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. At this point I've cycled back to Sandra Tabatha Cicero, current head of the Societas Rosicruciana in America (SRIA), in order to work back along a different lineage. The gentleman above? That's Francis Israel Regardie, the man who kept the Golden Dawn tradition from ending up in a dumpster like so many other occult traditions in the bleak middle years of the twentieth century. Born in England but raised in the United States, Regardie became a member of the SRIA in his teens, then became Aleister Crowley's personal secretary for a while before the Beast's antics got too extreme for him to handle. From there he joined one of the few surviving lodges of the Stella Matutina, one of the splinter orders founded after the Golden Dawn blew sky high in 1903, and also studied with Dion Fortune for a while. Finally he returned to the US, where he taught most of a generation of Golden Dawn practitioners, including Tabby Cicero. I never met him, but his books were essential guides during my Golden Dawn period.

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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

Sweat lodge/sauna

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Mr. Greer. I am interested in using a sauna on a regular basis for my physical health. I know that many native Americans used sweat lodges for spiritual reasons. Do you know if performing magic, divination, meditation, prayer, or any other occult practices are enhanced when done under these circumstances? Are there any drawbacks?

Re: Sweat lodge/sauna

[ecosophia]

For some reason -- I'm not sure whether anybody knows why -- the use of saunas and heat/steam baths of the same sort never spread to western Europe. That's where the magical traditions I've studied come from, and so there isn't much information in the Western esoteric tradition about such things. I know that in the many, many cultures that use heat or steam baths, there are plenty of spiritual practices that revolve around them, but the details? I'm sorry to say you'll have to ask someone who has the relevant experience.

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.

This week I'd like to draw special attention to Lp9's request on behalf of their hometown of East Palestine, Ohio, which is dealing with a tanker train derailment and fire. Lp9 reports:

The next 12-24 hours will be critical. There are five cars containing vinyl chloride. The safety features on four of them are working, but not on the fifth. They are going to try a controlled explosion tomorrow but if the temperature reaches a certain level before they get the charges set, they just have to let it explode because it won't be safe enough to continue working near the accident. A gas station (also has huge tanks of home heating oil) is next to the accident and it will be gone, as well as a few factories that have just been cleaned up and started functioning again in the past few years. Some homes likely in the line of fire as well and chemical fallout will be about 3/4 of mile. 550 people refusing to evacuate town at this point. Prayers greatly appreciated.

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.

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.

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

Thoughts on "Way of the Rose" and How to Make Tangible Intellectual Insights

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

A happy (late) Groundhog Day to all! May you be blessed with a pleasant spring sooner rather than later.

To Share: After an anonymous commenter here spoke well of The Way of the Rose by Clark Strand and Perdita Finn, I added it to my Rosary reading list, and once my year of reading books by the dead was wrapped up, I jumped on it right away. I've written up my thoughts on the book here: https://jpowellrussell.com/#thoughts_on_the_way_of_the_rose.

tl;dr version: Interesting and insightful book on the Rosary from a non-Catholic, and not even necessarily Christian, standpoint, that nonetheless takes it seriously spiritually. I had a few quibbles with the feminist and perennialist-ish outlooks in the book, but overall, I think it's very helpful for anyone wanting to know more about the Rosary, but for whom the traditional Catholic approach doesn't work for one reason or another, including, as in my case, those who want to use the Rosary as a model for some very different prayers..

To Ask: My journaling, meditation, and so forth have suggested to me that I might be too afraid of getting hurt. Normally, if I have an intellectual realization about myself, the next step to make it more real is to "practice" it, but I'm a bit stumped here - I don't want to seek out getting "hurt" (whether physically, emotionally, or otherwise) on purpose, as that doesn't seem all that healthy. I'm already working with an affirmation to be braver, but any further thoughts on how to handle taking an intellectual insight like this and putting it into practice when the obvious way to "practice" is harmful?

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: Thoughts on "Way of the Rose" and How to Make Tangible Intellectual Insights

[ecosophia]

Hmm. Your life may be more blissful than most; I've never had to wait long for some unavoidable "opportunity," if you want to call it that, to experience some form of pain. You might see if there are situations where avoiding pain costs you more than the pain would, and go ahead and accept the pain in order to achieve something else of more importance.

Qs

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG,

Some minor questions today:

1) Would divining if I should do
a) modern order of essenes lessons be L9?
b) if I should do tibetan 5 rites be L9 or 6?
c) similarly, the old order of essenes course work for emotions, or the order of spiritual alchemy courses be L9?

