Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It'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 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. 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.

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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 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

[(Anonymous)]

You've mentioned before that plenty of people practice magic without realizing it, and that any focused intention paired with ritual action constitutes magic. In this light, I've realized I might have just begun a major magical working: namely, it's occurred to me that Dave Ramsey's financial advice may very well fall into a form of wealth magic.

He has people follow a specific system, with mundane tasks like budgeting, working extra hours, cutting expenses by learning to do with less, and saving/investing playing a major role, but prayer, reflection, as well as intentional generosity all also play a major role in his system; invoking a higher power, intentionality, and blessing others, in occult terms. He talks a lot about the importance of unity of will (which he calls being “gazelle intense”), has something resembling an affirmation (“If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else”), and even has a few rather amusing little rituals, with one being the act of cutting up one's credit cards to symbolize the refusal to take on any more debt.

If this is a form of magic, it would also explain the observation he has made, that people who follow his advice find that as they build emergency funds, then the rates at which they run into financial problems plunges sharply; it's not just that they have the funds, but that events which would lead them to need it drop as well. Dave Ramsey suggests focusing intensely on the sense of security and safety that the emergency fund provides, for motivation in order to build it and then maintain it once it's fully funded; but if I understand the occult theory correctly, that kind of focus would also have magical effects. If the emergency fund is thus, in addition to an ordinary emergency fund, also functioning as a magical working to dispel emergencies and bring about security, then this would make perfect sense.

If there is some sort of unconscious magic, this would also explain why so many people who struggle with finances find that his advice works when nothing else does; and why those follow his advice routinely end up comfortably wealthy, even if it seems like they shouldn't be able to on their relatively low income. He's helped people dig their way out of intense debts and rather severe poverty to reach comfortable retirements, for example. Given the notion of tracks in space, it could also explain why so many people find that even where it seems like it would make sense to do things differently, it is easiest to follow the steps Dave Ramsey advises exactly, because an enormous number of others have laid those tracks down for us to follow!

Meanwhile, on further reflection, it's struck me that his advice follows one of your core pieces of advice for wealth magic: focus on finding opportunities to earn money. Each step of the process he suggests is based on the principle that money must be earned, and then some of it must be saved for future use: he suggests working extra hours, taking on another job, and the like for those starting out; in other words, finding ways to earn more money! Even when it comes to investing money for retirement, he insists that it be invested wisely, in investment vehicles that have been proven to work over years or, better yet, decades; and that while some “investments” may promise much higher rates of returns, he insists on avoiding any kind of “get rich quick scheme”, insisting that retirement investments be made in more safe and stable investments; and that it will take years of work and intentional sacrifice in order to fully fund them.

The other interesting part about it is that he's also adamant that once the basics are done (a process which means getting the necessities to survive, getting out of debt, and saving enough to be able to weather most emergencies), donating money is an absolute must; which, if his entire system is a magical working, would bring blessings into the lives of those who follow his work via raspberry jam; which could help explain why so many people who follow his system end up with plenty of money flowing their way.

Does this kind of analysis make sense to you?

[ecosophia]

It makes perfect sense. I wasn't familiar with Ramsey or his system, so thank you; this is a very good example of the practical application of occult principles to everyday life. I'm not in the least surprised that it works extremely well.

[(Anonymous)]

To extend this a little further, using astrological principles then: As I understand it, the three planets most strongly associated with wealth are Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. Well, right from the start Ramsey suggests taking steps which please at least two of those planets (Venus and Saturn), in the form of "Blow" money, or money intentionally set aside to be used for something that seems fun right at the time; and the focused, dedicated self-sacrifice to save and pay off debts would be pleasing to Saturn; while he makes it clear that once this is done, donations and freely giving is essential, which would please Jupiter. He even suggests that it play a role right from the start, for those who have the spare money.

So, all three planets associated with wealth will naturally pour their blessings towards anyone who follows this, which if I'm not mistaken would help supercharge it; and suggests an option for how to strengthen this as well, in the form of setting aside some of the donation money I'm budgeting as part of my work with his system for planetary charity towards these three planets, in order to specifically ask for their aid.

[ecosophia]

Mercury and the Sun also have a role to play in becoming wealthy. Mercury teaches you to be adaptable and to make good bargains; he's the planet of buying and selling. The Sun teaches you to make all your lesser desires orbit around the one thing that matters most to you; he is the planet (or, more properly, the luminary) of earned success. But you can pick and choose which planets to invoke, of course.

[(Anonymous)]

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.

[ecosophia]

Yes indeed. You could invoke all seven of them, one each day of the week...