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.

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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

More on monsters

[neptunesdolphins]

I have a copy of your latest edition of "Monsters." I am still trying to piece together what I saw when I was a teenager. The cryptid people seem to be stuck in the scientific method mind for all unknown monster types. As for me, I am not so sure about my experience with a pterosaur like monster.

How do you tell whether the entity is a monster or just something of this world?
Is it necessary to make the difference? Can't monsters be monsters?

You mentioned how monsters inform people of their relationship in the ecosystem of the world and beyond. How do you figure that out. My experience was part frightening, part unsettling, and part otherworldly. I can't sus out what is going on.

[(Anonymous)]

Did anyone end up taking up the mantle of doing mundane astrology readings for Australia, when you stopped on SS?

Qs

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I want to learn more about the sun. Is the astrological sun spirit invoked by the orphic hymns different (and lower in the order) than christ the sun, or the solar logos, or the sun god(s) in other religions such as ? Would love to know more about what you have learnt, how the sun relates to other planetary spirits, as well as the gods themselves.

Are there multiple sun gods/spirits?

Another thing you'd mentioned was that solar worship causes ego-inflation. Do you have any advice on modulating this so that one's personality doesn't become imbalanced?

Meditations

[denebalgedi777]

Hello,

Instead of specific queries, which seem to have slipped my mind this week, I'll offer some meditative questions but JMG or other might have some insights here:

1. Does it not seem significant that the two planets (Uranus, Neptune) that were needed to understand both the past couple of millennia (Pisces) and the couple millennia to come (Aquarius) were discovered right around the ending of the age ruled by one and the beginning of the age ruled by the other?

2. Is there significance to the fact that the prophets of the Aquarian were actually Neptunian more than Uranian?

3. Now it seems that the system is complete and no more planets are needed for the ages of ages left to humankind. One possibly more idle speculation is whether Plutonian significations will rise again in the Age of Scorpio, but this would be far in the future. I'm guessing we here will have left incarnation by that time.

I'm in a "far out speculation" kind of mood this Cancer season.

Thanks

-Deneb
Tangerine Translucent Stoat

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

1. What variant of Israel Regardie's Middle Pillar from The Art of True Healing would you recommend for becoming generally more confident and having a more optimistic outlook on life? It seems like the Sun would be an obvious choice.

2. Does Israel Regardie's Middle Pillar from The Art of True Healing constitute a form of thaumaturgy when used for personal development?

3. Is natural magic limited to thaumaturgical purposes (like success, love, etc.), or can it also be used for theurgy?

GSF Exercises and Cancer

[pwmpernicel]

Good afternoon everyone. I've been dragging my heels moving beyond journaling, morning exercises and SGO wondering if I need to be cautious in my current condition before moving forward. First off no sad songs here, doing well. I've just switched over to mAbs for Hodgins Lymphoma. Treatment has been going well, most signs of cancer are gone. It's mediastinal which is right around the solar plexus area where some of the exercises seem to concentrate. Are there any risks I should take into account here with this sort of thing or should I just keep my eyes open and back off for a spell if I notice any negative health issues after adding the SOP? Part of me wants to believe that it would be beneficial and another keeps looking back to posts where people mentioned health issues before adjusting their visualizations and whatnot.

[(Anonymous)]

If everyone in the afterlife is busy working through their life experiences and then dissolving their astral bodies for their next incarnation, do we meet up at all with our families and friends? Or is that just wishful thinking? I had counted on meeting all my dogs on the other side... 🥺

(Okay, yes, and *some* relatives...)

Do we have downtime there? Can people just hang out on the astral beaches for a while and enjoy not having to deal with the world of the living?

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

Aldous Huxley once compared the brain and nervous system to a reducing valve, whose function is to filter the apparent chaos of "Mind at large" (in other traditions, the mind of God) and leave only stimuli that are relevant for survival accessible to conscious awareness.

