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. I'm going to jump back here a bit because I managed to trace down another significant figure from a lineage I've already discussed. Bishop Richard, Duc de Palatine was an Australian spiritual teacher and Gnostic bishop who played a crucial role in bringing the alternative sacramental movement to the United States, and strongly influenced both of the bishops who consecrated John Gilbert. Born Ronald Powell in 1916, he became a member of the Theosophical Society and then a bishop in the Liberal Catholic Church. After the Second World War he moved to Britain and founded the Pre-Nicene Christian Church, one of the major fountainheads of Gnostic Christian spirituality in the English-speaking world, and later traveled widely in the USA and elsewhere, teaching students, ordaining priests, and consecrating bishops, until his death in 1977. I've recently had the chance to study more of his writings and have discovered that he was much more influential a source for the Gnostic material I received than I'd realized -- so he's this week's honoree.

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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 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

Qs

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG,

Had some questions for you today.

1) Something I've been pondering lately is sort of the correlate to Spengler's morphological civilisations theory, which is the possible idea that great souls incarnate at certain times in certain civilisations much more frequently, and that drives the growth/expansion/creativity phase of that civilisation, before things turn towards a slow collapse. Historically you see great men and women more frequently as a civilisation ascends, while successors are often weak/venal etc.

I certainly felt a tinge of this in Italy on a recent trip, which while having a veneer of beauty, seems in terminal decline, with a very poor culture, stuck in the 50s, greedy, self centered, low trust, etc, despite being the land of both the renaissance and rome, no such energy is there to be found today (and I feel similar about India where I am from, though India seems on the opposite path in terms of finding its way out).

What do you think of this/does the occult have anything to say about this? Do souls migrate between civilisations over the course of time to find the right scope for their karma and then move on to higher planes?

2.In horary, what house would represent the query "which 2nd language should i learn?" L3 or L5?
3. Similarly, if I had to ask "which area or building should i set up my office space in?" what would be the signifier for that query?

Thank you, once again.

Re: Astrological Literacy Russia

[milkyway1]

This is a fascinating topic.

1. JMG, you wouldn’t happen to be looking for Wednesday topics, or subscribestar/patron topics, would you? :-)

I’d love to read a post about how one would go about astrologically planning something as complex as a war - as an example for a real-life astrological application, so to speak.

And/or a post about why you think the Russians are having a good astrologer, and why they chose e.g. date X for this, and not date Y, etc.

(I know this would just be a very limited simulation game, since war is complex, and we wouldn‘t have all the necessary background information anyway. But seeing astrological strategies applied has been very helpful to me, and this is a very real-life application.)

2. Does anybody know any good resources which are discussing the astrological timing in this war?

(I‘m aware there is a ton of astrology websites discussing it - but I‘m having trouble finding the decent ones, if they even exist.)

Thanks,

Milkyway

[(Anonymous)]

Going back to a previous MM you said

"I don't eat raw oysters"

Is that because the oyster is alive and it's bad karma?

"These days I won't accept blood transfusion either."

Is that because of the risks of getting blood from covid vaccinated people? This is something that worries me so I hope I never need a blood transfusion.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

To those who are interested, here are all of the requests for prayer that have recently appeared across the Ecosophia community. Please feel free to add any or all of them to your prayers.

If I missed anybody on the full list, or if you would like to add a prayer request for yourself or anyone who has given you consent (or for whom you hold power of consent) to the list, please feel free to leave a comment below and/or at the prayer list page. If you are an anonymous commenter who has previously attempted to post to the prayer list page, I just discovered a couple of days ago that I'd had my blog settings set such that anonymous comments weren't able to post. My apologies to anyone who had problems. If you try again now, you should be able to get through.

Finally, if there are any among you who might wish to join me in a bit of astrological timing, I pray each week for the health of all those with health problems on the list on the astrological Hour of the Sun on Sundays, bearing in mind the Sun’s rulerships of heart, brain, and vital energies. If this appeals to you, I invite you to join me.

From last week’s Magic Monday

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG and commentariat,

I want to thank everyone for the positive energy, prayers and well wishes for SP in Connecticut. She had a successful surgery with no complications and is recovering at home.

Many thanks to tunesmyth for posting on your dreamwidth prayer list. When I tried to reply there I got the message that this account has disabled anonymous posting.

