Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight, so we can proceed with a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. Any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. (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 twelfth card in The Sacred Geometry Oracle. Card 12, The Square, when upright signals a time to put things into practice and bring them down into the realm of manifestation; when reversed, it cautions you that you're at risk of getting stuck in a rut. The waves on the sides of the image tell you that this card belongs to the second third of the oracle, which corresponds to Gwyar, the principle of fluidity and change.

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

 

I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain other gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I now have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it! 

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

Comments

Ogham Sanity Check, Two Currents, Japanese Stuff, Meditation Symbols

[jprussell]

Howdy,

Thanks again for everything you do hosting this and your other spaces, as well as writing so many thought-provoking books.

1) Still another question on an Ogham divination about an SOP intent. This time, I'm trying to work out what to do for an external-facing intent. I got a favorable reading for a general class of goals, then for several days asked about more specific goals within that category, and yesterday I got a reading that seemed pretty straightforward in terms of the components, but still left me scratching my head a bit on the overall interpretation. I asked "what do I most need to know about [intent]?" and got:
- Setting: Muin (Reversed)
- Working: Beith
- Outcome: Koad (Reversed)

To me, this seems to say "you've been working on things the wrong way, this working would give you a new start, but there's no way to tell where it will lead". That strikes me as a lukewarm positive reading, but I wanted to make sure that Koad (Reversed) wasn't a screaming red flag that I was missing.

2) If working through the DMH, are imaginal experiences of the solar and telluric currents while meditating/scrying a sign that one ought to start thinking about the rituals for awakening the currents?

3) Given your fondness for at least some things Japanese, do you have any thoughts on how well (if at all) the Book of Five Rings can inform Western uses of the Five elements?

4) Another Japanese-ish question: What are your thoughts on the spiritual/esoteric value of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?

5) I recently read Dion Fortune's "Helps for Meditation" in Aspects of Occultism. In it, she recommends a symbol as an aid to meditation. I haven't encountered this advice in any of your writing thus far (to be fair, I haven't read any of your classic GD books), so I wondered your thoughts on it - I suspect a large part of the answer is "experiment and see what works for you", but if you have thoughts on whether or not such symbols are useful and if so what their characteristics ought to be, I'd be very interested to hear.

I appreciate your time and thought,
Jeff

Re: Ogham Sanity Check, Two Currents, Japanese Stuff, Meditation Symbols

[ecosophia]

1) I tend to read Koad reversed as "reply hazy, ask again later."

2) Yes, though you should check with divination as well.

3) My copy of Gorin no Sho has been with me longer than almost any other book I own. Yes, it uses the same set of elements that Western magic does, rather than the very different Chinese set.

4) I thought it was worth reading, but only as one among a few dozen other interesting books.

5) That's squarely in the "experiment and see what works for you" camp. I don't use one, but I know people who do.

magical insurance policies

[kallianeira]

Dear JMG,

Where I live it is compulsory to buy a certain type of third party insurance, informally called a green slip, in order to register a motor vehicle. One year a relative was sent quotes by three companies. Not understanding the system she thought they were all invoices and got triple the insurance she needed. Had there been an accident in which her car had injured somebody, the triple insurance would have been moot. No question of 3x the payout of the claim.

In the realm of magical protection, I am hoping to ensure I do not suffer a like misunderstanding.

A friend has displeased a charismatic acquaintance who is undoubtedly psychopathic. She has described books he owns and rituals he does, which amount to black magic. He has been trying to smear her professional reputation despite having been a happy acupuncture patient of hers. I offered to pass on some of the protective practices you have taught us, John, and then realized I need to be able to distinguish between them so I don't give her all green slips and miss the property damage and comprehensive insurance.

So if this is not too much of a mess, would you mind please pointing out what I have wrong or right in this classification?:
- against etheric attacks: bowls of salt and of vinegar, salt & nail amulets, Judson exercise, geometric designs such as hexafoils, plants and stones listed in the ENM.
(Does natural magic (eg protective plants and stones) in general operate at this level?)
- for astral attacks: Sphere of Protection or Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram with Middle Pillar.