2) Is there any thing to be done to improve memory (besides memory palaces and spaces repetition)? Does mercury help with memory at all?

Similar to what you said last week, I suspect I have a neurological issue with my physical or etheric body that causes recall of memories to be an issue (even though I a very good at picking things up), which is completely out my control.

3) You suggested the protective amulet last week against evil eyes, I will look into it; would Sphere of protection or one of the other rituals also be effective against particular negative astral influences sent my way?

3) Is it generally considered okay or rude to have a mixed altar of deities across pantheons?

Re: Qs

[ecosophia]

1) I'd treat all of them but the Five Rites as 9th house issues -- the Rites are 6th house -- but I'd check the other house and see what figure was in it, just to be sure.

2) Saturn is the planet of memory. He never forgets anything, and you can invoke him to improve your memory. One caution -- if you do this, you will have to remember things you might prefer to forget!

3) Yes, very much so. A daily banishing ritual of some kind -- Sphere of Protection, Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, or Judson exercise -- is the form of protective work I most recommend; it's just that many people aren't willing to commit to daily ritual.

4) No, in polytheist societies it's perfectly normal. In Roman times, for example, the Celtic goddess Epona was adopted as the patron deity of the Roman cavalry, so that you find altars to her all over the Roman world, sometimes in temples to other deities. In the same way, plenty of Romans who prayed to Jove and the other Roman gods also made offerings to Isis, Mithras, Cybele, and other non-Roman deities without feeling the least incongruity. The idea that everything has to be divided up strictly by pantheon is a modern notion, and rather a silly one all things considered -- it's not as though the deities get bent out of shape about human cultural boundaries, after all!

Seeking daily rituals that can be done in car

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG and Commentariat,

I am certain this has been discussed in the past, but searching is not getting me there. Logging in to Dreamwidth helps but then I get kind of swamped. :)

I have been putting off starting a daily practice because I have no privacy where I live and it's something I insist on doing privately. I am working on changing my arrangements, but I no longer accept this as an excuse to not start.

It occurred to me that I am alone in my car for a little while every single day, and I almost always take some time to just stop somewhere and chill for a bit or read a bit.

Is there a simple banishing or even a more complete set of daily rituals I can do seated in the car? Or sometimes on a park bench, but very inconspicuously? If this has been discussed before then please point me to the post, or if there is some adaptation that can be applied to an existing practice, I'm all for it.

I am not for or against any particular religions or ideologies. I think for now it's mostly about forming the habit, but also about beginning to build some spiritual protection for myself.

(Sorry... such a simple question need not be so wordy, but there you are) :)

Many thanks (for all you do, and for the presence of this wonderful group).

Re: Seeking daily rituals that can be done in car

[(Anonymous)]

Do you have privacy in the bathroom? Sometimes I don't have all the privacy I would wish for. On the weekends I like to sleep in and then others in my household are awake. If they go and do something, cool, I have time to do my SOP and other things while saying the words in a normal volume. Since they don't share these practices, I do find time to do them quietly when they are home. If things get really hectic, I can and have done them in the bathroom with the door closed. It doesn't give much room to move around in our small shared bathroom. But its possible! Doing it will help develop your willpower which you help you do it some more!

Best of luck!

Dinjy Lusty Muffin

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG, is there an occult system that works specifically to educate the feeling function (in Jungian terms)?

[ecosophia]

Not as such. Occult systems generally focus on developing the whole self, not working on one of the four elemental functions in isolation. By working with all four elemental functions, you develop them in a balanced way.

is it OK to suspend my divinatorial arts for a while?

[(Anonymous)]

I never felt in shape lately and suspended giving Tarot spreads for a while is it OK to do that or should I keep them to a minimum at least and do some in a while, what do you know from you experience in regards to this kind o hiatuses

Re: is it OK to suspend my divinatorial arts for a while?

[ecosophia]

It really varies from person to person. I'd encourage you to cast a reading with that as the question.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a crippling fear of loneliness and aging alone (although I'm not even 30). I particularly fear my husband dying and find myself ruminating on my wish to never live a single day without him. I'd honestly rather die tomorrow. Our relationship is deep and irreplaceable and I struggle to connect with others
(autistic). Any tips on learning to live better with this fear? Also, any tips on learning to live with the fear of dying (not of death but of the dying process)?

