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. With certain exceptions, 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. Also: I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says. 

The image?  That's the thirtieth card in The Sacred Geometry Oracle. Card 31, the Sphere, when upright tells you that the possibilities before you are much bigger than you realize; when reversed, it tells you that you're completely missing what's going on. The sun in the upper left corner of the image tells you that this card belongs to the final third of the oracle, which corresponds to Nwyfre, the principle of spirit and meaning.  We've completed our passage through the first two of the basic root functions of sacred geometry -- √3, the principle of the vesica piscis and the equilateral triangle, and √2, the principle of the square and its diagonal -- and now we're working with the √5, the seed from which the Golden Section unfolds and resolves all back into unity.

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 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

Breathing the Gods

[cs2]

Happy Monday!

I know that in breathing the Cantrefs in the DA that it includes the associated god, but is there a technique like color breathing in which one can breathe all the gods at once/their influence?

At the end of the SOP, sometimes I've felt blobs on my hands that you told me is the beginning of etheric sensitivity, but sometimes I feel something else there that might be the gods or another nebulous sensation. I've been breathing that for as long as I can stand up and then lying down (feet flat on the ground) and breathing it some more, then standing again and closing with the Circulation of Light.

My guess is that this is safe and I can do it for as long as I want, is that correct? Or should I limit it to not stress my subtle bodies or anything? Thank you.

Re: Breathing the Gods

[ecosophia]

1) I don't think anyone has created such a technique yet. You might see what you can come up with.

2) Yes, that should be fine. Pay attention to how your physical and subtle bodies feel; if you end up feeling strained or giddy afterwards, it might be time to back off a little.

Eagle's Mead and Prayer Resources

[jprussell]

Good Evening!

As always, thanks very much for your time and effort answering questions and facilitating further discussion. It is truly a wonderful resource for those of us who don't know anyone local to talk about these things with.

To Share: I've recommended Eirik Westcoat before, but this time let me recommend his book Eagle's Mead. Like his other book I recommended (Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites), it is largely a collection of poetry written in modern English following the metrical/alliterative rules of Medieval and older Germanic poetry, but rather than a collection of liturgical poems, this book contains poetry that he worked out while following the initiatory path laid out in Nine Doors of Midgard, and so is more explicitly magical as well as personal. Perhaps of interest to folks not as interested in the Germanic Gods, it includes some material related to the Grail myth, an area that Edred Thorsson has done some work to link with the Runes (mostly through some of the later, less-often-seen additions to the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc), and the system that Westcoat follows was laid out mainly by Thorsson.

Question: For JMG, or anyone in the commentariat willing to share, do you have any recommended resources on prayer as a practice, whether polytheist, Christian, or whatever else? I've started looking particularly at the Rosary as an example of a form of contemplative prayer that has been widely used for a good, long time, and I suspect it might be usefully adapted as a source of inspiration for prayers to other deities.

Cheers,
Jeff

Re: Eagle's Mead and Prayer Resources

[(Anonymous)]

When a Pagan Prays: Exploring Prayer in Druidry and Beyond by Nimue Brown.
I found this book had quite a bit of train the mind utility.

Cerridwen: Celtic Goddess of Inspiration by Kristoffer Hughes.
Just started reading it. Might be a good template for your work.

Rhydlyd

[(Anonymous)]

I never really learned to put on a face and prefer to say exactly what I think and feel anyway. What would be the consequences for me of doing a working to make someone else get seen by people for exactly who they are?

[ecosophia]

Do you have their permission to do this?

[(Anonymous)]

A thought occurred to me today: Is philosophy a kind of exercise for our mental level, helping to develop the sheath into a proper body? Are there any other such exercises?

[ecosophia]

That's the central point of meditation -- especially the discursive meditation practiced in Western occultism.

[(Anonymous)]

You might recall I asked about the slow grind to victory of the current conservative movement in the US on a previous Magic Monday. The general thinking seemed to be that Saturn was involved due to (I may be misunderstanding) the plodding pace and political stability as lawsuits reach the Supreme Court, legislatures change parties one seat at a time, and whole demographics jump ship… er… party.

