One More Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Once again, it's technically Monday now -- past midnight Eastern time -- and here I am on Dreamwidth, so it's time for another 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, though it may be Tuesday sometime before I get to them all.

With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

On the Four-fold breath in Meditation

[(Anonymous)]

From: Lordyburd

Dear Mr. Greer,
I have written to you before on my inability to attain calmness while doing the four-fold breath in preparation for discursive meditation. You advised me to relax and not try too hard. Well, I haven't succeeded too well in that, but I have noticed something new.

I find that I have a sense of a heavy weight somewhere near the bottom of my chest. This makes the out-breath for me easier and relaxing, whereas breathing in and expanding my chest takes effort, and is quite uncomfortable to hold the in-breath for long.

Is this normal?

Re: On the Four-fold breath in Meditation

[ecosophia]

It's quite common. That shows you where your deep-seated tensions are located.

Sphere of Protection

[(Anonymous)]

From: Lordyburd

Dear Mr. Greer,
I am unable to buy (and have shipped) your Druidry Magic Handbook, so I don't know a lot of details about the SOP ritual.

My bedroom, where I perform the SOP, is irregular and has no central space for me to stand. Should I, in order to cleanse this area, go to each side of the room in turn and invoke/banish the elements? That is, go the east side; invoke/banish air, go to the south invoke/banish fire, and so on..till I return to the east again, invoke/banish the Spirits and return to my original position to circulate the light of the cross?
As I circle around the room, should I also trace an imaginary line around it, to roughly define the limits of the Sphere?

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

You can find a detailed set of instructions for the Sphere of Protection here. You don't have to have a room with space at the center; just stand wherever you have a little clear space around you, and as you do the working, face east, south, west, north, and east again.

Thoughts on Saturday festivities?

[(Anonymous)]

St. Patrick’s Day yesterday has me musing. I don’t know if I’ve been under a rock these last few years or if it’s just because the weather in my parts has been early-summer fantastic all this past week, but the level of celebrations this Saturday seemed jubilant to the point of more-so-than-normally disconcerting.

I recall you mentioning how you feel there appear to be many different beings receiving offerings and communicating under the various names of “Jesus”, and I’m now thinking on the relationship of this with those named during other holidays. There was something about the feel of the goings-on this past Saturday that felt a little too cohesively and doggedly sacrificial – like this morning when a group member arrived and stated so matter-of-factly about his hurting head. Yeah, it was _____’s Day - what else was he going to do? What I saw of the young people around when wandering the neighbourhood yesterday seemed a little like folks were practically throwing themselves at the nearest urinal (yeah, mixing metaphors) saying “let me feed you!”.

There may be similarities between this past Saturday and other equinox-ish festivities with lots of green and bright colours, but I wonder if you feel any folks with whom humans have better long-standing relationships are likely to benefit from this activity, given the seeming lack of social structure or guidance beyond straight go-for-broke excess? I may be straying right into "projecting the shadow" territory here but it's more the lack of direction combined with the magnitude of the activity that has me worried more than anything else!

Re: Thoughts on Saturday festivities?

[ecosophia]

Interesting. To use Jungian language, this is the way things look when an archetype is in the saddle -- you can replace that word "archetype" with "spirit" or "god" and the old wizard from Zurich wouldn't have batted an eye. The question in my mind is purely just how sacrificial it's going to get.

On invoking the Elements

[(Anonymous)]

From: Lordyburd

I also have a general query regarding asking assistance from the elements. I usually ask the elements to help me with general things, long-term things,almost like a prayer. For example: mental clarity and alertness from Air, Courage from Fire, Mastery of my emotions from Water, Financial independence from Earth and Personal and Spiritual Mastery from the Spirits. Things have improved quite a lot over the course of the past year, but the process is slow and times non-discernible. I wonder if this so because I don't usually ask for anything specific, as often a specific goal seems contradictory to some other aspect of my life that I want to change?

Re: On invoking the Elements

[ecosophia]

To my mind, you're doing things in exactly the right way. It's always at least a little risky to ask for specifics, since you have no way of being sure that you really do need the specific thing you think you need! Focusing on broader goals is slower, yes, but the results are surer. Stick to it, and you can expect things to just keep on improving for you.

Tower of Light Exercise

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John.

