Magic Monday
Jun. 11th, 2023 11:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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. I've taken the lineage of OBOD back as far as I can, and now it's time to jump to another initiatory lineage, the Martinist Order. It's bad form (and forbidden by the obligations of initiation) to reveal the name of your Martinist initiator, even indirectly; thus I'm going to leap over the last several steps in my Martinist filiation to this gentleman, René Chambellant, whose title as a Gnostic bishop was Tau Renatus. Born in 1907, he was an oral surgeon by trade, and spent many years in central Africa teaching oral surgery and dentistry at a college in the Congo. He was initiated into Martinism and numerous other esoteric orders by Robert Ambelain, one of the great figures of the modern French esoteric traditions; in 1944, after the Gnostic patriarch Constant Chevillon was assassinated by the Nazis, Chambellant became the head of l'Eglise Gnostique Universelle, one of the major French Gnostic churches of the time. Several important Martinist lineages received their initiation through him.
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***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***
Ecosophia Prayer List week of June 12
Date: 2023-06-12 04:18 am (UTC)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
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 week of June 12
Date: 2023-06-12 04:20 am (UTC)Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 04:25 am (UTC)As we find our way into summer here in the northern hemisphere, I hope that everyone is finding ways to beat the heat.
To Share: First, I've made it through Grade 2 of the Dolmen Arch, Gradd yr Damcaniwr! Thanks very much to everyone here who has answered questions and given support. I'll be starting Grade 3, Gradd yr tomorrow. Secondly, I asked about Shani Oates and her books a couple weeks ago, and I went ahead and read her book The Hanged God: Oðinn Grimnir. I've put together my thoughts here, maybe helpful to folks interested in Odin: https://jpowellrussell.com/#thoughts_on_the_hanged_god
To Ask: In reading the above, Ms. Oates gives a large chunk of the book over to talking about draugar, Old Norse restless dead. They're usually thought of as corporeal, but her references highlighted their links with barrows, which put me in mind of the Vampire chapter in Monsters, and leads me to think their descriptions sound more like etheric beings. She also brought up, almost off-hand, how there were a handful of tales of these barrow-dwellers becoming dragons, and since my mind was already on Monsters, I thought about that chapter as well, and how dragons were also etheric beings. So, my question is: since both were/are quasi-corporeal etheric entities, do you have any thoughts on whether there might ever have been "vampire"-to-"dragon" transformations with the old mound technology and/or its debased forms?
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: Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 04:30 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 04:34 am (UTC)Is there a reason why I might get problems if I keep them separate?
On a podcast long time ago titled Occultism 101 you mentioned of a ritual that makes you very aware of subtle energies. May I ask what the ritual was?
(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 04:36 am (UTC)Thank you for your suggestion to use 6 Wh-questions. It structured my meditation to the extent that I could call it a meditation compared to my previous attempts when after the preliminaries I lasted for about 30 seconds and then my mind went first blank and then got flooded with random thoughts. Now I can actually have some thoughts as opposed to my thoughts having me.
My next frontier is recalling the events of the day in reverse. I find it excruciatingly difficult. Overall, I've been blessed with good memory and decent attention..., but it doesn't help! I start and by the time I am at around 5 pm, I lose my track. I start recalling things that I skipped, go back... and realize that I don't remember the order and the details of the minutiae, especially if I've done something involving multiple small steps spread throughout the day. For example, today I started making a loaf of bread at 9 am and it was ready by dinnertime. It was intertwined with many other tasks. I don't remember the sequence. Did I do SOP before to after kneading? Did my friend drop by before or after I shaped the loaves? Also, I am a list person. I make a list of things to do and check it off. At the end of the day, I remember the list, but not the sequence. What is the level of details to be recalled? it the recollection supposed to be visual? For now I tend to recall it verbally ("... and before that, I read a book" ot something like that)
(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 04:37 am (UTC)2) I'm scratching my head trying to think of any ritual that reliably does this. I find regular meditation to be the best way of developing sensitivity to subtle energies.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 04:39 am (UTC)2) It's not an easy practice! I do it visually, because that's the way I remember events; that's not required, however. I don't find it useful to remember every tiny detail; a general overview seems to be adequate.
Re: Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 04:47 am (UTC)As for the etymology, wiktionary.org has it as:
"From Proto-Germanic *draugaz (“delusion, mirage, illusion”). Akin to Old Saxon gidrog (“delusion”) and Old High German bitrog (“delusion”), gitrog (“ghost”). See also Finnish raukka."
If you click through to *draugaz, it says "Derived from *dreuganą (“to mislead, deceive”)."
*dreuganą's etymology says "From Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewgʰ- (“to be deceptive; damage”)."
Unluckily, it seems none of these are related to dragon, which wiktionary ultimately derives from PIE *derḱ- meaning "to see."
Sounds like it might be interesting to do some more poking around. One of the sources Ms. Oates relies on that you might find interesting in this regard is Nora Chadwick's "Norse Ghosts: A Study in the Draugr and the Haugbui" in Folklore, volume 57 (1948).
