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. Six weeks ago I started on the OBOD end of my lineage with past Chosen Chief Philip Carr-Gomm. Last week's honoree was Robert MacGregor-Reid, Chosen Chief of the Universal Bond, the most influential British Druid order in the early twentieth century, and so this week's is his father, George Watson MacGregor-Reid, who founded the Universal Bond (though its origin was later backdated to 1717 in the usual way). Alternative health maven, Golden Dawn initiate, Unitarian minister, labor organizer, and all-around interesting guy, he was responsible for beginning the tradition of Druids celebrating the midsummer sunrise at Stonehenge, and played a very large role in setting modern Druidry in motion.

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With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

Advice for social relations in decline

[(Anonymous)]

I'm facing a challenging set of social relationships. Basically, I've spent the last decade or more preparing for decline, mentally and financially. It wasn't and isn't easy, but for some reason I'm ok mental and physical shape, and so are my family.

However, most of my family and friends are not, and jealousy and occasional nastiestnsss are their response. It's tough because I care about people and don't want the life of loneliness for my family, but nor is being dragged down by emotionally drowning people a good idea.

Times are tough, advice gratefully appreciated.

Re: Advice for social relations in decline

[ecosophia]

I don't recommend asking someone with Aspergers syndrome, like me, for advice in social relationships! For that reason I'm going to hand this over to the commentariat for their advice.

Ego

[(Anonymous)]

Could you recommend any good books to help learn and understand about the Ego and Ego Death?
Thanks!

Re: Ego

[ecosophia]

The problem here is that the word "ego" means many different things. There are traditions that use it to mean the Higher Self, traditions that use it to mean the lower self, and so on through the range of options. I don't know of a book that sorts through the chaff. Anyone else?

A magical-medical question

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG, thanks for another Magic Monday.

I currently suffer from quite the silly ailment -- at 43 years old I have a recurring case of hydrocele, a baby's disease, where liquid accumulates at one of the inner layers of the scrotum, making it grow like a balloon. I have, of course, treated this through the use of traditional medicine -- went to the doctor, underwent surgery. The thing came back. I'm all set for another surgery. However I wonder if there's something else behind this: I'm not in peace with my sexuality and love life, and an embiggened scrotum filled with "unspent energy" is an image I could use to describe it if I decided to be harsh and not very poetic. Could an energetic or subtle cause be behind this? It should NOT have reocurred after surgery, it was a corrective procedure.

Should I try an alchemist? Herbologist? I just think about sex/fire being flooded with sadness/water and end up imagining with spagyrics or even some sort of tea could be of help.

Thanks! :) And I say it again: I am asking about this but going through secular medical treatment normally.

Re: A magical-medical question

[ecosophia]

In the United States it is illegal for someone other than a licensed health care practitioner to offer advice on any health condition. It's called practicing medicine without a license, and people do hard time if they get caught. No, you don't have to charge money to be accused of it -- there are people who have been prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license because a friend asked them what to do about a cold and they suggested herbs.

That law is also tolerably often used, btw, as a basis for entrapment, especially as a means to target political undesirables. Thus I tend to be very careful about such things -- and for that reason I am not in a position to help you. Sorry.

[(Anonymous)]

A few days ago, I decided to try the red bag amulet you recommend in the Magic Monday FAQ for dealing with magical attack to see if it improved things at work, given that I'm pretty sure that the energies there have gone quite septic.

a) I wore it on the way to work, and it seemed fine, but within a few minutes of getting there, the thread I used to tie the bag in place came undone, and it was surprisingly hard to get a knot to stay, as if something was untying it on me. Is this sort of thing common when dealing with spaces with extremely noxious energies?

b) I quite suddenly found that the various rationalizations I was using to continue working there all fell apart, and that I quite suddenly realized I needed to quit. Nearly everyone who works there hates it, and yet surprisingly few people have actually quit. The manager is highly abusive and seems to have single-handedly reshaped the egregor and energy of the store sicne coming in around a year ago; Does this suggest he's using magic (perhaps consciously, perhaps not) to, among other things keep people working there? I already left, but am now wondering why I didn't shortly after the new manager took over.