My view here in Flyover Country is rather like the folktale about generations of farmers carrying away a pebble every day from the base of the warlord’s mountain until the mountain was no more. The people are quite self-aware, and the heat of their smoldering anger is directed into action by a racial memory of cockeyed optimism.

Given all that, does the date of the first broadcast of the Rush Limbaugh Show at noon on 1 August 1988 from ABC Radio in New York City make a reasonable birthday for the modern conservative movement?

I don’t know much about astrology, so a few words about how the date does or does not connect to or fit the events and trends mentioned would be very helpful.

Rhydlyd

[ecosophia]

That would make quite a plausible start date for the new populist conservatism. I took a moment to generate a chart on Astro.com --


It's quite an intriguing chart. Saturn and Uranus are dead conjunct, meaning that it's at once conservative and revolutionary; Sun and Mercury are conjunct in Leo in the 10th, very favorable for a movement that seeks political power. I may just want to do a full delineation of this and publish it as an open post on my Patreon and SubscribeStar platforms, so thank you for this!

[fringewood]

This is an update to last mondays question: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/189366.html?thread=31982262#cmt31982262



I thank JMG, temporaryreality, Princess Cutekitten, and thinking_turtle for energy sent on my behalf!



As it turned out, I was able to do the SOP in front of two large Windows facing south. My side of the room had privacy screens that kept prying eyes out. My husband told me he could feel the SOP at our home. I had a clear picture in my mind of our place when doing the ritual and realized I had been building that picture for several months. I was able to see both the room and our land at the same time which is cool:-)



I had lots and lots of tests with major outcome learning my heart is weaker than it should be . I'll be going into rehab for a couple of weeks to build up my strength and then back home. I may need your imagination instructions, JMG, in rehab.




Thanks you JMG and this forum for a place to learn and develop my inner world. Blessings to you all.

[jprussell]

Glad to hear you have a way forward, and more positive energy headed your way!

Cheers,
Jeff

Talisman Side Effects

[weilong]

I'm contemplating making a planetary talisman by the instructions in Circles of Power (my first one - I've made elemental talismans before). Have you (or others) experienced unwanted side effects from these? For example, if I were to make a Mars talisman to help me learn welding, would I also find myself becoming more aggressive or competitive because of the extra Mars energy it brings into my life? I ask because this is a concern with astrological talismans, and it is standard practice to run a check against the user's natal chart before making one.

In my case, I am thinking of making a talisman to bring customers to my business. Mercury would be the natural choice for that. However, my natal Mercury is afflicted, and divination suggests that the talisman would bring some difficulty with communication and relationships.
I figure that my options include:
1) Think about a different planet to help some other aspect of my business.
2) Get customers the old fashioned way (without magic).
3) Make the Mercury talisman and accept the consequences (it might be the impetus I need to finally deal with my communication issues).
4) Or, I guess the fourth option that I am hoping for is that you will tell me that it's not usually a big deal so I can have my cake and eat it, too.

Thanks, as always, for providing this service.

Re: Talisman Side Effects

[ecosophia]

Well, the fourth option isn't an option. If you invoke a planetary energy it's always going to be colored by the condition of the planet in your natal chart. In your place I'd check my chart for other planets in better shape -- the Sun, Jupiter and Venus are all good planets for workings meant to help a business prosper. Alternatively, if it has to be Mercury for some reaso, I'd look at doing another talisman with a different planet to help counter the negative side of your natal Mercury.

A few Qs

[adastra1111]

Hello JMG and all!

Thanks once again for hosting and generously answering all of these questions.

1. Is it possible for a person to progress along their path, eventually passing beyond human incarnation, without deliberately pursuing spiritual practice? In other words, is every atheist stalling at best, and going the wrong direction at worst, or can atheism be a necessary spiritual step somehow?

2. I recently read you mention that if someone monetizes some teaching they got for free on your blog, you should be paid for that. I’ve taught monetized classes where I shared things you’ve posted for free on your blogs. I figured that taking bits and pieces of things I’ve learned, whether for free or that I paid for, and sharing a mix of that combined with my own experience (monetized), is basically what every teacher and book I’ve learned from has also done, and thus, is normal and ok to do. But if the occult has taught me anything, it’s to be open to being wrong and owning up to it. What are your thoughts?

