Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's a little after 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'm working my way through photos of my lineage, focusing on the teachers whose work has influenced me. Before Sandra Tabatha Cicero, last week's honoree, became head of the Societas Rosicruciana in America, it had two heads, Lucia Grosch and Maria Babwahsingh, who functioned mostly in a caretaking capacity. Before them, the head of the order was Mother Serena, shown in the picture. Her real name was Gladys Plummer, and she was the wife of SRIA cofounder George Winslow Plummer; I have not been able to trace down many biographical details of hers, but she was much younger than her first husband. After his death, she and Stanislaus Witowski headed the order; they married, and she outlived him as well. Her "Lettergrams" and some of her essays are still available from the SRIA bookshop; they show her to be a perceptive mystic and occultist. 

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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.

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With that said, have at it! 

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

Comments

[andrewskeen]

Good evening JMG,

Two very close friends of mine are in a rather unfortunate situation. The man's ex-wife with whom he shares custody of two children is following what I'm sure will be a distressingly familiar pattern, having called police and our state's child protective services coming on a dozen times in an effort to win sole custody of the children. I have known both the man and his current wife for a very long time, I know their children, and am categorically certain the ex's claims are utterly false. Having gained their consent to perform magic on their behalf, I'm curious what you would recommend to ensure justice is done and this harrassment stops. I am comfortable with astrology and astrological magic, and have done planetary charity many times in the past.

My deepest gratitude for any guidance you might provide, and for everything you write here and in your many excellent books.

Andrew / Smaragdine Decrepit Wombat

[ecosophia]

If you've got the skills to do an astrological talisman, make and consecrate one when the sun and moon are both in good aspect to your friend's natal Jupiter, or to the ruler of his 10th house, and the ruler of his 5th house (the house of children) is well dignified. You can also look for a good aspect with any benefic planet to appropriate planets in his chart. If this is above your skill set, invoke Jupiter using prayer and planetary charity. Jupiter is the planet of benevolent justice and will help everything work out for the best.

[(Anonymous)]

A) In light of the discussions of toxic environments and their effects on people, I've noticed a pattern whereby a lot of people will do spectacularly cruel and idiotic things in high school, and then regret it not that long after graduating; meanwhile, it's become an acknowledged cliche that everyone hates high school, and I've worked with teenagers and noticed that they become better people during the summer, when they aren't going to school.

Does this suggest to you that part of what makes the public education system so dysfunctional is that the entire system has gone septic on the inner planes? Obviously, some schools might be more or less clean on the inner planes, but it is striking that I've yet to meet anyone under about 40 who liked going to a North American high school; and that nearly everyone I've talked to knows what I mean when I talk about an oppressive atmosphere....

B) I'm noticing that as I put together ideas for planetary charity, I keep circling back to the same planets: my main targets are Venus, and Saturn, with Mercury and Mars in the middle, and I'm fairly light with ideas for The Moon, The Sun, and Jupiter.

I'm just getting into this, but as I reflect on this, I see it is hardwired into my personality: I tend towards a fairly difficult relationship with Venus and to a lesser extent Mars, and thus want to invoke them to get their help improving the areas of my life ruled by them; I easily see the strengths of Saturn and to a lesser extent, Mercury, and thus can easily come up with plenty of ways to call on those planets to help; while my relationship with Jupiter, The Sun, and The Moon are more neutral, so I neither need their help as much, nor can I as easily come up with ways to ask for their help. Are there concerns with doing planetary charity in an imbalanced fashion over the longer term? Should I make an effort to balance all of the planets?

C) This is a bit of a weird question, but I've noticed my circadian rhythm seems less affected by place than others'. Left to my own devices, I tend to get up and go to bed at around the same time (in absolute terms) no matter where I live; and the further I have to shift my schedule, the more unpleasant this is for me. This isn't a matter of having any kind of medical condition, because in some time zones I wake up far too early, and in others I end up staying awake far too late at night; nor is this a matter of jet lag, because I can be in a time zone for years and still my body clock wants to keep around the same rhythm.

Is there anything in the occult lore you can think of that could explain this? It's totally bizarre, and I've been completely unable to come up with any kind of materialistic explanation for it, despite having tried nearly my entire life.

