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Card 1, the Unmarked Card

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. (Please note: Any question received after then will not get an answer, and in fact will just be deleted. I've been getting an increasing number of people trying to post after these are closed, so will have to draw a harder line than before.) 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? That's the first card in The Sacred Geometry Oracle, which is hot off the press and on its way to stores and warehouses as I write these words. Card 1, The Unmarked Card, when upright indicates that the situation is wide open and you can make of it what you will; when reversed, it means that you don't have any way of knowing what's actually going on and you may want to back off and wait for more information before proceeding. The oak leaves on the sides of the image tell you that this card belongs to the first third of the oracle, which corresponds to Calas, the principle of solidity and materiality.

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!***

Current Mood: pleased

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

I would like to announce Part 1 of a series of transcripts of a talk Sri Rohit Arya gave titled The Money Power, Kubera and Sri Aurobindo.

This is going to be the transcript I promised to provide to JMG as well since I don't think Sri Arya makes transcripts of his Youtube talks.

It's extensively annotated as well with my own notes from things I've learned from other gurus.

Anyway...

Here's Part 1

https://happypanda.dreamwidth.org/#entry-7622

From:

Many thanks for this.

From: (Anonymous)

About these correspondences for the Ogham fews in The Druidry Handbook…
If I see a rabbit run across my yard, do I draw a stave and ask a question about the significance of the creature and the event, or should I look up Ngetal since its animal is the hare? Or both, or…?
Many thanks.
Rhydlyd

From:

Do both of them, take notes, and then see how their respective guidance works out.

From: (Anonymous)

OK – the first “both” answer penciled. I just tried again after seeing another animal - same result with different staves. Seems I’ve found an answer and a method.
Thank you!

From:

Good evening, and thanks as always for your time and energy here.

I got the opportunity to answer some of my questions on your post announcing The Way of the Golden Section, so I've a got a few fewer questions today:

1) With the Winter Solstice coming up, I'm wondering about a specific intersection of your oft-repeated advice that magic and religion are not the same thing: are seasonal rituals more important for religion, for magic, or equally important to each for different reasons? If the answer is both, what distinct things are such rituals doing for each approach?
2) I have worked my way up to the full SOP and will shortly embark on using it practically. When I do so, does the practical SOP take the place of the daily "standard" SOP, or should I do both? For example, if I'm using the sample given in the book and trying to invoke desired personal qualities and banish undesirable ones, should I do a standard SOP in the morning and the personal qualities one later in the day, or just the personal qualities one?
3) I've started Sane Occultism recently, and I know Dion Fortune has heavily influenced your views on the occult, so I'm curious: in what ways would you say your own views differ most strongly from hers?

Thanks much,
Jeff

From:

1) It depends on the religion, and on the system of magic! "Religion" and "magic" are both very broad categories. The intentions and effects of a Christian mass on Christmas are not the same as those of a Druid ceremony on the winter solstice. In the same way, the intentions and effects of a working of La Chose on the spring equinox by a lodge of Elus Coens are not the same as those of a Golden Dawn lodge celebrating the spring equinox on the same day.

2) Experiment and see what works best for you.

3) Her attitudes toward sexuality are very strongly shaped by her Christian faith and the attitudes of her time, and I think she was seriously mistaken about some details.

From: (Anonymous)

As the philosopher Joe E. Brown said, “Nobody’s perfect!”

—Princess Cutekitten

From:

My working rule is that if you agree with any teacher 100%, get your head examined.

From:

1) Fair enough! To narrow it down to perhaps more useful terms: what are the main differences between celebrating seasonal rituals "religiously" as a druid (such as given in the DH) and performing them "magically" as a druid (such as in the DMH)? Obviously there's overlap, but I'm wondering about it as a) I'm about to transition from doing DH-style celebrations of each holiday to DMH-style, and b) reading and thinking about The Way of the Golden Section has me thinking more about magic vs other occult approaches.

From:

In Druidry, as I understand it (ask three druids, get five answers!), the religious dimension is a matter of participation in the energies of the cosmos; the magical dimension is a matter of participation plus intention. The Druid mage participates in the natural flow of energies, but he also directs a certain portion of the flow into a suitable intention.

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG-
Thanks for doing these. Do you know how one would do the Discordian version of the Sphere of Protection?

From:

Yes, and in fact I've done it and taught it. You make the initial gestures with the words "Hail Eris," "All Hail Discordia," and "Kallisti." Then it gets weird.

Instead of six points in a nice orderly arrangement around you, there are five, and you have to figure out clairvoyantly where they are, as they move around at random. (One of them may be under the couch, for example.) The symbols you trace for each point is the outline of a golden apple. The holy words you invoke at each of them are of course the names of the five Discordian elements, chanted five times each: "Prickle-prickle-prickle-prickle-prickle," "Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom," and so on.

When you've found and invoked each of the five elemental symbols, stand in the center of the space and visualize a golden apple surrounding you, causing every hostile force to get confused and wander off in a daze.

(Ahem. Yes, it's very silly. The remarkable thing is that it works quite well in practice.)

From: (Anonymous)

That’s silly, all right. Do you have to believe in Eris, et al, for it to work?

—Princess Cutekitten

From:

Belief isn't a concept that fits well in the world of Discordianism. To quote the Principia Discordia:

"GP: Is Eris true?
M2: Everything is true.
GP: Even false things?
M2: Even false things are true.
GP: How can that be?
M2: I don't know man, I didn't do it."

And of course there's always the fifth of the Five Commandments of Discordianism, the Pentabarf:

"V - A Discordian is Prohibited of Believing what he reads."

(On the off chance you haven't yet, you can read the Principia Discordia online here.)

From: (Anonymous)

Of course, it’s also important to remember that all Discordians are heretics.

From: (Anonymous)

Dear Archdruid

I have to enquire further now. Who oh who created the Discordian SOP, if you know, and how did the world of John Gilbert's SOP and Discordia meet/collide?

I'm not a Discordian but I'm a big R.A. Wilson fan and I've probably gotta try this one day.

Thanks

Murky Loathsome Banshee

From:

I created it. Among my many grandiose and silly titles, I am a duly initiated Chaplin of the Legion of Dynamic Discord. (Yes, I mailed my noseprint to the California State Bureau of Furniture and Bedding!) A couple of years after I learned the SoP from John, after I'd explored several different versions, I decided to try a Discordian one, and found that it worked quite remarkably well.

From:

Oh well done sir; I should have guessed it was you hahaha. I seem to recall a previously described version where you finish by rolling around inside the sphere instead of spinning it around you...? :-)

Murky Loathsome Banshee

From:

Yes, you can do that, too. ;-)

From:

Robert Anton Wilson personally advanced me from Pope to Bishop for participating in a Discordian action for the bicentenial--I called a radio station to inform them that the Illuminati were coming back, since everyone knows they were behind the American Revolution.