I know that if the magician is competent enough in relation to you these won't dispel curses. I have been doing the LRP and MPE since you posted the polytheist versions on dreamwidth. When my manager left his job suddenly two years ago, shortly after I had been making complaints about him, I suffered six months of idiopathic illness which the doctors were unable to diagnose. Divination confirmed that man was behind it. And I don't know how powerful a magician the current antagonist is. Even one of your correspondents who is, IIRC, a Druid wrote on MM some time back that attacks on him and his wife were getting through. (If you are reading this, sir, I'd welcome any comments on what you have learned about that situation since.)

Warm regards and sincere thanks,

iridescent scintillating elver

Re: magical insurance policies

[ecosophia]

1) Your analysis is basically right, though there's some overlap -- for example, the Judson exercise is primarily etheric but has some astral effect as well.

2) You might want to add hoodoo baths to the list of protections -- they're covered in the Magic Monday FAQ -- and also consider sprinkling pepper in your shoes. (It can go under the insole.) That's another classic hoodoo method for dispelling nasty energies.

[vitranc]

Hi Jmg ang commentariat,

1. I had some wierd sensations last weekend and begining of the week. Right before Tuesday. I would like to inquire JMG and any other who are, or have contact with clearvoyants, what the „astral weather“ has been / is of late?

2. I was thinking of starting praying to Roman gods, any recomendation as to practice? I would like to do a daily prayer maybe.

Best regards,
V

Prayers to roman Gods

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
Marcus Aurelius recommends, in his Meditations, that prayers be short and to the point. I have always found this to work for me. The Roman's were subtle in some ways and in others, very plain and practical.
Maxine

[(Anonymous)]

Is it common in magical practice to "forget" how to do something that you used to be able to do—or rather, to realize that all this time you've been doing it without really understanding *how* you're doing it, and, because of this realization, lose the casual ease with which you used to do it and have to consciously learn it all over again? Because I feel like that describes a lot of my journey over the past few years.

[ecosophia]

Yes, it's a common experience. What happens is that you're having to shift the practice from the automatic, habitual part of your mind to the fully conscious part, and that isn't easy! The advantage is that each relearning helps you pick up nuances and possibilities you'd previously missed.

Hoodoo protective amulet

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
I am not feeling it but everyone else I know in British Columbia is experiencing a lot of anxiety and nightmares. I have been making lots of protective Hoodoo amulets for friends and family and they say the amulets are helping.

I was teaching my niece how to make the amulets as she lives far away and will have to refresh hers in a month or so. I have been using Himalayan pink salt for the amulets. The salt is pink because it contains iron so I thought it would be a good addition. I also put in a quartz crystal to make the amulet stronger and my niece asked why the iron in the salt and the bent nail would not nullify the crystal and other magical intensifiers? That is a good question. Do you know the answer?
Maxine

Re: Hoodoo protective amulet

[ecosophia]

The quartz crystal functions like a lens -- it intensifies the magic by focusing what's already there, not by adding something else. That's why you can combine crystals with amulets of the sort you're using.

Geomancy

[(Anonymous)]

I'm having trouble understanding Populus in a yes-or-no geomantic chart. While reconsecrating a sun talisman and meditating on the sun, a window rattling bang just shook the entire house. I cast a chart for "Was the loud bang just now an ill omem saying that I've displeased the Sun?" I got back the following chart:

Obviously it's showing that the sun is at work here, but does the diffuse and directionless quality of populus mean a "No" or does it soak up both Fortuna Majors like the Moon gathering up the influences of the higher planets and give me a Yes?

Re: Geomancy

[ecosophia]

No, it means "Don't worry (Fortuna Major), it's something irrelevant in the environment (Populus)."

Etheric weather

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG

If cold water absorbs ether, doesn't this imply that rain and the "water cycle" in general must distribute ether as well as water all over the earth?