I couldn't help but relate this to the concept of the Four Worlds from Qabalistic theory, the source of Mind at large in its unknowableness corresponds to Aziluth, the contents of Mind at large (normally filtered by the "reducing valve") corresponds to Briah, the reducing valve itself corresponds to Yetzirah, and the end-product yielding the world as it appears to us corresponds to Assiah.

From this perspective, one goal of ceremonial magic is to tune our reducing valves (Yetzirah) to access a greater or different portion of Mind at large (Briah) and allow it to take shape in conscious awareness (Assiah).

Would you agree with this?

Q

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG,

My spiritual experiences coincided with a brief manic period (trigged by a very stressful 2 years), which went away but has left me wondering how people manage to keep their reasoning/epistemic powers strong while pursuing spiritual paths.

I definitely noticed that after the period was over, I had over-active pattern matching which has slowly (but not fully) gone away. I'm back to performing at at high level at work etc but I do think my mind still does overindex on stuff sometimes, which I don't let affect my decision making.

I'm wondering if you have any advice on bringing the mind/perceptual abilities back into full balance? I mostly pray a lot, have good discipline in my habits, and do some astrological charity/prayers.

Prayers for the Dead?

[(Anonymous)]

I am a polytheist who works with probate law. I would like to say prayers for the dead I encounter through my work, but of course most of them would be monotheists. I'm also not in any position to get permission from the families. How would you recommend proceeding?

Additionally, do you think there are issues of miasma/pollution involved in working with the dead at this remove, and if so is the SoP enough to deal with it?

--Plaid Nauseous Hummingbird

[causticus]

Happy Monday to you Archdruid. A few quick questions,

1. When invoking a pagan deity, in either prayer or ritual magic, how important is it to visualize their popular visual depiction? Does visualizing animals and/or plants associated with them help as well?

2. Are the core CGD practices compatible with the FHR system?

3. Where does the concept of the Solar Logos originate from? I’ve found it in Theosophical literature, but I can’t seem to find it in earlier traditions. In your estimation is the Solar Logos concept something akin to a Solar Deity? An Archangel? A planetary spirit/intelligence? An aggregate of all of our solar system’s spiritual entities? Or something else?

As always, thank you for everything!

[(Anonymous)]

Good Afternoon Sir and Druid,

1) Today's card has the lettered indications facing the same way, leaving only the symbol of the sun indicating Nwfyre to guide whether or not the card is reversed. From the way its drawn, I guess that it is either (upright) a porthole looking out from the inside the sphere, a bubble extending outwards, or (reversed) looking at a rather solid sphere. Am I to assume the card was lettered this way on purpose?

2) This morning I had a string of synchronicities. I had four encounters on the way to town with three land rovers, with the third (out of four) encounter being the rather similar looking Nissan patrol, driven by a neighbor I had been meaning to meet for some time.

Once I was in town, I made a string of cash purchases, which inexplicably, each individual purchase totaling to six round bills each, with a final purchase turning out to be a multiple of six (or three). Figuring someone was trying to draw my attention, I sent notice to Michael (6 by Chaldean order), and to Jupiter (by numerology order) that I have noticed their call, and to Saturn (chaldean) and Mercury (numerology) just in case it's multiples of three. Is there anything more to be done other than listening?

Undoing a bad deal?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, JMG!

OK, so I made a silly wish a while back that may be plaguing my well-being today. I developed a health issue almost 3 years ago that was made worse by certain foods and drinks (had to give up sweets almost entirely, and donuts were my favorite). I was also a regular pot smoker but toking made the problem unbearable, and I gave it up for quite a while. I had a regular magical practice at the time, and worked really hard at it - 1-2 hours a day, every day, for two years. I kind of assumed that the magic drove the weed out of my life through a manifestation on the material plane.

Then one day, in exasperation, I said out loud that "I would gladly trade magic for weed and donuts." On a whim I tried the smoke again not long after that and found that it not only didn't hurt me, it actually helped soothe my problem! Suddenly so did tequila, which was the only alcohol I could tolerate at all. (I never went back to the donuts...sweets still hurt me.)