[ecosophia]

1) Metaphysical factors are doubtless involved, but there's also the simple fact that the US public school system is basically a set of internment camps for young people. It didn't have to be that way, and it wasn't always that way, but now, that's how it functions.

2) Good. Now meditate on each of the planets you don't naturally resonate with until you understand what gifts they have for you, and proceed from there.

3) Hmm! That's odd. It's possible that you were a person of very fixed habits in your previous life, and at some level you're still trying to keep the schedule you had in that life.

Dungeonomics and "Sign of the Cross" Equivalent Question

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

If you have begun participating in the winter holiday season, may it be minimally stressful and maximally joyful. If not, may you be enjoying some cool, but not onerous weather.

To Share: Not real magical, but perhaps of interest to some here, this is a post using a) standard D&D assumptions, and b) economic theory to explain why wizards get into the sheep business: https://critical-hits.com/blog/2017/02/22/the-wizards-and-the-sheep/ Most fun if you are familiar with D&D, but hopefully amusing even if not.

To Ask: For JMG and the commentariat: I'm looking for gesture that is roughly equivalent to the sign of the cross - a physical self-blessing/prayer that can be used to open and/or close other prayers. Even if no specific gestures come to mind, if anyone knows the generic term for this sort of thing, that would be helpful for doing more research.

The things that the sign of the cross seems to have going for it in a Christian context are: recapitulates core symbolism of the faith, calls on the balanced aspects of deity, and touches/crosses the third eye, belly, and heart centers.

Edred Thorsson suggests a "sign of the hammer" for heathens in The Nine Doors of Midgard which is pretty much the same thing as the sign of the cross, but with an obviously different emphasis (touch forehead, solar plexus, left shoulder, right shoulder, crossing the heart in-between, at each spot call on a different deity or heiti of Odin). Divination suggests that this sign would be fine, but there might be something better out there to find/come up with, especially if I can find something that uses tree symbolism.

Might the opening to the Sphere of Protection qualify as something of the kind, or is it only appropriate for more ceremonial purposes?

As always, thanks very much to JMG and everyone here for your time, thoughts, and care.

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

Re: Dungeonomics and "Sign of the Cross" Equivalent Question

[ecosophia]

Most traditions don't have such a sign, as far as I know. The Hammer-Sign is a good choice; some Druids use the sign of the Three Rays of Light, /|\, with that intention.

garden towers for fertility

[(Anonymous)]

I have started reading secrets of the temple, and I haven't got far yet. But, I am reminded of a garden I know that had small ceramic towers made and in the garden beds for fertility. I just wet to their website, I haven't been to Occidental Arts and Ecology in decades, and in the photo on the main website page you can see that there are a couple of them left. They are just a few feet high. If you ask them, they will not say that is why they are there. https://oaec.org

And I also wonder if the statue of Buddha, for example in my neighbors garden, while of course a focal point for worship and garden blessing, I wonder if it may also being ceramic or carved stone with a soil connection have further properties, things for me to ponder

atmospheric River

Re: garden towers for fertility

[ecosophia]

The people at OAEC will be using Philip Callahan's research into the Irish round towers; little ceramic towers are usually paramagnetic enough to have a good effect on fertility. Yes, a Buddha statue made of ceramic will also have the same effect. If you want to get best results with something of the same kind, put it to the south of your garden patch.

[ataulfo]

Suppose you use magic to strengthen a party, and in strengthening that party you put another disliked one in a precarious position. This is not reflected in the symbolism or stated intention of the working but is an operative motivation in the magician at the time. Does this risk lowering the magician’s level of consciousness in the long run, considered in a context like what Yeats was trying to do with Ireland through the Castle of Heroes?

[ecosophia]

If it's part of your motivation it will effect your work, and you. Use meditation and invocation to refocus your mind so that you can be truly one-pointed, focused entirely on benefiting those you wish to benefit; the result will be much better, since you won't be laboring with a divided will.

A question regarding Christian occultists

[(Anonymous)]

If I may ask a question for you and the rest of the commentariat who care to comment...

How do Christian occultists treat the prohibition in Deuteronomy against divination, witchcraft, magic and the like? Is it a matter of the prohibition no longer having any relevance with the coming of Jesus? Or is it a matter of whether magic is being using for “non-selfish reasons”?

