Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting toward 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 or comment 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, past Chosen Chief of OBOD Philip Carr-Gomm, received most of his training in Druidry from Ross Nichols, who is this week's honoree. Nichols was a poet, a watercolorist, and an educator, as well as a good friend of Gerald Gardner, the inventor of modern Wicca. He became a member of the Universal Bond, one of the most active Druid organizations in Britain, in 1954. Ten years later, during a dispute over the leadership of the UB, he founded an order of his own, first called the Bardic Order of Druids and thereafter renamed the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, which he headed until his death in 1975.  He was the author of three books of poetry -- Sassenach Stray, Seasons At War, and Prose Chants and Proems -- as well as The Cosmic Shape, a programmatic essay on nature spirituality with a set of poems attached, and The Book of Druidry, which was published after his death.

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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.

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

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG and commentariat,

Coming up on two years practicing golden dawn magic, inspired primarily from being introduced to the world of occultism via some fluke url I clicked one day that led me to this forum. It has changed my life, and I am grateful.

Speaking of life changes, I am getting married this upcoming Thursday, and I was wondering if you might have a quick impression of the astrological significance of that day. If by chance it’s particularly bad, I might consider rescheduling it (it’s just a courthouse wedding for the time being). In the past I recall you posting a link with a directory of certified astrologers: would you kindly repost that? I would love to hire an astrologer for a full reading, and not quite sure where to start.

Also, I would like to recall a very strange and particularly jarring experience I recently had, to hear from you and the commentariat about what it was. I live in Denver Colorado, and to the west of the city we have a world famous music venue called Red Rocks. It is a natural amphitheater nestled into the foothills of the Rockies with views that stretch across the entire urban metro of Denver to the horizon. With incredible acoustics and seating for thousands of people, it has a powerful energy, and I have witnessed the music and lights there charge up a crowd with energy unlike any place I’ve ever been to. I believe it is one of the closest places we moderns have to recreate the energetic ecstasies of some ancient temples.

All of this to say, I went to an electronic show there a few weeks ago. I hadn’t been paying attention to lunar cycles, and was surprised when as the show started it turned out to have a full blood moon rise right behind the stage (for a moment there I thought it was a mushroom cloud on the horizon, it was that dramatically yellow and red). Then the energy of the music went really dark, and the massive stadium screens next to the dj started displaying these giant dark shadow figures with red backgrounds looking like they were slamming their fists on the screens trying to break thru. The dj himself was standing the the middle of an upside down cross. The imagery was pretty terrifying and my friends and I immediately turned around to look up the mountain so we didn’t look. Any time we turned around the imagery was just as creepy, and we quickly decided we needed to leave. Even my partner who has had very little connection to esoteric ideas described it feeling like those images were imprinted on him. I also had never seen a crowd charged up like that: I’ve seen intoxicated crowds that are still warm and friendly, but this was a level of intoxication that felt confused, scared, and sloppy. The general age also seemed very young, with many likely underage. I saw people desperately looking for lost friends, passing out and vomiting, stumbling around incoherent.

The moment I got home I lit incense, performed a banishing ritual, a purification and consecration ritual, and middle pillar.

I have three questions about this experience:
1. What do you think that was? It certainly felt conjugally potent, like it was creating a portal to release things into that crowd. What kind of impacts does this have on individuals, and populations? The location, overlooking a massive urban population, also felt significant. Any keen insights would be much appreciated.
2. Like I said, I have been practicing golden dawn magic for about 2 years. My partner has no interest, and having been raised in an evangelical religion, I have no desire to proselytize. But in situations like that, is there a way for my LBRP ritual and purification and consecration rituals to cover him as well? As I explore more about what it means to be life partners with someone and the different energies and skills that we offer each other, can I augment my practice in different ways to provide similar protection and vitalization for my partner who does not have a magical practice of his own?
3. And then more expansively, what kind of ritual work can I do that could also have effects on cleansing the city that I’m in and close off that portal, to counter the darkness that it felt like was pumping into this region from that dark and powerful ritual on stage? (If you’d rather not post about it online, but just point me to a text, that’s ok too)

[ecosophia]

0) The quality of the day depends entirely on (a) where you are, and (b) how the daily chart relates to your birth chart and that of your spouse-to-be. A really good day for you could be bad for me, and vice versa. You can find a directory of good astrologers at www.astrologers.com -- that's the American Federation of Astrologers website, and they have a robust certification program.

1) One of the major discoveries of the 1960s is that rock concerts can be a form of ritual magic. Unfortunately that's very often been used in negative ways, as you saw.

2) You need his consent in order to do anything for him. If he consents, do the Rose Cross ritual, and visualize him in the center of it, imagining the Divine White Brilliance descending on him to bless and protect him. That's a very effective working.

3) Well, to begin with, you need to get a few thousand people together! Seriously, this is above your pay grade right now. Concentrate on your own magical and spiritual development, and call down as much positive energy as you can; later, when you're further along in your magical training, there are other options.