J.L.Mc12

Re: Etheric weather

[ecosophia]

Excellent! Yes, the denser ethers (called "chemical ethers" in occult writings) are distributed that way. The subtler ethers (called "life ethers" and "light ethers" in occult writings) are not; life ethers are distributed via air currents and light etherc via electromagnetic radiation.

A little help with a recent divination

[brenainn]

I performed a tarot reading earlier today. It was prompted by a most unusual occurrence at my home shrine. I had just finished my morning offerings and devotions, and I used a candle snuffer to put out each candle. I'm certain they were all out. I'm rather paranoid about leaving burning candles unattended, so I do not think I'd have missed one. I walked off to continue my day, then passed by my shrine a few minutes later. I noticed a single candle still burning in front of one of my folk saints.

This greatly perplexed me, especially as I've received several indications over the past week that only this particular folk saint was now accepting my offerings. I've considered limiting my practice to just this particular folk saint before, and wondered if this might be some kind of sign. So, I asked the Tarot if I should restrict my practice to just this folk saint. I drew a single card, and got the Hierophant, upright. I'm not sure but I think this might mean, "yes"? But I've botched my divinations before.

Re: A little help with a recent divination

[ecosophia]

That sounds like a "yes" to me!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG!

This is a bit leftfield...is there any spiritual significance to the appearance of pantry moths? Or is it more that I need to store food securely and not wait for a few days before having to chuck out all the beans, lentils, rice etc (sigh). I swear they're manifesting out of thin air! Blessings to you for your time.

[ecosophia]

I've never heard of a spiritual significance to them; there's a practical significance, which is that yes, you have to keep your pantry clean and store food in tightly sealed containers.

Geomancy

[(Anonymous)]

Continued from last week. I note that Puer in 1st passed to 3rd (while perfecting chart regarding using dowsing as a means of financial support in years ahead). Would that obviate some of puers rashness or haste? My take is that it would be a strictly local and word of mouth success if it worked. Also too odd to not ask. My daily chart had fortuna major in first four houses. This perfected every house as it generated populus and via all across. I did have a good day but wondered if you or anyone else had insight or comments. Thank you JMG. -Celadon

Re: Geomancy

[ecosophia]

1) If the chart perfects, Puer in the 1st means go for it and don't worry about the details.

2) Sometimes you get charts like that! In that case, it's a good omen.

Hesse

[goatgodschild]

Mr. Greer --

I am reading The Glass Bead Game with my book club, and I am a little shy of halfway through. It reminds me of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, in a way, that it is beautiful, but so dense and meditative that the reader's mind finds itself sharpening and directing alongside the narrative. I am enjoying it very much, enough that I ended up reading Journey to the East and starting Demian as well.

My first introduction to Hesse was a college English class where we read Siddhartha, which I didn't like nearly as much. I'm wondering why Siddhartha seems to be the most popular of Hesse's works -- maybe because it's the easiest to read?

Re: Hesse

[ecosophia]

I have no idea why Siddhartha is so widely read. To my mind it's far from his best.

[(Anonymous)]

Not strictly magical, but could you recommend me a (as short as you want) Jung reading list in order to have a decent background to go into the Red Book?

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

Um, I think "all his other books" might be a good start! The Red Book is the inner core of his work. Certainly you'd need to read his popular works (Modern Man in Search of a Soul and Man and his Symbols and then at least Symbols of Transformation, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, and Answer to Job before trying to make sense of Liber Novus.

Sex, physics of

[(Anonymous)]

John Michael Greer,

I imagine this is a charged question, but are there any decent occult books on having more satisfying sex?

I (male) have a lover (female) who has received really pleasurable sex from past partners. However, among our last 50 sessions just one or two were “nice” (I.e. not great but better than “neutral”). She can’t determine what I’m doing differently physically in the good sessions vs neutral ones nor vs past (and other, current) lover. But she insists that it’s gotta be physical. Other than with her other, current partner, I think she’s used condoms with everyone (including me).

She’s a materialism subscriber though, so what do you expect? I suspect it’s emotional. But she pointed out that she had great sex with partners she cared much less for. Both of us tend toward being “stuck in our heads”. But I do feel quite embodied during sex. She tends to get silent.