3. I noticed you mentioned on your other blog that John Gilbert had dealings with - and steered his students away from - 22 Teachings. Do you know what happened between he and them to leave such a bad taste or why he would ultimately decide to dissuade students from them?

4. I know you respect Duquette but what do you make of his belief that Goetic spirits are only portions of the human brain (parroting Crowley) rather than objective, independent beings? My experience with working magic is that I started from the former and experience led me to the latter, which is also your position, if I’m not mistaken. Is it the case that he’s simply wrong about this aspect of magic but he has other useful teachings to offer? To me, getting something that wrong makes me question everything coming from the source.

Thanks again,
Mauve Atomic Lorax

Re: A few Qs

[ecosophia]

1) Atheists may simply be at a point in their evolution where they need to concentrate on the material plane. Since we all live many lives, it's not necessary for everyone to pursue spiritual work in their present lives, and for many people, it's inappropriate.

2) Nah, what I say is that if you publish something based on my work you should put something in my tip jar as fair payment. Teaching classes is another matter. I'd appreciate it if you give me credit for the material in the classes, but that's all I ask.

3) He never mentioned the details to me, but whatever it was, it left a very negative impression on him.

4) I respect Lon as a person and as a practical occultist -- I've done Golden Dawn initiations with him, and the man's good -- but some of his ideas strike me as cockeyed at best. This is one of them. I recommend reading his works and then making up your own mind -- but of course I recommend that you do that with my works, too, and with everyone else's.

[gullindagan]

So I finally did a (Heathen) Ritual of Conjuration, based on the CGD one, and conjured an Intelligence of Earth. It was very interesting- the sigil he gave turned out to look like a stylized version of some very old trees and a rock pile on a hill/mound on the land I inquired about. In your instructions, you say that names for spirits change every 40 years or so, that would mean the spirits have lifespans, etc. In talking to him it seemed like in a way he was that row of trees and rock pile on the mound... the trees and rock pile existing for ~80 years or so , the mound for much longer, but very much bound to time, history and the land. Does this make sense?

I assume I can conjure intelligences and spirits of the planetary spheres using the Hexagram rituals in this context, yes? Would it be better to do one when the respective planet is in domicile, on angle, in hour, etc?

I am also proficient in traditional astrological magic, and one of the things I like about doing both that and GD work is that one is working with external forces, and the other with imagination and will, though both with both too... but in what case is it better to do GD style astrological magic vs traditional(Picatrix, Agrippa, etc)?

[ecosophia]

1) This makes perfect sense, and in fact it sounds very much like my experiences with intelligences of the Earth element.

2) Yes, exactly. I recommend doing this during planetary day and hour -- that seems to work quite well.

3) That's an intricate question I haven't solved to my own satisfaction. I've done plenty of talismans of both kinds and gotten good results with both, so it may be that they're equally good and it simply depends on which approach you prefer.

Nine day numerological cycle

[kimberlysteele]

Dear JMG,

Nebulous_Realms made mention of your explanation of a nine day numerological cycle which makes for a nine day week -- can you or any of the readership link to that post or essay? It sounds intriguing.

Re: Nine day numerological cycle

[nebulous_realms]

Hey Kimberly! The system I use is the one Greer discussed in his numerology posts earlier this year: the first post and the post on the time number are the entries that specifically deal with the numerological cycle that one can follow daily. He mostly discussed the time number in terms of years, but you can use it for days just as well. I've found it useful to escape the five-days-work-two-days-off schedule that society forces you to think of your life as - I use the nine-day cycle to try to structure how I plan or implement my activities and routine behaviors.

https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/tag/numerology

A woman's voice

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
Things are getting fairly weird and tense on my tiny island. I have lived here for 12 years and it has always been bitterly divided about something. Now, I seem to be one of the targets for the bitter feelings. I write a weekly column for our local magazine and the oddest thing is that I wrote a couple of articles against Medically Assisted Death, MAID.

MAID started out as only for terminally ill people and I agree with that. However, it has been extended to everyone but the mentally ill and children who the feds call, "mature minors," and hope to extend MAID benefits to them too. Next year, the government is going to offer it to mentally ill people. At the moment, MAID is being given out to disabled people because they are too poor on their government disability pensions to live so they are helped to die rather than given a livable pension. People flipped out over that and said what I wrote was hate speech.