(I’m aware that you’re not a Christian occultist, but if my memory is correct, you have mentioned that you have friends who are. Additionally, I believe you made reference to early (Middle Ages?) Christians often using magic, but I’ve never come across an (adequate?) explanation for how they reconciled their practices with the written prohibition)

Re: A question regarding Christian occultists

[ecosophia]

It's quite simple. The Christian occultists I know recognize that there are many occult practices that their faith forbids, and they accept that prohibition. However, they also recognize that the Christian faith includes the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which can seem superficially similar to prohibited occult practices, in the eyes of those who have a narrow view of the faith. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 is one relevant passage:

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit.
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Such gifts as the word of knowledge -- that is to say, receiving knowledge from the Holy Spirit rather than from worldly sources -- the working of miracles, prophecy, and the discerning of spirits are superficially similar to occultism in their effects. To Christian occultists, however, these differ from the old Pagan occultism precisely because they come from the Holy Spirit, and are to be sought prayerfully through faith, study, spiritual disciplines, and (above all else) strict obedience to the commandments of Christ.

[(Anonymous)]

We didn’t get to the store but are going tomorrow. We had tomato soup and toasted cheese 🧀.

—Princess Cutekitten

[ecosophia]

Yum. I trust you blessed them.

[(Anonymous)]

In an effort to figure out what to expect in the years ahead, I've been mulling over which planet will rule Pluto's fading out. It seems quite likely to me that the planet in question is Saturn, for a few reasons: Saturn appears to play a role in changes in the planets, given it takes about a Saturn Return for planets to come in or out of focus; Saturn naturally rules the past, and as Pluto fades away He'll increasingly belong there; and division, which requires a limit to mark the boundaries, seems to me to be naturally Saturnine.

This, however, lead to a very, very uncomfortable thought: Pluto is still clinging to power because a very, very large number of people are unable to let go of the dream of Man's Destiny Among the Stars. In a real sense, all of the other manifestations of Pluto are being increasingly marginalized already, and if a major shock discredited the Myth of Progress, then all bets are off for everything, given how massive a shock it would be to societies and cultures worldwide; and given the effectively theocratic system of governance in the Western World, governments as well.

All it would take would be a major shock related to the space program to end it all then, and I have come up with a possibility which would fit with both Saturnine and Plutonian symbolism quite well: some poor fool(s) try to do a mission to Mars, and die horrifically along the way. It fits with the brutal , no mercy aspects of Saturn; doing something that stupid, the people involved would get the consequences.

Meanwhile, it would fit the Plutonian symbolism quite well as well: it would be shocking and likely a media spectacle; bring the dream of space travel, and quite plausibly the entire Plutonian Era, to a sudden, screeching halt; and it would mean that that mission, which will almost certainly start with a massive amount of fanfare, would fizzle out into a horrific mess, as the astronauts slowly died on the way to Mars; and the only way it can happen is if the people making the decision systematically marginalize their own scientific advisors, who almost certainly have been telling the politicians in response to any proposed manned mission, that it would be a death sentence.

What really bothers me now, is that in a real sense the Plutonian Era got started with World War I. Plutonian themes were around before, but they took hold in popular society largely as a result of the mess that World War I created; and it became clear how horrific World War I was going to be around the same time that Saturn reached the opposition point to its position in Pluto's discovery chart. By the same principle, it's plausible that whatever will lead to the marginalization of the remnants of the Plutonian likely started around when Saturn hit the opposition to its position in Pluto's demotion chart in February.

If we take this seriously, then the way that the US and China seem to be entering a new space race, with both sides promising to send astronauts to Mars in the near future, looks quite ominous indeed.

Does this seem plausible to you as well?

[ecosophia]

It's one possibility, but fortunately it's by no means the only one. What a cold and lonely way to die...

To deal with a bad situation

[(Anonymous)]

During the past year I’ve made most strenuous efforts to protect myself and family from eviction. When it seemed all but impossible, by a miracle I found us a lawyer. We began at the mercy of landlords, yet I succeeded in creating a situation where we were secure and in a position of strength.

Then, two weeks ago, a feckless family member ruined all that. Through her foolish decisions, she has created a situation where we are unable to pay this month’s rent. This is a disaster for our legal situation. By another unwise decision, she brought home a bad flu that has sickened us all. I’ve had a serious lung disease before, so my current lingering cough is far from trivial: just as winter is coming on.