c) I noticed when I put the bag on the first time, that it felt quite weird when it was at the level of my heart; when it slipped, there was a similar sensation when it was at the level of my solar plexus. I decided to experiment with it, and found that at the level of my genitals, at my feet, belly button, solar plexus, heart, throat, mid-forehead, and just above my head I got a similar feeling: a tingling, slight pressure, almost sharp. None of these words are quite adequate, but they are the closest I can come to describing it.

Does this imply that the red bag amulet could be used to protect any energy centre?

d) I have, as many young men do, a porn addiction; I'm increasingly thinking it's coming from outside of me. Given the above, do you think a red amulet bag placed to block the genital centre might be worth trying as a way to disrupt whatever it is that is driving the porn addiction? Do you know if anyone has tried anything like this before?

I'm aware of the awkward nature of tying a red bag in my underpants, but nothing I've tried thus far has had much of an effect on my porn addiction, and if it helps, all things considered this will be a fairly minor inconvenience.

e) If this is worth trying, are there risks associated with this I should be aware of? I'm not sure what messing with an energy centre in this fashion might do, and would like to know if there are warning signs you can think of that I should stop this experiment.

[ecosophia]

1) It's very common, especially when the noxious energies are there because someone put them there.

2) That seems very likely.

3) It can indeed be used for that purpose.

4) I don't know of anyone trying it, but it's worth a shot. You might also get an amethyst -- it prevents all kinds of intoxication.

5) None that I know of.

Comic

[sirustalcelion]

Good Morning JMG and fellow Ecosophians!

I made a joke comic inspired by the conversations that happen here, and would like to share: https://www.patreon.com/posts/etherwood-2-page-82776555

I wish you all a blessed June!

Re: Comic

[ecosophia]

Ha! That's good; thank you.

[realmscryer]

Hi JMG,

1. First, thank you for The Doors of Tarot. I can finally do a tarot reading without referencing a book. The single best tarot book I have on my bookshelf. Though now with a good foundation I expect to be able to use those other books to help me expand my tarot practices.

Memorization is such a useful tool!

2. My second pass through the Dolmen Arch is well underway. Just finishing up Grade I. I can not believe how much I am getting from this second time through! Kinda like a brand new course.

3. Towards the end of Moon Magic, Fortune mentions mystical alchemy and calls it the yoga of the West. Would you happen to know what specifically she is referencing?

4. A while back I asked about Aikido. At least in the form taught at my local dojo the fit with my DA studies and practices is amazing. Aikido is for me, among other things, a kinesthetic expression of what I am practicing and meditating on in the DA materials. Makes for fun practice when imagining being out of my physical body, too. Oh and the haras and the cauldrons appear to match up nicely!

Thanks for everything!
Eric

[ecosophia]

1 & 2) You're welcome, and I'm delighted to hear these both.

3) "Mystical alchemy" is an evasion. She elsewhere identifies Cabalistic magic as the yoga of the West.

4) This doesn't surprise me in the least -- but I'm glad to hear it.

Dion (Violet Firth) Fortune's Inner Contacts

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMK!,

I've recently given some thought to the question of the Inner Plane
Contacts that Dion Fortune claimed were giving some impetus to her
society/order prior to and after WW1. Perhaps this was prompted by
the relatively recent passing of Gareth Knight (Basil Wilby), who did
a great deal of work putting her story together for the present, and
future generations?

That said, one of these contacts was ostensibly a young(ish) British
soldier who claimed to have given his life during WW1, at the Battle
of the Somme, I believe. The details of his Life and Death that he
supplied, and were subsequently made available by Dion Fortune turned
out to be more or less unverifiable if I recall correctly?

Finally, here's the question I want to get your thought/s on:
In your opinion were these Inner Plane contacts that were purportedly
working on behalf of her order totally Subjective to Herself alone, or
Objective in the sense that other members were also able to communicate with them?