Blessings to all

Connecting with Ancestors and Spirits of house and land

[iprescott]

Hi JMG,

I hope your New Year has got off to an amazing start. I am am looking for a way to connect with my Ancestors and the spirits of house and land. I am not exactly sure of how to start. I have a plan to erect a home altar, which I believe is a beginning. I do plan to gives offerings to my Ancestors and Spirits of house and land at this altar. I call upon my ancestors to lend me their presence and Aid before I start my SOP. Could my ancestors be considered a part of Spirit within for the SOP? Are there any other practices I should consider?

As always, thank you for hosting MM and everything you do for us here.

Ian

“Queer Gnosticism”

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings, JMG! Author James Lindsey has written extensively about Critical Theory and other social phenomena. Lately, he has been talking about CT in terms like “Queer Gnosticism”, describing “spells” practitioners use to further their cause. Being an avowed atheist, he is new to this realm. Perhaps he does actually intuit the grubby magic practiced by followers of “woke” in particular and the Religion of Progress generally, but lacks the knowledge of how to describe it properly. All this is a data point, but it made me think, what god or pantheon is the Religion of Progress interacting with? My own sense is that there is some death-obsessed cult driving this but I couldn’t guess at what deities are involved. It also has an odd parasitic quality that allows it to latch on to other organizational systems as anything can be “progressed”. I’m stumped as to what’s behind it.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning, everyone!

Last week I shared a post requesting prayers for a little 2-year-old boy undergoing serious brain surgery (with his mother’s permission). His surgery took place on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 as scheduled. The surgeon was able to successfully remove an abnormally formed piece of his brain that was causing serious and repeated seizures.

The day after surgery, he sat up and smiled and hugged and kissed his mother. He is in very positive spirits and is talking and moving with good strength. He’s very stable and everything is looking great. This kid has basically been living in the hospital for several months now and has taken it all in stride.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and positive energy, with special thanks to JMG and Tunesmyth for hosting this forum and the prayer list. I do find it’s made a difference and this family is finally seeing an end to all this and are hopeful for a return to normal life. I’m not sure when he gets to leave the hospital and go home but hopefully sooner rather than later.

Thanks again ♥️

SoP Banishing with Spirit Above

[(Anonymous)]

I've been learning the SoP one element at a time over the past 8 weeks and am in the middle of Spirit Within. During the initial week of Spirit Above, I had a few breakthroughs in understanding with regard to the deity associated with it and thought our relationship had improved, however this week I've been having issues where I picture the deity along with all the other symbolism of Spirit Above when I invoke the purple gate but then the deity's shape involuntarily shifts and appears to be an unsavory completely different being with whom I'm not familiar. It hasn't actively tried to hurt me, its just a shocking transformation and visuals and then it just observes.

Even though its not a Christian SoP, as a recovering Christian, I believe this is likely due to Spirit Above being associated with a heavenly Father figure of some kind and when I bring the energies of Spirit Within into play I'm bringing my problems and blockages associated with heavenly father figures along with it and its tainting my Spirit Above invocation. I've noticed grumpiness with Christianity and the desire to mentally punch Christian straw men ideas around surfacing recently as well, so I think that adds confirmation to this interpretation.

My first instinct is since this doesn't appear to be immediately hostile that I should meditate on it and pray to the deity involved to see if I can't resolve these blockages, however:

1) Is adding a formula to the SoP to banish my blockages with regard to Spirit Above ever appropriate or do I have to just focus on invoking and wait for the logjam to sort itself out?

2) I've had some familiarity with pentagram rituals in the past and traced a solitary banishing pentagram in the middle of doing my SoP to get rid of the intruder a few times since I wasn't sure if I was supposed to use the circular Spirit Above symbol in banishing. Will this hurt anything and is there a better practice if the SoP dredges something up in the realms of Spirit that I'm not presently able to handle and need to send on its way?

3) Not directly related, but you've mentioned a few times having people pray for your conversion to their church and track icky energies into your life. In a similar situation, would banishing these with the help of Spirit Above make sense or is that covered by a different element/not a good use of the SoP?

[boccaderlupo]

Thank you for hosting this space, as always.