One old friend even asked me what my article was about. I explained and she said, "They are too poor to live. So what?" My friend is 94 and wishes to die as she is going blind but I was stunned by her lack of empathy and by the hostility of the community in general.

The last couple of afternoons, I have been woken from my nap by a woman's voice, very shrill and angry talking to me about a court case and something else unpleasant this afternoon. Is this an egregor? The embodiment of the vicious feelings in the village? Some sort of activist ghost? It doesn't happen at night, I guess due to the SOP I do. Would you recommend an additional SOP before my nap?

What do you make of the public support for killing poor and inconvenient Canadians?

Maxine

Re: A woman's voice

[ecosophia]

None of this surprises me at all. The privileged classes in North America have lost every trace of compassion for the working classes whose labor supports their existence, and I think they'd probably agree to rounding them up and gassing them if they had the chance. Since your country has gone enthusiastically into medical killing, it follows logically that the program would be expanded to include everyone the privileged classes consider disposable.

You might definitely consider a second SoP, or protective amulets of the sort we've discussed before. You're pointing out to these people that they've become the Nazis they think they hate, and so you may come in for quite a bit of hostility.

Umbrella superstition

[emily07]

Last week a friend visited who was brought up on the belief, that opening an umbrella in the house brings bad luck.

Out of curiosizy: Would you, or the commentariat know anything about this? I never encountered this before, the person originally is from east-Germany.

Thank y'all!

Emily07

Re: Umbrella superstition

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,
I am of mostly British stock here in Canada and as children, we were taught that opening an umbrella in the house was bad luck. My mother thought it was because of the likelihood f poking someone in the eye.
Maxine

Microwave antennas and astral body.

[(Anonymous)]

Can microwave antennas(around 20) and being in the last floor flat at an angle where you receive a higher power be damaging for the astral body and the solar plexus? Since there is no such a thing in medical parlance as an astral body I don't think this can be consider medical advice.

Re: Microwave antennas and astral body.

[(Anonymous)]

I would not do it. For some reason anything to do with the mixing of microwave antennas and spiritual energies gives me the heebie jeebies. Yes this is not meant to be medical advice.

Heliotrope Lily-livered Parrotfish

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG (and commetariat)! Do you have any book recommendation for learning numerology?

[ecosophia]

My essays on numerology here on Dreamwidth include several recommendations.

Was that Apollo?

[sea_spray]

Hi JMG and fellow comment readers

1) I had an encounter with with someone who claimed to be Apollo. I asked him to trace a pentagram, which he did, and asked Brigid to vouch for him, I got the impression of her nodding to him as an equal.

The bit that confused me was that he presented himself as wearing a pinstripe suit in a beautiful old library. He's described as representing the pinnacle of youth for the ancient greek's so I thought he may be presenting himself in a personalised and more modern form?

I'm wondering how other people have seen him in recent years and if this sounds like him to you?

2) Do you know if the sacred geometry oracle card deck will come out on it's own at some point? It would be more convenient to have one in it's own box rather than rattling around in the one it came in with the book. Another option I'd been thinking about was using the images you're posting to get a set of cards printed off to take the wear and tear, would you have any issue with that?

3) In other good news: www.mackwelloco.com/ Someone is trying to build steam engines that can compete with modern diesel and are more resilient due to fuel adaptability. Long descent technology!

I found that I went to school with the guy starting it and talked to him about it. He's very collapse aware and doing this because of it. Apparently at current diesel prices it's economically competitive. It's still in the start up phase so some good energy sent their way would be well timed. Also If anyone is involved in a heritage railway or something and looking for a new boiler, give them a call.

www.youtube.com/c/MackwellLocomotiveCo/videos


Thanks for you help and patience.
Sea spray

Re: Was that Apollo?

[ecosophia]

1) Gods aren't required to keep wearing the same things they wore two thousand years ago!

2) Not that I know of. You may want to find a box or bag for the cards. Please don't just print out the cards -- their copyright is currently held by the publisher, who sank a lot of money and effort into getting them back into print, and deserves to make a living too.

3) Hmm! Fascinating. I'm glad to hear this.

