ecosophia: (Default)
John Michael Greer ([personal profile] ecosophia) wrote2023-01-01 11:22 pm

Magic Monday

T.H. BurgoyneIt'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 hereAlso: 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. Sylvester Gould, last week's honoree, was an active member of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, one of the more interesting occult orders of the late 19th century. (After many reorganizations, it's still around as the Church of Light aka Brotherhood of Light.) The H.B. of L., as most people called it back in the day, was founded by two British occultists, T.H. Burgoyne and Peter Davidson. The photo is of Burgoyne. It's also the photo of another gentleman, one Captain Norman Astley, who took over the reorganized H.B. of L. in America from Burgoyne, married another H.B. of L. adept -- the remarkable and talented Genevieve Stebbins -- and helped Benjamin Williams aka Elbert Benjamine aka C.C. Zain re-reorganize the H.B. of L. into the Brotherhood of Light aka Church of Light. Yes, Burgoyne and Astley were the same person. It's a complicated story. But Burgoyne and Peter Davidson, whom we'll be talking about next week, were among Sylvester Gould's teachers -- and behind them stands another and a considerably stranger figure.

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. 
 
Bookshop logoI'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 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!***
k_a_nitz: Modern Capitalism II (Default)

Re: Heathen SOP and some more CosDoc

[personal profile] k_a_nitz 2023-01-03 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
re: 4) I have encountered the adjective 'tellurisch' in my readings of German esoteric literature before so tellurischer Strom would also be a possibility

Re: Astral Entities

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for asking this question! Same happened to me several years ago. At the time, I chalked it up to the influence of a friend who went off the deep end at work and saturated the atmosphere with some pretty scary vibes, largely aimed at me. Only one astral visitor had her angry vibe. The rest was just a grab bag of astral crazy.

It never occurred to me, until now, that taking up the Heathen LBRP and etc at about that time may have triggered the astral visitors.

Mercifully they are long gone.

Maybe I’m better at this than I thought I was? 😆

OtterGirl

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
A while back in response to a note I'm somewhat imbalanced towards seeing the positives of certain planets, you suggested that all planets have something to add, and here I think it applies as well: The Moon grounds the others, providing the inner peace to be able to undertake the sort of work needed to attain wealth, especially since much of it requires forming good habits; while Mars could help with finding the will to achieve wealth, rather than merely daydream about it.

So, if wealth is the main focus of one's life, all seven of the classical planets can offer something. Hmm.

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
John--

As I recall, you have described the three paths if mystic, mage, and occultist with re to the Tree of Life as the the sephirot of the middle pillar (love), the sephirot of the lightening flash (power), and the paths of the lightening flash (wisdom), respectively. What of other routes from Malkuth to Kether? One might go Malkuth-Hod-Geburah-Binah-Kether, for example, and use thought and will as primary vehicles. How would such a path be characterized? Or its counterpart along the other side, focusing on feeling and compassion?

Re: Yawning while worshipping specific deities

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Had similar situations as a practicing Buddhist. I had to learn how to fight the internal rising of a negative emotional state that was placing me into a state of disconnection
tunesmyth: (Default)

Re: New Year's Symbel

[personal profile] tunesmyth 2023-01-03 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
Jeff, I would like to join you but I won't have time to compose my own toast before Magic Monday ends. Would you consider making this a blog post on your own page?
ritaer: rare photo of me (Default)

Re: New Year's Symbel---a slightly different topic

[personal profile] ritaer 2023-01-03 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
Since you mentioned the goal of reading books by dead authors, I thought I would add my suggestion of reading books from other cultures--many of us do read scriptures or philosophy from the ancient world or from other religions, but I would also suggest fiction, novels, poetry or essays from other nations and cultures--especially non-Western ones. I have been reading some mysteries (my favorite fiction genre) by American Indian authors.
Suggestions would be welcome

Rita

Re: Day by Day

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Even if my mileage varies, that sounds like something worth experiencing. A timeline of weeks and months feels like no big deal, if I remind myself that I may have spent lifetimes getting to this spot.

Encouragement well received! Thank you again.

Zairja

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
Hey jmg

Are you familiar with divination systems involving getting a card with numbers or symbols and spinning it, then picking a number/symbol with eyes closed? These things are called “Zairja” in the Arabic world, and some European versions exist, called wheels of fortune.

I recently invented a Zairja design consisting of a octagon divided into quarters, which are divided into 14 triangles and assigned the numbers and suits of the minor arcana. I was wondering if you you had any experience with how effective a divination system Zairjas are before using it.

J.L.Mc12

cs2: (Default)

Re: Sleep & Headspace for Spiritual Development

[personal profile] cs2 2023-01-03 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
I am finishing up Ymarferiwr this month so I look forward to starting Athroniwr in February, thank you.
jprussell: (Default)

Re: New Year's Symbel

[personal profile] jprussell 2023-01-03 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you, and great thought!

Here's a post on my own dreamwidth for anyone who'd like to participate after this MM has closed: https://jprussell.dreamwidth.org/2094.html

Cheers,
Jeff
jprussell: (Default)

Re: New Year's Symbel---a slightly different topic

[personal profile] jprussell 2023-01-03 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you for sharing, and I agree, that's another great way to get exposed to some new ways of thinking.

It's a bit cliche these days, but I enjoy rather a lot of Japanese pop-culture, mostly anime and manga, but I also thoroughly enjoyed reading Eiji Yoshikawa's Musashi. Manga-wise, the series I'm currently enjoying is called "Witch Hat Atelier", about an adolescent girl learningto do magic. Even though it has a thoroughly "magic as technology" world, it uses magic as a metaphor to explore the artistic creative process, and the drawings are stunningly beautiful.

If you do film, Bollywood also offers a very interesting take, as it's so clearly inspired by Western cinema, and yet very clearly from a different culture. I've heard Egypt fulfills a similar role for the middle east, but I don't have any personal experience there, despite marrying into a half-Egyptian family.

Otherwise, my own reading has mostly been expanding my firmly Western horizons - Goethe's Faust, Hesse's Glass Bead Game, re-reading the Mabinogion, Dickens, Doestevsky, C.S. Lewis.

Cheers,
Jeff

(Anonymous) 2023-01-03 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, it is going to be a solid test. Geomancy reliably forewarned about the breakup but also said more recently that the person loves me (if only it was as simple as that!). Loads of data from other systems as well, so it will be a hell of case study either way.

Page 9 of 10