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. A few weeks ago I posted a photo of Sylvester Gould, Rosicrucian initiator of George Winslow Plummer and one of the managing triad of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (H.B. of L.) when it reformed in the United States. Gould always claimed that he'd received his own Rosicrucian initiation as a young man in the United States, however. He never named his initiator -- that was something you didn't do in those days -- but there was precisely one Rosicrucian teacher in this country at that time. Yes, that would be the astonishing force of nature, Paschal Beverly Randolph, the first internationally famous African-American occultist, about whom I've written at length here.

Randolph was also the source of much of the core material taught by the H.B. of L., so Gould's presence as a leading member of that body makes additional sense. It's also noteworthy that the SRIA, the Rosicrucian order Gould helped start and Plummer carried on, had a mutual recognition agreement with Randolph's student Freeman Dowd, whose Temple of the Rosy Cross later became the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis; that's rare among Rosicrucian orders, but it makes sense if their traditions had a common source. So there's good reason to think that this end of my lineage passes through Randolph's inimitable hands.

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 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.

***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***

Comments

Predicting WW2

[(Anonymous)]

In The Twilight of Pluto, you explain that a group of British astrologers announced in 1939 that there would be no war that year. (And of course--spoiler alert--they were wrong.) In a footnote you say there were obvious indications of war which these astrologers misread because of their political prejudices. Can you say more about why they got it so badly wrong? What did they misread, and why?

Thanks very much!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG -

Do divinations 'expire'? In other words is there a window of time that I can successfully follow through on the result? For example, if I get a positive horary reading for relocating to a certain place, is that reading good until I'm able to make the move, regardless of how long it might take?

Thanks,
Dave

The 'Mark of the Wells' and Thanks

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

I hope everyone's year is settling into a good rhythm!

To Share: A little while back, I asked about self-blessing/protective prayers in the style of the "Sign of the Cross". I've now written up my very early thoughts on such a prayer in a Heathen context, the "Mark of the Wells": https://jpowellrussell.com/#mark_of_the_wells

To Ask: Nothing to ask this week, so let me just say again thank you for this wonderful space!

As always, thanks very much to JMG and everyone else here.

To any who will have them, I put forth my blessings and best wishes,
Jeff

Re: Predicting WW2

[ecosophia]

My forthcoming book on mundane astrology covers that in great detail. The short form is that they failed to notice a hard square between Mars and an angular Moon -- a major traditional signal for war -- and they also failed to notice a mutual reception between Mars and Saturn, which gave both planets a great deal of strength. As for why -- well, one of the ugly secrets of English society before the Second World War is that a lot of people were highly sympathetic to Nazi Germany, and several leading astrologers (including Charles E.O. Carter, the head of the group we're discussing) were among them. In his editorial in the issue of an astrology mag that was on the newsstands when war broke out, he insisted that there should be no hostility at all between Britain and Germany because, ahem, they were so racially similar...

[ecosophia]

It really varies. Some divinations seem to be good for the long term, and others are not. I recommend that your question should always include a time element to take this into account: e.g., "Should I relocate to such-and-such a place in the next year?"

Re: The 'Mark of the Wells' and Thanks

[ecosophia]

You're welcome and thank you!

Re: The 'Mark of the Wells' and Thanks

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you and back atcha!

Princess Cutekitten

[(Anonymous)]

If I can piggy-back off this, what’s your personal process for relocation readings? I can read astrological charts (working on some of Chris Warnock’s courses but just partway through the Astro Magic course)? Do you use Horary? I thought I recalled you mentioning another method in a past post.

[ataulfo]

Am I correct in understanding that a mode of perfection in a geomatic chart doesn't indicate that one should do something, just that it would work if you tried?

[ecosophia]

I use a method I got from one of Llewellyn George's books. His approach was to cast your natal chart as though you had been born at the place you're considering relocating to -- exactly the same moment, corrected for changes in time zone, but from the different place. That means all the planets will be in the identical points in the zodiac but, if you're moving any distance, in different houses. The advantage here is that you can move malefics out of houses where they give you problems and into houses where they're irrelevant, while moving benefics into angular positions and important houses. Imagine you have a well-dignified Jupiter in your 12th house, where it does you very little good; if you move east, you may be able to get it into your first house, where it will give you good luck, and if you move west, you may be able to get it into your 10th and have great success in your career. That's the kind of thing you can do with George's technique, and in my experience it works very well.

[ecosophia]

That's correct. If the two significators are favorable figures, it means you can do it and the result will be good; if it's unfavorable, it means you can do it but the results will be unwelcome. Whether you do it or not, in either case, is entirely up to you.

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 last week 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.