I am sad. I am depressed. I feel defeated. I am frightened. My peace of mind is shattered and my health is shot. I know that I need to gather my forces to deal with this awful situation; but that is going to take more than happy talk and twinkle dust. Can you suggest anything?

My usual practice is Hellenic Golden Dawn: the LBRP and Middle Pillar Exercise, and invoking hexagrams of the planetary gods and goddesses. I also have some acquaintance with the basics of astrological magic, having followed Chris Warnock’s forum for several years.

I’ll try to get some borage soon, provided the leaky tire on my car doesn’t go flat.

Re: To deal with a bad situation

[ecosophia]

It's one of the routine experiences in the life of anyone who teaches magic that people come and ask for help at the last possible moment, when material means of help have already been exhausted. There's very little that magic can do at such a time. You might invoke the Sun and Jupiter, and see if any charities in your area can help you with a month's rent.

[k_a_nitz]

First of all, a little offering - this is a piece from my translation of Johann Baptist Krebs' Paths to immortality based on the undeniable powers of human nature which I've just finished the first draft of, and I thought you'd enjoy it:

"All that humans pursue and do with zeal comes to live in them and assumes dominance in them. Language, form, movement, and everything becomes subordinate to this force so that it finally possesses us entirely and thinks and acts in our ego.
Anyone who lets this new evil ego calmly prevail is led by it with cleverness and acumen through life, and they are finally accustomed to trust only earthly powers, and by contrast considering eternal properties and influences to be folk tales.
Such humans can only rise with effort to a sham faith, the power of which, however, is constantly closed to them. Contact with spirits is to them preposterous, an impossibility, and for any allusion to it they have an objection which is given to them without their knowing by the evil spirit produced in them. The quick gift of contradicting increases their obduracy in that they enjoy themselves in the shimmer of their contradictions and consider it to be a result of extreme rationality.
In our days is has come so far that faithless and rational are one and the same thing. But then as a result even doctors and philosophers no longer know how to help with the slightest spiritual phenomenon."

Now, on another note, in reading Karl Spiesberger's Magische Einweihung (originally published as Hermetisches ABC, Vol. I), he provides an explanation of why two people born in the same place at the same hour can turn out very differently despite having a near identical horoscope. His argument is that each will have brought in different karma and degrees of development from past lives, and that this explains a large part of the difference. Furthermore, he suggests that "the heavier the karmic entanglement, the more bound to fate the human is" [Je schwerer nun die karmische Verstrickung, desto schicksalsgebundener der Mensch] (p.230). He emphasises the importance of working on your character so that you can strengthen your freewill and so overcome these influences - "Alter your character and you alter your fate! Want — and the stars will obey you!" [Ändere Deinen Charakter und Du änderst Dein Schicksal! Wolle — und Dir gehorchen die Sterne!] (p.230 f.). Though he also suggests it is rare to fully escape the influence of the stars (and warns that no sailor throws the compass overboard regardless of how good the ship).

My question is whether this idea of the more karma the more the stars bind you could be considered reflective of a wide swathe of Western esoteric thought or whether it is less widely held.

[ecosophia]

Hmm! Many thanks for both of these. In response to your question, that's a very widely held belief. "The wise rule their stars, fools obey them" is a very widely cited maxim; "The stars incline, they do not compel" is another. Your karma, or at least your negative and entangling karma, is the product of folly and tends to produce more folly in its wake; overcome it, and wisdom gets a word in edgewise.

The ritual of the grail

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG

I have finished reading your outstanding new book Ceremony of the Grail. This joins so many dots, and opens so many mental doors I don't know where to begin, or more importantly, what forces will be renewed in the world.

A couple of things are puzzling me however.

1) The ritual of the grail, or at least, the one you've sketched out is certainly different to all other occult rituals I've seen. What egregors and power does it invoke? I ask only because of the many purported fears and dangers surrounding the grail, and my slight hesitation in seeing the ritual potentially used in a country and land that may have never received it at all. I don't want to annoy the powers in this land.

On this, I note that it seems similar to masonic rituals, in that the symbolism is universal, and not limited to any particular pantheon or system.