Thanks,
JDB

Re: Dion (Violet Firth) Fortune's Inner Contacts

[ecosophia]

Other members of the FIL communicated with Fortune's contacts on a regular basis. That's tolerably well documented in books on Fortune and her school. You might be interested to know that there's a doctoral dissertation on the subject of Fortune's contacts:

https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10036/41936

Thanks!

[wizard_in_the_woods_1949]

Yes, real interesting for sure! Thanks for the link!
JDB

Re: Thanks!

[ecosophia]

Enjoy.

MOE Healing Voice

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning JMG and everybody else,

Hope you all had a good weekend! Thanks very much to you, JMG, for answering questions yet again. :-)

A quick question about the MOE Healing Voice: I realised only in the past few days that I never once thought about the direction in which the symbols are drawn on the throat - I don‘t even know if it makes a difference, and it doesn‘t seem to be mentioned in the materials you published.

Did John Gilbert ever specify, and if so, which direction? (= if somebody would look at me from their position and see me drawing the symbols, would they see them drawn clockwise or counter-clockwise?)

Or does your experience indicate one is better than the other?

For what it‘s worth, I‘ve instinctively been drawing them as if I would be looking at my throat from the inside, clockwise (like looking at my hand and then drawing clockwise) - i.e. another person would see them counterclockwise. I‘ve consciously tried the other direction a few times in the past few days, but it doesn‘t feel right, like rubbing my fur the wrong way. I.e. if there isn‘t any reason to change direction, I‘ll just stick with what I‘ve done.

Thanks, and blessings to you and your wife, if you will have them - may your week be healthy, happy and productive,

Milkyway

Re: MOE Healing Voice

[ecosophia]

No, he didn't specify. Do it the way that feels right to you; the important thing is to establish a way of doing it, and then stick to that.

Mental Plane and Egregores

[(Anonymous)]

a) After reading your post on the polarities of subtle bodies, I’ve been pondering over the mental plane/sheath and how it interacts with inspiration. You mentioned how male artists (with female sheaths) often need to receive inspiration from female companionship. However, I’ve known artists who seemed to receive inspiration from immaterial beings. This wouldn’t be strange, except the “beings” in question are often fictional characters from (popular) media/stories they’ve consumed. Their “muse” would therefore be an egregore (I believe that’s the correct term?) that seems to be fertilizing their mental sheath, which implies said egregore possesses a male sheath.
An immaterial being having subtle bodies seems straightforward. What’s confusing, in the case of fictional characters, is that the “being” was human-made. This raises multiple questions: is the assumption that egregores possess their own sheaths correct? If so, what determines the egregore’s mental sheath? Does it mimic the polarity of the original creator/author? If not, could an author create their own “muse” by forming an egregore with an opposing polarity?

To clarify, I’m talking specifically about inspiration rather than imagination (on the astral), although, I suppose creating an egregore this way would involve the astral?

b) Any advice for someone whose polarities are unbalanced? I am male, but have (from what I understand) a female etheric/astral/mental body.

Re: Mental Plane and Egregores

[ecosophia]

1) Egregors don't have mental sheaths because they aren't persons, but they can certainly exist and function on the mental plane, so long as they have some connection to the realm of meaning and value. Most good works of art and literature achieve this as a matter of course; it's the connection to the mental plane, in fact, that distinguishes real art, literature, etc. from schlock. Any egregore with a mental plane aspect, if it's charged by the emotions and thoughts of fans, can function as a source of inspiration.

2) That's rare enough that I haven't encountered any discussion of it.