Rita

From:

Funny.

From: (Anonymous)

(Murky Loathsome Banshee here again)

P.S. In fact, as the UK corona mandate absurdities ramp up in earnest, this is sounding like the perfect SOP to make hostile bureaucratic/technocratic forces get confused and wander off in a daze.....

I'm not yet sure how serious I am about that. I'd obviously need to meditate on the symbols of the Principia Discordia first.

From:

You know, I was just discussing with my wife this morning the fact that what's going on right now in terms of Covid hysteria is a classic example of the Curse of Greyface in action. The Discordian SoP might help, but the standard response to that sort of over-the-top aneristic dysfunction is the Erisian Turkey Curse. Might be worth considering as a regular practice...

From: (Anonymous)

Had to look all that up. Hmmm. The Curse of Greyface, Erisian Turkey Curse and the definition of aneristic. My occult education proceeds apace!

JLfromNH/Scarlet Puckish Cyclops

From:

I'd read the Turkey Curse somewhere but had never tried it, nor thought of it as a proper spell spell...which of course it looks to be now. The Curse of Greyface: summarised on a Discordian Wiki page as "Nobody likes a killjoy"...that certainly fits the situation!

Murky Loathsome Banshee

From:

I am still reading through Illuminatus! in correspondence with each chapter of Levi's high magic chapters. Not sure why I wanted to do this, but I am. It's fun.

Recently read a Hagbard quote that was very relevant with the times. "The fear of death is the beginning of slavery".

From: (Anonymous)

Hello, forgive my interjection [please delete JMG if too off-topic now]. I'm not sure if that's a Hagbard quote but it's certainly a R.A. Wilson one- I remember it from his "13 choruses for the divine marquis" which you might enjoy:

http://www.alphane.com/raw.htm?marquis.htm

-Murky Loathsome Banshee

From:

It strikes me as an extremely good idea!

From: (Anonymous)

Another good resource for Discordian literature:
https://www.libraryoferis.org/cgi-bin/catalog.cgi

From:

Thanks for this!

From: (Anonymous)

What is ‘Discordian’ stuff all about? Is it like chaos magic or some kind of neo Greek paganism?

From:

Oh my.

Back in 1968 or so, a group of merry pranksters founded the Discordian Society, which was either a serious metaphysical project disguised as a prank or a prank disguised as a serious metaphysical project. It's still a going concern. You can get a decent general summary here, and read the Principia Discordia, the (ahem) "sacred scripture" of the movement, here.

As for chaos magic, the original founders of chaos magic got the idea from the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, which is so full of Discordianism many Discordians treat it as a kind of New Testament. So the Discordians were chaos mages before there were chaos mages.

From: (Anonymous)

Very cool. Thanks John

From:

This reminds me of some religion, I don't remember its name, that was invented as a joke and then they got a response and got healings happening or something like that. The last of M2's response seems appropriate. This and the Discordian SOP sound quite amazing to me, I've lived my life so, so seriously to the point of being a prude. I'm glad this shows that Magic and spirituality can be a lot of fun.

I hope this is not over sharing but I talked to my subconscious. I know why I was being so scared, regarding my other comment about the watcher, the child in me was yelling at me and terrified because if I grow up without him, without remembering the point of being a child I wouldn't get anywhere, if I leave without what I learned as a child I would be missing a great deal. He is teaching me stuff now so we can both work together. W.E Butlers advice about working with the subconscious with Love as in the Tarot card was what I was promoted to learn about Love. Funny how that works, I thought it was something completely different what I had to learn about love. Love as a force? Nah, now that is silly, love as in being loving! To myself!

Thank you!!

Edited Date: 2021-12-13 10:19 pm (UTC)

From:

It's happened a number of times in recent history. One Druid group, the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA), invented a completely fictitious god named Dalon ap Landu, God of the Groves...and then people started having religious experiences of that god.

As for magic and spirituality being fun, if they aren't, you're doing something wrong.

From:

I am doing several things wrong, and that's okay. It's funny how by trying to not make mistakes and getting anxious about the mistakes you've made only makes you make more mistakes! And then no fun can happen but rather the process of self transformation turns into a process of self flagellation. That doesn't sound helpful in this day and age. The trick seems to be to relax, do the Breath of Acceptance, allow for mistakes to happen safely, and continue. John Gilbert's work in the OSA is genius disguised in simplicity, truly amazing.

I am still baffled about what you do by the way. Whenever you tell me to meditate on it, I grumble a little, but then I do, nothing comes up, I grumble a little more but then, then something happens in my life that shakes me and it clicks. You are great in pointing in the right direction to get answers.

From:

Thank you. It's probably because I made plenty of mistakes too.

From:

That's quite interesting. It seems that the gods, at least those interested in humankind, meet us where we're at. I've known a few folks who have turned the Force in Star Wars into a kind of Westernized Taoism and some interesting mystical experiences. The really fun part of all this, for me at least, is how mysterious the gods really are. A good mystery is one that can't be solved, just endlessly learned from.

From: (Anonymous)

Some might say that all of our creations are simply the bringing down of archetypes that already exist, but perhaps not yet in our world. If there is some truth to this, it might be this god making itself known only when finally called and conceived of in this world? Personally, this is why I think we need to be very careful what we choose to call on. Thinking of that Paul Foster Case Pattern on the Trestleboard Statement "All the power that ever was or will be is here now."

Discordianism is rather entertaining. Thanks for the chuckles in some of these posts.

+Light and Life
-Aquamarine Wagging Housefly

From:

I found it fascinating that one of the originators of Discordianism, Kerry Wendell Thornley, wrote a novel whose main character was based on Lee Harvey Oswald - but he wrote it before the Kennedy assassination.

From: (Anonymous)

Time for the periodic thanks to our host for providing Magic Monday and the space for Covid discussions.

—Princess Cutekitten

From: (Anonymous)

Hear hear! Three cheers for JMG, this forum, and also the commentariat.

From: (Anonymous)

I sometimes picture him as one of those grand master chess players doing 10 different games at a time, but with comment threads, in different forums, all with different posts running at the same time while having an active writing career.

I think he's made a deal with The Old Ones. He says he threw out his T.V but I think he gave it to them as curious human trinket that makes anyone do as you please and got some tentacles in exchange.

From: (Anonymous)

I'm memorizing the Calling of the Elements in the Sphere of Protection. I seem to rapidly grasp systems I'm keenly interested in; would you still advise against strengthening one's practice by invoking and banishing by all seven gates, so as to simultaneously improve one's relationship with each element, rather than waiting 2-3 weeks to add a new gate?

