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. 

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!***

Comments

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.

Re: Minerva

[readoldthings]

Hi there,

This may or may not be helpful to you. The specific form of "Sulis Minerva" is a syncretization of the Roman Minerva with Sul/Sulis, a Celtic goddess associated at once with healing springs and the Sun. Following some of the titles given her in JMG's books, I address her as "Lady of the Threefold Fire," who unites the life-giving and life-destroying heat of the Sun; the chthonic fire that warms the healing springs; and the hearthfire that warms the home. I view her as the specifically Celtic form of the Divine Potency who appears as Minerva or Athena in other contexts.

I wrote the following prayer to her, which I've shared here before:

Hail Sulis, Lady of the Threefold Fire.

To thee I give thanks for the fire that descends from the heart of the Sun and warms the face of the living Earth.

Hail Sulis, Lady of the Threefold Fire.

To thee I give thanks for the fire that rises from the heart of the Earth and warms the waters of the healing springs.

Hail Sulis, Lady of the Threefold Fire.

To thee I give thanks for the fire that radiates from the hearth, and warms our homes and gladdens our hearts.

Hail Sulis, Lady of the Threefold Fire.

Holy Lady Sul, for all thy gifts and blessings I thank thee, and bless thee in turn. May  May I walk in thy divine hand this day and always.

I regularly ask her help specifically in blessing herbal teas, in which case I will end the prayer "...and may thy blessing be especially over this tea. May it be an offering unto thee, and may it bring [name requested result and person who will drink it.]"

Now again, I don't know if this will be of use to you-- given that the original name you received is "Minerva," it may be that her specifically Roman or Graeco-Roman forms would be more appropriate for you to work with. But I know that when I read your post I was relaxing on the couch reading this blog on my phone, and I felt a strong compulsion to get up and go to my computer so I could type this without, even though I'd just sat down a few minutes before and a cat had just fallen asleep on my lap. Such promptings are not lightly ignored!

Re: Minerva

[(Anonymous)]

"Do gods do that, take an interest in people who aren’t aware of them?"

Not the OP - What a fascinating question... JMG do you know of any references/stories to Minerva as 'protector'?

***
Many of Minerva’s tales in Ovid are included in a series that show the vengeance and anger of the gods. As a virginal goddess, Minerva is not featured in the stories that center around love.

These ideas of transformation were not originated by Ovid. They played a major role in earlier mythology and the Latin poet expanded upon these themes.

Because they fit so well into the exiting framework, Ovid’s original stories are often included in modern retellings of classical mythology. In some cases Metamorphoses survived where older written legends did not, leading his stories to be passed down as primary sources though they were later inventions.
Because of this, the perception of Athena/Minerva has been highly influenced by her appearance in Metamorphoses. While she appears in earlier myths as a protective goddess, her wrath in Metamorphoses has led to her also being seen as a particularly vengeful and temperamental deity.

...Craftsmen in Britain embraced Minerva as a protective goddess to an even highly degree than they did in Rome. Many tools found from the period of Roman occupation show images of Minerva as the patroness of carpenters.

Jewellry from Britain often featured Minerva’s image and iconography as well. Hairpins, brooches, and signet rings from Roman Britain often showed Minerva in profile.

She was so popular in Britain that she was even featured in contexts that were entirely unique from her Roman worship. Coffins, for example, sometimes featured her imagery rather than more traditional Greco-Roman psychopomps.
https://mythologysource.com/minerva-roman-goddess/

Re: Minerva

[(Anonymous)]

"Do gods do that, take an interest in people who aren’t aware of them?"

Not the OP - Yes. Sometimes They do.

Any number of times I've narrowly avoided banging myself up out of sheer stupidity by remarkable strokes of good luck. While I try to be grateful in the moment, I wouldn't call myself "aware" of the non-material world. And only very recently (at the age of 60-mumble) have I started anything you could call a practice, even if you were being generous about the word.

I don't hold tight to any dogmatic opinions about WHO has looked out for me: deity, guardian angel, lares or penates, ... I have no idea. But don't distrust it when it happens.