Effective Goals for Prayer

[tunesmyth]

Hello JMG,

It’s been quite pleasant to watch the Ecosophia Prayer List attract a group of steady regulars, as well as a fair amount of prayer requests, including some directly to the list. Once you find the time to get the Intentional Prayer Network materials dusted off and ready for action, I think there will already be a core of pray-ers in place who will likely be able to get the engine running in short order.

My question is about the subject matter of prayers. The vast majority of our prayer requests are health related, which makes sense given the List’s origin in the Ecosophia Covid threads. The next most common categories are requests for spiritually aided luck in some form, whether that mean a smooth birth, finding a better home, or in one case, improving one’s financial state. There is also the category of spiritual protection.

I presume in all of these cases that success or failure of the prayers will in large part also depend on the initiative of the people making the requests. I.e., people requesting prayers for health but acting in ways harmful to their condition, or people requesting help finding new lodging but unwilling to take positive steps to search for this themselves, will be rather less likely to meet with success, even if a legion of monks is chanting daily for their success.

There is one more potential category which occurs to me, which has been hinted at in a couple of requests but hasn’t really been requested explicitly yet, with one single exception. This would be prayer requests for aid with personal development. In this category I would put prayer requests for help with personal issues that are ultimately the final responsibility of the supplicant: requests for help in breaking addictions, changing bad habits, forming good ones, and taking onboard important new changes of perspective. In your opinion and experience, would requesting prayer towards aid with these kinds of ends be helpful? As long as the one making the request is also making good faith efforts to effect that change themselves, to the best of their ability (even though they clearly haven’t been successful on their own yet)?

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I’d like to continue my question from last week (https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/217557.html?thread=38656981#cmt38656981) concerning the SoP and the LBRP within the framework of the FHR.

In their opening phases, both the SoP and the LBRP start by drawing a beam of pure Light from infinite space. However, the LBRP draws the Light down to the center above the head (Crown center), while the SoP draws it down to the energy center inside the head.

In my post last week I asked if it would be okay to do the SoP while drawing the Light down to the Crown center (as against the center inside the head), and in your response you advised against varying these rituals.

However, in a Magic Monday session a few months ago (https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/197971.html?thread=34326099#cmt34326099) you explained that both energy centers do not have the same effect, the Crown center connecting to the Higher Self while the center inside the head activates one’s psychism.

Here is my question: I would very much like to practice the Sphere of Protection. But I happen to be more interested in connecting to the Higher Self than in activating my psychism, so working with the Crown center seems to be the more sensible choice. Would you have any advice for me?

Thank you for your answer,
R.

[(Anonymous)]

Did we ever figure out the cell salts situation? I'm running very low on mag phos. Also my wife had a herpes breakout and I told her to try some cell salts and next day it was gone. She's usually pretty skeptical about this stuff but can't argue with results.

Completed the DMH at last

[guillem66]

Good morning JMG,

After 5 years of steady practice, i have completed all asigned excercises on the DMH. I was delayed because of my youngest child, and also because the Ogham tarried for a while before allowing me to proceed to the awakening of the currents. But it all has turned for the best, as this allowed me to meditate on almost all the material in the DH triads, wich in turn helped me a lot when it was time to meditate on Scryings and Pathworkings.

John, you are a great teacher and your work is generous. You give so so much, if only the reader takes the book seriously. It has been very fortunate for me to be able to study it.

I have lots of ideas, and now i have the time and the knowledge to explore them. May the gods bless you.

Guillem.

[(Anonymous)]

How does your chart varies if you relocate thousand of miles south/north? I live 3,000 miles south from the place I was born...

[(Anonymous)]

To share:
This seems to be a brand new tool by the person who maintains planetaryhours.net, it's an astrological transit viewer in a calendar format:
https://transitviewer.net

I stumbled across it at random this week when planning some planetary charity. I am not the creator of it, nor do I know them.

Some questions:

1. About the OSA. If I start to love myself unconditionally, is there a danger that this could turn to pride? If so, how to avoid this?

2. Are earth energies, as discussed in your books on temple systems, a limitless "resource"? If I put up earth pipes or enchanted standing stones, wouldn't that eventually drain whatever energies are there? I'm reminded that Egypt is now a desert, and Greece has become quite arid, but I don't know if the causality is due to intensive agriculture, climate change, and/or these etheric/energetic batteries being drained.

Thank you!

[booklover1973]

Hallo, HMG,

is there anything known about the meanings of supernovae in mundane astrology? It surely isn't an easy subject, since in the last 1000 years, there were only two or three bright supernovae visible from Earth.

Really ancient civilisations

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

Last year there was a brief mention of ancient civilisations: polarian, lemurian, atlantian, hyperborean.

