ecosophia | Magic Monday

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.

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here.

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

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

~~With that said, have at it!~~

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dear JMG,

Blessings to you and my fellow readers of this forum. After doing my daily practice, I draw a Major Arcana card. Recently, I’ve started to look at these in cycles of four. On Tuesday, I drew The Moon. On Wednesday, The Emperor. On Thursday and Friday, The Tower. My interpretation is that there is something I’m not seeing clearly (The Moon) about my ambitions (The Emperor) that, if unchecked, could lead to disaster (The Tower x 2). I would like to ask if you think this could refer to doing some kind of shadow work? I would also like to know if there any methods or books that you may recommend on this subject that is compatible with Golden Dawn magic.

Many thanks.

Why not cast a divination for the question, "Is this trying to tell me I should do some shadow work?" That's not a subject I know much of anything about; my background in unpacking my psyche mostly involves the Order of Spiritual Alchemy methods I've discussed here on this journal.

I don't know how compatible they are with GD magic, but a few options for Shadow work:

1) Owning Your Own Shadow by Robert A. Johnson - this is pretty brief and straightforward and includes some exercises for figuring out what you have pushed into your Shadow and how to come to terms with it.

2) King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore - This is mostly useful if you are a man, but it describes the four archetypes in the title, and relevant for Shadow work, what they look like when they are expressed as part of your Shadow rather than healthily (Tyrant, Sadist/Masochist, Manipulator, and the Addicted)

3) The Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales Marie-Louise von Franz - I haven't actually read this one, just skimmed it, but von Franz was a student of Jung's who did a lot of work on exploring archetypes (including the Shadow) in folklore. Might be helpful.

4) Jordan Peterson (either various videos/podcasts or chapter 6 of 12 Rules for Life) - Peterson is very big on integrating your Shadow, which is unsurprising since he's heavily influenced by Jung. Rule 6 of his book "Set Your House in Perfect Order before You Criticize the World" is an examination of the role of resentment and bitterness in our psyches. His advice is to pay attention to where you are resentful or bitter (or where you fantasize resentfully or bitterly) and realize that that is likely a pointer to parts of your Shadow and explore from there. He also recommends noticing what people/things in the world anger or disgust you, as it is very likely you are projecting some of your shadow on them if you have that reaction.

Hope some of these help, and good luck!
Jeff

I'm certainly going to try some of the Jordan Peterson tips you listed; thanks for this.

- Cicada Grove

Magic Monday

Shadow Work

Re: Shadow Work

Re: Shadow Work

Re: Shadow Work