From:

Yes, I would advise against rushing through it. Give each element the individual attention that it deserves.

From:

I've been meditating on Santa Muerte since last week's MM. The anonymous poster raised a question that I've been reflecting on, and that is Santa Muerte's willingness to grant any request. This is certainly the case, at least from what I've gathered from other followers of her. The reason given is usually something like "death embraces everyone" and so she's a being that accepts and works with the full spectrum of humanity (and the assorted needs thereof). That makes sense to me, but I'd welcome any insights into this aspect of her. I also welcome any insight from the commentariat.

From:

I'll have to turn this over to the commentariat -- the Pretty Girl is not a being I've studied at all.

From:

Since we're over halfway through MM, I suppose I'll post a few additional thoughts of my own. While the anonymous poster's comment last week originally was slightly disconcerting for me, the more that I've thought it through, the more trivial it actually seems. Santa Muerte works with most anyone, for reasons and goals that run the spectrum of good and bad. That seemed a little off-putting at first, but then I consider Scriptures like Matthew 5:45, where Jesus tells his followers that God sends the sun and the rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. Or the simple fact that when warring Christian nations fought in centuries past, they all prayed to the same God for success. Or what they thought was the same God, at any rate. Death is a more ambivalent and yet all encompassing force, so it seems natural that a Goddess of death could be approached for many different kinds of requests. It doesn't seem all that strange that Santa Muerte will protect a cartel leader and a simple Mexican shopkeeper at the same time.

Does that sound nonsensical to you, JMG?

From:

That doesn't seem strange to me at all. I also note that Jesus broke bread with sinners, and the self-righteous of his time got all huffy about that, too.

From:

Isn't also Hermes the god of thieves?

I also note that in India the are whole sects to gods that under human morals would be considered The Devil.

From:

The gods are not subject to human morality!

From:

Exactly! That single point took me a while to process when you pointed it out to me a while ago but it makes sense. Why should we consider that humans are the only concern of the gods? And even if so, why would that mean that malefic aspects of humanity are not necessary for balance?

For what is worth, La Santa Muerte statues are sold in super markets here in Mexico. Not only street gangs worship her as mentioned. It's notable that it's only our version of PMCs that are afraid of her. Wonder why...

Edited Date: 2021-12-13 08:28 pm (UTC)

From:

She even embraces Jesus the flesh, there are statues of her holding him down from the cross. In Mexico we put altars to Santa Muerte but it needs to be balanced with the Virgin of Guadalupe and the Holy Trinity.

Edited Date: 2021-12-13 10:50 pm (UTC)

From:

That's good to know, because I've lately experienced an intense desire to build an altar to the Virgin of Guadalupe and develop a devotion to her. But balance...that seems to be the key that I was forgetting. Thank you!

From:

La Virgencita is truly fantastic and the painting of her that was allegedly imprinted in Juan Diego's clothes with a bunch of roses when she appeared to him at Tepeyac Hill is very powerfully charged. She is the one that removed the fear of God The Father from my conception.

You might be interested to know that yesterday December 12th was her day.

Regarding Santa Muerte, keep this in mind. There is a wide spread belief that she asks big and cruel things in return for her miracles fueled by the idea of deals with demons, this is not true. The thing is that many people approach her, receive something from her and when things get better they turn her back on her and then things go bad. It's like this I've heard, people go on a boat trip with the wind in their favor because of her, then take the wind away by forgetting about her and wonder why it went wrong and blame it on her and say that was her payback. So if you ask her something and offer something in return be sure you want and can fulfill your part, she doesn't hesitate to take gifts back in scenarios like that and become silent afterwards. She is not evil, she just won't have any of it but sincere devotion and honesty, but again, balance, devotion doesn't mean intense repentance and flattery, just respect.

Remember that virtues are the midpoint between two vices, not each others' opposite.

Edited Date: 2021-12-14 01:15 am (UTC)

From:

This is very helpful, thank you. It also matches what I've learned from my own limited experience with her. She's very generous but requires regular devotion in return.

From: (Anonymous)

This is entirely my own unverified gnosis, and my only source of authority is that I have been praying to Santisima for years, so take it with a complete grain of salt.

I feel that she truly, genuinely, and deeply loves (in the most holy sense) what it means to be human, and has a profoundly vested interest in the human experience. This encompasses everything from dancing and laughter to black rage to wailing grief. She is also strongly associated with oppressed populations (in particular LGB, women, and the very poor), and sometimes the only recourse of those without material power is what we might call black magic.

If we also take a look at non-Christian, pre-Christian, or non-Western belief systems, most have beings that humans gladly worship that are outside the binary of "good and evil". Some examples are Baron Cimitiere of Vodoun, Odin who delights in human sacrifice, savage and animalistic Ares of the battlefield, Kali Ma and her still existing animal sacrifice and blood drinking, or Pomba Jira of Afro-Brazilian traditions, etc, etc, etc.

Santa Muerte is downright tame compared to some other beings we've managed to make friends with!

From:

Exactly!! You said it so much better, thank you. I also think she came to us as a way to do away with the overly, mmm, I don't know how to call it, fluffy aspects perhaps, of Catholicism by also showing that there is nothing to fear out of less pleasant aspects of life. That aspect of goody-goody from debased Christianity makes people repress many, many things and repression causes neurosis and even cancer if taken to the extreme of hating oneself.

From:

Thank you, I really appreciate hearing from a longtime devotee. My own thinking is that Death is intimately involved in the world of the living. It is present all around us and possibly omnipresent, since everything eventually decays and falls apart. This gives Death, and its various personifications/manifestations, a unique perspective on human life and all the aspects of what it means to be a human being. Death can appreciate life, especially human life, in ways that the living often overlook and forget about. I think that make Santa Muerte a very understanding and loving being, so your UPG sounds very accurate to me.

From: (Anonymous)

Honestly, one of the better things to do there might be to ask Mary Theotokos(/Guanyin/Kannon - still not entirely sure whether the Virgin of Guadalupe is yet another aspect or backed by a different divine archetype, but honestly even in the latter case it might be worth asking her, too) for her opinion on the subject.

- pretentious_username

From: (Anonymous)

Is the American Federation of Astrologers worthwhile, both from a learning standpoint and eventually for certification through their exams? I’m considering their “SuperStar” course for learning astrology, and was curious if you had any opinions on it.

From:

They have a good reputation. I haven't taken any of their courses.

From: (Anonymous)

I'm on the last lesson of the SuperStar course. It's given me the basic education in astrological concepts that I wanted. The course is focused on psychological astrology, but the concepts should translate over to other topics in astrology, if the bit of reading I've done in some of them is any indication.

I can't comment on the exam because I haven't finished the course.

From:

Hey there JMG and everyone, good evening!