So what are those other (most definitely not mages!) doing that I’m missing? I suspect something etheric or astral. Your “On metaphysics of sex” has been read and reread, but I’m still a novice here (been doing daily lbrp, meditation on cosmic for a couple years and daily divination for a year). Wondering if a book could give some useful direction here?

Both of the better sessions included a residual amount of alcohol in my body. Best one had some in hers. But I do mean residual- one beer, 3 or 4 hours ago :^). One of these two followed an evening of connecting about the meaning of my recent unemployment. So I had suspected an astral component?

Do you see anything in what I’ve described that points one way or another?

With great gratitude for all the wild questions you field each week (including some of mine!)
Dave

Re: Sex, physics of

[ecosophia]

Um, I have no idea. I don't know of any occult sex manuals at all. Anyone else?

Manly P Hall

[(Anonymous)]

Morning John,
I’ve reached the final article in the Manly P Hall series, Disciplines of Meditation and Realization.  https://manlyphall.info/a-monthly-letter/4107-Disciplines12.pdf
I have found them inspiring, thought provoking and transformative.  They will provide meditative material that will last years, and I can’t thank you enough for giving us the link.  I have also found them a perfect accompaniment to the OBOD course, as I near the end of the Ovate stage.  However, there are a few thoughts or observations that I have developed, not as a criticism I may add.  I note that Hall does not seem to embrace the use of deity in the journey of the Self.  For me, deity has an important role in improving the efficiency of the journey.  Hall’s preference seems to be one of letting the journey be as long as it needs in unfolding the Self.  Clearly there is more than one path, but I prefer one that involves the assistance of someone who has more wisdom than I to allow me to learn with hopefully less of the classic blunders along the way!  
Secondly, I found myself at odds with this statement, “He must fight without fighting.  For he opposes ignorance with any impulse of the will, his realisation fades away and he is left helpless.” Now, I may be reading it wrong, but to me will power is key to the journey to enlightenment.  The Cosmic Doctrine looks at the importance of restraint, and restraint requires will power.  If one is to leave form behind and become formless, it is important to learn the value of self-restraint, and self restraint requires will power.  Hall seems to be suggesting, that realisation overcomes “shadows and unrealities” as “light comes, darkness fades away”, and that implies that will power is not required.  That doesn’t resonate with me at all.   Perhaps this is another example of different paths for different folks, but I’d appreciate your thoughts on this apparent contradiction.
Regards
Averagejoe

Re: Manly P Hall

[ecosophia]

In several places in his writings, Hall stresses the point that different people naturally experience spiritual realities in different ways; he notes in at least one place that this can be a guide to what traditions you've studied and practiced in previous lives. He himself was most comfortable with impersonal forms of the divine, but he was aware that some people prefer to work with divine persons instead.

As for the role of will, to my mind that's one of the weaknesses in his teaching, but then I also belong on the Dion Fortune end of the spectrum! Here again, some people find it useful to train and develop the will, while others find this a distraction. But then Hall was never a dogmatist. He said it the way he saw it, but he was always careful to note that there are many paths, and his philosophical approach was only one of those paths.

For what it's worth, btw, I think you're quite correct that his book meshes extremely well with the OBOD course! You could very easily fit his practice in with the OBOD inner grove and light-body practices, and the results would likely be very good indeed.

[(Anonymous)]

Are tarot cards affected by banishing rituals? I've had absolutely no success with my tarot cards an am wondering if keeping them in the same room as I do my banishing rituals without any covering such as silk might be affecting them.

[ecosophia]

They can be. On the other hand, some people can make tarot work for them and others just can't.

Gay men in Welsh myth; Apollo & Hyacinth

[cs2]

I was reading the Dolmen Arch introduction to Lludd and Llefelys and found the note that Llefelys is not actually a brother to Lludd, and his identity is left obscure, of course to be unpacked via meditation. I'd wondered if that meant a gay pairing, but now my hunch is on Llefelys being a reflection of Lludd's higher soul. More meditation is needed.