I have started practicing an exercise called The Tower of Light from a book called The Practical Guide to Psychic Self-Defense by Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips.

In case you're not familiar, it's basically a standing meditation/ritual where you begin by visualizing a long ellipsoid of bright blue light nine to sixteen inches around your body. Then, you visualize a brilliant sphere of white light above your head, which represents your higher self. Finally, you visualize the sphere of white light above your head sending down glittering white light, flooding your aura and at the same time coursing vibrantly through you.

My questions for you are:

1. Does this seem like a safe exercise for a complete beginner?
2. Could this be used to replace a daily banishing ritual? I cannot help it, but I like this exercise better than any of the banishing rituals I've ever encountered.

Thank you!

Re: Tower of Light Exercise

[ecosophia]

Yes, it's suitable for beginners, and if that's what draws you, by all means. You may want to read some of Denning and Phillips' other books -- they taught a complete system of magic, the Aurum Solis system, and your attraction to the Tower of Light may be a sign that the broader Aurum Solis system may be well suited to your needs further down the road.

Regarding communicating with disembodied entities

[(Anonymous)]

From: Lordyburd

Forgive me, Mr. Greer; one more question. A few weeks ago I asked about contacting an entity that helped me during one of my periods of mental turmoil. It seemed to appear in my imagination as a 'wooden cat'. Upon asking, you recommended I calmly try to visualise this image and attempt to ask its name and nature.

I find that I am unable to deliberately bring up a clear and stable image of this. I just keep getting continuously changing outlines of figures against a black silhouette. Perhaps I am trying too hard? Or is it that consciously imagining for a specific intent is a skill that comes with time and practice?

Re: Regarding communicating with disembodied entities

[ecosophia]

In that case, it may not be time for you to pursue the contact further. Thank the entity and let it know that you're open to conversation at a later time, and then let the matter rest.

[(Anonymous)]

When you were practising radionics what kind of results did you get? With the more technological means of self-improvement like mind machines that use light, sound and electromagnetism to alter the brain, are their effects just material or do they extend to other planes as well?

In your Galabes post on occult philosophy you said higher level Theosophical teaching could react badly with operative magic. How would that clash happen and what other comibinations of occult philosophy, other spiritual practices, and magic are known to go wrong? Is this the same way Tai Chi and Golden Dawn cause problems when combined or is it something different?

[ecosophia]

I used a homebuilt transistorized Hieronymus machine -- I still have it, along with all the relevant manuals, in case I get a bug up and decide to get into that again. It doesn't use light, sound, or electromagnetism; T. Galen Hieronymus, the inventor, was one of a long line of Western researchers to discover the life force independently, and that's what it used. (Mesmer called it "animal magnetism," von Reichenbach called it "odic force," Hieronymus called it "eloptic energy" -- it's all our old friend the life force, aka qi, ki, prana, vril, nwyfre, or (ahem) voor.) Its effects aren't material at all, they're astral and etheric; in my experience, in fact, a Hieronymus machine is a tunable talisman, capable of radiating magical influences of any kind you like, provided you know the correct vibratory rates at which to set the dials.

As for operative magic and the inner teachings of Theosophy, what I know is purely that the Theosophical societies strictly forbid members of their Esoteric Sections from practicing operative magic or belonging to other initiatory organizations, Freemasonry alone excepted. I assume they know what they're doing, and prohibit that for a reason. In the same way, if you're studying a system of esoteric training, whatever it might be, and your teacher or your textbook says "don't do this," don't argue.

The Nine Realms of Midgard

[cu_meala]

I know it's not exactly your field, but I wonder if you're at all familiar with Edred Thorsson (Steven Flowers), his Rune-Gild, or his book/runic curriculum The Nine Realms of Midgard. I've been doing rune-work for some time, principally through divination and through meditation on the rune-poems, but haven't yet worked through a practical magical course on them—and I've been feeling the pull to go deeper into their mysteries. However, I'm unfamiliar with the author and his coursework, and I haven't yet heard from anybody else who's worked through it to see if it tends to manifest any nasty side-effects (such as lives-resembling-smoking-craters), or if the Gild/Thorsson tend toward any of the uglier or more abusive behaviors one occasionally runs into in occult or heathen groups. I'm not necessarily suspicious of any, but some preemptive research seems like a good idea. (Since I know Ásatrú isn't your thing as such, I'm also tossing this question out to the readership, if anyone is inclined to answer.)