[ecosophia]

Okay, this is probably something left over from a previous life, and should be dealt with constructively before it messes up this life. One approach that works well for many people is journaling. Put in 15-30 minutes a day writing about your fears, having dialogues with them, and unpacking them so that the old emotions have a chance to vent instead of staying clogged inside you.

You might also find the practices of the Order of Spiritual Alchemy useful -- you can find their preliminary lessons available for free download here. The OSA work focuses on unpacking burdensome emotions from the past, releasing them, and learning to live more freely.

Dolmen arch color exercise

[autpaxautbellum]

I’ve been working on the exercise with seeing complementary colors using the color cards. Most of the colors are appearing correctly, however I’m having a specific problem with red (I’m seeing yellow instead when looking at the green card). I tried constructing a different card with darker green but it seemed to make no difference. Any suggestions on this?

The Ways of Thought material has been surprisingly illuminating. Out on a walk the other day, my mind returned to a theme that I’d been circling around but had consciously decided to set aside. Realizing what happened, I was able to back-trace the chain of associations leading there… and it was a truly bizarre though legit set of associations of external events along with memories I hadn’t consciously thought of in years. And it happened lightning quick. It was an impressive and somewhat disturbing experience..

Re: Dolmen arch color exercise

[ecosophia]

1) That happens with some people; it seems to be a matter of slight differences in the pigments in your retina cells. Don't worry about it.

2) I learned that exercise from a book by Ernest Wood, a Theosophist and student of yogic meditation -- it's really fascinating to watch in action. I'm glad you're having useful experiences with it!

Pathworking

[ari_ormstunga]

Hi JMG, I have recently finished my third stage meditations on the Tree of Life in Paths of Wisdom. I’ve begun pathworking in earnest since then and I have a few questions.
I’m not sure how much “control” I should be trying to exert over the process. I usually have to consciously get the imagery going before it kicks in and takes on its own life, so to speak. Should I try to keep the initial phases of the path consistent, or allow the imagery to be radically different if it seems to be moving that way?
Your guidance in the book mentions slowing down and looking for details, which is useful because my pathworkings seem to have an inherent momentum to them. Sometimes the details move and shift, and when I try to read it is like trying to read in a dream! Is this just astral static?
Also, I sometimes have flashes during my meditations on the pathworking that include symbols or details that I missed during the initial pathworking. At least once so far, the meditation has taken on a bit of the quality of a pathworking (an entity that wasn’t present during the pathworking made itself known). Is it better to follow up on those events during the meditation when they arise, or let them pass and try to explore them during the next pathworking? Is meditation a good time to try to “talk” to entities that I was unable to interact with during the pathworking due to the momentum I mentioned earlier?

Thank you for any guidance you can provide.

Re: Pathworking

[ecosophia]

1) Try to keep the initial phases consistent. After that, let it go where it wants to go.

2) Yes, it's astral static. Once you get an image, it can sometimes be necessary to hold it in place consciously for a little while, in order for the rest of what it has to communicate to come through the astral noise.

3) In my experience, at least, it's best to deal with such things as they arise. If you find yourself having a conversation with an entity, have the conversation, then write down all the details and meditate on those later!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

I was noticing some of the strange results of hardcore atheists engaging enthusiastically in (Eastern-style) meditation. For example, Yuval Harare and his obsession with AI taking over the world, and Sam Harris and his inability to think clearly on topics such as Covid and Trump. On the other hand, Russell Brand seems to have sharpened his thinking skills by combining Eastern mediation with some kind of religious belief.

Any thoughts on this?

Russell

Russell's Secret Teachings

[(Anonymous)]

Russel is also part of the recovery movement, and they generally believe in some kind of higher power, even if it is just inside of you. Russell is a deep thinker, and a committed explore of different ideas, and, crucially, open to things outside of himself IMO. I don't know if he was ever an atheist or not, but he doesn't seem to be one now. I even spotted a copy of The Secret Teachings of All Ages on his bookshelf in one video he did.

Azure Translucent Groundhog

The Divine

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve had some difficulty with the idea of the “Divine” that gives pure unconditional love that John Gilbert speaks of in the OSA work. Is it really monotheism? How does it relate to the polytheist idea of deities with personalities, who may not love everyone unconditionally? Is this Divine simply nwyfre, or how does it relate to that? Is it some other kind of spiritual force? If this requires a lengthy answer, maybe you could point me to a resource to read about it. I would appreciate it; thanks.

