Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's almost 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 and the teachers who influenced them in turn. Last week's honoree, Theodor Reuss, got the idea and many of the teachings that went into the Ordo Templi Orientis from this man, Carl Kellner. Kellner was an Austrian chemist and a successful industrialist who made a tolerably large fortune by creating and patenting a new process for manufacturing wood pulp for paper. He was also, as the photo shows, something of a dandy; let it never be said that all occultists are dowdy!

In his off hours, he was an active Freemason and a student of occultism. A member of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, he also studied with European students of our old friend, Paschal Beverly Randolph, and with several Hindu gurus and a Sufi shaykh. He drew up plans for an occult order that would pass on Randolph's sexual gnosis using rituals like those of Freemasonry. Before he could complete the plan, however, he was struck down with a sudden unexplained illness, recovered somewhat after a long hospital stay, and then suddenly died. (There's some reason to think that he'd been experimenting with kundalini yoga -- not the modern, simplified, safe version, but the old robust teachings that can drop you dead in your tracks if you don't have a guru watching you on a daily basis.) Since I'm not a member of the OTO, my only connection with any of that story is that one of my teachers was taught by a student of a student of a student of Kellner; still, thin as it is, the connection is there.

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With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

[randomactsofkarmasc]

Hmm... that seems plausible, too. Thanks so much!

[(Anonymous)]

Got it, thank you for the distinction!

Re: Appropriate Response to Sexual Energy?

[(Anonymous)]

Different Anon here - coming from an ex-Christian background this seems difficult to understand. I would assume that a goddess of Love would have the ability to "give or taketh away" her gifts, like a Queen ruling over the realm called "Love." Are the gods more like relentless natural forces that are always pushing in one direction and only balanced or restrained by each other? I guess that would make sense of all the chaos in the world, but it seems intuitively wrong to me. Maybe that's just my Christian baggage talking though.

[ecosophia]

You might take a look at The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg edited by J. Williams ab Ithel -- you can download it free of charge here:

https://www.globalgreyebooks.com/j-williams-books.html

The writings in it are by Iolo Morganwg, who died in 1826; it contains not only a detailed discussion of reincarnation but also a theory of evolution. The idea of reincarnation was never quite stifled in the West, not least because Greek philosophical writings that affirm reincarnation remained in circulation straight through the Middle Ages.

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,
Thank you. I guess I didn't fully understand that the gods are not the world or the universe (and are thus limited). So, they do have eyes and are not indifferent. Would it be correct, though, to say that the gods (from WOH or otherwise) have interests of their own (quite different from our own self interests) and may seem indifferent at times? As you've said many times, they are as far from us as we are from the bacteria on our shoes. Further, how many times have we heard someone say that they don't believe in God or gods because of all the terrible, evil things that happen?
Will1000

Re: Question about etheric level protection

[(Anonymous)]

I shall, and I shall report. Thank you!
Crimson Erudite Trafalgarsaurus

Re: 50 gates

[(Anonymous)]

No….NO!!!

:-)

I was expecting that, and I guess that since the GD has done little with the 50 gates I may as well work on it, luckily the Jews have some clues.

Re: Safe meditations

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, I noticed the gossipy aspect. That's always a point of interest because it turns what would otherwise be flat two-dimensional beings into flesh and blood humans with their strong points, idiosyncrasies and embarrassing foibles.


JLfromNH/Viridian Odiferous Mandrake

[ecosophia]

It might be an emotional release, and it might be any of several other things, some of which could be problematic. My suggestion is that you find a competent practitioner of Chinese traditional medicine and arrange to have a general checkup. If anything's wrong, they'll be able to identify it and treat it.

sick

[(Anonymous)]

I have a sinus infection and a fever from working to hard last week. I also only did one or two of my daily RM/meditation sessions. Today I tried to do some yoga which helped a bit from the soreness, but I don't feel like doing meditation at all. Did you say something about not to do magic when you are sick?

[taylorrose]

One thing that should be pointed out about Abramelin: The text explicitly states that it is inferior to the Cabala and the book is a consolation prize for a younger son.

