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 picture?  I've now finished tracing as much of my lineage as I can through John Gilbert and his teachers, and it's time to go on to another part of my studies. I think most of my readers know that I'm a Rosicrucian among other things -- specifically, a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in America (SRIA). (There are various Rosicrucian orders these days; the one in California that gets all the publicity is only one of them.) The current head of the SRIA, under whom I've studied Rosicrucian philosophy and practice, is Sandra Tabatha Cicero -- that's her on the left. On the right is one of her teachers, Israel Regardie, who we'll discuss a little later on. Since Tabby's still very much alive, I won't go into biographical details.  

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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

[liamq]

JMG,


(1) Can all seven planets be banished or summoned with each one of the four elemental hexagrams?

(2) Could a practitioner of Golden Dawn magic also perform your Druidry Handbook’s Opening and Closing of the Grove, along with the Holy Day Rituals? Or would this count as harmfully mixing systems?

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, but you'd be better off learning the Hexagram rituals and using those instead.

2) You can do that, so long as you keep it strictly separate -- i.e., don't bring any GD techniques into the Druid ceremonies.

Planetary Images

[(Anonymous)]

This question is for both the commentariat and JMG. I've set up a shrine to the 7 heavenly luminaries and a couple of the Behenian Stars for daily offerings of incense and prayers. For images I've used some of the Picatrix talisman images that Chris Warnock bundles with his talismans, but they have a distinct middle eastern style that doesn't resonate with me. I thought of using NASA images but that seems a little focused on the material rather than the spiritual. I also know the Indian traditions have their own anthropomorphic images of the planets, but those are heavily steeped in Hinduism, which I don't connect with.

Are there other images of the planets? What do other devotional commentors use for planetary images?

Re: Planetary Images

[ecosophia]

Well, how about the images of the planetary gods? We still call the planets by the names of the corresponding Roman gods, and their images and statues are easy to come by.

[(Anonymous)]

Time for a round of applause for our host.

👏

—Princess Cutekitten

[sea_spray]

Indeed!

Link between Freemasonry and the theories of Graham Hancock?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Do you see a possible link between certain elements of masonic ritual and the theories of Graham Hancock?

Thanks for your help!

Re: Link between Freemasonry and the theories of Graham Hancock?

[ecosophia]

No, Masonry's much, much more recent than the traditions Hancock discusses. Modern Freemasonry was founded in 1717; its roots go back to Scottish builder's guilds of the Middle Ages, and there are pieces of evidence that are all but impossible to explain unless it does in fact have a connection with the medieval Knights Templar; through the Templars and their Gnostic links, it has a very distant heritage from late classical spirituality -- but that's about 9,000 years too recent to have anything to do with the Ice Age civilizations Hancock is talking about.

[vitranc]

Good morning JMG,

A question just came up trough my visionary work.
1. I was following a guide and he brought me to another figure. He spoke, but I could not hear him. And it became obvious to me, that I see while scrying, and sometimes feel. But I do not „hear“.
How would one train / go forth to acquire the ability to „hear“? divination and meditation have pointed in this direction.

2. The last couple of scrying have been better then the previous bumblings. Thanks very much to a friendly guide who taught me how to approach them in my first go. Just recently a guide literary knelt next to me and held my hand until I focused and „got it together“ enough for the journey. They are doing their best to help me. Why is everybody being so loving and helpful? Like the best teachers and friends?

Best regards,
V

[ecosophia]

1) Hmm! I'll have to toss this one to the commentariat. I've always heard in my imagination much more clearly than any other imaginal sense -- I didn't have to learn how to do it. Anyone else?

2) Many spirits who have finished with their human lives work with those of us who are still incarnate, because that experience helps them go further, too. So both sides benefit.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for this offer!

Last week, I asked about a good situation at a now former workplace, and you said it sounded like things at another store under the same management went septic because of a manager spewing all his negative energies into the environment; and that it sounded like that was starting to happen in the job I quit. I have three follow up questions this week.

A) Having finally left, I’m have the uncomfortable realization my personality suffered a major degree of degradation in the past month or so from all the toxic energies there. Do you have advice on how to undo the damage that has been done?

B) One other concern I have is that I was doing planetary charity, and it (along with the rest of my spiritual life) fell apart due to the broader collapse in my personality. I missed a week, and did not give it the attention it deserved before that; given human nature, the traditional lore must discuss how to make amends to the planets in situations like this. I have come up with a round of planetary charity to the affected planets as a way of apology, but can you think of other steps I could take to make amends?

