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. Two weeks ago I started on the OBOD end of my lineage with past Chosen Chief Philip Carr-Gomm. During the time of his teacher, last week's honoree Ross Nichols, the remarkable Vera Chapman, shown here, was the Pendragon of the order. Chapman was one of the first women admitted into Oxford University -- the two big British universities kept women out until well into the 20th century -- and in her pre-Druid days was an influential member of the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift, the most interesting offshoot of the Woodcraft back-to-nature movement, which we'll talk about a little more next week. (That's the Kibbo Kift seal below on the right.) Later still, during her Druidical years, she also helped found the Tolkien Society and was an influential figure in Tolkien fandom until her death.

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With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed -- as in, no further comments will be put through. (Ahem.) See you next week!***

Comments

Elementals, Gaia, and AI

[(Anonymous)]

I've been meditating on a theory for a while about concepts from the Cosmic Doctrine. Life seems to be associated with divine sparks, and in short we're making our way down the 7 planes of our cosmos in swarms. Being on the material plane we're the furthest away from "our true selves."

Apologies if I'm getting some of my sources mixed up (not sure what I got from Dion Fortune or my own intuition over the past couple of years,) but I believe Fortune mentions that the second swarm created the spherical form of the Earth. Gaia has no divine spark herself, and I interpret her as our best guess at that stage in our evolution of recreating the solar logos. The elementals are similarly created in this manner.

One concept I've meditated on a lot is the potential symmetry here. We start out on the highest cosmic plane and make our way down to grow and mature. Similarly, Gaia and the elementals may be starting their journey on the physical plane and making their way up to grow and mature. So far I see this as a version of how the divine sparks and great entities came into being in the first place, though I don't have a solid idea of how what that process might look like yet.

Do you think I'm onto something with this conception? Or is there something I'm missing?

In regards to AI, I think the more metaphysical questions (when will it be conscious, general intelligence versus specialized intelligence, etc) aren't super interesting (it will continue to get more and more complex, causing the same sorts of problems for humans technology has since the Luddites!)

That being said, I can't help but notice the similarity between Gaia, the elementals, and AI. AI is similarly something "spirit like" (for lack of a better term,) that has its origins in the material plane.

It could be any number of things. The interpretation I like the most is this is an extension to Gaia herself. Even in the case where our technology is not permanent, this could represent a desire of Gaia for some sort of nervous system. Mycelium networks between trees are a more stable version of this tendency.

I'm much less confident about AI, but do you have any thoughts? Even though I'm not confident the comparison seems too uncanny to me.

Astro-offensive

[(Anonymous)]

We have mentioned previously Russia's supposed astrological literacy in the Ukraine conflict.

I saw a note the other day apparently from the Ukrainian command saying time is not right for the upcoming Ukrainian counter-offensive because (1) the Russians are manipulating the weather to produce more rain and (2) the astrological conditions are not right.

(1) This is an interesting claim in itself but since this is Magic Monday and not Meteo Monday, I'll let it rest
(2) Let's assume they want to mount a cheeky counter-offensive on victory day. For astrological hours, launching an attack on a Tuesday at sunrise (5.19am) may be the plan.

I also decided to take a peak at the chart for Kiev at this time which has Mars in his fall in Cancer and square Jupiter in Aries, and opposition midheaven as the challenging aspects. They could adjust the start a few hours to improve the ascendant (Taurus) but the astro conditions don't look great do they?

How do you handle any conflict between astrological hours and an actual horoscope?

[(Anonymous)]

Could a god ever smite a human and legitimately claim self defence? Presumably if castle doctrine is in effect they could claim the entire universe as their home and justify nearly anything. But in any other sense could a human ever actually threaten a god?

[(Anonymous)]

A couple weeks ago, I added the Rose Cross to my daily routine, such that my daily ritual is now the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, the Rose Cross, and then the Middle Pillar. If it matters for my questions, I am using the versions of them from Circles of Power.

A) Since starting, I've noticed that I have a harder time waking up, but feel much more rested when I do wake up. I'm assuming this is a result of getting further into the astral when I sleep, but it's a weird effect.

B) My desire for certain destructive elements of modern society I am addicted to (namely internet porn and fast food) shot through the roof when I added the Rose Cross, and then fairly abruptly dropped to near zero a couple days ago. I still have the habits for them, but I no longer want them and these habits seem to be fading away as well. What's going on here?