[(Anonymous)]

May your Monday be magical, JMG!
1. I am working on recalling events of the day in reverse order before going to bed. It is HARD, especially if it's an uneventful day with work and chores. Lately, I've started writing down what I've been doing (e.g., cooking soup, weeding a raised bed in the garden, etc) and reviewing the list at the end of the day. After that, I go to bed and recall events I've just refreshed in my memory. Is this cheating?
2. As much as I've found SOP and divination relatively easy to grasp and learn I am struggling with meditation. The preliminaries are easy. I take a position, relax my muscles for about a minute, do a 4-folded breath for 5 minutes, and start meditating on an SGO card. It starts OK - producing an image in my mind is also easy, but then my thoughts on the subject end. Continued thoughts are possible, but I have to will them into existence. They compete with unwanted thoughts and lose. I spend most of the time trying to stop the unwanted thoughts. In the end, my mind is going blank. Any advice would be appreciated.
3. Thank you for OSA material. I've started on April 11th and haven't skipped a day. Feels like controlled self-induced vomiting. I'm lighter now.
Kirsten

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, it's hard. You can use a cheat sheet to help you now, but the goal is to get to the point at which you won't need one.

2) Meditation is also hard. It's arguably the hardest thing you'll ever do, not to mention the most boring. Willing thoughts into existence is exactly what you have to do sometimes. One way to generate thoughts when none want to come to mind is to use the old journalist's trick of asking the six questions -- "who? what? when? where? why? how?" -- of whatever concept you're exploring. Not all of them will be applicable, but the effort to figure out which of them are, and which can be stretched into being applicable, will very often get your mind working.

3) You're welcome. I know the feeling!

Solstice and equinox sigils

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning. I'm curious about the equinox and solstice sigils from the CGD. I find them both quite attractive in their own right, and also interesting in a DMH context as symbols of the stations that can be traced in rituals, unlike the more complicated emblems of the stations given in the book. (Apologies if you've talked about this elsewhere, but I couldn't find anything with a search.)

1) Are these sigils from the original GD, the Druid Revival or your original creations?

2) Could the sigils theoretically be used in the DMH system, to (say) call on the energies of the respective station of the Wheel in a modified version of the ogham few workings, to mark the Grove stones, as part of the seasonal rituals during the respective holy days, or even in the SoP as alternatives to the usual elemental symbols?

3) If so, would it be possible to create corresponding sigils for the remaining four stations?

As always, thank you for your time!

Re: Solstice and equinox sigils

[ecosophia]

1) They're the old medieval symbols for the four seasons of the year. Just as the planets and the signs of the zodiac have symbols, the seasons used to have them; I found them in I forget which source, experimented with them, and found them very functional.

2) Yes, you could. Since they're not original to the CGD system they're not limited to it.

3) Sure, but you'd have to put a lot of work into the new symbols to get some kind of egregor built up around them.

Occult Side of Comas

[lukedodson]

Hi JMG,

From an occult perspective, what is happening to the subtle bodies when someone is in a coma? Would it be theoretically possible to make psychic contact and communicate with someone in a coma?

Many thanks,
Luke

Re: Occult Side of Comas

[ecosophia]

It varies from case to case. Sometimes the subtle bodies are still entirely intact and then, yes, the person can be contacted. Sometimes the soul has already gone onto another incarnation and the body's being kept alive artificially, and then there's nobody home.

Natal readings

[eudaimonia]

Hey everyone,

I posted a couple weeks ago offering basic natal readings/birth charts. I wanted to give an update! First of all, thanks to everyone who has reached out. I’ve been working through them and have completed some, so I hope they’ve been helpful! To those who are still waiting, I appreciate your patience. I’ve had a lot going on in life the past couple of week, but I will get to yours as soon as I can.

If anyone else would like one, feel free to reach out, as long as you’re ok with a bit of a wait at the moment. I also wanted to mention that right now, these readings will not provide much insight into areas aside from personality. I’ll be digging into more detailed readings in the future, but if you’re wanting something right now (like a relationship or magical-path reading), you might want to look elsewhere at the moment. Or be willing to wait until I get to that point!

Thanks everyone and JMG for this space.

[thinking_turtle]

To share, a list of abbreviations like OBOD, UB, and GCC.

Qs

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG and company,

Had a couple of questions today.