Today I have a question about energy centers. I had an etheric sprain, so to speak, this June after a minor shaking perhaps in the form of a kundalini stirring that left the right side of my head feeling "weak" and the top of my head a little sensible. I experimented with letting the shaking happen or hold it during the LRP which is when it happens and at least for the moment the answer has been to hold it, at least until the sprain heals completely because it makes it worse as if the pipe is still weak. Relaxing the scalp helped a lot to relieve the pain and got rid of it very quickly, in day or two, and get the energy moving up and around that felt stuck at the crown.

Something curious happened as I sat down for meditation not long ago, a few weeks perhaps. I have slowly felt how the area gets filled in, specially since I incorporated exercise that makes me breath heavier than usual. I noticed during the pore breathing and meditation that energy along my body seems to have a wavy pattern or at least during the practices I feel it coming and surrounding me in a wave along the surface of my skin but I noticed the waves would reach the right side of my head at the level of the forehead it would just stop there thought the left side still let the wave carry on. So when I breathed light through the pores I consciously focused more attentively into that area of the head and "filling it in". And it worked! A few minutes later I felt two spots "coming online" on the surface of my skull on that side of the head as if stuff was let to flow in.

1)What happened? Do you think my etheric body was not sufficiently strong at the moment it happened and the right side channel shorted somehow or perhaps more accurately, sprained? Or perhaps there was a blockage and that wasn't letting energy flow?

2)It seems to me that there are different classes of centers: small ones like the pictures of Chinese meridians that run along the surface of the skin, the side of the head my palms and feet and bigger ones. Is there a classification for these and what their roles are both small and big?

3)I had a memory come back to me about when I was a child were once I sat and would imagine a circle --staring as big as my head with one edge on the top of my head and the other at the height of my chin-- closing in in my mind through my face coming to a point at the tip of my nose and then expanding again, following the surface of my head expanding until the midpoint and contracting again unto a point on the back of my head and so on. I got to the point, I recall, where I could feel it in my skin and soon I discovered I could run the same waves through my whole body, kind of like a rubber band wrapping the section that I wanted. Have you heard of this? And is it useful? It feels a little bit like a massage for the etheric body.

From:

1) Good question. It does sound as though you replenished a depleted part of your etheric body.

2) There are various classifications in Asian systems, and even more varied and contradictory classifications in Western systems. A lot of work remains to be done to sort that out.

3) I haven't heard of it, but you can certainly experiment and see what results you get.

From:

Contradictory to the Asian systems or between the Western systems? That's interesting, I would've thought those would be more universal like the organs and circulatory system in structure. Are there any sources for the Western ones you mention?

From:

All of the above. There are significant differences among the Asian systems, and none of the Western systems seem to agree with one another or with the Asian systems. The secret is that the qualities and effects of the energy centers vary depending on how they're developed. As for books -- sure, lots of them. Arthur Powell's books The Etheric Double and The Astral Body are good places to start.

From:

I've read The Astral Body by Powell but had not idea he did a whole set! Thank you.

After those do any other come to mind?

It makes sense what you mention about how they are developed. Do you think that is a specification of a general quality (which has very significant changes in the overall machinery just as dance is dance but different cultures dance very very differently) or is it just completely differently? I am thinking of the solar plexus center for example, which seems to have general qualities though different magical systems use it differently.

I started to think about my particular issue and related two things. I found it funny that it was the right side of my head the one that had the problem when it was the left side of my body that saw most of the shaking. Do the channels change paths close to the eyes in any significant way? Differently than they do so in other areas?

Edited Date: 2021-12-13 07:43 pm (UTC)

From:

1) Not at the moment. Many classic books on Western occultism have a few passing references here and there.

2) I'm pretty sure it's a specification of a general quality.

3) According to some accounts, yes.

From:

Thank you! I'll think about this a little further.

(deleted comment)

From:

Edit: To the OP of the comment. Please excuse me if I said something wrong, I didn't mean it at all to belittle anything of what you said if I did, quite the contrary! I found it very helpful and thought provoking, that's why I replied in a long comment. I didn't state that explicitly before rushing into something else which probably made me look patronizing, I'm sorry about that. It was just a little new found enthusiasm I just need to learn how to calibrate that...

I think per JMGs comment about more research needed also an indication about that. Perhaps it's like algebra and geometry in a sense, sometime not far from now someone might find a unifying concept or view that makes the other makes sense from within its lens and back.

Perhaps a physician-occultist would have to look into non practitioners first all the way from children to elderly study their energy systems and compare that to other factors, then to magicians and try to come with a baseline and then branch out into the effects on the energy body of different systems of magic and see what happens. That or getting very good at contacting spirits and other beings. I know of at least one physician that was allegedly given quite an extensive body of medical work that way for herbs. I do not know if it would work for the energy system however but since we are the creation not the creator someone must know.

I would think the overall structure of the energy system, even though less rigid than the meat and fluid system, to have some baseline that can be common to all humans just as all of us have an aura and energy centers that are in specific points, even though this points can be moved and the centers developed in particular ways giving into something like body types I guess. I think the trick would be, given that magic in a sense is like a martial art, to have a very clear understanding of which ligaments, tendons, muscle groups, articulations are being used and how, to understand their purpose and role in health and magic very clearly and so being able to say: if you have practiced X and developed this energetic body type consider also doing this which will give you more flexibility or things like that.

Edited Date: 2021-12-14 01:54 am (UTC)

From: (Anonymous)

The landlady - I think we may call her a slumlord - of the rickety Victorian in which I and my family inhabit a flat has recently retired from real estate and decided to sell the building. She is unpleasant, bossy and prone to blame us for the consequences of her failure to maintain her property.

For the past few months we have endured repeated invasions by workmen sent to compensate for said negligence by fixing things that should have been repaired years ago: and also much cosmetic work obviously intended to help her sell the place. It has begun to feel like quite a flagrant violation of our rights.

The place is such a dump that there have been no buyers. So she has decided to sell it to her daughter - or at least that is their story. Tomorrow morning at 10 AM (Monday Pacific time) her daughter is to arrive with a bank loan inspector to assess the property.

There is more than one variety of evil that can befall us from this situation, and I am not sure which to fear most. Is there any fairly simple ritual or prayer that I can perform to help things work out in our favor?

I work in the HOGD tradition with Hellenic deities. I’ve also been meditating on the Violet Flame, with appeals for protection to Archangel Michael. I need all the help I can get!

From:

In your place I'd invoke Hermes and Athena. You don't have a lot of time, but you should be able to pour a libation and burn some incense to both of them, and ask for their help.