C) Are there any long term effects of exposure to the sort of etheric and astral toxicity I dealt with that I should know about? I’m asking specifically about any issues which might not be apparent now, but could cause problems in the future.

I’m assuming that by avoiding the stores going forward I should be able to minimize further issues, but I did get exposed to a lot of toxic energies in a very short time….

[ecosophia]

1) I recommend a hoodoo bath of the kind described in the Magic Monday FAQ. That will cleanse you of noxious energies. Other than that, make a sustained effort to live in accordance with your ideals, and if you hurt anybody other than yourself by the period of degradation, apologize and make it up to them.

2) The planetary charity should be fine. Ask them for help with your spiritual and moral recovery; they're used to humans, they know we're fallible, and they have a lot of patience with us.

3) No, so long as you treat it as a learning experience and use it as an opportunity to improve, you'll be fine.

Twitter and The Magical “Resistance”

[jruss]

Archdruid,

Not sure if you’ve seen the bombshells Musk has dropped, it shows elements of the Government worked with Big Tech to cheat Trump out of the election, actual smoking Gun level stuff. As we know a lot of magic was tossed into this.

What sort of backlash do you think can come of this?

Considering the gods sense of humor I wouldn’t be shocked if everything The Left valued all cane tumbling down at this point.

Re: Twitter and The Magical “Resistance”

[ecosophia]

Backlash? Nah, we're not to that stage yet. What we're seeing now is the moral collapse of corporate liberalism. People who not that many years ago insisted that free speech had to be defended and that government control of the media was a bad thing are now insisting that free speech is bad and the government ought to control the media. They are becoming everything they once hated. If this goes the way I expect, they'll complete that process in a big way. Keep an eye out for hatred toward women and people of color to start being justified by the corporate liberal media; when that becomes widespread the end is in sight.

[deketemoisont]

To whoever asked for permission to translate the Modern Essenes work into Portuguese in the previous Magic Monday:

I'd like to offer you help, should you want any; I'm a Brazilian who's already translated to Portuguese some (peak-oil) writing by JMG, among other things. Should you be interested, you could message me on Dreamwidth, or, if you don't have a profile and intend to stay that way, I believe a comment with "NOT FOR POSTING" and your e-mail address would enable JMG to put us in contact.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey Brazilian friend! Glad to find another speaker! Thanks for the offer of help :)

For the OME I'm Ok, translating is also giving me an opportunity to take a much closer look at the material, so I'm enjoying doing it.

I've also done some translations of JMG's work previously, specifically the Judson exercise, and SOP. I have them up on my website (https://josegabriel.pt/?page_id=1455), in case you're interested in having a look or sharing the material to someone who would make good use of it :)

jmg, I'll be posting the translations on a (hopefully) weekly basis as a blog post on my website, josegabriel.pt, in case you want to take a look. The full translation will be available as a PDF, as are the previous ones are. I can also send them directly to you if you're interested.

Tree "Creed" and Cantref Correspondences in Dolmen Arch

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

I hope everyone's December is off to a good start and that your plans are near full-waxing along with the moon.

To Share: I've been working on this for a while now, and I'm not quite sure I've got it yet, but in the interest of pushing myself, I'm sharing here now that I've got a version that might be done. I'm working on a "Heathen Rosary", and the approach I'm taking is to come up with an equivalent piece for each piece of the traditional Catholic Rosary. In the stead of the Apostle's Creed, I wanted a statement not of belief, but of intention and practice, to better match how I see polytheistic religion. The form is "Anglo-Saxon Long Lines", the words all grew out of Old English, and much of the imagery (including the central metaphor) grew out of Anglo-Saxon-flavored Heathenry, but I think the poem itself might work for a broad range of polytheists. At any rate, I hope it at least serves as inspiration to some, and I'd love to hear any feedback folks have, as I'm still new to this whole poetry business:

Hallowward we have | our hearts foreturned
to give worship | to wealsome Gods,
watering anew | that nut life-bearing.

Bright with holiness | our hearts become,
as troth we give | to trustworthy Gods
in fair trade upon | tree life-binding.

Shining happily | our hearts should be,
for steering will be given | by steadfast Gods
to bless us with | blossoms life-healing.