That brought to mind, do you (or the commentariat) know of any examples of gay men in Welsh myth, like Apollo and Hyacinth, or Zeus and Ganymede? Thank you.

Re: Gay men in Welsh myth; Apollo & Hyacinth

[ecosophia]

Hmm! I don't recall any examples offhand, but then the Welsh myths were written down (though of course not originally composed) in Christian times, and a certain amount of bowdlerization can be expected.

[(Anonymous)]

Not sure if this is an applicable magic Monday question but do you think that Spengler was a bit off with his dates concerning the second religiosity of Faustian Civilisation? In that, it is coming earlier than he predicted. Perhaps alot of the late period of Faustian Civilisation is being 'sped up' in a certain sense because of our accelerated resource consumption in comparison to other great cultures, in a similar way to which a person who overeats ages rapidly.

I say this because I can see all around me alot of previously secular/atheist people are starting to feel the enormously powerful undertow of a metaphysical yearning building into...something. Tarot and astrology is becoming very popular, it is no longer crazy to talk of gods and demons, and it feels as if something is stirring deep within within western soul.

I can feel it in myself and it is in particular a Christian feeling, although suspecting that it is the beginnings of the second religiosity I'm not really paying it too much attention.

[ecosophia]

Things do seem to be speeding up on the downslope of Faustian civilization, don't they? I suspect the failure of the religion of progress is becoming too obvious to ignore, and so people cast adrift by it are looking for a new spiritual home.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,
Since long before the current Ukraine crisis, I've been puzzled and rather concerned by the almost hysterical western media and political hatred of Putin. Over the last week, it's become so extreme and so toxic that I frankly can't bear to look at the conventional media now: even the BBC has gone nuts.

Now, I've worked in and around international politics all my life, and part of this is explicable by political factors: personalisation of issues, Cold War nostalgia, narcissistic anger at potentially losing a western asset in the region, and so on. But it doesn't explain why journalists and media personalities who previously couldn't find Ukraine on a map suddenly stop writing about economics, or computers, and start screaming that Putin is a monster who must be put in trial immediately. This is where words like "demonisation" come out naturally. Someone on Reddit yesterday was asking whether Putin was possessed. Other people have asked whether Putin has dabbled in the occult like Hitler. I've never seen a national leader so hysterically abused in this way, and, as I say, it dates from long before the present crisis. I find it increasingly worrying.

So do you think there is something going on here? Is all the hatred directed against Putin for so long bouncing back in some form? Are those who are most hysterical in the western media possessed in some way? Yes, things get a bit fraught in crises, but I've never seen anything like this.

[(Anonymous)]

Currently Rahu, the north node, is transiting Putin's (sidereal) Taurus Moon. In Vedic astrology Rahu signifies maya, which can mean any illusory mental state. Since he is a serpent asura who causes eclipses when he tries to eat the Sun and Moon, he is adept at causing illusory fears and making things seem worse than they are. He can also hypnotize people and put them into trances.

Thus, susceptible people are going to be unable to see Putler clearly, they will just yell RUSSIA MAN BAD. Trump has Rahu conjunct his Taurus Sun, so he is also perceived as far worse than he really is by people who cannot see that the shadow cast by Rahu is maya.

- Rohini

Various

[australiandreamer]

Apologies for the late post - we have had torrential rain and flooding and our place lost it's power for the last 21 hours ... very happy to see it back on!


1) Last week’s discussion about cutting down tree-friends and coppicing got me thinking. When I looked up coppicing it seemed to be lopping a tree down to about a foot off the ground to let it grow back. When we engage with the trees … are we speaking of sentient trees that communicate back or are we talking about nature spirits who are living in/around those trees – in either case are they just as happy to be a six foot bushy tree as a one foot stump with room to re-grow? (mind you my brain is remembering a song my father used to sing “I talk to the trees, that’s why they put me away”) How does that work? I remember as a kid reading about people who talked to their plants getting better results and it was put down to the plants getting more CO2 and the extra attention meaning things going wrong were spotted more quickly … that would be the materialistic take of course!