So I quit practicing magic, and drank tequila and smoked weed for a year or so instead. My problem would flare up by the end of work and smooth down as soon as I had a little of each. Terrible curse, right? ;)

But now I want to quit both, maybe for good, and go back to magical practice. I'm getting too old and too tired to keep it up, and of course there are better things to do with my time than get hazy every night. But every time I go to bed sober my problem flares up. Bad. It's like, I asked for this and now I can't get out of it.

Any thoughts on what might be done to release myself from such an own-goal?
Many thanks in advance for your time.

Twilight of Pluto and Music

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, JMG. Perhaps you will think this isn't "occult" enough, and if so, fair enough. I had a hard time articulating what I wanted to ask and am still dissatisfied with how it came across, but I will let it go.

For many years I could tell something was wrong with modern art, architecture, fashion, music, and so on. I saw it for the hideous affront it was, but couldn't pin down what was behind it. Your Twilight of Pluto allowed me to do that, and so I thank you for that wonderful book.

I think people have asked before about bands putting "spells" in their songs, which you indicated would be unsuccessful and/or unlikely except in extreme cases, if I remember correctly. This is along similar lines, perhaps.

What I would like to ask is about the influence of Pluto in modern music. Obviously, there are certain bands in some genres that create ugly sounding music intentionally. Some Punk, Metal, and Industrial comes to mind. I'm sure there are a lot of others. I'm becoming keenly aware of this after reading ToP and reevaluating my listening habits. I almost have a visceral reaction to it now. My question is this, if Pluto creates a forced break from the cosmos, ordered beauty, what are your thoughts on Metal bands, say, who play highly technical, ordered and structured pieces? Their music may not be for everyone, but even most honest pretentious musicologists will acknowledge the beauty someone like Ynwgie Malmsteen is creating. Often this is (neo)classical orchestral music performed on electric guitar. Do you consider this Plutonian music, or just music that doesn't resonate with everyone? Should I just let my visceral response be my guide?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG (and anyone else who may choose to respond),

I have two query topics today:

1) I began doing the Middle Pillar exercise last week. When I visualize the spheres and vibrate the names, I "feel" them as gentle warmth in the corresponding area of the body. The odd one out is Da'ath -- I get a feeling of slight pressure on the front of my neck, almost like I have something stuck in my throat. I find it a little uncomfortable, but more odd than anything. Is such a feeling to be expected?

2) I've begun reading "Monsters: An Investigator's Guide to Magical Beings," and am wondering about ghosts.

Encountering a ghost is not all that unusual for me. Most of the ones I've run into are in cemeteries and graveyards and fit the book's description of a ghost perfectly, although not always. In particular, I know of some who I would say are like familiar or tutelary spirits, or shamanic helper spirits, despite being ghosts. I am reasonably certain that they are in fact ghosts (that is, the spirits of deceased persons) rather than nonhuman entities. Their purpose seems to be to help, rather than pass on a message or check on a loved one, and they don't seem to be needing help passing over.

I have never thought much of it, though, because most of the deities I'm closest to have underworld aspects, and I take care to practice personal spiritual hygiene. I've also assumed that these "helper ghosts" (for lack of a better term), as I described them, are here of their own volition (or maybe that of a deity) and have already passed on -- that is, already experienced what I now know is called the Final Death. Having read more about them in "Monsters," though, I realize that there is a fair amount that I didn't know.

Is it possible for ghosts to "return" (again, for lack of a better term) after experiencing Final Death? If so, does any special care need to be taken? Or must they be typical ghosts who need to pass on?

I plan to go through the bibliography of "Monsters" and pick up some of the relevant books to do my own research, but I thought I'd try asking you in case there's anything I ought to know sooner rather than later. I have yet to experience any ill effects, but I always figure it's better to be safe than sorry.

Note: I'm a polytheist with a magical background in folk magic, currently learning ritual magic. My spiritual background leans toward mysticism and animism. While I'm open to communicating and/or working with spirits, I don't generally seek them out except as a gesture of respect (e. g., land spirits), unless under the auspices of a deity. Otherwise, it's the spirits who make contact first.