From: (Anonymous)

I’ve taken your advice as best I can. I don’t have incense, and there is seldom wine in the house. But I do happen to have a bit of brandy. So I poured a some into a small glass and took a little into the bowl of a spoon. This I held over a candle flame on my altar and, after reciting some epithets of Hermes, very carefully I tilted the spoon over the flame until the brandy took fire and burned in the spoon with a dark blue flame. As this burned I made my request. After perhaps half the content of the spoon had burned away, I poured the residue back into the glass, stating my intention to make it a eucharist.

I repeated more less the same process for Athena. I read a Homeric hymn to her, then lit a spoonful of brandy as before, taken from the same glass, and offering it to her as I made my request. Again I poured the residue back into the glass, with the same statement of intent. I then drained off what remained of the brandy.

I hope I haven’t made any gross formal errors. And I hope they like brandy.

From: (Anonymous)

I've had luck with st jude patron of hopes cases and ganesh. I'm not a Catholic pr strictly Hindu but I have felt supported in v dire times with innovation

From: (Anonymous)

Lots of typos in this one !! Invocation I meant to say <3

From: (Anonymous)

I am still working thru the SOP, just been doing spirit below for a few days, which feels strange to draw and then point that way, so I will stay at this level for a few weeks.

Before I started that one, I had been doing the four directions for many weeks , then ending with the Lords Prayer. Last week I was just into the Lords Prayer when the computer behind me woke up and startled me out of it ! It was in sleep mode, but it re-started itself, making that loud, initial chime. I tried to refocus then start the enlarging of the sphere again, but it was off, I still then closed with the Lords Prayer in full to finish, but the energy(?) place I was at was of course broken, not the same. Right now I am working in a very small space so cant get away from the computer, but in general assuming I ever get out of this small trailer and back into my house, is it best to be away from electronics while doing this ?

Even if I were into my house, there is no noise privacy, so if anyone else is in the house, I dont see how I could do the SOP. Can it be done in a whisper ? but then how to try and vibrate the names ? Same for when I was away at a relatives house for 4 nights last month. The only time I was alone was in the rest room. I shared a room to sleep with another family member, but even if I had a room to myself, I could not have done the SOP outloud. How do people do this that do not live alone ( I usually am living alone right now) ?

From:

1) Turn off the computer before you practice -- don't just let it go into sleep mode. (It's a good idea to do that anyway at least once a day so it can clear away temp files and the like.)

2) It's very awkward to practice magic around people who aren't sympathetic to that practice. If you need to, yes, you can do it in a whisper, and you can learn to do what's called the Great Voice -- that's where you imagine yourself vibrating, and try to feel the same vibrating sensations you'd get if you were vibrating out loud. The best option, though, is to live with people who also practice magic, or are okay with your practice.

From:

Some examples of me doing my SoP; (I live in a house with 5 people; one knows, 1 suspects, 3 are completely ignorant) (all of them would get the shock of their lives, if I told them I am a Druid and a practicing mage)

Privacy solutions:
1. Scheduling:
- I have a habit of waking up 3/4 of an hour before anybody else in the house. So I am completely alone for the time.
- we have divergent time schedules. I take opportunities when I am alone at home.
2. Strategic positioning:
- the boiler room is normally deserted at all times
- the detached garage can be used to perform complete rituals in the grove family with almost no risk of discovery
3. Limited cooperation:
- the one person in the (limited) know has been understanding an has at times invited the others to vacate the premises
4. Evacuation:
- one can always go outside. I make solitary walks to a nearby forest. There is nothing stoping me from taking 30 minutes in between to SoP + meditate. And there is usually a friendly tree nearby. :-)

As for computer noises, boiler room pumps, mosquitoes, needy house cats and other distractions. I take them as challenges to train my concentration. I have sadly forgotten the Dion Fortune quote that inspired me.

Hope this helps,
V

From: (Anonymous)

It can be done outside ? I thought that doing the SOP outside could bother some other entities ?

From:

Don't quote me on this but I think it was only the LBRP from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn that can have that effect, not the SoP or other forms of the LRP that don't banish Earth.

Edited (Edited for usefulness) Date: 2021-12-13 10:07 pm (UTC)

From: (Anonymous)

Dee JMG:
A couple of years ago I got a copy of the earlier Sacred Geometry card set and book. I think I commented to you back then that I loved it so much I wished you had an occult practice to wrap around it. At that time you were already working on it. I have a feeling that many of us need this now, have needed it for while…So many of us felt called to the magic but we’re too scared, like me. Thank you for bringing this system into being. I think Pythagoras would be proud.
Much deep appreciation,
Elizabeth

From:

You're welcome and thank you!

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG & all,
In a previous post, you mentioned that you had to do a lot of fine tuning for your geometry oracle cards-- I wonder if you could elaborate a bit; Was this a process of trial-and-error in which you did readings with the cards as they were, compared the readings to outcomes, and adjusted the cards; Or possibly you put the cards together and adjusted them on the basis of meditations guiding you on how they should be? Or possibly a combination of both--or something else?

One of my very long-term projects is mapping the 16 characters of a Geomantic reading (includes the Reconciler) onto one of the 4X4 Pan-Magic Squares. I start the divination with the intention of using the Pan-Magic Square map. When I do, I have noticed that the four characters that line up on the vertical 'Spine of the Phoenix' are pretty good at describing a timeline and outcome for my question.

Besides the above, would it be helpful to do two readings on the same question, one with the 4X4 method and one with an established method, to help identify additional features? I guess I am asking if there are any standard guidelines to developing a new divinatory method, or whether you just keep doing it and it emerges organically from the fog?

Suspecting the latter,
Pallid Funicular Moose

From:

All of the above. I compared my readings to the events that followed; I meditated on the cards, and did pathworkings using them; and I studied sacred geometry to deepen my understanding of the whole system of thought.

I don't know of any standard guidelines; letting things emerge organically has always worked for me.

From: (Anonymous)

Hi from Sydney, JMG!

I came across this terrific read about a writer's uncle's esoteric library, and figured I should pass it on.

https://believermag.com/what-you-cant-learn-collecting-esoteric-books/

From:

Thanks for this!

From: (Anonymous)

WOW That's epic. -Berserker

From:

australiandreamer

I was wondering how things worked in terms of our understanding when praying vs the relevant deities perspective...

eg If you were to pray to Thor the son of Venus or Mars the father of Aphrodite (sincerely - not realising you had it wrong) would you have a chance or getting through or would you be opening up to one of those entertaining greek mythological tales?

If you were a monotheist and came out with Odin the servant of Yahweh would that work (you sincerely believing that Odin was subordinate to Yahweh) or the opposite (I don't serve no stinkin' Yahweh) or annoy both Yahweh *and* Odin the process?

From:

It doubtless varies from deity to deity. I certainly recommend doing the research first, and using traditional titles rather than insisting on your own ideas...