To Ask: In the Dolmen Arch material, I've noticed that sometimes material corresponding to the seven cantrefs is not explicitly linked as to which thing goes with what cantref, such as the Seven Ways of Thought in the Gradd y Damcaniwr. Is this just to require the student to meditate on the matter and draw some conclusions on his own, or is there anything else going on here?

As always, thanks very much to JMG and the commentariat for such a wonderful and engaging community.

To any who will have them, I put forth my blessings and best wishes,
Jeff

Re: Tree "Creed" and Cantref Correspondences in Dolmen Arch

[ecosophia]

It's to encourage students to think for themselves and wrestle with the system of cantrefs, rather than just accepting the system blindly. That's something I try to do with all of my books these days.

[open_space]

Good evening!

Upon review of my notes, there are some themes that pop-up from some of my meditations that I hadn't seen before. When I meditate upon those it seems that it spirals in towards a thing. When I try to touch the thing I get blank and if I try to shift from thinking to feeling I get what seems noise in the form of images and some vague 'astral sounds' that seem like mumbling as if something is trying to talk and it uses words and sentences but they don't lead anywhere.

1) Is there a morphology to thought-chains? If so, how can the root thought be touched?

2) There are times when it seems to be some "figuration" happening, but the language doesn't seem well-suited. How does the process of building symbols, or sentences perhaps, so that it could be grasped look like? Does it happen to have something to do with synesthesia? Or perhaps I am doing something wrong and unintentionally mixing meditation and scrying?

3) Last week I got a few odd moments. One of those was a golden flash in my secondary vision and the other was what felt like listening to someone else's conversation or talking on the phone, but it wasn't coming through my ears. Does this sound like astral static? Or maybe I should banish a little more than invoke while things stabilize?

4) One of the things that concerns me (besides that it was kind of weird!) would be that things happen when not desired. Is there an exercise that I could do to tell my mind that I am not available for such things when I don't ask for it? An affirmation perhaps? "I open and close my psychic senses at will". I note though, that both of these happened almost as I was falling into sleep or getting ready for bed.

[ecosophia]

1-2) These are both things you need to explore in your own meditation practice, not least because the answers seem to vary from person to person.

3) Yes, that sounds like astral static.

4) The state of consciousness when you're cycling down into sleep, or rising back out of it, is always open to the astral plane. Don't worry about it. If that starts happening in ordinary waking consciousness, that could be an issue, but only if it interferes with your ability to cope with daily life; learning to be present in both worlds at once is a useful skill.

Buhner last days and last book

[(Anonymous)]

I think Stephen Buhner, besides being an herbalist would be considered to understand the earth magic of plants and place, so then I can mention this here on Magic Monday.

Many likely know he has been chronically and terminally ill with Pulmonary fibrosis. He just posted his last post and says his partner will follow up a post later but he was only able to do this with help and will pass on in a few days. He also says that he did finish his last book, which may be of interest to others here, this is the Amazon blurb on it " Plants are some of the oldest spiritual teachers that human beings have known. Native cultures have insisted for centuries that their knowledge of plant medicines were given them in dreams and visions by the plants themselves. For millennia spiritual adepts throughout Asian cultures have learned at the feet of plants. Within those lineages plants are considered to be some of the most subtle teachers for those on the ecstatic journey. Those that follow such a path are what some call vegetalistas.
Stephen has been exploring this dimension of human relation with plants for over 40 years. This new work, Becoming Vegetalista: Veriditas and the Journey to the Self , is the fourth in a series that began with Sacred Plant Medicine , continued with the award-winning Lost Language of Plants , then The Secret Teachings of Plants , and ended most recently with Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm . "

" Facebook A Last Post
HI All
Regrettably, my body has taken a severe turn for the worst; it doesn’t look like it will be able correct. I spend most of the day sleeping; I am having seizures and mini-strokes now. Julie brings me back from them but it is getting harder and harder for her to do so. It's only a few more days now. Sorry for this last long journey into night. I had hoped to find a different outcome.
Pulmonary fibrosis is not a kind disease and in many ways cancer is far more benevolent oddly enough. I have spent most of my time on the couch in front of the computer or about 20 feet away lying in bed, that is about all I can do and I have to have help to make it that far. I can no longer move on my own. Your very kind donations have allowed us to clear all our credit cards and buy a few expensive care items that we had hoped to have and which have helped immensely. You have helped us so much at the end; this has made more of a difference than you know and I can't thank you deeply enough.
I am lucky enough to be buried deep in the Gila Forest in a place few people are aware of. luckily, New Mexico is still supportive of home and green burial. So it is just me and my beloved forest, right adjacent to the aldo Leopold wilderness area which makes a lot of sense to me given my life work. The truth is that as I have grown older and more tired, I feel my connection to the land more deeply. I have been lucky enough to be buried in a handmade woolen shroud. One made with care and love, the deer buttons are quite lovely.
Julie and trishuwa will have some posts to make in the coming weeks.
I did manage to finish my last book, Becoming vegetalista. It will be out in a number of weeks. Only 500 or so; I did not get to see it in print. I left quite a number of signed stickers to be placed in some of the books though I don’t expect them to last long. I wish you all the best, safe travel in your lives.
Green blessings,
Stephen harrod buhner "

His book healing Lyme, 2nd edition and others have made a huge difference in my life and many others

Atmospheric River

Re: Buhner last days and last book

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this. I also learned a great deal from his books and will be sorry to see him leave this life.

Agnihotra ritual

[milkyway1]

Good morning JMG and everybody else! I hope y‘all had a wonderful weekend and a pleasant start into the week. A special thanks to you, JMG, for hosting us and dealing with all the questions! :-)

Somebody I happen to know recently mentioned an „Agnihotra ritual“ and offered to explain/show it. This was in particular about the benefits of the ritual and/or of the ashes to the fertility and resilience of the land.

Two questions about that:

1. Does this ritual have any kind of spiritual and/or occult implications? Could there be any unwanted side effects or long-term effects from such a ritual?

In particular, if somebody was following any of the occult/magic paths you are teaching, could there be any cross-effects?

I‘m a bit hesitant to perform a ritual if I don’t really know what I‘m doing there, let alone what subtle effects it might have.

2. After the recent Open Post discussion about the Temple Secret, I found it quite curious that the Agnihotra ritual is being marketed as good for the fertility of the land, the resilience of plants, reduction of pests, etc (and of course, according to some of its fans, everything else under the planet one would wish for - one of these days, I‘ll find a „spiritual technique“ which will also magically clean my bathroom! ;-) ).

Seriously, though, the Agnihotra ritual seems to combine pretty much the same elements as the temple technology, but in a slightly different way:

Geometry (in this case, pyramids and maybe circles/spheres)
Chanting (mantras)
Food offerings (rice, ghee)
Incense (not quite, but burning ghee and cow manure might have a similar effect)
Human participation through ritual

The only thing which is missing is the location - instead there is timing.

Could the Agnihotra ritual make use of the same „technique“ that the temple technology has been using? If so, comparison might give some more insights into how the technique works, and what is important to it.

Milkyway

Re: Agnihotra ritual

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, emphatically. The Agnihotra is a sacred ritual, reenacting the original sacrifice made by Prajapati, the first being, and invokes the fire god Agni and the sun god Surya. It isn't something ever to do without a vivid awareness of its spiritual dimension. If you're considering doing it, I'd encourage you to consult a qualified Hindu pandit to get some sense of what kind of commitment you're making and how best to handle it.

2) That's certainly a point worth following up on. Burnt offerings were standard practice in many branches of the temple tradition, of course, and it's worth following up in traditional Hindu literature about the Agnihotra.

OSA

[stcathalexandria]

I'm working my way through the Companion level of the OSA work following the directions and doing one transformation a day. Accompanying it with some long walks in the brisk winter air and regular practices, is making for a December to remember! Thank you for making the Octagon Society work available. It's been the perfect accompaniment to long covid (the slow rolling disaster, not the condition).

Amber Obtuse Spider

Re: OSA

[ecosophia]

You're welcome, and I'm delighted to hear this.

[(Anonymous)]

What are the most powerful cleansing rituals there are, and what sort of things would make a place bad enough to necessitate their use?

[ecosophia]

I have no idea what the most powerful cleansing rituals might be. Since I haven't personally experienced every cleansing ritual in the world, how could I judge?

[(Anonymous)]

Are there books on how to be a good neighbour to the unseen? All the things you can do, like building little spirit houses, collected together in one guide?

[ecosophia]

I've never seen one -- and that's unfortunate. A book like that would be helpful. Perhaps, rather, an anthology by various authors, since different people have different skill sets and knowledge bases when it comes to the Unseen.