Thank you so much for your help!

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve seen some of your answers in previous weeks on questions of connections formed by sexual contact, and recently I’ve had cause to wonder about something of my own. Forgive me if I am mistaking a particularly intense but particularly mundane experience but in the moment, it felt like something much more than that.

There is a man I’ve been friends with since I was twenty years old. We’ve never lived closer than a solid 6-8 hours apart, and though most of our contact is electronic, we do know each other in person. We’ve never dated, but were attracted to each other, though he was a huge flirt, I never thought too much of it, though I would say that despite being mostly online for the distance, we did build up a strong emotional closeness to the extent that there did reach a point where I may have considered a relationship with him, but it just was not a good time in either of our lives, I think both of us knew that and the subject was never directly broached.

At a point where we had known each other for two or three years, there was a night that we both happened to be in the same city at the same time, and ended upstanding that night together. Though both of us did in fact want to have sex, and there was definitely sexual contact, it didn’t progress to the point of intercourse. There was no ill effect on our friendship, and everything carried on as it was for a few more years until we lost contact for a bit because life circumstances

This was over twenty years ago now, and we’ve lost and regained contact a few times, though never quite to the original extent. Until In the most recent time that we reconnected out of the blue, conversation turned, very quickly, towards what I had known with him in the first several years- an emotional closeness and familiarity far more intimate than two hours of conversation should have after only occasionally saying hello and exchanging pleasantries for several years now, and by the end of the conversation it came clear that we both still felt quite the attraction for each other, and that it seemed to have a much more emotional hold on us than either realized. A very short time after we reconnected I was offered a new job with a choice of a few locations, one of which was in the same metropolitan area as he is living, a thousand miles from where I am, and with a higher salary than the other options as the company is trying to build up its presence there.

I chose a different location. Where he is is a part of the country that I have no interest in moving to. I would be very hesitant to move to a place where I had no desire to be even for an existing serious relationship, never mind something like this.

Very quickly the emotional closeness turned sexually explicit- very explicit, far more than the innuendo-littered flirting that was woven into our friendship of years ago, and only a few weeks after reconnection, one night found us in bed “together” at a distance. I recall feeling half delirious as we detailed moment by moment what would happen were we in physical proximity for it to be possible, and thinking i must be crazy that I could very tangibly feel him….feel him in me, but he said much the same thing, using the same words and phrasing that were going through my mind in the moment.

It was unquestionably more intense than any sexual experience I’ve had with another person right there in bed with me.

I’ve certainly had some vivid fantasies, and I’m no stranger to sexting but this just really seemed to go far beyond that and since reading some of your answers to others questions, I started to wonder if such a connection could have been formed back then in that one night, if there might not be some magical/metahysical element there, I’d be interested in your take on this.

LBRP and talismans

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings archdruid,

Will doing the LBRP de-consecrate nearby astrological talismans? I bought a talisman from Mr. Christopher Warnock, consecrated it per instructions, but then the next day performed the LBRP.The talisman was in a box and in a separate room downstairs while I conducted the ritual. Will it have lost it’s energy/consecration? My thinking was that as it’s a Jupiter talisman it is planetary and thus of a higher plane than the elemental focussed LBRP so not affected?

Many thanks in advance for your guidance.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, bonjour JMG,

I have been doing some triage in my pictures of family, friends, events, trips etc...

There are quite a few that I wish to discard having already used up my giveaway leverage with those that could be interested. Quite a few are doubles of the same picture.

So how do I dispose of them safely without creating a risk of "hurting" those portrayed in the pictures, bringing on bad "karma" for them or myself?

Many thanks for your help and your involvement in sharing your knowledge.

Sapienter Si Sincere

[nebulous_realms]

Greetings, JMG. While this question involves using runes for divination, I think the question is one you can still readily answer.