(1) Can you tell us, to the best of your knowledge, what were the geographical areas or origins of these civilisations and their respective time frames?

(2) There has been mention on Magic Mondays that the prevalence of spiritual forces on our material plane wax and wane with time. Would you know how magic fared during those civilisations?

(3) If the potency of magic comes and goes, any general ideas of the time frame and or causes thereof?

(4) Does the potency of magic wax and wane at the same rate across planet earth or are there regional variances?

Apologises for the scope of the questions!

Many thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

I have one of your geomancy books, which has been extremely helpful for me in studying this form of divination.

I wanted to check, if possible, if my interpretations of two shield charts are accurate in your opinion. The questions are related.

Question 1: Should we stay another year in this rental in town?

Answer:

LW: Via
RW: Fortuna Major
Judge: Fortuna Minor

Question 2: Should we buy a place in the country this year, closer to my husband’s work:

LW: Cauda Draconis
RW: Puer
Judge: Fortuna Major

Would you say I’m correct in interpreting question 1 (staying in the rental in town another year) as the more favorable option, even though the judge is technically less favorable than in Q 2, since both witnesses in Q1 are favorable or neutral?

My interpretation of Q2 is that the immediate outcome might seem to be an improvement (Fortuna Major as judge) but longterm, the choice will prove to be rash and troublesome (due to the unfavorable witnesses)?

Thank you!

Swords and major arcana

[(Anonymous)]

JMG and commentariat,

I've been doing divination off and on since my teens, so I'm familiar with basic symbolism though not very good at interpretation. For a couple of months now almost all of the cards that turn up are swords or major arcana cards when I use the Rider Waite or similar deck. I do simple one or three card spreads and ask a wide range of questions. Swords represent the element of air and often symbolize mental matters or conflict. Many of the sword cards show images of sorrow and loss, which certainly describes my past, but the questions I ask are about the present or future. Does anyone have ideas about why they keep turning up no matter what I ask about? Maybe it means sorrow and loss continue into the future but there are major arcana showing up too, thankfully not the more frightening ones, at least not yet.

Lilac LLCB

Mundane and electional astrology questions

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

Thanks for hosting this valuable space again!

I've been busy with my astrological studies, and am posting quite a few questions today. If you feel this is too much, please just stop answering at any point, and I'll re-post the rest in the next couple of weeks.


1. Electional astrology:

If you wanted to pick a good date and time for somebody to launch a small one-person IT business, without going overboard and finding the "ideal" date only three years from now:

Are there any other important factors one should definitely look out for besides the essential dignities and major aspects of Mercury, and his day and/or hour?

....

I'm working my way through my first mundane chart with the help of your subscribestar and Green's book, and I have a few questions about mundane astrology, if I may:

2. a planet being peregrine is a debility - does this mean it simply has less influence, or it is more "unfortunate"/bad/malefic than it would otherwise be?

And if the answer is "it depends", then could you give me some hints on what it depends? :-)


3. about intercepted signs, just to clarify: You wrote "When that happens, the sign and any planets in the sign are said to be intercepted"

Does "the sign is intercepted" simply imply that the ruler of the sign is intercepted? Or if not, what else does it mean?


4. How much influence do the essential dignities of the Sun have in the ingress charts? The Sun in his exaltation in Aries is sort of a given in each Aries ingress chart - so is this even a meaningful information, or just more or less background noise?


5. I noticed that Green is packing "birth-rate, children, schools" into the fifth house, whereas you include schools into the third house, and ignore the birth rate. Is this because you haven't found mundane charts to be a good indicator of the birth rate at all, or because it hasn't been important enough to track yet? And if the latter, into which house would you put it?

(Given the current circumstances, I feel that predictions for the birth rate of a nation might prove to be interesting and insightful...)


6. The very same question for "public mortality, deaths and the kind of people who die" - in the 8th house in Green's list, absent in yours. Where would you put that? Or did you leave it out deliberately because you found predictions around this topic not to be meaningful?


Thanks, again, for whatever questions you get around to answering. For what it's worth, I'm grateful I've reached a stage in mundande astrology where I can even ask somewhat meaningful questions... (lucky you!! ;-) )

I wish you and your wife a wonderful, productive week!

Milkyway

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John, top of the morning,
In your discussion on the Regeneration podcast you mentioned an essay that dealt with the politics of the mind/body problem. Is there someplace I can find that essay? Cheers, Bill

Swords and major arcana

[(Anonymous)]

I'd like to add to my question above.

The card coming up most frequently is King of Swords. Showing up in multiple readings: The Fool, Strength, and Judgement. I've been doing recent readings online so they all turn over "upright". I read interpretations for upright and reversed. The questions I ask are always about personal matters or relationships.