2) I am on week three of the Will exercises and noticing how much I am not noticing (including one time where I was thinking about not noticing and thoughtlessly clicked on something useless and came back to noticing 1 hour later *shakes head at self*). I am on week two of the Discursive Meditation exercises and when I do the relax everything bit by bit from head to toe I am not feeling any relaxation or pain like you mentioned just a kind of tingling all over where the ‘relax rub’ lingered … is that an option or am I doing it wrong?

3) Just starting the Rod of Power from eotiw – (Build a Rod of Power that is formed by a flame of fire rising from the base of the spine to fill the cranium with flame. There must be the realisation and intention that this is a dedication of the totality of all our human powers and faculties to the service of Almighty God.) A line up the back with a brain-shaped top seems like a strange shape for a ‘rod’ – would it be more like a shaft and a head at the back with the flames in front of it or is the bulgy one fine? Does it matter if you are imagining fire as a burning thing or a cleansing one etc? Does it stay as fire or do you imagine it as formed of fire and then kind of solidified into something you can hold containing fire? He does not specify any of these :)

Re: Various

[ecosophia]

It wasn't late at all -- it landed here at 6:07 AM local time. I hope you and yours are okay!

1) Some varieties of trees thrive when cut. In western Washington, where I grew up, vine maple was a great example. You didn't cut it, or even trim it, because if you did, it sent up a dozen new shoots from the base, and it'll keep doing more and more of that the more you cut it -- think of a vegetable hydra. This example probably started out as four trees that somebody tried to trim.



So if you want to coppice, you choose a tree that likes to do that. As for your specific question, you're talking partly to the nature spirits, partly to the group soul of that species, and partly to the tree itself, which isn't sentient the way we are but has its own, very different kind of consciousness. If you have a variety that thrives with such treatment, the spirits will be fine with it, especially if you let them know what you have in mind and tend the tree carefully when and after you cut it.

2) All this is quite normal. Ordinary human consciousness is best described as a shallow doze -- and yes, it can take a while for relaxation to set in.

3) If Knight doesn't specify, it's up to you!

[stcathalexandria]

Thank you for hosting another MM!

I'm feeling pulled to go participate in Ash Wednesday. I was confirmed in the Catholic church at age 22 so I'm permitted per there rules. Is there any other conflict spiritually I should be aware of? There's one church near me that does a Latin mass once a month and I'm hoping they are doing one for Ash Wednesday.

Looking for tips from the commenters here on breaking from social media. I feel pulled to give up social media and the news completely for Lent. This last round of "you have to believe in what you are told to believe and demonstrate to everyone you believe it" just has me rolling my eyes. Its not enough to pray for peace and to relieve suffering of innocent people anymore apparently. I installed the Freedom app on my technology.

I also want to thank you for sharing the OSA work. Each week I do it, I do a big session getting out as much as I can, and inevitably, there are these stray bits that come up over the week that also need addressed. It's those stray bits, like dust bunnies under the bed, that need cleared out. That vacuum through isn't cutting it! It was a hard slog to get from the preliminary work to the main lessons, and now I've had enough feeling of weight and pressure on myself being released that I'm looking forward to the next lesson.

The other benefit of the OSA lessons or maybe its the daily ritual, is I can now see some automatic emotional responses occurring in myself and others. I thought I was seeing them before, but now they are much more obvious, especially for myself. When I feel anger, fear, anxiety, I'm pausing to look at it. I also just feel less of those feelings in general. Planning the day with the goal of feeling satisfaction at day's end. That's been a game changer.

I still have half the lessons to go and while emotionally challenging, still looking forward to it!

