Magic Monday
Dec. 19th, 2022 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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 Gladys Plummer, last week's honoree, became head of the Societas Rosicruciana in America, her husband George Winslow Plummer was the head of the order. For all practical purposes, he was also the founder; his teacher Sylvester Gould, whom we'll discuss next week, started the ball rolling, but Gould died suddenly in 1909 and Plummer picked up the pieces and went from there. Plummer was an enthusiastic Freemason and had received Rosicrucian initiation from Gould, but not a complete system of teaching or initiation; he created those by close but not uncritical study of the Rosicrucian and occult literature of his time, and tried to find common ground between occult teaching and science. He was also a devout if eccentric Christian, and ended up being consecrated as a bishop in an independent church with connections to the Orthodox churches. Though I don't share his religion, he's one of the role models from whom I've tried to learn.
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***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 03:14 pm (UTC)As for how you can use your strongest planets to overcome your weaknesses, you gave the example of a strong Saturn being used to counter debilitated Jupiter excess optimism with cold Saturnian wisdom. As another rough example, would a good example of mitigating the inverse - a weak Saturn and strong Jupiter - be engaging in benevolent acts to strengthen people's opinion of you, to make up for a tendency to make unwise impulse statements?
Middle pillar
Date: 2022-12-19 04:10 pm (UTC)I have found the effects of the 2 versions differ. Lesser mp seems to always bring a euphoria and sometimes quite a high. While the vibratory formula seems to bring an energized or waking feeling.
I've only been using the Adni Hartz formula done 10x. That was quite a physical workout initially.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 04:24 pm (UTC)Where did you get this strategy? Is it basically your innovation using regular electional rules or is there a traditional source for this type of astrological magic?
2: This is less a magic question and more a writing question, but I'm working on the Heathen Golden Dawn and trying to decide how much source text to add. IE whether to put in out-of-copyright translations of Voluspa, etc, whether to put in sections on the runes and rune poems, or just tell the student to buy copies of both of the Eddas, a couple good books on runes, etc. What is your opinion? (also to everybody else, would you rather a slimmed down, just to the point book or a monstrous tome, or something in between?)
Thanks!
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 04:25 pm (UTC)Last week I think I TMI'd my question, so I will try a shorter form.
I was doing Essene Healing Hands as described in the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose posts for several weeks, and then I stopped.
But since then, my hands, especially my right hand, seem energetically "noisy", especially when I am lying down. I don't like to bring them up near my head because it feels like some sort of energy is blasting out of them, and it feels 'not right' for that to be going into my head.
Is this a sign of something bad? Is there something(s) I should do about it?
Thanks,
Cicada Grove
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 04:40 pm (UTC)In addition, taking the long view, if your book survives 500 years from now and copies of the Eddas and runelore don't, then if these are in your book, you have preserved them. There are several items from say, ancient Greece, that survive today only because some Roman quoted them in his work and the Roman's work is what survived.
Thanks, Cicada Grove
Salt, tips, advice
Date: 2022-12-19 04:52 pm (UTC)I also want to ask for healing energy and protection. Trying to start a new chapter with the solstice and new moon. See if after my description below, what might come up for you, any kind of advice:
I had an unbelievable few years and cannot explain what I attracted / what has been following me. I hate to say the “matrix,” but I lack any other vocabulary—everything reached a climax when I was viciously stalked, raped, tricked, and definitely something/someone/both(!) invaded all my personal boundaries and space, it was like watching reality splinter before my eyes, like seeing thru the matrix and the strange, obscurity of what is possible. Why? I have no resources that make sense of what I’ve been through. Truly like a demon in many forms, which I’ve never believed in or experienced before. Precognitive dreams that happened exactly. People saying and doing things like they are on a timer, like it’s controlled. Absurd “coincidences” that are not at all coincidences, and I originally thought, “well, synchronicity / signs are good, right? I’ve been doing this for years, it must be a new development in my spiritual growth.” Nope. An insidious web of lies, deceit, illusion and no one telling the truth, when I deeply know something is wrong; people telling me I’m crazy and I’m not. I feel like my spiritual training and practice has been wiped clean because I cannot fathom how I have experienced these outrageous situations, how I believed I was safe and protected, but became very vulnerable and trapped, and super manipulated before I knew it.
Do you have any advice for further protection, solstice / new moon rituals I can do. I have done vinegar soaks many times. I don’t understand how these people, and why, they went to such extremes to hurt me, and on a deeper level if it’s a kind of entity against me. I suppose it’s a game. I don’t want to play. I’m moving and starting over on NYE and am praying for a new chapter. Even wondering if you have advice for how to pray. Very grateful for the help.
Esoteric Baptism Link and Seven Laws Question
Date: 2022-12-19 04:55 pm (UTC)A happy Hannukah to our Jewish friends, and a merry solstice to those who observe it. May you find light and warmth in the cold and darkness.