A data point, if it proves useful for anyone: I had previously complained of finding the Mercurial spirits incommunicado for a time, but as of last Wednesday, commerce with them abruptly resumed (with no changes of praxis on my part, so far as I could tell). I am going to chalk it up to Mercury's retrograde motion, as it seemed to correspond with that same period of relative quiet. But it will be interesting to compare with other such periods, and as always interested to hear if anyone else had similar experiences.

Axé,
Fra' Lupo

[(Anonymous)]

John--

Looking a the Tree of Life and its traditional assignments, I find myself perplexed--at least in the context of modern perspectives. Boaz, the Pillar of Severity, is the pillar of form...I understand that. And with form comes limitation, which I also understand. But as I consider the sephirot--Thought, Will, and Understanding (Hod, Geburah, Binah, respectively)--these seem to me to be active elements, imposing one's will on the external. Likewise, Jachin, the Pillar of Mercy, is composed of Emotion, Compassion, Wisdom (Netzach, Chesed, Chokmah, respectively)--all of which I would see as passive elements, accepting and embracing. Yet Boaz is labelled the negative/passive/feminine side and Jachin the positive/active/masculine side. To some extent, this seems reversed. What am I missing here?

Re: Pathworking

[ecosophian]

Thank you for answering my questions.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Open Space,

Your comments about navigation reminded me of something I read in an interview with Ian Mackaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat) about a month or so ago. They resonated with me and I made a note of it... here is what he said, with a link to the full interview. He was asked a question about "survival", which was the theme of the issue for the magazine, and this is what he had to say in response...

"It’s the word survival – the idea you would ‘survive’ something. I understand that people, melodramatically, may consider life something one has to survive. But you’re alive, that’s what life is, you are surviving. It plays into this idea that people’s lives are narratives – that it’s a film or book and you have to survive all this craziness. I think it’s a disservice, ultimately, because it makes others feel like their lives aren’t crazy enough.

In my mind, life is not a war – although human beings create conditions that make it feel that way – and I think that navigation is a fairer term. I see life essentially as an empty field. The construct of that empty space has to do with society, but it also has to do with us. The only real question is how are we going to navigate that space, from beginning to end. If people thought of themselves as navigators, maybe they would have more purchase. Navigation is about having a say in the matter, whereas surviving is about dealing with things being thrown at you. With navigation you get to decide whether you want to be in that situation in the first place."

https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/music-2/ian-mackaye-survival-issue-interview/

Happy meditations, and it's good to look at this theme again myself.

JPM

Crystalizing the Aura

[lterrell]

Do you know anything about 'Crystalizing the Aura'?
It is something Damien Echols has mentioned. Seems to be related to what you've talked about (with building a Mental Body) but I suspect quite different.
He's mentioned that what he is trying to accomplish is 'Crystalizing the Aura', which he says is a way to get out of the cycle of reincarnation. It somehow reminds me of your talks about how vampires are made though more so then 'building a Mental Body'. I suspect they are two completely different things but very possible I'm misinterpreting what he is talking about and they are related.

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a word for the occult study of colour, like for numbers it's numerology?

[(Anonymous)]

Reincarnation leads to three broad categories of people - those with low, medium, and high previous numbers of human lives. This may be an oversimplification, but in general, what does each group need from the other two, and what can each offer the others?

5 rites

[d_mekel]

Thanks for sending me links for the full version of the 5 rites last week. As I've been reading it, it's brought up some questions. There is a paragraph that discusses additional benefits to the 5 rites. One is suggesting a tepid or cool bath after the 5 rites and never a cold one because it will cool the insides. Does this mean after doing the 5 rites or never take a cold bath ever? Everyday I finish with a 2 minute cold shower and have seen great benefits, so I would hate to drop it.

There are also dietary suggestions. for example, eating raw egg yolks. Did you follow this to a "t" or are these additonal suggestions?

These questions/answers may seem straight forward, but I do have comprehension issues when reading directions.(so you can imagine how fun that is working through COP!)

[(Anonymous)]

The Sphere of Protection can be used for different things by changing the words, but since words are so important in magic, are there any particular tripwires to avoid or phrases that work especially well for specific purposes?