[(Anonymous)]

I just wanted to say thank you for all you do. I am meditating on the ancient Sumerian myths and am startled by the parallels between some aspects of Dion Fortune's Cosmic Doctrine and Lévi's book on the one hand, and the symbols and imagery of the myths on the other. Meditating on Enki, for example, helped me to understand the masculine principle Lévi was explaining and I was having trouble getting because of today's gender politics.

Your writings are peppered with hints and clues which I have been absorbing and filing away somewhere in my mind, and which pop out when needed. For example, you recently posted a link to The Canon Stirling, which I began to read and one line gave me another AHA moment.

Anyway, I appreciate the enormous time you have taken to give us the opportunity to study occult texts with you, and for sharing with us your knowledge and wisdom to light the path.

Myriam

[(Anonymous)]

Can I piggyback to ask for some good sources for Sumerian/Mesopotamian polytheism, ancient and modern (if possible)? I made an offering to Enki on a whim not so long ago, I came across a mention of him and he sounded like the sort of god I'd find a rapport with; the experience was intense to say the least, and I'd like to try following up on it.

[(Anonymous)]

Not a question, more like a report. I believe we discussed "self-hexing" on Magic Monday in regards to the various "Pride" symbols. Maybe somebody already linked to this, but if not...

https://ashtarbookblog.blogspot.com/2022/07/swastiska-pride.html

I found it on Twitter, here:¨

https://twitter.com/JerryPa02337112/status/1546978089166594049

Note that it´s the trans and BIPOC colors in the triangles, added to make the flag super-woke, that forms a swastiska! And since these people don´t consider swastikas to be lucky charms, well...

Tidlösa, Sweden

[lukedodson]

Heh! A 'neofolk' band called Death in June, whose lead singer is gay but also flirts heavily with Nazi symbolism, once merged the Sonnenrad with the rainbow Pride flag. I'm not exactly sure what kind of point they were trying to make with that, but given the Woke Left's infatuation with the Azov Battalion, maybe they were presaging something...

[(Anonymous)]

You’ve mentioned a few times that devotees of certain Gods often have a “type.” For example, Loki devotees are often rather arrogant. I’ve read your comments on others too, but I don’t want to misquote you.

What, if any, has been your experience with devotees of Athena/Minerva?

Would love to hear from commentators too!

Minerva

[neptunesdolphins]

In my experience, various Gods choose certain types to work with. I have found that Odin, the Morrigan, Hecate, and Sekmet recruit people to Polytheism, then leave them to their own devices. Gods like the Romans ones tend go for the more experienced Polytheists.

Minerva from what I have figured out is attracted to artisans and scholars who are serious about their craft. She was one of the first Roman Gods to appear to me. Other devotees of Her are similar in outlook in their seriousness and quiet.

[antoine_eva]

My deep thanks for the materiel you have bring
forward to us and for this space you provide.

I would like to share a movie i stumble upon
'Every Day is a Good Day' 2008
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7575778/
It's about a young Japanese woman slow journey
to her spirituality awakening through the
Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Many of the subject explored in the movie
mirror what i have experienced during my
small grow into the SoP. From the will and
discipline to the etheric nature of thing,
and even scrying. It's a deep and slow movie
where i could see all the mistake i've done
and probably lot more that i can't see yet.
I used the english subtitle version so i may
have lost some of it's content.

The creator of this movie has done the journey
themself for sure.

In one of the scene, something grab the arm of
the woman and made her do the movement.
That is something that happen to me a few times
already. During my SoP i raise my arm to do the
air symbol and a external force grab it and do
the symbol of the air for me. It has left me
a bit shocked and disoriented and in the rest of
the ceremony it didnt happen. My theory is if i
could have stay in the same state of mind it
would also have happen with the others elementals,
but the disturbance it cause me made it only
happen for the 1st symbol.

I wonder if you could provide with some inshigt
about what is happening when you get 'controlled/possesed?'
by 'something' while you do a ritual.


Puce Ludicrous Toadstool

[ecosophia]

It could be any number of things. It could be your own higher self; it could be a spirit with whom you have a good relationship; it could be that your body is simply following the tracks in space laid down by all the other people who've practiced the SoP over the years. You might consider using divination to figure out what's going on and what to do about it, if anything.