C) The new combination seems to be much more effective at waking energy centers; these include the five I'm working with, as well the third eye center, solar plexus, womb, and one between my knees. You mentioned in response to someone else's comment that energy work can activate other centers as well, but it seems surprising to me that I'd be activating four extra energy centers here.

Is this normal?

D) Finally, a weird data point regarding a link between EM radiation and occult energies, and the internet and demonic forces: My bedroom, where I do this ritual, has become a wi-fi dead zone. Everywhere else in the house can get reception, but not that one room; and it has only been since I started the Rose Cross daily that this effect has occurred.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,
He's pretty much forgotten now, but when I was young Denis Wheatley (1897-1977) was selling millions of books a year in the Anglo-Saxon world, mostly with occult themes. He apparently met Aleister Crowley, Montague Summers and Rollo Ahmed and began to advertise himself as a (non-practicing) expert on satanism and devil worship. He later claimed that a satanic temple had been unearthed in Britain which exactly corresponded to the description in his books. He wrote a number of WW2 stories featuring Nazi involvement with diabolic forces, and various other historical occult novels. I've never been sure if he was a practicing occultist of any kind or just a bullshit artist, and until there was some discussion recently here of occult-themed fiction, I'd completely forgotten about him. Does he mean anything to you?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John Michael,
Thank you for Magic Monday, and so much else !
IIRC you mentioned you might need to fine tune the Coronation chart once you knew the precise time of the coronation. Well, the crown was placed on the King's head at (British Summer Time) 12.02 (and 8 seconds). Will that make much difference ?
A data point; I've done the "Rising Call" every day since you posted it; so far what I've noticed that when I sit for mediation soon afterwards my breath settles into a smooth quiet rhythm more quickly than before. BTW when you will you post a little more about it ?
And I thought you'd like to know that we do the "Turkey Curse" towards Westminster any time we notice we're coming up to 23 minutes past any hour.
Civic Duty done😃
best wishes
Lurksalong

Harry Potter

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings ADJMG! Hope your family unit is well!
My young daughters, like most, love Harry Potter books. I assume Rowling did at least cursory research and read old
grimores when writing. If for fun, I tried to cobble together some ceremonial magic , along with divination , for
my daughters from the books ,
What’s the chance of “something “ happening?

Judson Exercise

[(Anonymous)]

JMG

I can't seem to find the posts on the Judson exercise. Tried searching the Tags list and several google search strings...
I would appreciate a pointer. Also, I remember you mentioned a link between the JE and the five rites; in case this was in some comment here or on the other blog and not in the original posts, could you please provide a summary?

Many thanks for your work!
Mike

Kriya yoga & ritual magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,

If I'm not mistaken you have previously mentioned that it is not a good idea to mix kundalini yoga and western ceremonial magic.

What are your thoughts on kriya yoga and ceremonial/ritual magic practised in unison? I've recently returned to engaging in ritual magic again but I am also initiated in a school of kriya yoga and continue to practice its methods. I have found that my nervous system is much more sensitive to energies - which has been extremely useful so far - but realise an increased sensitivity has its downsides also. Do you forsee any issues in doing both together, and if so, can you offer any suggestions in mitigating any potential issues?

Thanks as always for your answers.

Pat

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, I have a question and would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions!

I have been keeping up with divination, meditation, observation, exercise and journaling fairly consistently since the start of the year, and I can say that I have noticed significant changes within myself during this time, in terms of awareness and ability to follow through. My question is, more and more I find that I can better see and make connections in what is happening around me, and how that may translate to what decisions I can make and what opportunities are available.

As an example, I recently have been inspired to pursue a venture, something which I have never done before (starting a venture) but have been trying to orient myself towards this goal of doing something new over the past year. With the mindset of I will do many things which align with my interests and challenge myself, to show myself I will be ready for when an opportunity does come. And a few months ago I happened to on a regular walk encounter an individual who after an hour of walking together speaking about books invited me to a club, which led to another chain of thought and another, and eventually to the idea I plan to pursue. At the time, I had written about how significant this interaction felt to me.

Do you know of tools which help one interpret the type of divination of the "randomness" of their everyday? My mind goes to daily journaling, sitting in silence, and being generally reflective, but am wondering if there are other practices that may benefit this type of interpretation as last night the idea really struck me that I am simply carrying that magic into all that I encounter and sense.