Re: The Divine

[slithytoves123]

When someone says just "the Divine," I think of something like the Tao: the foundation of reality, or Being Itself in a more modern parlance. As such, its love is not a form of personal affection. Love at its root is willing what is good for someone or something, and the Divine wills our good by setting up the universe so we can work out our karma, learning our lessons and developing our characters.

This view is compatible with polytheism. Monotheism is identifying one particular deity with the Divine as such, especially when you believe it to be literally true. (If you make that identification for the purposes of spiritual practice without believing it is literally the case, that's a form of henotheism instead of strict monotheism.)

daily recollection

[(Anonymous)]

I'm assuming the benefits of doing the daily recollection became clear only after doing it for awhile.

That said, my motivation to do something increased when I have a bit of an idea of why it might be important to do. Might you please say a bit about why doing the daily recollection could be an important part of one's training?

Thanks.

Re: daily recollection

[ecosophia]

1) That's correct. In particular, after a few weeks or months, most people become convinced that it's not doing anything. Only those who have the gumption to keep on practicing it anyway notice that they've been benefiting from it all along.

2) Three of its many benefits are, first, that it helps you develop concentration and attention; second, that it builds a bridge between waking and sleeping modes of consciousness, through which insights and intuition will begin to pass in due time; and third, that it does some of the work you'll otherwise have to do between lives, when you will be processing the memories of this life, and so enables you to accomplish more in the between-life state and go on to a better incarnation next time as a result.

discursive meditation with Hebrew letters

[(Anonymous)]

Hello. Thanks for hosting these forums.

I completed Learning Ritual Magic. I have done discursive meditation with all the cards of the RW Tarot deck. I would now like to do discursive meditation upon the Hebrew letters.

I am wondering if you can make any suggestions for how I might best proceed with this. Also, is there a particular color scale I should use when visualizing the letters as i discursively meditate upon them?

Thank you.

Cerulean Galloping Ocelot

Re: discursive meditation with Hebrew letters

[ecosophia]

1) Just make sure you know, or at least can easily consult, all the correspondences of the Hebrew alphabet. Those are your raw material for the meditations.

2) I always got best results with the Golden Dawn's King Scale.

[(Anonymous)]

Did you see the Satanic Temple's latest trick? They are opening an abortion clinic in New Mexico under the guise of a religious platform, for those “who wish to perform The Satanic Temple’s religious abortion ritual.” Not much reporting on it, but here's a Catholic news group's reporting on it: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253547/the-satanic-temple-to-open-free-abortion-clinic-in-new-mexico

It gives me a terrible and ominous feeling. Besides the sheer distastefulness and depravity of it (and I say that as someone who is moderate on abortion—I don't personally support it but I also don't think it should be banned outright), it seems like it is courting massive backlash eventually. When that comes, will all of us who are interested in hermeticism/occult/magic be lumped in with these evil people?

[ecosophia]

I hadn't heard of that, no, but it doesn't surprise me for a moment. I'm quite sure at this point that there's no depth to which those clowns won't stoop.

I am very worried about the potential for backlash against occultism, especially in the more Christian and conservative parts of this country. Christianity has many virtues but it also has an ugly habit of inspiring pogroms, especially in times of extreme social and cultural stress. Those of my readers who practice occultism and live in conservative areas may want to make plans to get out of Dodge in a hurry if things start moving toward mob violence against "devil worshippers," because the mobs may not care about the difference between Satanist clowns and serious, ethical occultists.

[stcathalexandria]

Do any of the occult authors or traditions you've studied provide any wisdom on the transition during menopause? I've encountered references to sexual relations but not this transition. Does Sara have any wisdom she could share?

It's going on 2 years now and it's kicking my butt at points. The interrupted sleep affects me the most. I totally understand why it's used so effectively as a torture technique! I'm leaning into what it can be teaching me and I just started reading Dion Fortune's Practical Occultism.

Plaid Somnolent Dragon
(yes, this name was "randomly" generated - lol)

[(Anonymous)]

Re-reading this I meant to say "transition of menopause." Last night I got about only 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep, the rest was in 45 minute increments.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I had a bad neighbor who, with his wife, was constantly doing bad things to me and my wife. As some of them were illegal, we sued him and won a court settlement. My old neighbor refused to pay the settlement and rapidly sold his house to a single mother with two children. She paid a large chunk of her savings to get it, and then found out there were many things wrong with it that had not been disclosed at settlement.
The neighbor skipped town; No one can find him.
As nearly as I can tell, he has spent his whole life harming and taking advantage of anyone around him.