Re: The Nine Realms of Midgard

[(Anonymous)]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Flowers
Quite the controversial figure, so have a BIG shaker of salt next to you as you read.

Post ceremony

[ferngladefarm.blogspot.com.au]

Hi John Michael,

I hope you eventually get some sleep. It is early evening here and I am in an ebullient mood from taking the absolute mickey out of international diplomacy in this weeks blog! It deserved the good kicking it got too. Writing can sometimes be tiresome and the words have to be dragged from your carcass kicking and screaming all the way. And other times it is a true joy.

Apologies, again I digress, it is an unfortunate habit of mine.

I was curious as to your state of feelings after a ceremony. I tend to feel mildly buoyed, curiously centred and calm. What is your experience? I often feel the same way after a days hard labour and I get a lot of my discursive meditation through that mode, although it is probably unconventional for most people.

Has it warmed up yet? It is so dry here, that there have been some large bushfires in the south west of this state and along the coast of the state to the north of here. Such is global wierding because it is very late in the season to be confronted by that environmental threat.

Chris

Re: Post ceremony

[ecosophia]

It depends very much on the ceremony. Seasonal celebrations and basic practices such as banishing rituals tend to leave roughly the same condition you've described; other workings have different effects -- when I do practical magic for some specific purpose, I tend to end up feeling the kind of pleasant tiredness that comes after a long day of productive work!

No, it hasn't warmed up yet. We're expecting snow again Wednesday.

[(Anonymous)]

What are your thoughts on a binding spell to sever a relationship? There's someone I used to be friends with who I had a major falling out with, and have given far too many chances. She refuses to go away, and every so often tries to get back into my life, and when I say something along the lines of "I gave you several chances, and you wasted all of them," the response is a temper tantrum, which generally includes a lot of rumors being spread about me.

I've tried everything else I can think of, and now I'm left with only one idea: binding us to never have any effect on each others' lives. I know it means I can never affect her life, which is fine with me. Are there any risks I need to know? I'll meditate on it, and use divination before casting the spell, but is there anything in particular I should keep in mind?

[ecosophia]

What you want is called a "cut and clear" spell; there are lots of them out there, and they're usually pretty safe to do, because the goal is to cut the connection both ways, so she goes her way and you go yours. Yes, you can combine a binding with that, and a little hotfoot powder doesn't hurt either. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Keeping up with the daily practices of the druidry handbook:

1-I no longer have problems with mental chatter while meditating.On the other hand,many insights and thinking paths about the themes come to me after the meditation itself, on the next day while tending the garden, or cooking etc.What is your opinion on that?

2-One of those ideas i would like to hear your take. It was on the theme"The hidden spirit... That creates all things" If the natural fenomena contain spirit in the form of elementals, what about the human situations? Wars,Religions,Revolutions,but also Marriages, rivalities, murder, associations...?

3- While im arranging to craft Ogham cards, im divinating with geomancy.My wife, who loves tarot, find geo bare and dry.It certainly looks that way compared to the colorfull marseillese tarot, but it ocurred to me that geo forces you to rely more and thus to train intuition and other subtler capacities.Would you agree?

Many thanks,

Guillem

[ecosophia]

1) That's very common. What's happening is that your meditation is setting the deep levels of your mind working, and ideas surface from it thereafter.

2) Good. Yes, exactly. Everything in the universe is the product of spiritual influences.

3) Different people find different forms of divination appealing. I can't get runes to work for me at all, but geomancy has always worked well for me; I know people who get excellent results with the runes and can't use geomancy at all. The same is true for every other divination system. If your wife finds that tarot works best for her, then she should keep on using tarot; if you get good results from geomancy, and find that it helps you develop your intuition, then do that thing. There is no one right way for everyone!

Elites and magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
Not a technical question, but more one concerned with magical practices.
Throughout history, leaders have either practiced themselves,or engaged the services of practitioners.
Do you think this is still happening to any great extent nowadays?
My feeling is yes, why wouldn't they?

Also, with Saturn now in its home sign of Capricorn (that'd be my sun, and AC by the way), do you think there will be a few (more) comeuppances to be had?

