy-nilly" and "it's likely best to pick one and master it before moving onto another"?

If there's anything to the answer more specific to sacred geometry than symbolic systems in general, that would be wonderful to hear about as well.

Thanks very much,
Jeff

P.S. When I was still pretty new to your stuff and didn't realize how against your sensibilities it would be, I happened to pick up the old version of the Sacred Geometry Oracle. As someone who owned a lot of RPGs and sci-fi novels with a similar aesthetic, I didn't think much of it, but knowing your work better these days, it's pretty funny (in a rueful, groaning sort of way).

[ecosophia]

I'm glad to hear about the solar plexus exercise! I should probably post that here on my journal one of these days.

As far as your question, the only thing I'd add to those two points is "don't be afraid to master several divinatory oracles." The original Golden Dawn expected its initiates to become expert in three -- tarot, geomancy, and horary astrology -- and the version of the GD tradition I studied with John Gilbert expected you to get a basic familiarity with seven, a good working familiarity with five, a solid level of skill with three, and professional quality readings with one. (The options were tarot, geomancy, astrology, numerology, palmistry, runes, and "oracles" -- that last included anything not already on the list. You got to choose which ones you took to which level.) Learning several divinatory/symbolic systems is like learning several languages; you only really understand one when you understand more than one.

Good news!

[adastraoracle]

I have more than a passing curiosity about this oracle; moreover, I am extremely excited to order it, and have been for quite some time. I have a couple of questions:

After reading through a few MMs, I would refer to my spiritual direction as what you call the religious mystic (I think that's what you called it), using the SOP, meditation, and divination as part of my beliefs (gnostic/mystic Christianity/Buddhism/Religions & Cultural studies with an emphasis in myths, symbols, and spiritual growth). I have much in common with Hildegard of Bingen, if that's helpful. I find the Essenes and Druidry compelling, though, and I think I could fit into bard/ovate studies without issue. I have preordered the Druid Path, as I'm curious, and likely many of my ancestors were on this path. My questions:

--Would you consider your oracle suitable for divination purposes for my path? I'm thinking yes, as I already feel a calling to learn and use these cards, but checking to be certain.

--Could you recommend its use alongside tarot (or any other deck) for divination purposes?

--And as a person who only has a small-to-almost non-existent knowledge base on sacred geometry, would your deck and book be a place to start as a path into a deeper understanding?

I too am glad you went with your original vision of the card art. The closer to a clean, technical drawing of the shape, the better. I find architectural drawings very beautiful, so I am glad the art is rendered in that way.

Thanks so much for all you do here, offering forums, moderating, and providing links to great things, like the Manly P. Hall newsletters---awesome, and timely, as I had just begun reading Mead's works/Pistis Sophia. And yes, I am way into Earth mysteries! Among so many other things.

Re: Good news!

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome!

1) Yes. The cards are as free as I could get them from symbolic meanings unrelated to their basic geometrical structure, so can be used by mystics and mages of any tradition as well as by occultists.

2) Also yes. When I designed them I was practicing tarot divination regularly.

3) And a third yes. One of the things I had in mind in desigining the deck is that it can be used as an intro to sacred geometry -- it starts from the simplest possible beginning (Card 1, the Unmarked Card) and proceeds from there through the Point, the Line, the Circle, and so on through the sequence of basic geometrical concepts/

[(Anonymous)]

I seem to have an aversion to Kabbalah studies. Does this system involve it?

[ecosophia]

Not at all. The 33 cards form their own symbolic system, unrelated to the Cabala.

[ari_ormstunga]

I've ordered these and I'm looking forward to trying out the deck. So many goodies and so little time, what's a mage to do??

[ecosophia]

Trust me, I know! Even if I live into advanced old age, there's far more that I would like to study than I'll have time for.

Morning Practice Question

[(Anonymous)]

I’m happy to report that I received my copy of The Way of the Golden Section this past Friday. I spent the weekend reading through it and I’m very excited to begin working with the material and practices. I’m also happy to discover that it seems like it will nicely complement my fledgling alchemical practice.

I have one question that I’d like to ask about the Morning Practice. In the book you advise to perform the stretch and breathing in front of a window. Could a person also stand outside (perhaps barefoot upon the earth), or does the window play an essential role in the practice?

Thanks!
-Colter

Re: Morning Practice Question

[ecosophia]

You can certainly do it outside. I would have put that into the text if I'd thought of it.

[(Anonymous)]

I asked earlier about music theory, but another question about the system, if I may.