[(Anonymous)]

I am facing a couple of issues and I would be grateful for advice.

1) I have found that post-pandemic, and certainly, post something of a breakdown myself, that basically all my previous friends have, well to my eyes, become distant, self-absorbed, and extremely materialistic. Their wokeness, if you would call it that, seems to be a projection of inner fear and anger, and my past and present kindness means and achieves nothing. It's enough to get me into a binary that no, not all the work you put out into the universe gets returned... I don't know if it's a function of my practises, or simply, a phase I, and my former friends, are going through. It gets depressing and makes me think at times, why bother.

If its of assistance, I have found that the Essene pathway is incredibly helpful. It seems to be a middle ground between unwanted help and the pit of why-care nihilism. Even in the week I've practiced it, I've found it incredibly helpful. So I may have answered my own question, LOL.

2) I have found, through meditation, that I suffer from a double-bind, contrarian issue. Basically, whenever I think "good" things, my brain, a few seconds later, generates "bad" thoughts to counter the good. This can rapidly spiral to OCD level obsessions. It terrifies me, and affects many aspects of my life. It certainly affects my focus on spiritual stuff. Do you have advice on breaking through this perversity?

[ecosophia]

1) All the work you put out into the universe does indeed get returned -- but not always as quickly as you'd like! The world is going through an extremely difficult period of transformation and a lot of people aren't taking it very well. Give them time and patience, and be careful not to use helpfulness as a way to try to control others, as so many people do these days -- that never ends well.

2) You might consider doing daily journaling about that. Very often that habit of mind is rooted in childhood experiences that have never been processed fully, and those need to be brought up into consciousness and processed in order to let go of the habit.

[(Anonymous)]

Last night I had an unusually clear and easy to remember dream:

A recently homeless man was taken in by a fay woman called Poppy. He lived in both worlds simultaneously, so might be next to the hearth of a grand house in that one, and next to a bonfire on the street in this one. He wasn't always aware of both at the same time, often making him look crazy on this side. Not helped by Poppy being a manic pixie dream girl who actually was a manic pixie and enjoyed chaos. But she also did look after him and kept him warm and stuff. At the end of the dream a policeman found him at a railway station, but also seemed to know that in the other world it was a park.

How does that match up with the lore?

[ecosophia]

Not at all, as far as I know, but it would make a great fantasy novel!

[(Anonymous)]

A few questions about the ego:

1. Is the will the same thing as the ego?
2. Is the goal of all wisdom traditions the elimination of the ego, or is that limited to eastern traditions?
3. Assuming 2) is yes, if will is ego, can you train it so thoroughly that it refuses to let itself go?
4. When I stop myself and observe what I am doing in the moment, to question the motivation of my actions and emotions, is this mindfulness meditation, with its conflicts - and possible dangers? - to certain types of western occultism?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) No. The will is much more basic.

2) No. It's not even the goal of all Eastern traditions.

3) See #2.

4) No, it's not mindfulness meditation, because you're thinking -- you're questioning your motives and reflecting on your emotions. (Mindfulness meditation involves simply being aware of mental contents and letting them go past without engaging them.) What you're doing is far more useful. One of the oldest and most widely practiced Western occult disciplines, in fact, is to do this at the end of each day, reviewing your day and reflecting on your acts and judgments.

[(Anonymous)]

It seems like every week for quite a while now there's been comments about how easy it is to offend gods. These do not seem like good relationships to get into. If they were similar in power to us it would be one thing, but they are massively more powerful and yet still take out frustrations on us. Even humans are supposed to be benevolent towards children and animals.

Going beyond that, read some mythology. If that was an online dating profile, would you send a message? Probably not - because they're full of massive red flags of abusers.

If you were desperate you may be willing to try anything. Conversely some people can safely handle very dangerous animals - if someone had the same knack with deities it might look like a worthwhile risk. But for anyone else - why does dealing with gods look like a good idea?

[ecosophia]

Er, you're overstating the case considerably. It's not at all easy to offend gods. The issue that's come up several times is that if you ask the gods for a specific favor, and then refuse it when they provide it, they'll stop doing favors for you. That's true of most conscious beings, including pets and children.

Spiritual considerations of Slaughtering

[(Anonymous)]

Do you have thoughts, or a book recommendation, on the spiritual aspects of slaughtering sheep or avians for food?