To Share: After last week's question about "Sign of the Cross" equivalents, I've been doing some more research. I found this page, which seems to be a chapter from a larger ebook, about baptism, that includes a bit of discussion about the Sign of the Cross's interaction with the subtle body/chakras: https://ocoy.org/original-christianity/the-yoga-of-the-sacraments/baptism-the-yoga-of-life/
It comes from "Original Christianity, Original Yoga", which is presented by the Light of the Spirit Monastery, which appears to be a religious community of esoteric Christians that are heavily influenced by Indian religious teaching and believe that much of Jesus's teachings/practices originated in India. I haven't read very deeply yet, so I have no idea how useful or plausible their overall site is, but the linked article/chapter at least seemed like a reasonable, if highly idiosyncratic and esoteric, approach to the rite of baptism.
To Ask: The "Seven Laws" found in the Dolmen Arch and those in Mystery Teachings of the Living Earth/The Occult Philosophy Workbook seem pretty clearly based on those in the Kybalion - is that the case, or do they share some other common source? In either case, do these laws have a pre-history before early 20th century occultism?
As always, thanks very much to JMG and everyone here for good conversation and good fellowship.
To any who will have them, I put forth my blessings and best wishes,
Jeff
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 05:02 pm (UTC)With that, I do have small question, currently my environment is extremely frigid (-30C). As I'm working to bolster my imagination I've found it very challenging just to be outside for extended periods of time. Are there modifications you could point me in the direction of for those who may be in environments that are temporarily inhospitable? For now I am just focusing on the areas I can, but feel a bit more cut off than when I first started when it was possible to really immerse myself in my environment.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 05:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 05:05 pm (UTC)While I'm generally open to alternative/natural healing practices, I have never been able to understand ear candling, and I'm wondering if someone can explain it.
Ear candling really does not appear to work on the physical plane the way its proponents claim it does - unlike with some other alternative healing practices (like herbs or massage) there are no controlled studies showing that ear candling works as claimed on the physical body. It's supposed to "clean" the ears of wax and dirt, but I've yet to see any evidence that it does so, and it may even do the opposite by getting wax or soot in the ear. (It's generally my opinion that the scientific method, if done right, is usually pretty good at explaining the material world, and scientific consensus has had to grudgingly admitted that non-lucrative things like herbs and massage do in fact work, and can explain how. So I'm inclined to believe that the studies are right about ear candling and the physical body, i.e., that it does not work as claimed.)
My question is, does ear candling perhaps work on another plane? Does it have an impact on the non-physical body or bodies, or work with energy channels somehow? And if so, what and how?
Re: Minerva again
Date: 2022-12-19 05:19 pm (UTC)As for whether to treat Minerva and Athena interchangeably, welcome to one of the longstanding and ongoing challenges for polytheists! I don't have any definite answers for you, but I wanted to reassure you that whether similar Gods from different cultures are "the same" is something that folks have been wrestling with since at least antiquity. It sounds like your intuition has been steering you well, though, so if you don't find it an interesting question, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Cheers, and luck in continuing to build this relationship,
Jeff
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 05:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 05:30 pm (UTC)Cheers,
Jeff
Qs
Date: 2022-12-19 05:33 pm (UTC)I have a bit of trouble I could use some help/advice with.
I'd previously (about 2 years ago) shared a tale of a very intense love affair which ended with the revelation that she had a boyfriend of 5 years and I was other guy. She'd ghosted me, and the month between the reveal and dropping her to the aiport where she disappears was about the most painful of my life (which did indeed cause a cardiac issue and damaged my heart, along with really bad adrenaline issues and emotional pain, all of which I took without showing her or anyone that I was on the cusp), and I cut her off immediately even though she psychotically wanted me to fight for me after the revelation. (This was also your advice back then).
Then next year was very tough but I poured myself into work, did well there (saturn return 10th house, still on-going) but I was physically and mentally tortured the whole time. Yet, I kept away from her and her overtures, and she would frequently turn up in my dreams (sometimes chasing me etc), some really weird things going on.
Anyway, this year I was in New York for work, and my health was still pretty bad, so I saw a reiki healer after divining that they could help. I was very surprised but reiki did help a ton, and I got initiated at level 1 and started the self-treatment, which has helped also.
Yet, the weirdest thing after this love affair was that suddenly my love life collapsed. I've never had any trouble with women but suddenly it seemed that I wasn't finding myself as attracted to them, and they weren't as interested in me. Initially I chalked it up to an emotional shock that had muted my attraction to women, but as that wore off, this problem didn't go away. I spent all of 2022 celibate, which has been a big surprise.
No matter what I do, my love life seems dead. I can't seem to have charming conversations anymore, and even the women I previously flirted with casually seem disinterested.