1) Do you have advice on dealing with impatience and fear as underlying emotions/processes?

2) I read something weird about how strong souls who are born into a body sometimes have auto-immune issues because of the sheer weight of the spirit incarnating being very taxing for the body to take in. I divined whether this was true and it suggested there's something to it.

Have you heard of something like this/can share thoughts?

Re: Qs

[ecosophia]

1) Work on remembering and processing the childhood experiences that make these things problematic. Journaling is good for that, and so is the Order of Spiritual Alchemy work.

2) No, I'd never encountered that idea before. Interesting.

lunar or solar

[syfen]

archdruid,

Is there any lore about the energetic properties of the pituitary gland? Its elemental nature, planetary corrispondence, and etc? I know its pivitol to the endocrin system, and many Eastern practices can/do work with it, but what does western lore have to say?

Regards,

Syfen

Re: lunar or solar

[ecosophia]

Quite a bit, though not all of it is in agreement! In the traditions I work with, its planetary correspondence is the Sun (or in some traditions Uranus) and its elemental correspondence is spirit. It's paired with the pineal gland, which is Moon (or Neptune) and spirit. Certain practices in Western occultism activate the pineal gland, which then releases compounds that go through the cerebrospinal fluid and stimulate the pituitary gland, releasing more compounds that give robust health, longevity, and clairvoyant perception. Yes, this is one of the things that alchemy (specifically Western internal alchemy) is meant to achieve.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG and members,

I really hope you are well and healthy!

I brought some very random questions. Thanks so much for your help and attention, as always!

1. Is it possible to draw a hierarchy of spiritual beings? from Genius Loci, spirits of our ancestors, angels (or whatever name they have in their contexts, gods, planetary and solar logos? In order to have access to superior entities, must we necessarily go through intermediary entities?

2. Would Bach Flower Remedies (and their variants) be a good tool for increasing spiritual sensitivity in addition to odd and opening the chakras? If so, which ones do you use and indicate?

3. Any Elus Cohen there!? I would like to know more about "La Choise", what kind of spiritual entity "la choise" is?

4. A rosary on the day and time of the moon would be good exercise or would it “mix” too much?

Well, that's it! Thank you very much everyone!

On the rosary

[homeopathic_meditations]

#4: TL;DR It is probably Ok, but if you are interested to work with the Rosary it is possible to do the full set of days/Planets.

Please let me explain, there are 15 Mysteries[1] that you should meditate on while you pray the Rosary; those are divided in 3 groups of five: Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. The Joyful are prayed on Mondays and Thursdays, the Sorrowful on Tuesdays and Fridays, the Glorious on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Let's leave aside Sundays for now.

According to Agostino Taumaturgo[2] the alignment of the Mysteries follow an astrologic worldview. It is obvious why you want to meditate on the Joyful Mysteries on Jupiter's day; I am not sure about Mondays because I cannot place "Luna" (definitively not Hera, and Diane's energy seems off); and from a Christian point of view[3] I'd say we are talking of the masculine principle of The Holy Providence (a very jovial aspect shared by all the Persons of the Divine Trinity) and the feminine principle of the Theotokos.

On the Sorrowful Mysteries, the planets are Mars and Venus, and in this polarity we find the sexual aspect more profoundly. Those are also the mysteries that deal with suffering and death, so they are the most human ones. I think that from the Christian point of view we are revering the original human couple, Adam and Eve, and in them seeing the reflection of the more earthly side of Jesus and his mother Mary, daughter of Joachim and Anne.

For the Glorious Mysteries, Taumaturgo points that they are to be prayed in the days or Mercury and Saturn. Here the duality is not along sexual lines, but along the age axis: Mercury being the bright youthful, range of possibilities, and Saturn playing the part of the ancient wise, fully aware of hard limits. As for Sundays, the author claims that you are to rotate through the whole range of Mysteries so that you do not get imbalanced by devoting one day to only one set of them (probably he meant 5 at a time, through 3 weeks; but I've heard of people who prayed the whole 15 Mysteries in one go, it would probably take a full hour and is better suited for the day of rest).