Here in Oz we are currently in the first weeks​ of what has been scheduled for a year long Royal Commission into the banking and finance sectors.
There has already been a bit of dirty laundry aired.
Regards, Helen

Re: Elites and magic

[ecosophia]

"Throughout history" is a little too broad. In societies that accept magic, leaders use magic. In societies that don't, they generally don't. Here in the US, if the leadership of our two main political parties had the first clue about the laws of magic, or listened to competent practitioners, they wouldn't do anything like as many stupid things.

Saturn is now in his rulership in Capricorn, and Mars is in his exaltation in the same sign! Expect to see hard limits come into play, and a lot of hard and productive work ahead.

Magic and politics

[danielsobieraj]

I just got back from a trip, so I have to go and look over your other posts on writing, but I just wanted to ask this question.

I seem to recall you saying something one time akin to: "politics is where religion goes to die."

Did you say/write something according to these lines, or am I misremembering?

One of the groups I am a part of has been posting more and more political screeds/rants, and while I could ignore them when they were infrequent, and I enjoyed working with the group. But now, they recently have invoked certain Irish deities to make their point in regards to the historic plight of Irish and Irish-Americans, and now how Irish Americans seem to ignore the suffering plights of others today and seem to be Trump supporters.

My main druid/pagan group, however, has strict guidelines on no political talk within the group, and it has worked out wonderfully, knowing that the group holds a wide variety of opinions, but when we do gather together, it is to celebrate the holy days and praise our Gods. But I'm seriously considering breaking ties with the former group.

Re: Magic and politics

[ecosophia]

Yes, I did say that, and I'll say it again: when politics and religion get together, politics cuts religion's throat and dresses up in religion's stolen garments. The separation of church and state (or, ahem, coven and state) is there to protect the churches and the covens to a much greater extent than it's there to protect the state! In your place, I'd walk away from the former group sooner rather than later.

[(Anonymous)]

A number of people know I'm into the occult. As a result, I've been given access to several workings aimed to disrupt Trump's administration, often by people who otherwise have no use for the occult. They assume that since I'm a decent person I'm on their side of the political debate, and just assume I'll help.

Except, I'm a Trump supporter.

So I'm sitting on several different rituals that people are casting to try to bind, disrupt, injure, kill, or remove Trump from office, as well as kill, injure, silence, or convert his followers. I've put together various ways to counter them, both as a means of throwing a monkey wrench into plans people have that don't align with my own, and as a form of self defense. If someone casts a working to try to kill me I'm going to make sure it won't work.

I have two observations here: one, these workings are just awful. They're being cast by people who don't know what they're doing, and the intentions are ones that, if they work, are very likely to blow up in their faces.

The second is that this utter inability to grasp that thinking people can disagree with them is going to be the death of the left. They are sharing these workings with people who don't want what they do. I've been gentle, just disrupting the spells. Someone else I know found a hole to exploit: the working includes the phrase "and may all who ever support him die"; and intends to amplify the blow-back from that, such that anyone who casts that working, who ever supports Trump on anything, dies.

I wonder now how much of the utter incompetence of the democrats right now is because they're casting ill thought out spells and showing them to the world...

[ecosophia]

"...and may all who ever support him die."

Ahem.

These are the self-proclaimed "good people," the people who claim to be compassionate and caring and enlightened and just, and they're summoning demons and casting death spells on their political opponents. Just who is acting like Lord Voldemort here?

If this continues, the American left will not survive. I mean that quite literally. Political movements sometimes implode, leaving nothing behind but bad memories and scattered circles of embittered has-beens.

Breathing presence

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG - thanks for the opportunity to ask questions here.

I'm working through Learning Ritual Magic. In the last week, during meditation I heard deep regular breathing in the studio where I practice. It was so loud and so something, I got up to check the dog hadn't snuck in or for any other explanation. Continuing meditation, I stayed with it as a sound/ presence and noticed it stopped after the first Q Cross, but returned later in the ritual. I've also notice cicadas stop at same time as I start ritual. These two things seem to be sound/ vibration related. Can you give me any guidance/ advice as to how to understand/ work with this experience? Thank you.

Re: Breathing presence

[ecosophia]

These things happen. One of my teachers called them "astral static." Don't let them disrupt your practices; keep at it, and they'll go away.