Sepia Amorous Centaur

[ecosophia]

I don't know of any other conflict -- certainly a lot of French occultists attended various Catholic services on a regular basis without trouble. I'll let the commentariat respond to the question about Lent. As for the OSA work, I'm delighted to hear it. The order itself has now been refounded, it has its incorporation papers back from the state, and there should be a functioning website up in not too long, so you and everyone else who's working with the material will have someplace to go if you want to proceed to the further lessons beyond the Octagon Society work.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, your recent discussions of numerology and mention of investigating financial astrology got me thinking about something. Have you ever heard about the Elliott Wave principle?

https://investmenttheory.org/uploads/3/4/8/2/34825752/elliott-wave-principle.pdf

Basically, the idea is that financial markets (and other manifestations of human behavior) follow predictable numeric patterns. The "Elliott Wave" is the simplest numeric pattern that fulfills the qualities of progression and oscillation and the wave is a fractal pattern, thus each wave is made up of smaller waves following the same pattern. Fibonacci numbers also influence the shape of an Elliott Wave, with the peaks and troughs of certain waves tending to be spaced according to the golden ratio. Interestingly, people have found that the Elliott Wave principle applies to weather patterns and other oscillating, progressive systems that can be charted.

A materialistic view of reality doesn't offer much in the way of an explanation for this. Having used these techniques, it's fascinating when the movements on a chart in the past can be used to predict what will happen in the future absent any other source of information. Are you familiar with any base of occult knowledge on the use of these patterns? Obviously they see heavy use in sacred geometry, but I haven't heard of them being applied to divination.

[ecosophia]

Yes, and it was on my list of things to study, so thank you for the link! (I'm beginning to study financial astrology, so a system of cycle prediction based on sacred geometry is right up my alley.)

Of course a materialistic view of reality doesn't explain the recurrence of Golden Section patterns, but then a materialistic view of reality really doesn't explain that much, all things considered. I don't know of a system of divination that uses geometric patterns -- well, other than my Sacred Geometry Oracle! -- but the principle is worth exploring and the Elliot wave could be a first good step in that direction.

[(Anonymous)]

1. Is it possible to do banishing rituals in the afterlife? That seems like it would be handy if you ended up in one of the nastier parts of the astral.

2. Where you end up depends on your level of consciousness. Is that just like a ladder with higher and lower levels or are there multiple axes and more than one way to have a higher level of consciousness? If it's the latter is there a way to know which track you're on, where it's leading, or a way to change to another path?

[ecosophia]

1) If you go into the next world with enough self-awareness that you could remember and practice a banishing ritual, you're probably going to be fine anyway. Still, yes, there are situations in which it could be useful.

2) The occult traditions I know of treat it as a single axis.

[d_mekel]

Is the vibratory formula of the middle pillar meant for bigger rituals or can it be used daily like the lesser middle pillar?

Once ready for the greater middle pillar, is that meant for daily use?

[ecosophia]

1) You can use it daily if you have some intention in mind -- for example, you can invoke the divine name for each sphere in the Middle Pillar, one per practice session, and use the energy to charge the corresponding sphere in your own subtle body.

2) I recommend doing it once a week to start with, but yes, after you get used to the more intense energy flows, you can do it daily.

Soul vs Spirit

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
From my naive position I associate the word "soul" with humans, animals, beasts. I associate the word "spirit" with earth, air, fire, water. Almost as if "soul" means "able to move around" while "spirit" is tied to a specific location. (Although the idea of a Sylph is certainly mobile.) Almost as if "soul" is more sapient or sentient than "spirit."

Yet the word "spirit" is used with respect to human beings in the Platonic mind, body, spirit trifecta and I have heard it used as a 5th natural element to join the four mentioned.

Can you offer an opinion, definition, or a few research threads to follow?

thank you

Re: Soul vs Spirit

[readoldthings]

Hi Anonymous,

You want to be careful with the word "spirit" as it's used in Platonic writings. In fact, the most difficult part of getting into Platonic philosophy is the problem of vocabulary. Very often, when the word "spirit" is used, it's used to translate the Greek word "thymos." "Thymos" is one of the 3 parts of the soul, as Socrates describes them in the Republic. The other two are "nous" and "epithymia." And this is is where the trouble comes in. "Epithymia" means appetite, and refers to all of your biological drives. But neither "nous" nor "thymos" has an accurate English translation. Often, like I said, "thymos" is translated as "spirit" and "nous" as either "reason" or "mind." And this very quickly leads to a big misunderstanding, because the teaching in the Republic is that nous should rule, with thymos as its guardian and assistant. If you're assuming that "nous" is reason and "thymos" is spirit, that makes it sound like spirit should be subordinated to reason! That's not what Plato is saying at all.