Here I deviate from his teaching because I always learned since childhood that Glorious Mysteries are of the Sunday too. It is as if we are invited to break the binary into a ternary, so the obvious Christian attribution would be the Most Holy Trinity. The Christ is the Solar logos, obviously, and the harsh but fair Old-Testament Yahweh, Lord of the Host, would be very well suited for Saturdays. That would live the Paraclitus, who touches directly the hearth of Men, as the Mercurial energy in the ternary.

[1] Those are the traditional 15 Mysteries; multiplied by 10 Hail-Marys give you 150, the same number as with the Psalms. This relationship have been disrupted by Pope Francis' new Luminous Mysteries, in which I am not particularly interested (though I do not claim they are evil or anything).

[2] The core of this elaboration comes from Taumaturgo's article as interpreted by me. However...

[3] ... the correspondences to Christian holy persons are my own. Those are the results from my attempt to square the practice learned in childhood, of praying Glorious Mysteries on Sundays.

[(Anonymous)]

John--

Some progress has been made, though I feel like I'm continuing to wrestle with the same issues over and over again. Journaling and meditation have helped--and I could always do more--but I find myself frustrated with the inability to clear my plate of these things so that I can "get on with it."

While I understand, to a degree, what I've received in the way of guidance: "You are not here to do Great Things; you are here to develop your soul" and "What you think of as important is not and what is truly important you miss completely," I cannot *see* how healing my various complexes, integrating my shadow, and the like is important in any grand sense of things. Yes, it is "important" in the sense that it is important to heal a broke bone, but if the purpose of my incarnation here is to resolve my Jungian complexes and heal my mother wound, I cannot help but feel underwhelmed.

This brings to mind a story of three stone-cutters all working on their pieces. When asked what he was doing, the first said, "I am cutting a stone." The second replied, "I am building a wall." The third answered, "I am constructing a cathedral." As I continue the work of finishing this rough ashlar of my soul, how can I *see* that cathedral which I am supposedly helping to build? What is it? How does my work contribute to its construction? I cannot see it at this moment in time, though I keep being told it is there; this is a source of enormous frustration.

[(Anonymous)]

Not JMG, but I had an astrological reading done for me recently in which my spiritual goals are basically to deal with my own psychological issues and develop my own soul, similarly to what you describe.

I remember someone posting on here some months a quote from a saint who said something like "bring your own soul to peace and a thousand others shall benefit".

(i wish I could find which saint said it and the exact quote)

But in that context, that soul development work sounds like it fits into the grand scheme of things nicely! Not that one should do it for those reasons, of course, to me it is worthy work in its own right.

Catholic Vampires

[joshuarout]

Dear J.M. Greer,

When we look at the vampirization process, it seems to have begun with very good intentions - for a chief or shaman to continue dwelling in the land and doing things to benefit the tribe; this degenerated into people just being scared of losing their personalities in death. So it originated as something like a potent version of a Catholic saint - a dead person who will get blessings and benefits done for the tribe. In its degenerate form, it just created a bunch of parasites. So I was wondering, do we see a survival of the better version of vampirism in the Catholic saint process? Leaving aside the other categories of Catholic saints, who are actually gods, goddesses, Daimons, nature spirits, land beings, etc, mashed into one category. If the etheric body is well-preserved through spiritual practice (that's why we see Catholic saint bodies that don't decompose), and it's also fed through prayers and devotions, the saint (maybe we can call it a Catholic vampire) can continue functioning to benefit and bless people. Moreover, it seems these people are no longer attached to their personalities and passions, which makes them safe to work with.
The practical follow-up question to that would be, if one of their sanctified people dies in, say, North America, shouldn't we not embalm them? This would destroy their etheric shell.