[(Anonymous)]

Can you speak to how you have observed Grand Trines functioning in the different elements on a mundane level? Are Grand Trines generally beneficial and harmonious, or is there a catch? Was there a standard Renaissance/classical view of that aspect?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

The entire subject of aspect patterns -- of which grand trines are one -- was first developed in the early twentieth century by Marc Edmund Jones and a few other astrologers of the same period; as far as I know it appears nowhere in earlier astrological literature, so there wasn't a standard view of that pattern earlier; it wasn't recognized as a thing. Mundane astrology was badly neglected by the 20th century astrological revival, too, so I don't know of any discussion of grand trines, grand crosses, etc. in the mundane literature. In my experience, based on the few times I've seen it in mundane charts, it's a beneficial pattern, but it can allow serious problems to be ignored for a while. How generally can that be applied? We'll have to see.

Calculating Sidereal Time

[lukedodson]

Hi JMG,

A quick question, open to all who may have some experience: are there any easy-to-follow guides for calculating sidereal time? Maybe I'm dense, but the one given in my edition of Parker's Astrology doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and the online calculators give slightly different results to the same time (assuming I'm actually entering it correctly, which I'm fairly sure I am).

Also, if anyone could point me in the direction of a good natal astrologer, that would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

Luke

Re: Calculating Sidereal Time

[ecosophia]

Most old textbooks of astrology include lessons on how to do that as a matter of course; I use Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson's methods as given in Foundations of the Magical Chart, but I'm not sure how easy that is to obtain these days.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Lately I've been pondering social pathologies that have been linked to "magical thinking." Utopian ideologies whose proponents keep pushing them despite a long record of failed implementations, cargo cults believing in various panaceas for all society's woes, etc.

It occurs to me that some of these problems could be linked to the application of esoteric tools of thought by people who don't have the knowledge or context to properly use them. Traditionally, esoteric knowledge has been gatekept in various ways; degrees of initiation in occult societies, monasticism, exclusive apprenticeships, etc. Are we experiencing the consequences of occult thinking being applied in a careless, piecemeal fashion such that these old social conventions were designed to prevent?

For example, occult thinkers have asserted "Reason is not the only means by which truth may be found, there are other experiential pathways we can follow to broaden our understanding." Postmodernists say "Reason is an oppressive social construct and truth is merely the product of temporal power, and we can change the world at will by changing how we speak." The latter assertion reflects a dim understanding of the former along with a heaping dose of wishful thinking.

In particular, while today's prominent anti-rational political streams share an idea that symbolic rituals can transform society, they lack any kind of spirituality and their metaphysical framework is rudimentary at best. It's interesting because many of these ideas are seen on the political left, and in decades past the left was associated with significant amounts of "woowoo," tarot cards, astrology and the like, but the contemporary left that has more fully embraced postmodern ideas appears nearly devoid of spiritual thought.

It all seems akin to children playing with matches. Are there any historical analogs you can think of - incidents where poorly understood occult methods were used with disastrous results? It seems that the propagation of vampires may be reflective of this - you've written that the original spirits inhabiting long barrows were elders who bound themselves to the physical world after death to continue guiding their people, but the later vampires inhabiting burial mounds were simply kings and nobles who used the old knowledge to cheat death and become parasites of the living. Is there any evidence that the traditional frameworks restricting esoteric knowledge were motivated by problems such as these?


An addendum: It's also occurred to me that the lack of spirituality in postmodern politics may only be an outward appearance. Along with things like the "Magic Resistance" and the infernal rituals hosted at Catland Books in Brooklyn, I've heard multiple references in "progressive" circles to this book:

https://scriptus.gydja.com/the-book-of-sitra-achra-a-grimoire-of-the-dragons-of-the-other-side-n-a-a-218/

This grimoire of demonic magic specifically describes the powers it invokes as anti-thought and aimed at dissolving reality. If this is the spiritual framework underlying the above political movements, it's no wonder they want to keep it as private as they can.

[lukedodson]

I recognise the name of the Misanthropic Luciferian Order - the main guitarist/vocalist of the Swedish death-metal band Dissection was heavily involved, if I recall correctly. When I was quite immersed in that style of music as a teen, I remember reading interviews with him and thinking he was clearly batsh*t crazy - all this stuff about the dark gods dissolving the entire Cosmos. Very Plutonian. He had previously served a prison sentence for the random slaying of an Algerian man, and killed himself in 2006.

