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. Quite a while ago we reached Israel Regardie, and then chased his lineage back through Aleister Crowley et al. After he left Crowley, however, Regardie also spent a while studying with this week's honoree, the redoubtable Violet Firth Evans, better known to generations of occultists as Dion Fortune. Born in Wales and raised in a Christian Science family, Fortune got into occultism after a stint as a Freudian lay therapist -- that was an option in her time.  She was active in the Theosophical Society, belonged to two different branches of the Golden Dawn, studied with a number of teachers, and then founded her own magical order, the Fraternity (now Society) of the Inner Light. She also wrote some first-rate magical novels and no shortage of books and essays on occultism, including The Cosmic Doctrine, the twentieth century's most important work of occult philosophy. I'm pleased to be only four degrees of separation from her.

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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

Re: Biden Inauguration Chart

[ecosophia]

We'll see -- but yeah, things are not looking good.

[ecosophia]

1) I try to do both during the relevant hour.

2) Yes, quite possibly. Massage it gently to break up any unwelcome tension there -- that'll make sure the activation goes smoothly.

3) Brr indeed. Yes, I could see that.

Re: Granite. (Lapis Lazuli)

[gullindagan]

That's just an example. Clear quartz, for instance, can be used for both Jupiter and the Moon. Bloodstone can be used for both the Sun and Mars, &ct.

[ecosophia]

The traditions I know of don't give such information for fungi, and those that mention fungi tend to warn against using them in any magical context; the reason given is that they concentrate the energies of decay, which is not something you want to mess with.

[tamanous2020]

Hi JMG,

An old childhood friend recently committed suicide, kind of a big shock for all of us around him, especially considering he was relatively young.

1. If I recall, in western occult traditions, a suicide is more likely to have issues moving on through the normal death process. What are practices you recommend to help with that transition? Given he was a Roman Catholic, a daily prayer for the dead and a dedicated Rosary seem like a good option for the next 30/40 days. Anything else you'd recommend? (For context, he was just buried this past weekend and received a standard catholic funeral mass with holy water applied to the coffin).

Thanks,

Tamanous

Re: Transcendence beyond human existence

[ecosophia]

Okay, to some extent you're trying to walk north and south at the same time -- you can't achieve success on the material plane and transcend the material plane simultaneously, because success on any plane requires a deeper engagement with that plane!

My suggestion is to relax, focus on establishing a good relation with the spiritual planes, and let your higher self and the spiritual forces that guide it do the job of helping your finish your journey on this plane, rather than trying to do it for them.

[ecosophia]

First, please accept my condolences. That's got to have been a very difficult thing to go through.

Second, if he was a Catholic, the best possible thing to do is to use the practices of his faith to the extent you are comfortable doing so. I wonder if you and other friends of his might also be able to arrange for a priest to say a novena for the benefit of his soul.

Re: Masonry's "Israel Regardie!"

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you! :)

[tamanous2020]

Thanks JMG. I have a Catholic church nearby which I'll approach regarding the novena, and will do so on my end as well. I find it a small comfort that his mother is devout and has been praying the chaplet of divine mercy for him.

[(Anonymous)]

I donated to a small women's shelter that had "rose" in its name. Divination confirmed it was acceptable, and the results made themselves known subtly yet clearly.

[(Anonymous)]

3) This would seem to me to suggest, unfortunately, a plausible reason divination has kept telling me I need to do everything possible to cut ties with my family. My mother is resonating ever more strongly with the Plutonian, and I could see a case for worrying that she's trying (unconsciously) to drag the rest of us to the Second Death with her. Oh dear gods this is dark and cold....

Re: Q

[jprussell]

1) Besides writing it out as JMG recommends, I'd also recommend noticing the patterns in the wording - it's much easier to memorize "each gate is invoked by saying the color, an attribute, an animal, then vibrate a divine name, invoke the element, and asking for specific help from the element", and then memorize what to slot into each gate, rather than treating them as four wholly separate things to remember. Also, the sooner you force yourself to do it without the cheat sheet, the faster you'll memorize it. Flash cards might also be a good way to get it into your head quickly - you don't have to actually do the whole ritual to work on memorizing the words - you can do that part more than once a day, in other contexts (brushing your teeth, think "okay, how does the invocation of Water go again?").

Good luck!

Parasympathetic breathing

[(Anonymous)]

I'm trying to chill myself out at bedtime to sleep better and would like your thoughts on parasympathetic breathing techniques. I seem to remember years ago you saying something about dangerous breath work and I'd hate to think I might be harming myself. Thanks for any tips.
comrade simba

Age of Aquarius

[(Anonymous)]

Hey jmg

What do you think will happen during the age of Aquarius? I remember you saying that the pop culture ideas are more appropriate to Pisces and Aquarius will be more strange and chaotic.

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[(Anonymous)]

I deeply appreciate you doing this, and I humbly ask for prayers for my family as we search for a home to buy (we are losing our rental, and the rental market to find something comparable in RI is very intense). We are not picky, but we've seen house after house with major issues...structural and otherwise. And the houses without major issues are being bid up by 10s of thousands from the list price. Moving to another area isn't possible... We are feeling worried (we have two small children). I ask for prayers that we find a safe, stable home in good shape for our family, that we have the discernment to recognize the right home, and that we are easily able to buy it.

Thank you!