I have recently completed a ceremony in which I gave my anger at him to the powers of the universe, prayed that they would prevent him from harming anyone else, and asked them to provide him with chances to correct at least some of the damage he has done--or to do deeds of mercy and kindness for others.
My sense is that my prayers were heard, and that someone said, "OK my child, we will take it from here."

I have a lot more peace about the situation-- But also the same sort of sadness you get when you have to tell your neighbor that it is not OK to teach his kids to bring the dogs to your yard for a bathroom break so that his own yard will be clean.

Have I pronounced a curse on this man? My intent was to get his bad actions to stop. Could I have done anything differently?

Thanks for any insights you have, and any comments from the commentariat!

[(Anonymous)]

It sounds to me like powers greater than yourself have taken it out of your hands and will deal with the matter. A genuine curse on your part would have fired ill-will directly towards him of the 'may rabid skunks try to mate with your leg' variety. Since you worded it as asking the Higher Powers to defuse your rage and use the energies in a more positive manner (namely giving him chances to change his behavior) that no doubt accounts for the feeling of your prayers being answered in the way it was. For my money, I think you're in the clear.

JLfromNH/Mauve Seedy Muffin

Hallowing the Waters exercise

[gullindagan]

I just wanted to post a short exercise I added to my journal, for the daily hallowing of water. This can be used by anybody who wishes to work with Thor or Thunar to hallow a glass of water daily, but is especially useful to those working with the Heathen Golden Dawn system.

https://gullindagan.dreamwidth.org/6658.html

Re: Hallowing the Waters exercise

[ecosophia]

Many thanks for this!

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

Can you give advice on how to deal with panic/fear attacks? To me it feels like they originate in the stomach somewhere. Things like better breathing don't seem to work during an intense attack. Is it all kust stress or overload? Or are there other factors.

[ecosophia]

In my experience the only way to deal with these in the long term is to find their source in your past. In the cases I've witnessed, the fear always had to do with childhood experiences that the person had repressed, because they couldn't deal with them at the time. Healing came when the person brought those experiences back into consciousness and, as an adult, was able to deal with them in ways a child can't. That can be done with journaling, with help from a friend or partner who will listen and offer comfort, or with the Order of Spiritual Alchemy exercises.

Jung and Pauli

[(Anonymous)]

Have you read the correspondence between Jung and Pauli? If so, is it your understanding that in the end they came to the conclusion that synchronicity was the predominant "cause" that produced the "effect"? Or that they implied that conclusion? Or something like it? Sorry, not finding a good way to phrase the question.

Re: Jung and Pauli

[ecosophia]

No, I haven't read their correspondence, but I've read Jung's book on the subject. If I recall it correctly, he came to believe that synchronicity is parallel to cause and effect, and the two of them have roughly equal shares in making things happen in the world.

Emblem 32

[temporaryreality]

Hi JMG,

I'm a bit puzzled by the instructions and images provided in both the SGO and GSF books for emblem 32, Squaring the Circle. The instructions point toward card 20 (Gnomonic Expansion) to build the square - which doesn't seem to me to be quite the helpful process here. When I draw a square (using another method) based on the drawn line suggested in the text, is it supposed to line up visually with a particular circle? Likewise, it doesn't seem to relate to the equilateral triangle in the way that the relationship is shown in the emblem of the fellowship (with circle, triangle, square). Ultimately, there's no final image with which to compare my own work and I end up with a number of circles, a square, and a triangle, but there's no visual linkage between them. Am I just to assume that they all "match" each other to the right degree?

Or is this a "Do Not Pass Go" issue - and I don't qualify for initiation because I'm not sure I'm squaring the circle correctly?

Re: Emblem 32

[ecosophia]

No, you've got it right. There is no final image -- though you can construct one if you want. (On a separate piece of paper, draw a circle using CD as radius. Draw a line bisecting the circle and another line at right angles to it, using the construction from Card 9. Then set the compass to half the diagonal of the square you created on the base KL and mark that distance from the center to each of the four lines radiating out from the center, and make a square by connecting those four points. There's your squared circle.) I didn't give a final image because that's part of the point of this construction -- the squaring of the circle is never perfect and therefore never complete.

[d_mekel]

JMG,

Did you once mention a lot of the herbs/plants could be used for herbal medicines and even rituals can be found in ones back yard or by the road side. Can you suggest a book that could identify such plants?