[(Anonymous)]

https://medium.com/@aaiyyanist.group/we-have-over-3000-people-summoning-demons-on-a-nightly-continuous-basis-to-bind-this-administration-68ed08cc8cc

I think the democrats are about to run into some major issues....

[ecosophia]

Not to mention the potential downsides from an app that summons demons into 3000 people's smartphones.

Dear gods. Just when I think human stupidity has plumbed the depths...

Multiple Practices

[(Anonymous)]

I've seen some conversation here about the varying levels of safety involved in taking on multiple practices at the same time, with your advice being something along the lines of "I'd advise against it unless the traditions are very different." I'm not quite sure whether that difference is one of kind (natural magic vs ritual magic) or of the type of energetic currents involved (primarily solar vs primarily lunar or telluric) and wanted to know if it was safe to engage in the practices outlined in the Druid Magic Handbook at the same time one is practicing a Golden Dawn based path (with sufficient time between them, one in the morning one in the evening, for instance).

Re: Multiple Practices

[ecosophia]

I would not do this. Choose one or the other, do it with all your heart, and then after you've learned as much from the one path as you can, take up the other and pursue it with the same focus. You'll get better results.

SoP

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning, and thanks for doing these magic Mondays! Reading through all the discussions have been great!

I was hoping that you might have a little insight on a Sphere of Protection question that I'm trying to tackle.

When practicing the SoP, I've played around with different divine names to use, and the names I keep going back to are the archangels in the elemental stations. I was raised in a Christian household, but I'm not Christian. I really like the feel of the archangels when I work with them, though. Maybe it's this idea of these guardians of natural forces intent on bringing balance... I don't know.

The issue is, not being Christian, I don't have a connection to Mary. I'm down with Christ, but I think it would be interesting to do an all archangel SoP. So, my question is, do you know enough old angel lore to suggest some beings to work with for Spirit Below and Above?

Thanks in advance

-Isaac

Re: SoP

[ecosophia]

Yes, I studied angel lore pretty systematically when I was training in classic Golden Dawn magic -- I found that rituals invoking angels had all the advantages of Goetic summonings and none of the downsides. The archangels you want in that case are Metatron for Spirit Above and Sandalphon for Spirit Below.

[(Anonymous)]

I should've just put these with the earlier terrible working, but here's two more:

https://medium.com/@michaelmhughes/daily-trump-binding-and-justice-spell-9b2010d9270b

https://medium.com/@michaelmhughes/a-ritual-for-justice-new-working-for-the-magic-resistance-5d3cc2fe143

Both of them open the door for major backlash if the caster isn't just. And since a large amount of the political left isn't these days it seems likely to blow up badly, especially if someone throws a monkey wrench into them, which is likely since they're publicly available.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. This is really embarrassing stuff, too -- third-rate pop magic heavily larded with an overbearing sense of self-righteousness. A monkey wrench isn't even necessary -- all you'd have to do is focus on the intention, "May the people doing this spell get exactly what they deserve."

A few CGD Questions

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I'm doing the Celtic Golden Dawn path and am wondering about Abred and the Etheric/astral plane. Perhaps I'm getting hermetic and Druidry practice confused but I'm wondering where emotions and then imagination and then abstract thought fit into the tree. My understanding is that my emotions (e.g. lust) are one level, and then I have feelings about my feelings (eg guilt) and then I have imagination (eg fantasy) and the I have concentrated thought (eg focused meditation). What realms am I in when engaging with these? I'm asking partly to see how i might use the practices to help me get clarity in some of my relationships.

Or do you have other suggestions to help with that question?

I'm using divination too, but still learning about it - particularly with what questions to ask - what kind? how specific? Can you recommend something to help with those?

And when I'm imaging my body filling with light, is that imagination or higher level thinking? My light body seems to have less "brilliance" over the months since I started practising and I'm wondering why that may be?

Many thanks!

Re: A few CGD Questions

[ecosophia]

Okay, lust is a passion, not an emotion. On the Tree of Life, lust corresponds to Ner (Yesod), while guilt, which is an emotion, manifests in Byw (Netzach). Thought in the sense of mental chatter belongs to Byth (Hod), while thought in the sense of a reflection of universal patterns in the mind is Muner (Tiphareth); imagination is simply thought using images rather than verbal concepts, so the same rule applies.