Regards,

Josh Rout

Re: Catholic Vampires

[ecosophia]

Good! Yes, but there's another factor: the saint isn't dependent on the preservation of his or her body. Plenty of powerful saints were burnt to ashes, or had their bodies chopped up in small pieces to be distributed as holy relics all over medieval Europe, or their body did the normal thing and moldered away to dust.

The point of the ancient tradition was to use the etheric shell only temporarily, until the soul can stabilize itself on higher planes. That's why bones were taken out of the long barrows back in megalithic times and used as sacred relics -- the guardian of the tribe didn't need them, though his or her influence radiated from them as the influence of a saint radiates from his relics.

With regard to embalming, the best thing to do is to wait at least three days before embalming or cremating the body. That allows the etheric body to separate completely from the material body. Once that's happened, the material body can be disposed of, or if it's the body of a saint, preserved as a source of relics.

Natural Magic Question

[alifelongme]

1. I have been reading your wonderful “Encyclopaedia of Natural Magic” and got a bit confused about astrological aspect of substances. For example, Chicory has Jupiter in Virgo, that is Jupiter is in his detriment and weak. So, using Chicory would work against Jupiter? Or it should be prepared for an amulet, for example, during days/hours outside Jupiter’s influence? Or I am misinterpreting the astrological influence on the substance?

2. Another question is more practical. How long does the amulet made of dried herbs in a flannel bag last? Do herbs go bad over time from the bag being in close contact with the skin and absorbing sweat?

Thank you for this opportunity to ask questions

Re: Natural Magic Question

[ecosophia]

1) That confuses a lot of people. No, the falls, rulerships, detriments, and exaltations don't have that effect. The astrological symbolism is simply a mnemonic system to tell you what kind of energy the herb has and what its medical and magical effects are likely to be.

2) Yes, they spoil over time. How soon? Depends on how much you sweat, how hot and humid the area is, etc., etc. More than a few months is usually too long to keep them, if you wear them.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I have recently made the acquaintance of a woman who claims to have used Goetia pathworks & demonic keys to emit electromagnetism through her palms, an ability she claims to have developed out of boredom during the lockdowns. She wants to open a group of people with whom she can discuss such matters, and is keen to get me involved in that.

I am uncertain how to proceed. There is a certain intensity to that women that attracts and repels me at the same time, making me hesitant to join. Then again, I am a very private person, especially when it comes to matters of this nature, and that would be the first time that my private, single studies would be opened to the input of somebody else.

So my question is, what is your take on her using Goethia pathworks?

Thank you so much for your help!

[robertmathiesen]

Warning bells! This sort of set-up could very easily turn into a power trip for her. Since you imply that hardly know her as yet, you're in no position to judge how easily that power would corrupt her good intentions. In your position, I would firmly decline.

More on magic and spirituality

[mooseburger]

Following on my previous week's question on the difference between magic and spirituality (your answer was clarifying, thanks), magician Damien Echols once said in an interview (https://youtu.be/WQBDhSolHAM?t=26) that "the Bible is the greatest book of magic ever written, once you know how to read it". What do you make of that?

It's just that I've got this impression at times that some magicians see magic as this thing that is above spirituality, like spirituality is a subfield of magic. Certainly Aleister Crowley gives that impression in his novel Moonchild, with his magical theory that spirit is this one thing that is penetrating into the physical universe (and I suppose also with this whole thing of him making up a religion), and Éliphas Lévi also with his speculation that the religion of the future for the West is a fusion of Christianity with Buddhism.

You clearly don't see it that way, though I'm not sure why Dion Fortune's The Cosmic Doctrine is magic and not spirituality, since it does deal with states above the mental. Is it because of the qualification that it's all meant to train the mind, and that it's not at all an absolute truth?