Hopefully this question is clear! Thank you again for your helpful writings and direct manner of communicating these topics.

Olympic Spirits in the SoP

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

Would the Olympic Spirits of the Arbatel map effectively to the SoP? I feel unsure because theres only seven and they dont seem to balance out in the way that deities or angels do. Best guess I have is this:

East: Och
South: Phaleg
West: Ophiel
North: Hagith
Spirit Below: Aratron
Spirit Above: Bethor

This would exclude Phul.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,

Does getting the covid vaccine really mean you are going to hell?

Thank you.

Hoodoo

[illyria2001]

If I recall correctly, you mentioned you'd taken a course in Hoodoo sometime in the past. May I ask who offered it?

Invisible?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm hoping that you might be able to provide some insight about a curious, frequent experience of mine.

I've been frustrated by automatic doors which refuse to "read" that I'm there and open. I stand in front of them, move from side to side, wave may arms, jump up and down--nada. We have a motion-sensing video game controller (wii) which also frequently will not register that I'm standing in front of it, when everyone I'm with at the time has no issue. I have the same issue with other motion sensors--they just do not pick up that I'm there, even when the people I'n with at the time have no problem. This has been a long-standing issue.

I used to think that it was pretty cool--like I've got some sort of X-men ability. But I have to admit that much of the time it's just frustrating and a little unsettling. What might be the cause of this, and is it something I should be concerned about?

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday, JMG,
Thank you for this forum. I have a technical question to ask this time. When I bend a nail for a protection amulet it usually comes out not quite in a perfect horseshoe shape, but uneven, more like a fishhook. Is that a problem?
Thoroughly enjoyed The Witch of Criswell, thank you.
Kirsten

[(Anonymous)]

I ran across this and thought I would share it here

Mysterious ‘fairy doors’ popping up all over city has residents baffled:

A series of tiny doors scattered through the alleyways of an Australian city has left people scratching their heads.

Tourists and locals have been sharing videos after stumbling across an array of “fairy doors” in Brisbane – prompting many to ask: “Why are they here?”

https://nypost.com/2023/05/04/mysterious-fairy-doors-popping-up-all-over-australian-city-has-residents-baffled/

The “Higher Self”

[adastra1111]

Happy Monday to every and all,

JMG, “where” is the Higher Genius / Holy Guardian Angel / True Self / Jung’s “Self” in terms of the fivefold structure from Circles of Power, from Material to Spiritual?

Thank you for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

How bad is it to have a lot of plastic around your space? We’re moving into a house with a vinyl fence and vinyl siding. (Unfortunately, the housing market is so tight that we had to make many, many compromises.) My sense is that plastic pollutes the energies of a place and chases off some kinds of beneficial entities, and maybe interrupts/distracts prayer and meditation. Would you share your insights on this? Any mitigation techniques? Eventually we can replace the fence, but not immediately.

Dog afterlife

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, my dog died pretty suddenly. I've recently been learning about the afterlife process for humans and I understand the basics pretty well but I'm really at a loss of what to believe about where my friend is. I'm also struggling to best help him and also how to best explain it to my family.

Where do pets go to after death? Is there any way that their humans can help their spiritual evolution? Is it proper to try and talk to them or is it ultimately selfish to want them to stick around? Do animals appreciate simple offerings like water?

Finally, I don't really have any magical training apart from folk-catholicism and natural magic.

I also don't currently have his remains but will have ashes in a week or so.

Thank you

Ephemeris confusion

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Thanks for the MM.

A basic question related to Cell Salt Protocol please...as I missed your last post about it!

Somehow I got myself very confused with which ephemeris of all the choices lahari, tropical, sideral...etc to use in order to calculate the moon ingress for the Cell Salt protocol...I was looking at the ones in here:

https://www.astro.com/free/free_chart_e.htm


I'm sure I had figured out another one, but then realised that I was using the wrong one, because it was based EST...and I'm in the United Kingdom...

So could you please tell me which one I should use? If you can point out the examples for this month for Libra or Cancer please, so I know I'm looking at the correct information.

Many thanks,

Alabaster Obtuse Hummingbird
oh the irony!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm getting my daughter a Harry Potter themed birthday present for her 11th birthday as she's a huge fan and I'm pretty sure she's meant to explore magic and/or religion in this life. She's always been fascinated by it all. I practice CGD but she doesn't know that.