[ecosophia]

Okay, good. Yes, and there are important points, which are rooted in a certain popular interpretation of Christianity. It's very common in pop-culture Christian churches for preachers to insist that God loves you, in fact He's practically obsessed with you, and that's why every time you think a sinful thought He has a nervous breakdown. Since these same churches insist on strict monotheism and divine omnipotence, you've got the rather odd spectacle of the God of galaxies staring down at you like Ceiling Cat:



That's an odd way of thinking about things, but it's popular -- though of course it does lead to the response you mentioned: "If God's obsessively in love with me, why doesn't he act like it?" (This is called the argument from evil, and it's been a major weapon of atheists for a very long time.) Older traditions, including some monotheisms, recognize that deities have concerns other than our moment-by-moment whims and wishes, and invoke less exalted spiritual beings -- angels, saints, minor deities, etc. -- who might reasonably be expected to concern themselves more closely with the inhabitants of this little planet.

Spiritism and Sacrifice

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, JMG:

I have a friend who is initiated into a few different traditions, one of them being Espiritismo, which is heavily influenced by Kardec (Spiritism). I'm wondering if you've ever delved much into Kardec's writings and if you have an opinion on his worldview. Was Kardec accurate in regard to progression of the soul, mediumship, reincarnation, etc.?

My friend is also initiated into Palo Mayombe, which is a tradition which occasionally uses animal sacrifice, as do a lot of the other ATRs like Ifa, Vodou, etc. I'm wondering your view of this from an occult standpoint. (I am a meat eater, so I find it hard to condemn since I indirectly contribute to animal death, although I've never gone hunting).

Re: Appropriate Response to Sexual Energy?

[ecosophia]

That's your Christian background speaking. The deities of polytheistic faiths have their distinct preferences, and it won't do you a lot of good to invoke them against those preferences. That's true of the Christian god, too -- you wouldn't invoke him to bless an orgy, would you?

Re: 50 gates

[ecosophia]

I don't think I've ever heard of the Ofra Haza song. Or of Ofra Haza, for that matter.

Re: Tarot

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for this.
Two follow up questions:
Current relationship with person 1 has become suddenly fractured very recently, due to what seems to be a misunderstanding; communication has broken down. There may be malign influence from a third party. Is the page of pentacles suggesting anything that occurs to you?

Also: is there any significance to all cards coming in the suit of pentacles?

Thank you!

Re: sick

[ecosophia]

Each person needs to decide whether they're up to magic when they're ill. I do my daily practices no matter what, but then they make me feel better when I'm ill. Your mileage may vary, of course.

One way or another, best wishes for a prompt recovery.

Re: Mozart

[(Anonymous)]

If talent carries over from life to life, and souls tend to be reborn near where they lived their last lives, then it also makes sense that the West would, after a century long rejection of hard work, real education, etc., not have as many talented souls to work with as another factor....

[(Anonymous)]

Also, I think it's worth waiting to see just what happens with the weird transition of the sleazier end of the Neo-pagan into what appears to be a suicide cult...

[(Anonymous)]

HAH! Ceiling Cat, awesome. Good thing I wasn't taking a drink at the time.
Yeah, the Obsessed God. Man, it is easy to get caught up in those belief systems (fundamentalism, atheism, progressivism, etc.). All the easy answers are there, no need to think too much. Extracting one's self is a challenge.
Thanks for maintaining this forum and your blog. Always fascinating. Looking forward to reading upcoming books (have three? two? more than one back ordered).
Will1000

Re: sick

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks. Catching up on DRHM last night did make me feel better, but it was still a long night.

Re: Spiritism and Sacrifice

[ecosophia]

1) I've read a few of Kardec's books but I'm not at all an expert on the subject. I know that he was very highly regarded by many occultists in his time, however.

2) The African traditional religions have been practicing animal sacrifice for a very long time, and I assume they know what they're doing. I don't recommend it in my tradition, but then it isn't something we do. On the other hand, I've slaughtered animals for food -- I think everybody who eats meat should have that experience -- so I don't condemn the basic activity.

Re: Tarot

[ecosophia]

1) No, you need to cast a second reading about that.

2) Quite possibly. You might consider meditating on that!

[ecosophia]

I hope we're spared that.

Re: sick

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve never tried ritual magic, but when I was studying jiu-jutsu, my teacher told us you should probably knock off for the day if you have a fever. The dividing line for practice without fever was the neck—if your symptoms were in the neck or above—sniffles, sore throat—you could safely train. Below the neck—coughing, upset stomach—take the day off and get better. (Training with sniffles meant stay home and train by yourself so you didn’t infect the whole class.)

Get well soon!

—Princess Cutekitten