As I recently spoke to researcher William Ramsey for a podcast about this topic, something also struck me as being very reminiscent of the Order of Nine Angles, a genuinely bizarre and astonishingly influential Satanist group with links to neo-Nazism, Islamism, and various murders and terrorist attacks from the 90s up to the recent past. Sure enough, according to an article on the Spiritual Life website, "the MLO incorporated elements from the Order of Nine Angles, the Illuminates of Thanateros and Qliphothic Kabbalah." (https://slife.org/theistic-satanism/)

With all that in mind, it's interesting to hear that progressives are also getting into the MLO. Satanism seems to be an area where the extreme-right and the woke-left overlap...

[ivn66]

Hi JMG -

From where is the traditional order of the geomantic figures derived? In "The Art and Practice" etc. they're initially listed following the order of the Zodiac, but then in the section which shows them as binary numbers, that order (which is, according to the book, their traditional order) doesn't follow any pattern I can discern at the moment.

[ecosophia]

Nah, the zodiacal order is their traditional order. The binary-number order is something I came up with.

[stcathalexandria]

Good morning good morning -

1) On the 3rd Weird of Hali novel and just gotta ask what might be a dumb question, but what is the Voor? It is something that exists outside the novels under that name? What it is goes under a different name outside the fictional world of the novels?

2) I just received the OSA Probationer materials and it says to focus on one lesson a week, but also that most people spend 3-5 weeks on this level. There's 10 lessons, so are people doing two lessons a week? Or is this some sort of riddle I should be unlocking?

3) It hit me today that the past 2+ years of nuttiness are the lead up to something, rather than a series of events we'll be getting over. In other words, we are just getting started with this yet-to-be-identified crisis. I don't think it's shown its whole face yet. We are still blindfolded and feeling around to trying to figure out the whole creature. This feels true because people keep shouting about what's happened (and happening) in term of rationality, data, science, cycles, and human behavior. And the shouting people on both sides are very sure of themselves. I don't think either stance matters any longer because the actual crisis is coming still. Is anyone else feeling it here?

Thank you,
Murky Hyperactive Jellyfish

[ecosophia]

1) The word "voor" is borrowed from an Arthur Machen story. I needed a Cthulhu mythos term for the life force -- what's called prana in Sanskrit, ki in Japanese, ruach in Hebrew, pneuma in Greek, spiritus in Latin, and other names in every other language on Earth except the languages of the industrial nations of the modern West.

2) That is confusing, isn't it? One week minimum, 3-5 weeks maximum.

3) I think you're quite correct.

Mass Hatred of Public Figures

[(Anonymous)]

In previous MMs, it has been discussed that individuals who are the focus of strong public emotions such as lust (porn stars) and near-adoration (pop icons) are recipients of a lot of energy that they need to be able to handle – otherwise, they follow the self-destructive path of booze and drugs, etc. OK; I understand that. My question pertains to persons who are recipients of a huge amount of another strong public emotion: hatred. From my remote perspective, nothing seems to happen: I imagine that persons such as Stalin and Chairman Mao (to name a couple of big-time oppressors in the modern electronic age) must have been the objects of intense hatred from hundreds of millions of persons day-in and day-out for decades, but judging from appearances, it seems to have been water off a duck’s back for them. Nowadays public rage against their leaders is on the ascendant in many parts of the world, so I figure that this is a timely issue. What are your views on the power and effect of mass-hatred towards specific individuals and why and how it differs from the other emotions mentioned above?

Thanks, by the way, for your observations on the occult dimensions of modern politics in the past (The King in Orange).

Cobalt Jocular Crow

Re: Mass Hatred of Public Figures

[neptunesdolphins]

I wondered about that myself. The current directed hatred of local Neo-Pagans has been towards various Supreme Court Justices. I wonder how their directed hate affects these Justices in their work.

I do know that when Trump got Covid 19, they rejoiced and celebrated. As for me, I felt the need to separate myself from them as the energy was washing over me. It was in black and red waves. I had to do repeated cleansing.