As far as getting clarity in your relationships, meditation's a good tool there, and I also recommend a variety of psychology called Transactional Analysis, which you can learn quite adequately from books; Eric Berne's Games People Play is a good introduction.

In the early stages of divination training, start with simple readings and questions such as "What do I most need to understand about the events I experience this day?" As for the apparent decrease in brilliance, that's common, and it usually means you're starting to perceive some of the grubby energies you've picked up over the years; keep practicing and it'll clear up in due time.

Self initiation vows

[(Anonymous)]

How much is the intention of an initiation vow dependent upon what the person making the vow perceives as good? For example, I'm interested in the Celtic Golden Dawn, but part of the initiation vows are something like, "I will not use magic for selfish ends..."

I don't want to use magic to gain unfair advantages over others, but at the same time, it seems fine to me to use it for self-serving reasons (improving your salary, etc) if you aren't trying to hurt people.

I guess I'm worrying about the results of taking the vow, and the chance that I might accidentally do something that would unintentionally break it.

Re: Self initiation vows

[ecosophia]

Excellent! It's very good that you're taking prospective vows of initiation seriously. The Ovate initiation includes a pledge never to use magic for selfish or destructive ends, and if you're going to take that pledge, it's wise to be sure that you mean it.

What does the word "selfish" mean? In common usage, which is good enough for our purposes, it means doing things that benefit you even when they harm others. Getting a promotion so that your salary goes up isn't selfish; getting more money by taking it away from other people is.

The point of such clauses is to make you ask yourself, before you decide on any magical operation, "is this selfish? Is this destructive?" -- and if it is, to do something else instead. Remember that in formulating a magical intention, you can always include a phrase such as "in such a way that no one is harmed," or what have you -- and by and large, such things are wise to include in your intentions.

Spring Ingress

[(Anonymous)]

This is not a question, but a wish for another spring ingress analysis.

Your solar eclipse rundown back in August contained an item along the lines of 'loud threats against a distant country, having a more or less successful result'. I assumed that meant North Korea, and thought at the time that the American stance was highly unlikely to yield any kind of results useful for the US, yet... here we are. Very interesting!

-Dylan

Re: Spring Ingress

[ecosophia]

Funny you should mention that. I'm in the middle of delineating the spring ingress chart, and will be posting it with all the details on the 28th of this month.

divergence and convergence

[(Anonymous)]

You wrote somewhere that magic is a divergent, not convergent phenomenon. But it seems to me like it must be a combination—there seem to be some aspects which are consistent across cultures and magical traditions. Surely there is an underlying structure of How Things Work/what is possible, which then gets developed in different directions? Perhaps a lot of the divergence comes in when imagination enters the picture?

Has anyone tried to differentiate between divergent and convergent aspects of magic?

Thanks for Magic Mondays!

Re: divergence and convergence

[ecosophia]

It sounds to me as though you've set yourself a very useful and enlightening research project, and I wouldn't dream of depriving you of any of the fun you'll have figuring that out for yourself. ;-)

Sphere of Protection

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

Once again, many thanks for hosting these ask-me-anything posts. Not only have you been very generous with your time in answering my questions, reading your responses to questions from others has been really educational. Much appreciated!

I have a couple of questions about the Sphere of Protection ritual that I don't believe I have seen before:

First, my routine has been to do the SOP at night. I am wondering what the implications on the effectiveness of the ritual are when I go to sleep soon afterwards, besides better dreams and sleeping. What I am getting at is that it intuitively seems like it would be better to start the day with the SOP, and I gather that is what most of the other practitioners are doing. Any thoughts on this?

Second, it surprises me that you refer to the SOP as a banishing ritual, and that banishing rituals are one of the core practices in occult training. I think of the SOP more as a blessing ritual. Can you elaborate on the particular importance of the banishing aspect, and why that is so important?

Samurai_47

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

Some people do the SoP in the morning, some do it at night. I prefer to do my rituals first thing in the morning, but your magical mileage may vary.