Rather than "spirit" in the sense of "incorporeal soul," thymos means "spirit" in the sense of "a spirited horse" or "You're in high spirits today." A far better English translation is actually "heart," in the sense that that word is used by high school athletic coaches. "The team with the most heart will win!" That makes even more sense if you realize that the ancients and medievals actually located the thymos at the heart, as an energy center-- it's also where we get the name of the thymus gland.

"Nous," meanwhile, includes "reason" in the sense that we use that word, but it means more than that, too. Proclus says that nous also contains 3 parts, arranged hierarchically. The lowest is opinion. The next is discursive reason. And then there is nous proper. This is a higher faculty than reason; when nous is truly functioning, the mind is able to function beyond duality and to directly perceive spiritual realities. FWIW, the only people writing in the English language today who have preserved a really good understanding of the nous are the Eastern Orthodox Christians.

As far as the "mind, body, spirit" trifecta you mention, this should really properly be Body, Soul, Intellect. Or, to give them their Greek names-- Hyle, Psyche, Nous. Soul or Psyche contains all the powers I just named-- Epithymia, Thymos, Nous-- and so at its highest level, the nous level, it reaches beyond itself to the next level of being. Divine beings exist at the level of nous all the time; we don't; the opening of the nous is also called "Developing the mental sheath" in modern occult teaching. (And, of course, there is a level of being beyond the Noetic-- the Henadic, or the level of the One.)

“Cursed” rosary beads?

[(Anonymous)]

JMG -  I wanted to pass on a portion of an email I received because something about it rubs me the wrong way, but I can’t put my finger on it.  I wonder what you think is really going on here.  

I have removed any details that would identify the sender:

“It has very recently come to our attention that some plastic rosaries are in circulation in the United States coming from countries such as Africa and the Philippines, which have a curse placed on them.   We have consulted our ... Chaplain, and a reliable exorcist priest to see if such rosaries present a legitimate danger (if they are blessed does this make them safe?  Is this concern real?).   These priests confirmed that such rosaries may indeed have a curse on them, and can present a spiritual danger.  Blessing the rosary will not remove the curse.  Rather, the rosary would need to be burned.  

...   The cursed rosaries contain symbols on the crucifix that are not part of our Catholic faith (one such symbol is a sun located above our Lord on the crucifix).  

If you find one of these rosaries, please either burn it, or give it to a local priest to burn it.   At ..., we are taking an additional measure to have traditionally blessed Benedict medals permanently affixed to our ...  crucifixes.” 

Like I said, there are a few things about this message that bug me, but I can’t put my finger on it. Here’s what I think it could be:

1) They say these beads are cursed, but how do they know? They offer no evidence for this.

2) They claim that “blessing” the beads will not work, but how can they know? They offer no evidence for that either.

3) The closest thing to evidence for a curse they offer is a symbol of a sun. That doesn’t sound too bad to me. Does this strike you as a knee-jerk “Everything Occult is Bad” sort of reaction? It seems like it to me.

4) Do you think they are handling this the right way? If they are correct about the curse, is burning plastic the right course of action? (It seems bad from an environmental perspective, if maybe not an occult perspective.)

Re: “Cursed” rosary beads?

[ecosophia]

Yes, this strikes me as very, very weird. If a blessing in the name of God will not overcome the curse in the beads, then they're claiming that their god is less powerful than the forces of evil. Furthermore, since (iirc) most Catholic rosaries are specifically dedicated to the Virgin, and of all the holy entities in Catholicism she seems to dispense miracles most readily, you'd think that if anyone took one of those "cursed" rosaries and said the rosary with it, it would be cleansed of evil like nobody's business.

As for what's actually behind it, I don't know, but I'll just say that if I was a Satanist and wanted to get devout Catholics to destroy their rosaries, this kind of thing would strike me as very, very clever...