2) I am wondering, in this light, if the power of the ritual was more in the traditions and orders that protected and sustained the temple technology (with its very real earthly powers), and the initiation is more the test of character required to be worthy of that knowledge?

Or just that the rituals of the inner orders, that may have taught more explicit magic, are of course no longer extant?

Re: The ritual of the grail

[ecosophia]

1) My reconstruction of the ceremony, as the book explains, draws extensively on early Masonic and para-Masonic rituals. The use of a universal symbolism is exactly the point -- that's why Masonry has spread worldwide with such success, and why many esoteric orders that use the same kind of ritual structure (such as Martinism) have been able to do the same thing. I'm fairly sure that many of the ancient mysteries used a similarly universal symbolism, which is why they traveled so well. The egregor the Grail ritual invokes is its own; the powers are whatever archetypal forces correspond to its egregoric patterns in the local magical and spiritual ecosystem.

2) Most esoteric orders don't teach magic. The broader realm of occultism contains many things, and magic is only one of them; nor is magic necessarily well suited to everyone. Meditation, occult study, and initiatory ritual are the core practices of the broader occult tradition. Magic, divination, and healing are among the specialties that some orders went in for and others did (and do) not. As for the power of the ritual, it's precisely in the symbolism, and develops over time when the initiate explores the ritual and its symbolism through meditation and study, awakening the corresponding forces in the deep places of his or her psyche.

(One of the things that's confused a lot of students of occultism in recent decades is the overemphasis given to magic by some Golden Dawn alumni, particularly Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie. Even in the original GD, magic was much less central than it's since been made out to be -- the entire Outer Order curriculum involved only one magical ritual, the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, and the Portal grade added a total of one more, the Middle Pillar exercise. The Inner Order required only a basic mastery of the Pentagram and Hexagram rituals, the Rose Cross ritual, and the consecration of the seven working tools of the 5=6; there was plenty of other work for those who wanted it, but many Adepti explored other aspects of occultism and did little ritual magic. It was a more balanced way to approach occultism; I'm hoping that at some point GD practitioners will consider moving back toward that approach.)

[davidastrom]

Greetings and thanks!
If doing a planetary charity to get rid of a stalker, what planet would you suggest?
If an actor wants greater success in their career, would Venus or Jupiter be the best choice?

[ecosophia]

1) Mars. He's the defender and protector.

2) Depends on what kind of acting you do. An actress who wants to attract the adoration of fans ought to invoke Venus, no question. Someone who doesn't aspire to be a sex symbol might be better off with Jupiter!

[(Anonymous)]

I've been doing a fairly deep dive into the works of Phil Callahan for the past couple of years. I've reached the tentative conclusion that the "temple technology" as you call it, is likely to be a large scale version of a low energy maser (molecular amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). The physics of these have been known for a long time, however, I doubt that anyone mainstream has had much interest in testing those physics in low energy examples.

I re-read some of Callahan's patents after finishing your Ceremony of the Grail. One of his patents, for a healing chamber, basically resembled a round barrow!

I'm absolutely convinced there is something profound in all this, and will keep researching, and write it up if its of interest to you, and doesn't duplicate what you already know and have found.

[ecosophia]

Please do write it up. There's a vast amount to be learned, and I've mostly been focusing on the historical side of the quest. Can you point me, for example, to any readily available papers on low-energy masers? That's not an angle I've looked into yet.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
This may sound flippant, but can one do too many invocations? Each day I invoke Thoth, using an old Egyptian invocation, then the planetary spirit/angel of the day using material from the Picatrix, then the planet itself, using text from Christopher Warnock. I also play Sanskrit hymns to the planets using the link that Violet Cabra posted a few weeks ago.

Generally, the results have been positive energetically, and I haven't had any spiritual complaints. I don't do all of these in a rush one after the other, but since they are on the same set of slides, I tend to recite them within a few minutes of each other for convenience.

Is it possible to overdo invocations? After all, mystics of various religions spend hours in prayer every day!

Thank you.

[ecosophia]

Yes, it's possible to overdo it, but you're nowhere near that level. You're overdoing it if your practice gets in the way of keeping your life running.

Soccer

[boccaccio]

Hello JMG, I've wondered for a long time about the influence of magic on sports.