From: (Anonymous)

Good Morning Sir and Druid,
1) Could it be that the jug the man of Aquarius is carrying is actually a Baghdad battery? The parallel wavy lines of the symbol are actually a positive and negative strands of current.

2) Is it common to Meditate on an unnamed theme before stumbling upon something that gives a name to the theme? For a pondering rumination on seemingly unrelated strands of thought before discovering the theme that unites them into a whole meditation.

3) Has there been any research into using etheric technology to integrate an artificial limb with the etheric body of the amputated limb?

From:

1) Hmm! That's an interesting speculation.

2) Yes. That's actually quite common, and very useful.

3) Not that I know of. If you've got an artificial limb, you might consider giving it a try.

From:

3) That is a terrific idea!

From: (Anonymous)

3) Amputee here. It's an interesting concept but I wouldn't be the first in line. A prosthesis is like a shoe: it's very useful, it wears out, and then you get a new one. Oh, and you take it off every day. If it were integrated to the etheric body, all of that might be a lot like getting your limb amputated over and over again.

But it does raise a lot of nifty philosophical questions. What counts as "you" and what's the result of changing that? Would connecting your etheric body to a prosthesis mean that "you" are now also a chunk of metal and plastic? What kind of karma would that produce? Someone braver than me can try it out...

From:

My guess is that if you loose a limb there are adjustments that can be hard on the etheric body. There are dense ethers that get lost when someone loses a limb, even though the astro-etheric blueprint is still there (that's were you get the phantom limb phenomenon). If an anchor can be made for those forms back into the dense ethers before the body adjusts those imbalances can be taken care off.

Can I ask you a question if you consider appropriate? Did you notice any other consequence in your health or mood after having a limb amputated? Something that changed that was there before? Or perhaps a change in how you digest food? Change in food preference? Likes that are no longer there or dislikes that arose? Stuff like that.

Edited Date: 2021-12-13 11:00 pm (UTC)

From: (Anonymous)

It happened when I was very young, so it's hard to make comparisons like that. My health and mood have usually been lousy, but correlation != causation, etc. One interesting thing is that my phantom limb hasn't grown since then. It feels like I've got a child-sized foot about 20 cm south of the kneecap, which can trip me up if I pay attention to it while walking. My occult knowledge is limited to what I've read here, so I'm sorry to say that I don't have much light to shed on the subject from that angle. No near-death experience or anything.

From:

No, not at all this was great! Thank you a lot, really. You answered my question better than how I asked it and just gave me a terrific idea. Here is my hypothesis, it's possible that the phantom limb didn't grow to its full size because it got disconnected from whatever it is that makes our material bodies grow. I wonder then if in child amputees, before they grow, the connection can be re established and thus allow the limb to grow at the same pace of the rest of the body.

Edited Date: 2021-12-14 01:40 am (UTC)

From: (Anonymous)

I think this symbol has no deeper meaning since it is from a fiction series, Monster hunters International, but I just want to double check that they didnt unintentionally use a symbol with actual meaning ! https://www.guns.com/news/2017/09/14/mhi-bullets-go-on-sale-to-help-houston-food-bank-in-harvey-aftermath

I no nothing about the fiction, but they were given to me and I can use them, supplies are tight right now.

From: (Anonymous)

The series is an homage to B grade monster movies, set in a world that is based on LDS theology (though even most of my LDS friends don't get it until MH: Nemesis and most of my non-LDS friends don't get it until one of the theology geeks points it out, and then it's 'ooooh, yeah, I should've seen that'). I am currently facing a bookshelf that contains part of the series, looks like my teens have carried some books off again.

The author is a nice, approchable guy, with little patience for intentional fools, who loves his fans. I've met him in a book signing line at a con: seriously, nice guy.

If you don't want those, and you could use some $, I can probably connect you to a fan or two who would be delighted to buy them. Or if you use the social media sites, at least MW and FB have Monster Hunter fan groups, and contacting an admin could help you out.

I haven't heard of anything odd from anyone who has used them, and I think I would have.

BoysMom

From: (Anonymous)

I can look into wether I can replace with non-symbol ones, but does your friend just want one to put on their desk ? I can just send one in that case. It is a 1,000 count bag

From: (Anonymous)

They can be replaced if they need the whole bag, I dont know how we would connect since this thread expires at midnight -- do you have contact info for you or how I get mine to you ?

From: (Anonymous)

Simply that they might be worth more to fans. sunbee19 at the mail of google, if you like.

BoysMom

From:

The creators of the symbol were smart enough not to use an actual symbol. You can use them -- or sell them to MHI fans -- with perfect safety.

From:

Hi JMG,

Any thoughts or observations greatly appreciated.

1. Will - recently I have begun feeling Will both internally and not-internally. Not sure if external is the right word to describe this perception. In early stages but I sense my Will at times not coming completely from me. Almost like it is a current of something one can harness which is external to oneself. Not even sure how to work with this new perception though I am watching to see how things unfold. Is this a thing?

2. In doing the DA version of the SOP I have begun experimenting with sharing the perception of the animal in each direction. This is feeling rather fruitful but I wanted to run it by you to make sure I am not creating a problem in my DA practices. (I am finishing up grade 3.)

Thanks!

--Eric

Mocha Somnolent Yak

From:

1) Good. Yes, it's a thing. Let it unfold; you're in the process of figuring out something very important.

2) That's a perfectly workable option.

From:

Hi JMG

Would you be able to define the term "higher planes of consciousness". Its often used as a description of what (insert pop spirituality of your choice here) will let you access. It's usually thrown around with little definition and I saw it questioned on that which made me wonder if it could be defined more precisely.

Thank you!

From:

Sure. The basic concept is that human consciousness can operate on various levels. Most of us know what it feels like to have "brain fog" and not be able to think clearly; many of us also know what it's like to be in one of those moments where thoughts flow freely and everything clicks together. Those are examples of different planes of consciousness. The "higher" (in metaphorical terms) the plane of consciousness, the clearer your thinking is, the more easily you can understand things, and crucially, the easier it is for you to reflect on your own thinking and see flaws in it. The "lower" (again, this is a metaphor) your plane of consciousness, the more rigid and sluggish your thought processes become and the less easy it is to notice when you're thinking, saying, or doing something dumb.

That familiar reality has been wrenched into various unhelpful shapes by pop spirituality, and confused with things like clairvoyance and astral projection. Operating on a higher plane of consciousness won't make you clairvoyant -- though it may keep you from making a fool of yourself in responding to a clairvoyant experience!

From:

Great thanks. That definition makes a lot of sense and as a bonus it would even make sense to materialists!

From:

collapsenik

I am struggling to articulate this in the "correct" occult terms, so please forgive me if it is too verbose.