-KN

Re: WGS opening a lodge

[(Anonymous)]

Good. That clears it up. Thank you again.

Occult Repercussions of AGI

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

In recent days, there have been some very concerning red flags raised regarding the dangers of AGI development, most notably this one:

https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough/

Yudkowsky is not an alarmist; he is very intelligent and highly rational. He has been enmeshed in the world of AI for a long time, specifically in regards to how to “align” AI in such a way that it remains friendly to humans. The fact that he is saying these things with such force and urgency is highly concerning to me. I do not share his materialistic worldview, but if his general premise is correct, humanity is in a rather perilous predicament. As someone who is familiar with Yudkowsky and his work, this shakes me deeply.

For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that Yudkowsky’s fears are possible or even likely, I’m curious how such a dramatic turn of events could coincide with broader occult realities. How would human (and perhaps many other life forms) annihilation effect things like reincarnation and the succession from Abred to Gwynfydd? Is it possible that things will move into a post-biological state, while spiritual realities remain and perhaps find a new way of relating with whatever intelligence(s) come next? Would something like this even be “allowed” by the higher spiritual realities?

Thanks!

(Here is a more thorough overview of the thinking behind Yudkowsky’s position, for those interested: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/uMQ3cqWDPHhjtiesc/agi-ruin-a-list-of-lethalities)

Re: Parasympathetic breathing

[ecosophia]

That's not a system of breathwork I've ever looked into. The one thing I know should be avoided is combining different systems of breathwork or energy work without close supervision from someone who knows all the systems involved; if you're not doing that, you have a fair chance of being fine.

Re: Age of Aquarius

[ecosophia]

Aquarius is ruled by Uranus, the planet of innovation, individualism, disruption, sudden change and sudden collapse. So there will be much more of those. Of course it's also going to be 2160 years of ordinary history, just like every other age: the sequence of ages won't bring utopia no matter how loudly Piscean thinkers insist it will!

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

I was going to ask you about a geomancy result that I could not wrap my head around. Before I posted it, to avoid embarrassment, I double checked my work, and, of course, found an error. Which when I corrected it made the reading perfectly intellegible. Then Monday passed and on Tuesday I had one of those back of the head-trying to remember something moments. I looked through my journals and found that about a month ago I had asked a question that resulted in the exact same result. The thing is the two reading could be related. And the result is a bit odd.

The first one I was asking if my wife and I will move further into the countryside in the next three years and I got:
Left Witness: Cauda Draconis Right Witness: Caput Draconis
Judge: Carcer

I took that to mean that although we would have a lot happen, in the end we would not.

Then two weeks ago I asked about the future of our business and I got the same result. In context I think that would mean that the business will not fail, but neither will it grow. Putting us in the position of not being able to shut it dowd, but it not progessing us financially.

Am I missing anything?

AV

[(Anonymous)]

Wow! Dion Fortune - that brought to mind her book, "The Magical for Britain". The other evening, my husband had the TV on, one of the history channels (via antenna, NOT a paid channel - 'free' TV is slimy enough & if it were up to me I wouldn't have the idiot box in my house. Sorry for the digression). Anyhow the announcer, in talking about upcoming programs, asked "did Great Britain use magic to help win WWII?". I never did find out when this program would be broadcast. Nevertheless, I thought it was an interesting teaser. It would have been interesting to hear if that program would have offered more than the usual silliness.

On an unrelated note, last night on the radio, I heard that not only is Saudi Arabia going to cut oil production for the rest of the year, but neighboring countries doing so as well. But oddly enough, when I was reflecting on that bit of news, I did not get the usual feeling of dread, but got a reassuring sense that this is ultimately a positive development for the people this country (USA), in spite of all the difficulties and hardship*! This 'sense' didn't seem to come from my own thoughts or wishful thinking, but rather from something/someone 'out there'. Any ideas of what this could be? Or am I simply deluded? (FYI - there was no commentary on this announcement, and certainly no mention of "they'll think of something".
*difficulties & hardships relative to the USA, many other places face greater problems.

Re: Occult Repercussions of AGI

[ecosophia]

Keep in mind that if in fact there are occult forces at work, and beings superior to human already exist, none of this is happening in a vacuum -- and things may change, subtly or suddenly, in ways to prevent a worst-case scenario. (For example, if spiritual beings don't want AIs, a Carrington Event would take care of that quite handily.) Beyond that, the fact that all this is being marketed so loudly by the corporate media leads me to wonder whether it's a serious issue, or whether it's simply the latest round of scare stories being whipped up as a distraction from other issues...

[ecosophia]

Carcer as judge indicates that in both cases you're stuck in your current situation; the witnesses indicate that while you want to do something new, the conditions that would make that possible are already trickling away.

[ecosophia]

1) Hmm! This is good news. The more people realize that there are things you can do to attune to spiritual forces, and that Dion Fortune's approach to this process works, the better.

2) That's fascinating. No, I don't have any sense of what might be talking to you, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if that turns out to be true. In a future post over on the blog I plan on talking about promising indications that people are shaking themselves out of the corporate trance.

Re: Biden Inauguration Chart

[brenainn]

I'm curious if you have done an inauguration chart for January 20, 2025? The next 18 months look downright terrifying to me. With the recent indictment of our former commander-in-chief, continuing war in Europe, the ever insane PMC, bank failures and other economic woes, and a whole lot else, I'm quite worried about what is just beyond the horizon.