I'm getting closer to finishing the DMH, and I already have both volumes of the Dolmen Arch, and I've read them but not started yet. My plan was to start the DA after finishing the DMH, but this new system looks really interesting. I only have an hour or so per day that I can realistically carve out for my occult studies, and I've done well by simply consistently doing that hour a day. But I don't think I can do two systems at the same time, so I have to decide between them.

It looks to me like the DA is an expansion on the DMH, along with a review of some of the core concepts. I wanted to review a lot of the DMH material anyway, so doing the DA would help with that.

Yet this new system looks fascinating, and I got excited about sacred geometry when I recently received Robert Lawlor's book on sacred geometry. Then there's the aforementioned musical connections to sacred geometry.

Besides asking my trusty Ogham fews, are there practical advantages to doing one system over the other?

[ecosophia]

The Dolmen Arch is more specifically focused on Celtic tradition and symbolism, and has more extensive magical instruction. The new series focuses more on classic occultism and borrows more heavily from the whole range of occult theory and practice. The thing to keep in mind is that you just have to choose which one you want to do first, as they're wholly compatible, and you can do one and then, several years from now, the other.

[aldabra]

Hello! May I ask here:

I'm sure I've heard you call for "dissensus, memesis, and disintermediation". But Google thinks nobody has ever said this in the history of the world. Do you recognise it, or have I dreamt it?

(Possibly a talk in London at the School of Economic Science in 2014?)

[ecosophia]

Yes, I probably mentioned that there, and in various other places. I'm not at all surprised Google doesn't have any record of it -- they're very heavily edited these days. On the other hand, I didn't often talk about all three of those at once, since any one of them covers a lot of ground! If you go to an honest search engine like DuckDuckGo, the search strings "greer dissensus", "greer mimesis", and "greer disintermediation" will get you plenty of hits.

[(Anonymous)]

Here's a specific question: Currently I'm working on scrying into the Ogham fews and Pathworkings.

I've already got the books ordered, and I'm planning on taking up the Sacred Geometry Oracle at the very least. Should I hold off on that until I reach a stopping point with the visionary Ogham work?

One problem I see is, the deeper I get into the Ogham the deeper it seems to go. How does one decide when to hop over to a new divination system?

-Cliff

[ecosophia]

You can always do pathworkings with the Ogham while doing divinations with some other oracle -- I certainly did. As for when to make the switch, well, there's this thing called divination... ;-)

[open_space]

Looking sharp! What a thudding disappointment it must've been to wait on it for 10 years. I'll let the Quest Bookshop know that a new oracle has made it to the printers. Their collection of cards needs something other than kitty Tarots and witchy rewrites of the S-W --I'll suggested it as a purchase with the books, they are usually kind enough to order a copy if they meet their criteria. At this point and pace though they'll have to rename the shelf with your books from ritual magic to JMGs ;-)

I am well over my eyeballs of magical study and meditation just now but out of future planning does the system make use of the ritual forms of the SOP for the initiatory process or can those be substituted for the CGD rituals and still be compatible? Yeah or not that flexible? Given that sacred geometry is part of the CGD curriculum it could be interesting.

[ecosophia]

This is a SOP system, but you can lift various non-initiatory aspects out of the method and plug them into your GD-based practices. It'll take some cutting and pasting, however!

Book Recieved

[(Anonymous)]

My copy of the book showed up. It was quite a surprise; I forgot I ordered it. I think I thought it was called something else, I was mostly interested in the discursive meditation training. I've been buying a lot of books on the Occult lately.

I'm about 20 pages in. I'm finding it far more digestible after working through the Octagon Society, Order of Spiritual Alchemy training, the work so far on Levi and reading Regardie's Tree of Life. I went online to order the cards, but I stopped myself, remembering what you wrote about reading through the book before deciding to follow the training, but then I realize I will likely be done with the book by the time the cards arrive and I intuit that I am going to want them at least as much as I do now.

A quick question: Do you write when you sleep too, or do you just not sleep? Because I want to write and read as much as you do and I am astonished by your productivity. That is one of the main reasons I am so interested in knowing all I can about the Occult, learning how to be more productive, putting what I imagine into practice.

William Hunter Duncan

Re: Book Recieved

[ecosophia]

Glad to hear it.

As for writing, well, the only secret I have is that I don't own a television -- that gives me 4-6 hours a day of free time most Americans don't have.

[temporaryreality]

I've been waiting for this since the moment you mentioned it (two?) years ago, and was one of those annoying pesterers for a while (sorry!). I wised up a bit and used the interim period to train for consistent daily practices, so on my end the wait wasn't so bad. On your end, you obviously put the time to good use too. :)

Thank you for providing an option for those of us who lean toward wisdom-practices more than magical ones and for pointing out that was an option (I'd wondered what I was casting about for).

May this series spread widely and be of use to many.