Just a little spark

[(Anonymous)]

I woke up this morning from a dream in which I understood the tarot to have a fifth suit, named “Time”. That’s proving to be an interesting jumping off point for me. I started cogitating on what the Ace of Time would represent. My first thought was the Big Bang, but that didn’t seem like a good fit with the broader tarot character. I remembered last week’s conversation about time not really existing per se, just being an effect of our limited perceptions and linear awareness. I decided that the Ace could embody the first instant of “perception”, since in order to experience time one needs to perceive something.

Anyway, it occurred to me that this could be a very fruitful way to approach deepening my understanding of the tarot. In order to create a new suit, I would need a deep understanding of the way the cards embody their qualities (what are twos about? threes?). How would that play out in my new suit? Also, it’s fun to mess around with! I thought I’d throw that out here to see if it sparked for anyone else the way it did me.

Thank you as always, JMG, for your hosting and guidance.

Squirrelly Jen

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I'm currently reading the four mighty volumes you've edited for the FHR -- thanks a million for that! -- and I have one question or two:

1. In Volume 1, p10, in reference to the SoP you write that you don't vibrate during the Opening. Can you please explain why Divine Names should be uttered, rather than vibrated, during the Opening?

2. The initial step of the SoP involves drawing down the light to a point in the center of your head (p11). A bit further down the text, the initial step of the LBRP is described as drawing down the light to a point above your head (p20). I think I remember you explaining a few weeks/months ago that these are different energy centers in the subtle body and that energizing one or the other will not produce the same results. In consequence, I'm not sure how to make sense of that difference, inasmuch as both rites (SoP and LBRP) are presented as different, but equivalent options within the FHR system. Or is there any amount of flexibility there, e.g. would it be acceptable to start the SoP by drawing the light to a point above one's head and the LBRP by drawing the light to a point in the center of one's head?

Finally:

3. Last week you wrote that a new and considerably expanded edition of your book on the Coelbren was currently being reprinted. Needless to say I'm thrilled. Could you please share a bit more on these expansions? Do they bear on the Coelbren as an oracle (e.g. new insights with regard to the divinatory meanings of the letters), or on other (e.g. magical) uses of the Coelbren?

Thank you, as ever, for your answer, you have no idea what these Magic Mondays mean to me!

R.

[(Anonymous)]

Navigation does sound better and puts me in mind of the figure of the compass rose or rose-of-the-wind. Though I haven't studied sacred geometry, I find myself strongly attracted to this image, evocative of the four sacred directions. It would be worthwhile emphasizing this image more in our lives.

JLfromNH/Polka-dot Grimy Frog

question about prayer/relationship with gods

[(Anonymous)]

Sometimes when I pray to gods (say, Hermes) I feel guilty because of my self-interest. Because at some level I'm hoping for their help and blessing.

But I don't want to be in bad relationship with them and treat them as just something to give me something. I know it's a big topic, but wondering if you could offer suggestions about how to be in good, reciprocal relationship the gods and how/when to know if asking for something is ok and when it's better to focus on praise/devotion and listening.

Maybe a related questions (phrased awkwardly) is why possible would gods help or be interested in measly us?

Thanks.

[(Anonymous)]

Just listening to Vikki Bramshaw’s talk on the OBOD podcast. She says something to the effect of „candles and words are all very nice, but it’s the ecstatic parts that really make our magic work and bring in the energy“. So, is my solitary practice with the Druid Magic Handbook bound to fail, as opposed to a group of partying ritualists throwing out energy in a spontaneous act?

[(Anonymous)]

Estimated Archdruid Emeritus,

After a long time of hesitation to learn the Grove ritual (finding the sword symbol too weird), then finally learning and testing it, I’m excited to finally prepare my first ritual in the grove. It will be a SOP of the transforming myself variety, in order to get better at my job. I’ve done such rituals before, with good effects, bur not in a grove. Curious to feel the difference!

Is it enough to do the first of seven rituals in a series inside the grove and the rest without, or should it be several repetitions?

I’m also hoping that the grove will add a dimension to my seasonal rituals - haven’t dare to do the „calling a deity“ part without it yet. Maybe I’ll finally make contact?

My final Ogham reading on this planned ritual says: Beith reversed - Quert upright - Gort upright.
I’m interpreting this as: You have been discouraged by past events in your job - The ritual will do you good - even if you still have a long path before you. Does this sound correct to you?

Many thanks for providing this wonderful course!

[(Anonymous)]

Happy new year, your highness! ♥️ 🐈‍⬛