Currently the world championship soccer is going on. It's a once in 4 year event in the most popular sport worldwide (but not North America). The last edition in 2018 was watched by more than half the world population, 3.6 billion. With so much at stake, I have little doubt that many will try magic to benefit their favorite team or hurt their enemies. Is there anything particular you noticed so far, if any?

Perhaps I can make it a bit more specific:
When Argentina played the Dutch team, there were 70,000 Argentinian supporters in the stadium and only 1,000 Dutch. What kind of influence would that have besides the cheers going one way? It ended with a penalty shoot out. Those are the most intense moments and usualy everybody is focussing, praying etc on the succes of their favorite or the failure of their opponent. Does that have power in itself?

Morocco has proceeded to the semi-finals. It's the first time ever that a team from Africa or Arabic speaking country came so far and it seems people all over Africa and the Middle east are going crazy. What could be the impact of such massive outpouring of support?

Same with the negativity created in European countries with a sizable Moroccan minority (France, Belgium, the Netherlands) as every Moroccan victory had led to severe riots and damage done to property by rioting youths with Moroccan roots. With club footbal we know violence, but on the national level this is quite unheard of, especially after a victory. Besides the obvious backlash of rising support for far-right politics, what could be other effects?

Re: Soccer

[ecosophia]

Well, to begin with, I haven't been following the World Cup, and not just because I'm American; I'm just as bored by baseball or what have you. Sports have never really caught my interest. So I haven't noticed anything in particular because I've been paying attention to other things.

Of course people will be doing magic of various kinds to support their teams, and there's also the outpouring of less focused but powerful energy from millions of fans. Presumably that's something that plays an important role in every game played by a national team, or by any adequately popular local team. As for post-victory riots, is that unusual in your part of the world? Here in the US, tolerably often, whatever city's team wins the Super Bowl has "partying," i.e. rioting, that causes quite a bit of property damage that night.

Minerva

[baconrolypoly]

My elderly father has been having health difficulties recently. I started to feel very down about it all and was finding it hard to come to terms with his increasing frailty. The other day, I spoke out loud and asked for help, from any god who might hear me, in easing his troubles. That very day, an offer of help came and was eagerly accepted. It has made a huge difference to everyone

Once the dust had settled from the surprise, I wondered which god had heard my plea and asked. The answer that came back was a firm ‘Minerva’, almost as if someone had spoken aloud. I’d heard her name before but had no idea who she is. Reading about her, I’m wondering if she’s been there all my life because she represents so much of what I’ve needed, ever since I was a little girl and had to learn far too young how to stand up for myself and then figure out how to deal with the mountain of resulting trauma. Sometimes I’m amazed that I’m actually alive and relatively sane, with a job I adore and much love in my life. Was Minerva there all along? Do gods do that, take an interest in people who aren’t aware of them?

Oh yes, as an aside, a short while after hearing 'Minerva' I logged into a forum I use and the first poster's name I saw was 'Sulis Minerva'. Also, I have for some years been keen on searching for little owl images in the paintings of artists such as David Teniers. It feels rather like I've been getting nudged.

To say thank you, I’ve ordered a little owl statuette and a lovely lapel pin of the same bird. This feels like a steep learning curve. Is there anything else to consider? I’ve done a lot of searching but most information out there is quite simplistic and repetitive. Maybe I should just ask Minerva herself.

My head is still spinning. Is this real? It feels real.

Re: Minerva

[ecosophia]

It's real. You should certainly ask Minerva. If you feel moved to do so, it's traditional to get a statue of the goddess and burn a little incense in front of her when you want to pray to her. Beyond that, why, she's the expert.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

In your "The Castle of Heroes" article, you discussed the role of magical methods in bringing about a cultural and political resurgence in a country's collective psyche. Do you think that "Priory of Sion" hoax was a similar type of exercise, aiming at preparing the collective psyche of Western European nations for the EU project, during its foundation? Or, did it have entirely different goals?

[ecosophia]

Ah, the Priory of Sion! It's one of the funniest stories in recent occult history. The guy who founded it, Pierre Plantard, was a con artist of a sort that used to be very common but is only found these days on the fringes of the occult scene. His gimmick was to gin up fake orders and sell memberships at a high price to suckers. The Priory of Sion was part of his stock in trade. You can get the whole story from this article by historian of religions Massimo Introvigne, and this trove of original documents. Thus the Priory didn't have any goals so exalted as you suggest; it was a moneymaking gimmick by a small-time French con man that got plucked out of its natural habitat and turned into a media sensation.