[ecosophia]

Depends on where you live. If you're in Europe or eastern North America, any common herbal and any good guide to local weeds will identify them. Elsewhere it may take a little more work.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you noticed that Germany decided to donate 14 L2-tanks and 88 L1-tanks? I wasn't familiar with the 14, but 88 as a symbol is well known and as far as I know forbidden to use in the relevant context in Germany... And to top it all, they announced their decision pretty close to the date of the defeat at Stalingrad, which of course went not without notice on the "other side".

As one of the "peasants" who live under the rule of those who proclaimed the decision, I have to say It's difficult to express my feelings about this. All I know is that I find it utterly creepy and that my
grandfather must be spinning in his grave... Do you have any thoughts on this?

Disclaimer: I'm only interested in the symbolism that pops up in this context, nothing else.

Greetings,
Nachtgurke

[ecosophia]

That's extraordinarily weird. It's almost as though they want half of Germany to be under Russian occupation again!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, thanks for hosting these.

About a week before conceiving my first born son I was overwhelmed with exhaustion mid-day. It felt like I was physically weighted, pulled to lie down and was immediately in some kind of waking sleep where my eyes were open but I was exhausted and deep asleep? Beside me was an infant glowing in all white, and beyond that the shadow of my husband. In your view, what was this? Sometimes I see or hear things intuitively, but they - other than this one instance - occur in the realm of consciousness in which you hear yourself speak. This was was as real as the daylight.

I've been wondering about it ever since.

[ecosophia]

A vision, certainly. It may have been a precognitive vision of your child to be, or it may have been the soul of your son letting you know that he was on his way. I understand that such things are tolerably common around pregnancy and birth.

[(Anonymous)]

This is more a question about Paganism than Occultism, so feel free to delete and I’ll be happy to ask on the monthly open post instead.

Knowledge of the Norse, Greek and Roman gods is fairly widespread today, even in popular culture. Maybe a dumb question, but how come we never hear about the pantheons of the rest of pre-Christian Europe?

Were those two really the only two pantheons, and places in the middle of Europe just borrowed from both as they pleased? Was it simply that Norse and Greek mythology happen to be the only ones written down in literature? Was it the deliberate erasing of history on some group’s part? (Or is it just that I’ve been living under a rock?)

I find it strange that in it in the English speaking world, we never seem to hear about the Anglo-Saxon pantheon, if there was one. The closest thing is the Norse gods.

~blue sun

[jprussell]

Not JMG, but this is mostly due to what got written down by whom and when.

Super short version: the Greeks and the Romans wrote down a lot of stuff about their Gods when they still believed in Them and worshipped Them. Despite converting to Christianity, many of these writings were still regarded as worthwhile and/or left in libraries and forgotten, to be dusted off and given more prominence in the Classical-loving Renaissance and Early modern period.

With the Norse Gods, the Nordic countries were among the last countries of Western Europe to convert to Christianity (unlike Anglo-Saxon England, which was fairly early), and often somewhat unevenly (Christian kings, Heathen peasants, basically), so you had recent belief and worship once the Nordic countries became more widely literate under Christianity. But the real reason we know so much about the Norse myths is because one guy, Snorri Sturlusson, loved the poetic traditions of his people (the Icelanders) and realized that you literally couldn't write traditional poetry without understanding the myths, because they are chock-full of stock metaphors called "kennings", like "Freyja's Tears" or "Otter's Ransom" to mean gold. So he wrote the Prose Edda, which summarized what he knew about the Gods and their mythology, which allowed the poems of the Poetic Edda (a collection of the kind of traditional poems Snorri wanted to be able to keep emulating) to be much better understood.

My understanding is that in the rest of Europe, for one reason or another, the cultures didn't have a tradition of writing down their myths before Christianization (whether due to a taboo on writing them down, as among the Druids, or because literacy wasn't used for much of anything, as in some eastern European countries). So, for these places, we have to hunt for hints and scraps in Christianized accounts (like Beowulf or the Mabinogion) and match them with what we can figure out from archaeology and comparative mythology.

On the Anglo-Saxon Gods, specifically, I'm of the view that it seems to have been very close to the Norse one, more of a regional variation than utterly different sets of Gods. My very favorite discussion of what we can know/guess about pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon belief is The Elder Gods by Stephen Pollington.

If you'd like to get into that more, let me know, as it's a particular area of interest for me.

Cheers,
Jeff