I have started three-rune draws for daily divinations, with the runes being the answer to my question, “what do I most need to understand about the next twenty-four hours.” Should I decide ahead of divination how to interpret the sequence, or should I discover myself how to interpret the sequence over two or more weeks of daily divinations? Many rune manuals/books suggest specific ways to interpret the sequence of runes, while LRM, which I’m using as an additional reference for basic divination, suggests (albeit with tarot cards in mind) that you should try to envision a story or process that could explain what the three cards represent, and then reflect on if the events of the past day matched what you wrote or what they could mean otherwise.

Maybe others who use runes have their own input they'd like to add. Thanks to all!

Scrying

[(Anonymous)]

Hey jmg

In “circles of power” why do you say that a scrying mirror should not be touched with bare skin?

The sound of effort

[(Anonymous)]

This is more of a field report than a question, but in case anyone else is experiencing something similar I figured it would be worth posting.

After roughly 2 months into my daily SoP practice it became impossible to ignore the strain/pain in my throat afterwards; a disproportionate amount considering show short the whole ritual is. A bit of meditation and divination on the topic brought up the themes of being stuck/needing to let go, and energy build up. Vague, but it was a starting point.
For the following day's SoP I paused while facing West, my eyes trailing along the various blue items I happen to have in the area. With a rudimentary understanding that the throat chakra = blue, and the western direction I was facing along with everything related to invoking the powers of water were all very interconnected I figured if there was ever a time to address my throat tension, this was the moment.

With little more than the thought, "and...go!", everything about the use of my voice began shifting around, and if nothing else, made me realize how little I had been allowing myself to speak; how little air I had been allowing myself to breathe. There was also an immediate, noticeable increase in my sensory awareness of the elements during their invocation and banishing, as well as an increase in the overall energy coursing through me.

So for now I'm addressing my Gods with a shaky voice that's a little more raspy and awkward, and my attention is definitely more on my own voice than the powers I'm addressing, but I feel so much better.
Daily SoP is important! No excuses!

~Rose

Curious about life force and gods

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG

I'd like to ask do the deities have any feeling or concerns about us mortals? Since deities and life force are beyond personality and thought is it possible? What is their interest in us?

Thanks

Occultism in Daily Life

[(Anonymous)]

I've read Dion Fortune's "Occultism in Daily Life" over and over. In it she recommends reciting a litany or mantram of; "Limitless power, absolute harmony, eternal duration." Do you have any thoughts on this? Is it entirely consistent with the SOP and Golden Section practice? My own practice still omits naming or invoking any gods, which is to say I do the "generic version." I try to make it clear that I aspire to wisdom, not power.

[pleiadesdreaming]

Okay, this is quite possibly a very stupid question, but my internet search yielded nothing- does it mean anything if your usual incense used for worship (I do a daily planetary practice and have devotions to Hermes and Apollo) smells fantastic one day, and absolutely awful the next? I've been slowly going through the same box for nearly everyone so I didn't switch brands or even to another box. I checked to see if it was my lighter somehow by lighting multiple sticks from the box with every lighter in the house (I don't have matches or else I would have done that too). I did a divination with Apollo today despite this, and though I didn't ask about it directly, the divination went well and actually could be summarized as, "keep up the good work, sport." Not what I would expect from an angry god. It very well could be that it's something to do with my sense of smell, but in the off chance it isn't, well, here I am

[(Anonymous)]

Do you have any advice for someone whose magick just...kind of stopped working?

For many years I had quite a bit of success with various workings of all stripes, but I would say over the past year or so I have not had any results from rituals. They just seem to go *splat*. I'm not aware of any significant change on my end, I would even say with practice my rituals have become more "elegant" and I'm certainly more confident than I ever was before. I would also say I've noticed that any divination I do for myself seems fuzzy and inaccurate, although when I divine for others it's much better.

I completed a thorough, multi-day cleansing of both my home and my person a few months ago to see if it might help, but not so much. Trying to figure out what direction to move in from here.

- Plaid Atomic Ogre