Re: More on magic and spirituality

[ecosophia]

1) It's a poor excuse for a holy book that can only be read in one way! Back in the Middle Ages it was standard teaching that the Bible should be read in four different ways -- the literal, as an account of events that happened; the moral, as a set of ethical instructions; the allegorical, as an account of theology in symbolic form; and the analogical, as a set of instructions for mystical practice. That leaves out the fifth, or magical sense, which is the one Damien was talking about. These senses, of course, align with the four elements:

Literal - Earth
Moral - Water
Allegorical - Air
Magical - Fire
Anagogical - Spirit

2) Yeah, I know, some occultists think that. I disagree. I see occultism as the middle ground between science and spirituality. As for the Cos. Doc., yes, exactly; it's mental training useful for occultists.

Tattuinardoelasaga, Spengler Odds and Ends, and Scrying the Wheel of the Year

[jprussell]

Good Morning/Afternoon,

I hope that your June is off to a fine start and that the full moon didn't bring too much craziness.

To Share: Two things this week, 1. A while back (2010), Jackson Crawford wrote up a piece where he explains the complex textual tradition around the migration-period Germanic stories that ultimately inspired George Lucas to write Star Wars (it's a joke, but an elaborate one executed by a professional). He then went on to actually /write/ the saga (in Old Norse! But also an English translation). For my part, I like the bits based on the prequels better than the prequels themselves, but that might be damning with faint praise: https://tattuinardoelasaga.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/tattuinardoela-saga-if-star-wars-were-an-icelandic-saga/. 2. I wrap up my series of posts on Spengler with a "Grab Bag" of quotes, observations, and thoughts that didn't come together into posts of their own: https://jpowellrussell.com/#understanding_spengler_s_decline_of_the_west_bit_6_odds_and_ends

To Ask: I'm about to wrap up scrying each of the Ogham fews. Is it worthwhile to scry each of the Stations of the Wheel of the Year before starting pathworking? I've already meditated on each, but not scryed them.

As always, thanks very much to JMG and everyone else here for all that you do.

To any who will have them, I put forth my blessings and best wishes,
Jeff

Re: Tattuinardoelasaga, Spengler Odds and Ends, and Scrying the Wheel of the Year

[ecosophia]

The Tattuinardoelasaga is one of the funniest bits of scholarly parody I've read in years. Thank you! As for the stations of the Wheel, yes, it can be helpful to scry them in advance of the pathworkings.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

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 the requests to your own prayers.

If I missed anybody, or if you would like to add a prayer request for yourself or anyone who has given you consent (or for whom a relevant person holds power of consent) to the list, please feel free to leave a comment below.

* * *
This week I would like to bring special attention to the following prayer requests.

JH's mother-in-law Sue, who lives in Spain, has had a severe arthritis affliction in her knee that has left her unable to walk for weeks now, leaving her more or less bed bound; for prayers and/or healing energy for swift resolution of the issue and swift recovery of her ability to walk.

Tanamous's friend's brother David got in a terrible motorcycle accident and has been diagnosed as a quadriplegic given the resultant spinal damage; for healing and the positive outcomes of upcoming surgeries and rehabilitation, specifically towards him being able to walk and live a normal life once more.

One of open_space's best friends, Patricio Lopez de Nava Amezcua, was shot and killed last week; for the safe and pleasant passing of his soul. (Photo of Patricio here.)

Nicole's (shewhoholdstension) 41 year brother Robert died suddenly in bed on May 15th; for a smooth and blessed journey on the other side. Robert was a single dad and he leaves behind three children: Hannah, Zack, and Jordyn; that they and Nicole be blessed and protected, and find what comfort they can during this very difficult time. (Update here.)

Lp9's request on behalf of their hometown, East Palestine Ohio, for the safety and welfare of their people and all living beings in the area. (Lp9 gives updates here and most recently here, and says "things are a bit... murky"), and the reasonable possibility seems to exist that this is an environmental disaster on par with the worst America has ever seen. At any rate, it is clearly having a devastating impact on the local area, and prayers are still warranted.

* * *
Guidelines for how long prayer requests stay on the list, how to word requests, how to be added to the weekly email list, how to improve the chances of your prayer being answered, and several other common questions and issues, are now to be found at the Ecosophia Prayer List FAQ.

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 as always for this.