Practical questions

[alifelongme]

1. Do I complete everything described in your book The Way of the Golden Section before moving to The Occult Philosophy Workbook, or it could be done simultaneously? The Workbook said that it does not require any other preparation, but I have hard time figuring out how to do both of them at the same time, especially the morning routine and affirmations. Could you kindly help me sort it out?

2. If one lives in the apartment building with neighbors above and below, could they be affected by my performing the SoP?

3. I am following the cell salts protocol which says to take the bioplasma first thing in the morning before eating or drinking. I also try to incorporate drinking a glass of hot water first thing in the morning. Given your historical knowledge, do you happen to know which one is usually done first, bioplasma or hot water?

I realize that these are pretty trivial questions but it will continue to bother me to no end if I at least won’t try to find out :)
Thank you.

Re: Practical questions

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, I recommend finishing the material in The Way of the Golden Section before proceeding to the Workbook. The morning routine and affirmations are the obvious issue, but it also helps in general to complete one set of work before going onto the next.

2) Not that I've ever noticed -- and I've lived in apartments most of my life.

3) Drink the water first. That clears your mouth and makes it easier for the tissues to absorb the cell salts.

Qs

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG and everyone else here,

1) I wanted to ask you about Jupiter and saturn today. There are some sources that consider saturn highest up the firmament before higher spirits, just above jupiter. I'm wondering what the understanding behind this is, and how they related to each other as planetary spirits/deities.

2) Extending on this, wisdom can be both jupiterian and saturnian, depending on the source, quality, and application. Wondering if you can elucidate wisdom as it relates to either.

3) I have an enthroned saturn, venus and mars, but a debilitated jupiter (mostly shows up in the problems I have in the houses Jupiter rules). Do you have any advice on how to develop a relationship w Jupiter, perhaps for future lifetimes?

Re: Qs

[ecosophia]

1) In the sequence of the planets, Saturn is further out than Jupiter, whether you put the Earth at the center (as in traditional astrology) or the sun at the center (as in modern astrology). Mythologically, Jupiter is the son of Saturn.

2) Good heavens, no -- Saturn is wisdom, Jupiter is benevolence. You don't go to Jupiter for wisdom, because his influence is too expansive and optimistic to be wise.

3) I don't recommend it! Focus on the planets that are strong in your natal chart, and use their influence to shore up the planets that are weak: for example, in the houses that Jupiter rules, apply cold Saturnine wisdom to reining in your overly optimistic and benevolent impulses.

Q

[(Anonymous)]

Question open to JMG and everyone else,

Has anyone figured out the significations of the 8th house as it applies to their own lives? (Like in a way where the logic and link is clear).

It's the one house whose significations are least clear to me; best I know is that with a weak L9, I've had some truly horrible stuff happen to me (that have transformed me). Otherwise the general advice I get is avoid associating with crime, and the occult (yet here I am haha).

JMG, since you might avoid the natal answer, what is the 8th house used for in divination?

Re: Q

[ecosophia]

I'll leave natal astrology to those who are good at it. In horary charts, I use the 8th to represent the financial and material resources available to whoever is in the 7th house in that reading -- for example, if I'm doing a reading about a proposed partnership, the 8th represents what resources the partner might bring to the equation. I also use it as the significator of the quesited in charts about a planned magical working. In mundane charts, I read the 8th as the house of foreign trade and investment, though it can also indicate a spike in the national death rate if a malefic rules it or is placed in it.

[daniellethepermaculturist]

Do you have any opinion about the quality of this organization: GOLDEN DAWN
COLLEGIUM SPIRITU SANCTI?

What literature would you recommend as an introduction to the Golden Dawn?

Asatru has been heavily criticized for making the genetic link between to the connection with their gods. I see this connection made with many indigenous religions. Is there truth to that claim or is it more about a living tradition and tapping into that then having the right genes?

I also reflected on what you told me about how death was a part of life. It has become clearer to me that life feeds off of life in a circle of love. I think I was grieving and focusing on the pain of loss at the time. I also think the fleshiness and gore of some death was distracting to me. I was placing the material pain over the spiritual reality.