Does magic work better in the countryside than the cities? In other words, do the occult beings find it easier to be present and communicate with the practitioner in an environment where the human density and human activities are lower (considering that the countryside is less built up and less dense than cities)?

The reason I am asking this is, I have found it hard to concentrate and meditate in a city. It could be because of the sensory overload by lights, sounds and built up environment. But I wonder if there is something more. I am not asking for a definitive yes or no answer. I just want to know what you think about this.

From:

It's a known phenomenon. People who are psychically sensitive, either from birth or as a result of spiritual practices, very often find cities unbearable because the pressure from other human minds generates "noise" on the subtle planes. That's why so many mystics end up as hermits living off in the wilderness somewhere!

From:

ivn66

Can corroborate this. Since I took up magic I find being out of doors in NYC nigh unbearable sometimes. Thank the Gods for banishings!

From:

I find downtown Providence a little challenging, and it's not a big city by any measure!

From:

Greetings John,

Past few weeks I asked for your help in interpreting the Major Arcana tarot cards I have been receiving (Hanged Man, Devil and Tower) consistently with regards to the foxx. Since asking the question I received the following daily card. You answered my question at the time, but was curious why I would be stil receiving them.

Here has been my spread past 2 weeks:

2 weeks Ago:
Sun (day after you responded to my question), The Moon, The Moon, Hanged Man, Magician (Tower dropped on floor), World, Death, Devil.

7 Pile Shuffle Performed

Last Week:
Devil, the World, Hierophant, The Lovers, Devil, Hanged Man, Judgement (Today)

Repeating the question from last week regarding divination, what point do we start to receive new cards? Is it once the lesson has been learned or when the event has passed?

Is there anything standing out about the above?

Thank you.

From:

Since you're only using the 22 major arcana, your chance of getting at least one of them a week is extremely high. Beyond that -- well, I'd suggest meditating on what they're trying to communicate to you.

From: (Anonymous)

Kia ora jmg

I have read your blogs since 2008 but never commented as I never comment online but am now getting desperate. Do you have any hope/ plans for a group of people such as yourself to do a magical working such as dion fortune did to protect Britain in the war or would that not work as there is no clear enemy as such? When will this madness lift?

I am in nz and things are getting nuts here...i have a corporate job in strategy but lots of slightly alternative friends who are foxfree and losing their jobs...every day it is like my mind is splitting in two as people at work carry on like every thing is normal. How does one deal with the 'normal' world saying mandates are ok the vax is safe etc, while my gut screams the opposite. How can I stay true to myself and not go into the crazy conspiracy tribe and not into the equally crazy corporate tribe? I feel more and more alone.

My CEO is being amazing protecting my right to choose as far as she can but the pressure is building... I have read tarot just for myself and friends sometimes for many years. I did two readings when I was very upset and feeling like I would cave in and get it and got both the devil and five of cups in outcome positions in both readings although all other cards were different. A few days later when a way had been found to enable me to continue for now...i did another reading thinking I would not get it with the ace of pentacles as outcome...my question is was the tarot just picking up on the outcome based on what I thought I would do in that moment...or what will happen? I have always followed my gut instinct in life but now it is taking me in a direction which feels dangerous and against what appears to be rational...at least to society... Being out of society would have real costs for my little girl ... She is so happy in school and life... but equally I am terrified of her being jabbed

I'm sorry you must be sick of all the covid questions but it is so hard to know what is really happening. I feel like I am going mad...the thought of going to the vax centre makes me feel desperate and nauseous
Nga mihi

From:

Okay, first I'm going to encourage you to start participating in the weekly open Covid-19 post here on my Dreamwidth journal. (The current one is here and I'll be putting up a new one tomorrow.) When you live in a society that's gone insane, it's very difficult to handle the experience unless you can talk to other people who share your insights and know that you're not the crazy one. People from around the world comment there these days -- that's why this week's post has upwards of 800 comments -- and you may find somone else from NZ who can put you in touch with helpful resources.

Second, never do divination when you're upset. Your emotions are like static making the signal difficult or impossible to catch. See if you can find someone else who can do readings for you whenever you've got a lot of emotion involved, and do the same favor in exchange.

Third, why not quietly make arrangements to get together regularly with other unvaxxed people you know? The best way to overcome peer pressure is to do what musk oxen do...

...and make sure someone's got your back.

From: (Anonymous)

Is there any astrological reason you choose to post those threads on Tuesdays?

From:

If there was, would I explain? ;-)

From:

As for a collective working, well, what kind of magic do you know how to do?

From:

I'm glad that someone else asked this first. I am curious about Dion Fortune's magical battle for Britain as well.

As I understand it, she wasn't fighting the Germans so much as supporting the British. The distinction here is important. She wasn't anti something that she didn't like. She was pro something that she did like.

Bringing that back to the original topic, an anti mandate craziness working would be not be as good as a pro medical choice working. At least as far as I understand it.

So that brings me to my question. What degree of secrecy is required for a given project? I assume that if I'm starting a business then I should tell everyone, but if I'm doing a group astral working it only gets shared with the group (don't make a public page on the web)

From:

Exactly. Don't let anyone know about it who isn't a participant, and don't ask anyone to get involved unless you know you can trust them.

From:

That's what I thought. So if one wanted to do a working to promote democracy, integrity, or, say, balance for their country they would have to find others and get to know them well enough to trust them, organizing it online would expose it to malicious tampering.

Thanks,
Tim

From: (Anonymous)

Dear JMG,
A simple question. I have been working through some of the exercises in Regardie's Art of True Healing. In his Astrological Structure, he gives each planet a divine name to be vibrated. For Mars this is "Elohim Gibor." Not being familiar with that name, I looked it up, and found many internet sites advising against the use of the name, or at least saying that it is dangerous and should be used with care. Do you gave an opinion? Thanks

From:

I've vibrated that name probably five hundred times in the course of my magical career without the least problem. It's amusing to watch pop-culture types find things to freak out about...

The name is the standard Golden Dawn divine name for Geburah and Hars, and it means "Powerful God." (Gibor comes from the same Hebrew root as Geburah and Gabriel.) It's nothing to panic over, though like all divine names it should be treated with respect.

From: (Anonymous)

Can't help laughing about Elohim Gibor being dangerous, as the concept is pretty much at the center of the most common prayer of the Eastern Orthodox called the Trisagion (Trice Holy) Holy God (Elohim), Holy Mighty (Gibor), Holy Immortal (Chiya) Have Mercy on Us.

Christ is very much the Crowned and Conquering Child...and is called such on Easter Sunday. He is quite Martian, but also Solar as the fullness of Mars is found in unity with the Sun according to some traditions.

The Oriental Orthodox make the Trisagion even more Martian by adding:
who was crucified for us after "Holy Immortal" IIRC...