I am the current caretaker of a hobby farm. Our goal is to provide enough food for four people. With our current diet, animal breeds, and primary production I am roughly slaughtering 12 sheep and 50 avians per year. This is more slaughtering and butchering than I anticipated. The animals are born here, range the property, and are given a dignified death with a sharp knife. My hands help the lambs in their first hours, guide them to their pastures, and end their lives. My skills and behaviors continue to improve, and it is not meant to be an unemotional activity, but I can feel that the spiritual aspect of my activity is insufficient. My current thoughts are to more explicitly dedicate prayers for the animals, make offerings to the gods, and sanctify the slaughtering space. It is against perceived norms, which is why I mention it here, that I have found excellent luck with sky burial of the carcasses. The smell is non-existent compared with ground burial, and the etherics are much clearer. Anyway, any thoughts and questions are welcome. Thank You.

Temporary Conscious Aggregate

Re: Spiritual considerations of Slaughtering

[gullindagan]

Yeah, this is why many of our subsistence farmer ancestors slaughtered animals at specific times and shared their blood with the land, the ancestors and the gods, and shared the meat with their community. "Animal sacrifice" is a dirty word these days, but having some ritual/spiritual tech around this very potent part of life makes a lot of sense.

[(Anonymous)]

After death can the etheric body be consumed by anything other than the usual etheric scavengers? Could you arrange to 'donate' your body to something else? Just like it would be more impressive to be eaten by sharks than worms, is there more charismatic etheric megafauna than small glowing slugs? :)

[ecosophia]

Hmm! That's an enticing idea. I don't know what etheric megafauna you'd find charismatic, though, so you might want to work on developing your clairvoyant senses so you can make that judgment call for yourself!

Rosicrucian influence on your teaching

[milkyway1]

Another question related to today‘s post, if I may:

So far, it was quite obvious how John Gilbert‘s branch of your occult lineage has influenced your teachings. ;-) Would you mind explaining how the Rosicrucian branch has influenced what you teach and how you teach it?

(I know next to nothing about Rosicrucianism, so apologies if this is totally obvious - in this case, feel free to point me to some basic reading material instead ;-) ).

A curious Milkyway

Re: Rosicrucian influence on your teaching

[ecosophia]

The material I learned from John was almost entirely a matter of practices, and the teachings included with it were all focused on guiding the practice. There wasn't a lot of philosophy.

That's the thing I've gotten from the Rosicrucian tradition. The particular school I work with was founded by George Winslow Plummer, who received a Rosicrucian initiation and a set of practices as a relatively young man and spent most of his life working out the philosophical and theological implications. He was strongly influenced by Max Heindel and Rudolf Steiner, but he didn't take their teachings uncritically; he also learned a great deal from the science of his time. So his work has been especially useful to me as a source of philosophical ideas and a challenge to think about the implications of what I'm doing.

SoP and Interruptions

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

What should you do if you're in the middle of the SoP and get an interruption you can't refuse? Like, maybe the dog decides she has to go out **right now**. The first time it happened I rushed through and felt off balance for a while. The second time I kept going but had a big mess to clean up. Is it better to stop the SoP, and pick up where you left off in a few minutes? Or is it better to wait a certain amount of time and start over?

Random side question: is there any chance the SoP I'm doing is disturbing her sleep? This is new for me so maybe I'm doing something incorrectly.

Re: SoP and Interruptions

[ecosophia]

1) Go back and do the whole thing over again from the beginning. In my experience, at least, this works better.

2) Put the dog out before you start your ritual!

Removing etheric traces from objects

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I have a question about etheric residue. I am restoring a quilt that was in my grandmother's possession while she was dying. Judging from various stains, I think it was on her bed when things got bad towards the end.

Since she started the quilt and I finished it, it is quite dear to me and I would like to keep it. How do I remove any lingering traces of 'bad energy' that might be attached?

Thank you for your time.

Re: Removing etheric traces from objects

[ecosophia]

Well, what kind of magic do you know how to do?

[(Anonymous)]

As giving a knife as a gift can sever a relationship, are there any other categories of gift that can have unexpected effects?

[(Anonymous)]

Have to second this request as since I found out about the knife as a gift issue I remember all the times I was thinking of giving my wife a nice knife set. She would have appreciated them also but I always held back from that gift idea..good to know if other categories of gifts may not be helpful