[ecosophia]

1) As far as I know that's not one of the GD organizations I've interacted with, so I have no opinion on the subject.

2) Two books by Israel Regardie, Foundations of Practical Magic and Ceremonial Magic, would be good choices.

3) The genetic issue is very complicated. There are some practices that do seem to depend on particular genetics; there are also traditions that have been pirated by clueless white folks often enough that they've gone to a genetic rule to screen out the next round of same. On the other hand, there's also a lot of ethnic bigotry on all sides, not just the light-skinned end of things, and that also plays a large role in that. For my part, I've always made it a rule to avoid any tradition that has an ethnic or genetic rule; that's partly courtesy, and partly because I find that sort of thing distasteful.

4) I'm glad to hear this. It can be a little shocking to deal with death as a normal and healthy part of life, I know. Our culture is so profoundly neurotic about the whole subject!

Bodies on the planes

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Mr. Greer - you've mentioned that humans have a primitive form on the mental plane, the mental sheath. What would the equivalents of that be on the astral, etheric, and physical planes? Do you know any examples of beings who have only progressed to having a "sheath" on these lower planes?

Thanks!

Re: Bodies on the planes

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. All "inanimate" things have material bodies, but crystals also have etheric sheaths; all plants have material and etheric bodies, but trees also have astral sheaths; all animals have material, etheric, and astral bodies, but humans and a few other species (whales, dolphins, elephants) also have mental sheaths, and so on.

Dodecahedron / Pentagon

[(Anonymous)]

Hello.

I'm at the point of constructing the Dodecahedron in the GSF work. Despite having done a successful Pentagram (exercise 28) I am having trouble with the Dodecahedron. (You did write it was the hardest construction in the book.) Specifically I'm having trouble with making the first pentagon. When I draw it as a large size I can get all the sides to be equal. But when I try to make one small enough to build the entire pattern, I can't get the bottom line of the pentagon to be equal to the other sides. (By the bottome line I mean the base of the house if the shape is looked at as a home.)

I've taken my time working on the drawings throughout the past year, but want to finish the last few up, and meditate on them so I can construct the emblem and then do the initiation ritual and move on to the Occult Philosophy Workbook. But I'm getting stuck here. It seems like there have been a few I've had to work on several times before I got it right.

Thank you for any further tips.

Cobalt Crunchy Nymph
Justin Patrick Moore

Re: Dodecahedron / Pentagon

[ecosophia]

Okay, good. You've noticed a problem; now you get to solve it. My advice? Do a big pentagram and a small one together, step by step. Do the first step of each, big one first, and then the second step, and so on. That will show you where you're making the mistake on the small one.

Book recommendation

[(Anonymous)]

This new UC Press release looks like it might be of interest to some people who practice Welsh druidry (from the description; I have not read the book):

https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520390256/tales-of-merlin-arthur-and-the-magic-arts

Tales from the 16th-century Chronicle of the Six Ages of the World, in English for the first time. "Tales of Merlin, Arthur, and the Magic Arts revives the original legends of these Welsh heroes alongside stories of the continued survival of the magical arts, from antiquity to the Renaissance, and the broader cultural world of the Welsh. These stories provide a vivid and faithful rendering of Merlin, Arthur, and the many original folktales left out of the widespread accounts of their exploits."

-Translucent Jejune Octopus

Re: Book recommendation

[ecosophia]

Interesting. Thanks for this.

[(Anonymous)]

John--

Given that the Law of Gender is one of the principles highlighted in the Kybalion, I was wondering if you believe there to be a magical aspect to this modern movement to blur and/or erase the notion of gender.

[ecosophia]

Good! Yes, and it's not the only one of the basic principles modern corporate liberalism is trying to erase. Notice the way they expect the pendulum to swing only to the left!

The issue here is very simple. Accept the occult view of the world and you realize that the cosmos isn't simply a lump of raw material waiting to be manipulated by human beings -- or, more precisely, by a subset of human beings who think of themselves as being better and smarter and more virtuous than everyone else. You have to accept that the world has its own laws, which are not subservient to your cravings, and which will clobber you if you ignore them. That reality is utterly unacceptable among our privileged classes these days, and so they've gone to war against every law that expresses limits. It's a war they can only lose, but they literally aren't able to think that thought.