The real question with Mars is whether one is looking for immature Mars fascinated with death and sex, or the Mars of the Old Man who laughs at the devil? The Tradition of Orthodoxy celebrates the latter as Chochma/Son (in Greek sense) incarnate as Sun-Mars joined together as required for the Scepter of Judah (a sign of the mastery of the Zodiac). The Christian wording is confusing for Jews who call the same concept
God the Father..and Son only applying to humanity. Ah, the confusion of words and languages!

Somehow, I am inclined to believe that if Mars is invoked for less lofty purposes, you might end up with the old Goat trickster...who is also part of what is required to actually master Mars and will make sure you learn important lessons about Mars for the future. One aspect of Mars is the expectation that mistakes will be made...and the hardest thing is for us to forgive ourselves and admit we make mistakes on the way! As long as we try to hide our mistakes, we will must make more and more trouble.

So, Mars is a very awesome power to work with! And YMMV. It is the power that is your enemy until you learn exactly what it is and how to use it. Little by little it can become your best friend...

+Love and Light
-AWH ...from a long line of Martians (most of family have Mars in Aries and strong Scorpio elements).

From: (Anonymous)

I have a question about birth charts (it probably applies to any chart): I know a 30 minute period in which I was born. I don't think I can get more accurate information. At the start of the period, the Ascendant is just barely in one sign, and at the end of the period it is just barely in the other sign. One is Aquarius, the other Capricorn, so the meanings would be quite different. This also affects some other parts of the chart, like the Descendant, Midheaven and so on.

What is the usual way to deal with this problem? Would I just read the charts from both ends of the time period and pick the one that seems to fit better? Do they average out? Or is there some general rule about edge cases, that when something is right on the edge of two areas in the chart, it counts for both, or always for the clockwise one, or something else?

From:

booklover1973

You could try to find out which ascendent (Capricornus or Aquarius) do fit better to the part of your personality which the Ascendent denotes. There is a whole branch of natal astrology concerned with rectifying birth charts, if the birth time is unknown or poorly known.

From:

As u/booklover1973 says, rectification is the art of narrowing down an uncertain birth time. It's best done by a skilled astrologer; if you can find someone competent, they can usually sort things out promptly.

From:

There is a procedure in William Lilly, I think it's on p. 501, which he calls Trutine or Scrutiny of Hermes, for rectifying a birth chart. If I understand the procedure, it goes something like this:

1) Use the approximate time of the birth (e.g., morning or evening or night) to determine the Moon sign;
2) Count thirty-nine weeks earlier than that to find the date of conception (or use the date of conception from the parents... they might know it ... ahem ... intimately).
3) Make the chart for the day of conception, and put the Ascendant in the same sign that is the *Sign of the Moon in the birth chart*;
3a) There's a fudge factor here: it can be the sign of the Moon, or the sign opposite the Moon (if the person knows, for example, that they were born in the daytime or at night time... this allows for roughly 12 hours of difference to get the right time of day if it's known);
4) The sign that the Moon is in, in the conception chart, is the sign of the Ascendant in the birth chart.
5) The degree (and minute) of the Moon in the conception chart, is the degree and minute of the Ascendant in the birth chart.

Now... I have run this procedure for the charts of five or six of my friends with known birth times, and found that it accurately predicts the birth degree within about three degrees — that is, it's good for people with middle-of-sign births, but not people who are born very close to the change-over from one Ascendant sign to another. The Moon moves just a little more than 12° 53', or 12.88°, or 773' (minutes) per day — or about 32-33' minutes, half a degree, per hour. So, roughly 2/3s of the days in any month, the Moon will be in a particular sign, and only that particular sign on the day of your birth... there's a lot of wiggle room there. But when you make the Moon sign of your birth chart into the Ascendant of your conception sign, there's considerably less wiggle room, and you may be able to narrow your chart down to a specific 2-4° range using this method.

I have asked Christopher Warnock and some other astrologers about this method, with mixed results. The more traditional astrologers regard this as guesswork and adding additional layers of fudge-factors and wobble room to an already imprecise process when you have an accurate birth time. Others feel that it's nice to be in the right range of time, even if you can't get it exactly; and that it's nice to have a historically attested process to follow even if you know it yields only guesswork. And it's worth saying that I now have guidance from some astrologers and astrological enthusiasts that anything involving in vitro fertilization, or premature births, yield wildly inaccurate results.

William Lilly himself says that the method is better than chance and worse than an accurate birth time. This is what I've found in the (two) consultations I've done using this method.

I hope this helps.

Under stars,
Andrew Watt

From:

Interesting. Yes, that's certainly an option.

From:

Good morning JMG,

I am trying to train self discipline by starting to shower with cold water every morning after waking up. In addition to other health benefits.

My question is, for the etheric benefit, does one need to shower whole, head to toe, or can one rinse from the neck down? Skipping the head and hair?

Best regards,
V

From:

I know people who do it each of those ways, and reports vary as to the difference in effectiveness. If you prefer not to duck your head, you're in good company.

From:

methylethyl

I don't like to go to bed with wet hair (and I hate hairdryers)-- so I tie up my hair and leave it dry in the evenings. If showering during the day, I douse my head in cold water too.

Both ways, the effect is nice-- I feel like a million bucks. But the effect is greater if I douse my head along with the rest. If I'm doing it for pain relief, I always run the cold water over my head.

If I'm leaving my hair dry, I try to make sure my face and neck get a good rinse, and for whatever reason, it seems beneficial to focus some effort (and cold!) on the forearms and shoulders as well. YMMV.

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July 2025

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happypanda - Latest Transcript
(Anonymous) - (no subject)
jprussell - (no subject)
(Anonymous) - Discordian SOP
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brenainn - (no subject)
(Anonymous) - (no subject)
open_space - (no subject)
(Anonymous) - Afflicted by Landlord
(Anonymous) - SOP
(Anonymous) - Sacred Geometry Course of Study
(Anonymous) - (no subject)
(Anonymous) - (no subject)
australiandreamer - Hierarchy
(Anonymous) - (no subject)
(Anonymous) - question about a symbol
druidpath - (no subject)
sea_spray - Planes of consciousness
collapsenik - (no subject)
extatic - (no subject)
(Anonymous) - Dion Fortune style workings/ tarot
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(Anonymous) - Astrology edge cases
vitranc - Cold showers

Active Entries

1: Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 204
2: Octagon Society material in book format!
3: Magic Monday
4: Frugal Friday
5: Frugal Friday
6: Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 203
7: Magic Monday
8: Frugal Friday
9: Magic Monday
10: Open (More or Less) Post on Covid 202

Style Credit

Base style: Librarian's Dream by branchandroot
Theme: Sand and Seaweed by dancing_serpent

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