I was talking to my reiki healer yesterday about this and here's what he said:
"I spoke about you to my best friend here. She is profoundly psychic, the real deal. She picked up stuff about you. Basically, much of the hell you’ve been through, the illnesses etc, stem from the fact that you’ve been effectively cursed the objective of which was “If I am not going to have him, no one can.” I had an inkling there was something like this going on when we met in NYC, but I do not have psychic abilities. Where a lot of this ill intent has hit you is the area below the belt, hence questions about your sexual function. It may be why your legs and hips are weak. Whoever did this to you did it not out of vengeance or spite , but simply for the heck of it. My feeling is that the effects of this thing are affecting now less physically but more on the level of just keeping you away from women."
So, this seems pretty plausible. I even tried a venus talisman from Chris Warnock but the effect was weird: While in NYC, I would match with voluminous number of very beautiful women on a dating app but no one of those conversations would go anywhere (something I've never had a problem with in my 20s).
Question is, what can I do to rid of this "curse"/"effect" probably caused by my ex?
(I've avoided ceremonial stuff cos I have a weak L8, but I pray a lot (I have a strong L9), spend time at temples etc).
Qs
Date: 2022-12-19 05:37 pm (UTC)1) Would asking is “x person an enemy/against me/conspiring against me etc” with their signifier as L12, and checking its strength/dignity, be a valid way to such a horary question? (open enemies/acquaintances/business partners are L7 but I'm curious about figuring out if someone is undermining me professionally).
2) Where would you recommend one start to read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer?
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 06:14 pm (UTC)Now, the hypothesis is that sometime in the later years of the 2000s, at least one god got offended by a common figure in the Neo-pagan scene, and decided to curse them. This figure is the kind of person who invokes the gods asking for goodies, and then refuses to offer anything in return; the kind of person who calls on the gods when in trouble and then ignores them the rest of the time; the sort of person who demands help from the gods and then refuses to listen to what they might say in response.
If this is what's happening, this would explain the way that some people in the Neo-pagan scene were utterly unaffected by the moral and intellectual collapse: by and large, the people who walked away from the scene as it fell further and further into demonolatry were those who either had positive relationships with the gods, or avoided dealing with them much. There were some who were into the Neo-pagan scene as a form of acting who walked out as it fell into the sleazy mess it became; others walked out as they noticed the spiritual energies of it were collapsing.
Notice, however, the kind of person who would have been cursed by the gods would be someone who was in the scene as a form of acting, effectively an atheist, and obsessed with controlling the world. Many of those so cursed would have left the scene and become the kind of atheist who invokes demons solely to show the world they don't believe in them that became so common around the same time the Neo-pagan scene started it's slow descent into evil, while those who remained would corrupt the egregors of the organizations, and indeed the entire scene.
Meanwhile, the kind of person who would believe they could boss the gods around would be exactly the kind of person who would think they could order demons around safely, and this could easily explain the way that the scene collapsed so easily into demonolatry. And, of course, if this is the work of a god's curse, then it follows the gods would be willing to allow the demons a lot more leeway than normal in order to make the point for them, thus explaining the explosive growth in demonic activity lately....
Does this sound plausible to you?
Prayer
Date: 2022-12-19 06:34 pm (UTC)Is silent prayer worth anything, or does it need to be spoken orally?
Can one pray "as they are", or does it help to be in a certain physical arrangement?
My gut feeling is that thoughtful prayer is not worthless, although vocalized prayers have more oomph. Similarly, I feel that assuming a prayerful position adds a little more energy to one's prayer than just some random position.
Are my instincts good, or am I totally off-base here?
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 06:36 pm (UTC)Re: Dogma of High Magic in ebook
Date: 2022-12-19 06:53 pm (UTC)Thanks for your work so far!
- Cicada Grove
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-19 07:00 pm (UTC)Re: Send-off
Date: 2022-12-19 07:01 pm (UTC)Happy Whatever!
Date: 2022-12-19 07:03 pm (UTC)My sister-in-law’s birthday is tomorrow. The autumnal equinox usually falls on mine. A fun coincidence!
—Princess Cutekitten
Intergenerational trauma
Date: 2022-12-19 07:04 pm (UTC)The idea of trauma running through generations of people is quite popular these days. The idea that a person inherits the trauma suffered from their blood ancestors, explained via cellular/genetic processes, is the most common, I believe.
My question to you is if occult traditions acknowledge this phenomenon, and how it works according to occult philosophy. My initial thoughts on the subject seem to point to intergenerational trauma being confused for reincarnation, and how past lives leave marks on us in our current one.
Sincerely,
Tim PW
Re: Tissue salts and the placebo effect
Date: 2022-12-19 07:04 pm (UTC)2) As far as I know, yes.
3) I don't know of any specific literature on that subject. My take on tissue salts is based on my personal experience with them over the last thirty-odd years, and also on the writings of John Kent Tyler and other old-school homeopaths -- they don't talk about the subtle bodies, but the language they use can readily be translated into those terms. You might try A.E. Powell's The Etheric Double and The Astral Body for good general overviews of the subtle bodies.
Re: Minerva again
Date: 2022-12-19 07:07 pm (UTC)