[ecosophia]

Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

I have the original set of cards. Can I use them with Way of the Golden Section?

[ecosophia]

Hmm. It should work, though I changed the order of the cards a little -- I learned a lot more about the sacred geometry of spirals, and so the card The Spiral had to move much later in the deck.

[illyria2001]

Just ordered The Way of the Golden Section -- can't wait to read it!

[(Anonymous)]

JM, I have that original deck. I'll look into the new and the corresponding ecosystem. This I've proclaimed for the past few months - is my winter of discontent. Everything I love, hate, trust, doubt, believe, everything is being thrown to the wolves. Already, the thread that counts is emerging, and it ain't even winter, yet. coboarts

[(Anonymous)]

Hello cher Druide et Mage,

Congratulations, félicitations for creating a "new" occult system !

Now I am really confounded ! Just as I was trying to sort out the distinctions between your different teachings and systems here comes another one, how is an aspiring occultist or mage or mystic suppose to figure out which path to choose, so many, so long to perfect any which one and so few years left!

So if it would not be to much to ask, could you kind of briefly describe and compare your different systems/teachings and enumerate the oracle system attached to each. I really like the distinction you have been using to differentiate between occultism, magic and mysticism.

As a data point I am restarting my involvement with the Yi Jing, I have been using on an off the tarot de Marseille with a modicum of success and plan on starting to use it on a daily basis, I have read your Art and Practice of Geomancy and was planning to start using it more regularly and compare the results with the Yi King and Tarot and I am piqued by your Coelbren Alphabet (have not really figured out where it fits exactly) and to finish off I plan on purchasing The Sacred Geometry Oracle.

Many thanks in advance,

Sapienter Si sincere

[ecosophia]

Sure.

Classic Golden Dawn (Learning Ritual Magic, Circles of Power, Paths of Wisdom): standard ceremonial magic based on Judeo-Christian symbolism. Its divination methods are tarot, geomancy, and horary astrology.

Celtic Golden Dawn (The Celtic Golden Dawn, The Coelbren Alphabet, The Mysteries of Merlin): a variant of standard ceremonial magic based on Druid Revival symbolism. Its divination methods are geomancy and Coelbren.

AODA Druidry (The Druidry Handbook, The Druid Magic Handbook, The Dolmen Arch): Classic Druid Revival nature spirituality with a modest helping of magic. Its divination methods are Ogham and whatever else you like.

Golden Section Fellowship (The Way of the Golden Section, The Sacred Geometry Oracle, and other books to come): Classic American occultism with a bit of a Druid slant, focused on meditation and occult study rather than magic. Its divination methods are the Sacred Geometry Oracle and astrology.

Does that help at all!

Happy Yule, Merry Christmas and Blessed Nativity to Me!

[preyobrazhenya]

Just gave myself an early present to hopefully have in hand by Nativity (Jan. 7 :)). Thank you Archdruid!

+Love and Light
-Aquamarine Wagging Housefly

[guillem66]

When you say that is compatible with the DMH, do you mean it can be, potentially,very relevant for Druid magic and practicioners?

Wisdom may not be Magic, but it certainly provides for its guiding principles, it is not?

And btw, i'm very glad for your success.

[ecosophia]

Yes and yes.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm thrilled! I just ordered a copy of both. Thank you!

[deng]

I'll be ordering this. Thanks John

LRM

[(Anonymous)]

How well does this mesh with The Learning Ritual Magic series of training?

Other Dave

Re: LRM

[ecosophia]

It doesn't, really. LRM and its sequels are classic Golden Dawn, which uses a different ritual and symbolic basis.

Sacred Cords (again) : Another Pin Just Dropped

[sothismedias]

Re: Sacred Cord...

... I read the section on the initiation ceremony this morning in your book...

I decided to go ahead and pick up the Nowicki and Gray books mentioned above. I've waited on buying occult books before, and then kicked myself when they went up to huge prices in the second hand market.

I hope you have a good rest of the week John!

Workbooks vs Training, Seventh Book?

[jprussell]

Still more questions, sorry!

Can you expand a bit on the difference between the "workbooks" and books of "training"? It seems that both contain a mix of material to learn and exercises to do, so I'm not clear on what will be different about them.

Also, somewhere earlier, you mentioned a series of 7 books, which makes good sense considering this week's chapter of Levi, but your enumeration above only goes to six by my count. Any hints what that seventh might be?

Re: Workbooks vs Training, Seventh Book?

[ecosophia]

The training books have the goal of initiation, and so they are mostly collections of practices. The workbooks have the goal of instruction, and so they are mostly collections of themes for meditation. As for the seventh book, that's The Sacred Geometry Oracle, which comes with a book.