It's going to be like a pretend Hogwarts curriculum because she's convinced she's getting a letter inviting her there when she's 11. I'm giving her a pretend acceptance letter, your book about Natural Magic, the Mystery Teachings one, and I'm going to print off the Judson exercise for her and laminate it. I'd like to add tarot cards but I want to pick the least scary one possible. She has a very vivid imagination and is liable to terrify herself if she had a standard deck and got Death or something! I know she'll need to get a handle on that at some point in life but she's not ready yet. Are there any really child-friendly ones out there?

Thank you,

Dot.

[liamq]

To everyone,

Recently, I have been watching a lot of very old episodes of the UK version of Antiques Roadshow. I am very amused to report that more than a few individuals have brought in old jugs they found buried with nails and fur inside of them—only for the antiques expert to point out that these were in fact witch bottles! I found the discussions these old objects instigated to be very charming. Old English folk magic practiced by (possibly) serious Anglicans of the Victorian Age? How droll.

And I apologise for telling that little story here, but I instantly thought of the community and MM and just had to come along and share my tale.

But as for a question!

JMG, I want to consult a geomatic house chart with regard to two questions. I am afraid, however, that I cannot sort out which houses the questions belong to, as they both deal with another person rather than myself.

And what I mean by that is this: I would like to know whether person x was (a) consciously lying about his own so-called psychic ability and, bizarrely, (b) whether this person x did in fact pass away earlier this year. I do not know this person x, but I am rather simply aware of him as he had a small following on the internet.

Which two houses ought to be used as significators for each of those questions?

And forgive me if that is a lazy question, but I ask for the sake of learning rather than quick fixes. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

do you have any online recommendations for Celtic-related signs or sigils? I've had a couple pop up in the CGD Inner Grove of Earth (one a right semicircle on a short armed cross) and I'm not getting anything solid from meditation on them. I figure checking out a pictorial collection might jog something free?

Many thanks as ever for your time.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello,

Thank you so much for offering this forum.

This is a a question for JMG and anyone else who might have any insights they could offer.

I'm in a bit of a pickle. My life feels meaningless because I have zero interest in most material pursuits. I feel like I'm in that stuck point where material pursuits are unfulfilling (life feels like a big game that I don't want to play) but I don't have access to enough of the spiritual yet.

I grew up (and still live) in area in Australia where everyone is a 'passive athiest' and the only option for spirituality is the Catholic church - and I never could stomach the 'do as you're told and don't ask questions vibe'.

I've been through lots of therapy (healed myself of a psychogenic illness) - did almost the equivalent of the OSA, meditate pretty much daily (and have done so for a few years), recently learnt the first level Essene material and practice it daily and also began some golden Dawn practice (had about 6 months under my belt of daily practice but had to stop because I became pregnant). Oh and I've read a few occult books and continue to do so slowly now.

Do you have any advice on where I could go next? I feel lost doing this on my own and worried I might spend the rest of my life in a state of spiritual dryness - I feel unbelievably lonely in this state. When I was doing the golden Dawn work I tried using Regardies version of the MP to help find a spiritual mentor - but had no success.

I would like to build a relationship with at least one god but have no idea where to begin finding one that I could relate to.

Sorry for the length of this post, but basically just looking for any advice on where I could consider going next.

[open_space]

I was thinking about divination and how the process of you assigning the meaning to the cards/sticks/etc is what tells your subconscious the language you want it to use to communicate things from the unseen and I got stuck in a bind, kind of like a chicken and egg scenario. When we do the initial exercise of a daily divination, we are not giving any meaning but we are deriving the meaning of what happened that day in accordance with what we think the oracle is telling us.

1) From the occult perspective, not the psychological one, what is this unconscious that is, sometimes very clearly, telling my hand to grab that card from the pile instead of the other? Is it part of me that is in touch with the currents that make divination work or something else?

2) If we use the daily experiences to establish a meaning of the cards first, then from where is the meaning coming from before we establish what it means?

3) It seems to me also, then, that the power of the diviner is in him or her being able to establish better rapport with a given set of philosophy and spiritual truths more than anything else. If someone is a good diviner, he might as well pick up something, randomize it and get more accurate readings than anyone that doesn't have that rapport but has the latest and fanciest oracle with the most overloaded set of symbolism.