As for the SoP as a banishing ritual, it includes a banishing component, and thus fills the same slot in magical training as a more straightforward banishing such as the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. It's crucial to have something in your training routine that chases off hostile and unbalanced energies and entities -- the lack of that leads quite reliably to certain overfamiliar pathologies of magical training -- and in my experience, the SoP does it quite adequately. It's simply a somewhat more complex practice, that has aspects other than banishing.

Aries Ingress Chart

[violetcabra]

Hi JMG, may I ask are you still planning on analyzing the Aries ingress chart? Also, if I may, I've been spending some time looking at it and would like to run my thoughts by you and others who are more experienced in the arts of Astrology than I. To those reading this, if there is anything I'm getting totally wrong please let me know!

The Aries Ingress chart places the Sun in the 10th House in Aries and the Moon in the 11th in Taurus, Cancer rising. Since Cancer is a cardinal sign the chart will last for three months. The Sun represents the President and the Moon represents the people, especially the more politically vocal people. According to http://www.skyscript.co.uk/ingresses.html the 10th house is the house of the government, while the 11th is the house of legislative bodies. Joining the Sun in the 10th house are Mercury and Venus perfectly conjunct and Neptune. This would mean, I would wager, that the media and the popular arts will be siding with the administration in the three months ahead. Neptune in the 10th would mean that the dreams of the people are tied up with the administration. Joining the moon in the 11th house is Uranus who brings with him political tension to congress to say the least. The Moon is sextile the Neptune, indicating that the people can more easily utilize the American Dream than the administration.

So far so good, it is interesting to note here that the Sun and the Moon have, to my reckoning, the same essential dignity both being in their triplicity.

Now comes the interesting part: Saturn is in the 7th house, in Capricorn. This is a more essentially dignified Saturn than either the Sun or Moon. Saturn in mundane astrology signifies public sorrow. The 7th house represents foreign affairs and is the house of open enemies, and Saturn the Greater Malefic is not a welcome figure here. Even worse, conjunct with Saturn in the 6th house is Mars, representing the Military. Amongst other things the 6th house represents the Armed Forces. Since Saturn and Mars are conjunct we can expect sorrow coming from a foreign power which a military response

Saturn and Mars are significantly trine the Moon but square the Sun! This would indicate that the foreign power share the same interests as the intellectual elites but has interests opposed to the administration. Mars is trine Uranus indicating that the military will effortlessly take part in the political tensions on the side of congress. It should be noted that Mars in the 6th house is peregrine and thus weak. Since it would represent US armed forces, this would mean that US troops would likely be in a correspondingly weak position.

Jupiter, retrograde and peregrine in Scorpio, is also in a very very weak position. Jupiter here signifies the wealth holders of the nation. Jupiter is trines with the Sun and Neptune, indicating that the wealthy and powerful side with the "American dream" and the administration. Again it should be noted that Jupiter is in a very weak position, so it can aid the Sun and Neptune but is an uncertain ally.

I know you don't use Pluto, but I also find it compelling that Pluto is in the 7th house of this chart, squaring the conjunct Venus and Mercury and also squaring Uranus and sextile Jupiter. Pluto being the asteroid of secrets in the house of open enemies would imply perhaps the unseen subversion of political unrest with Uranus, undermining the Media and Popular art and working in the interest of the wealth holders who are, perhaps siding with unknown hostile foreign elements.

Mercury and Venus are in very week positions; Venus is in her detriment and peregrine. Mercury is in his term and is conjunct Venus so is doing a little better. Nonetheless they are besieged by Mars. They are also under the Sun's beams (within 17 degrees of the Sun) which weakens them further. Thus it is fair to say that they won't be able to shift public opinion very strongly.

Altogether, it appears that foreign powers will be playing the administration against public opinion/congress. If I may be so bold, I think that this chart implies the sort of foreign funded unrest you have suggested for awhile JMG, with Saturn working a "divide and conquer" strategy. And a weak US military that is under Saturn's sway, perhaps reacting blindly to the well positioned enemy's initiatives. Altogether, with the accidental dignities, it appears that the Sun is in a significantly weaker position than the Moon. Given that the rising sign is in Cancer I imagine the actors behaving secretively, emotionally and delicately under a spiny shell. Looks like we're in for a very 'interesting' three months!

Re: Aries Ingress Chart

[ecosophia]

Good. I'll be posting my delineation the fourth Wednesday of this month on the blog, so we can compare notes at that time.