Re: Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 04:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 05:09 am (UTC)2) That makes sense. It was one where there was an eager person that insisted to a friend of yours and when he put his hands together he could _really_ tell.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 05:10 am (UTC)Kirsten
Mermaids
Date: 2023-06-12 05:27 am (UTC)I know that on the internet, anything can be faked. And every year, new videos are put out that are most likely fabricated. But somehow, this one seems significant. I read your book "Monsters", and maybe it is a sign that something important is about to happen? Am I imagining things? What do you think? What does the commentariat think? Has anybody else recently seen, or heard of things that go bump in the night, like, more than usual? I always liked the idea of mermaids existing, even though I'm aware of their dark side. But this gives me the creeps.
One synchronicity that I can come up with, is the recent release of Apple's new Virtual Reality glasses. No doubt, this will enslave even more people to dopamine shots delivered through the technology of the digital overlords. The video of this person claiming to have encountered mermaids may be fake, but the siren's call seems uncanninly similar to the lure of technology trying to lead sailors to their doom to me.
https://www.tiktok.com/@the_paranormal_chic/video/7241990107689962798
Re: Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 05:39 am (UTC)Re: Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 05:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-12 05:43 am (UTC)Archetypal Thoughts?
Date: 2023-06-12 05:44 am (UTC)Here's a thought regarding "Archetypes" (in the Jungian sense).
I'll try and be as concise as possible here, just want to bounce this premise off of you this week! ;^) Here goes...
The archetypes in a Jungian sense exist in the "collective unconscious" of the human race. This puts them outside the subjective experience of any one single person, and available to All of humanity. That said, they appear outside the time/space continuum, and seem to be "objective", since they transcend any one "personal unconsciousness". There are "many" archetypes overall, but "cross-culturally' the archetypes of pagan pantheons all seem to have variations or masks/personas of the same Seven major archetypes. For example the Trickster archetype typified by the Greek/Roman Hermes & Mercury; Germanic Odin, et. We'll just keep to the seven "major" here.
Additionally, these archetypes also have their "shadow" mask/personas too, i.e., Loki/Odin for example. My point here is not to get into a large comparison of pantheons, but to attempt to conceptualize an "Archetype" + "Mask/Persona" in any one pantheon = a "god/goddess" in any particular pantheon!
The Archetypes are All the Same! What differentiates an archetype in any given pantheon from another pantheon is the Cultural form or mask/persona of that particular culture. In this sense the "gods/goddesses" can be said to be "objectively" real?
Is this a fair thing to say in your opinion?
Thanks for your consideration on this conundrum (to me)! ;^)
JDB
Re: Mermaids
Date: 2023-06-12 05:44 am (UTC)Re: Archetypal Thoughts?
Date: 2023-06-12 05:46 am (UTC)Re: Dolmen Arch Grade 2 Finished, Review of The Hanged God, Vampires and Dragons
Date: 2023-06-12 05:49 am (UTC)boccaccio's Fisher and Denk
Date: 2023-06-12 06:13 am (UTC)On the second to last Covid post boccaccio posted a preaty good summary of Egon Fisher and Peter Denks predictions an outlooks on the situation. And some valuable comments as to the perspective.
Link
Still the topic left me wondering. And it so happened that I was involved in tree separate conversation groups this week, and the "weltuntergangstimmung"/"armagedon mood" was pervasive. So referencing the authors above:
- It is an open secret these days, that Europe/Germany is struggling, and it will get worse over the next years. And there have been death wave predictions going on since 2 weeks before I was born. But the authors mention a shift on the "spiritual" plane. Have you noticed something like that?
- There is talk of something like a separating of the worlds. And although I belive them, when they say one cannot imagine it yet. There is also mention of there being a difference if you are atunned to higher or lower "informationfields" (I read this in context as vibrations). People with lower vibrations are going to be in a lower world and people with higher vibrations are going to build a better world in hard times. Fits a bit to snuggly in the rapture model for me.
But from a practical standpoint this mirrors some of my divinations, that there are going to be opurtuneties in the future, for those who would take them / have the mindset. Being an easily cynical/pesimist person, how can one, lets use the expresion, "atune to higher vibrations" in order to not get boged down in the armagedon mood in these times?
Best regards,
V
Archetypes Cont.
Date: 2023-06-12 06:26 am (UTC)At this point on my long and winding path (somewhere in the middle?) I've caromed off the rails of that deep dichotomy of: deities as "independent spiritual realities", and the "archetypal" one. At times they both seem valid, as when you get "gooseflesh" upon invocation. Sometimes like "Fox Mulder", I just "Want to Believe", "Something!" This is something so "personal" for each practitioner to eventually discover for themselves that I almost didn't ask the question.
Let me add here a quote which I've found inspirational in it's sheer simplicity:
"If you call upon the gods and they answer, who is there to oppose or to challenge the integrity of your path!" - Andrew D. Chumbley
Thanks for All that You Do JMG! ;^)
Naomi Wolf
Date: 2023-06-12 07:26 am (UTC)She has a big audience, but reading here on ecosophia, where people really know this stuff, and then reading over there, where Wolf and commenters seem to lack information, knowledge, and wisdom, I feel uneasy.
So,it seems good she is getting people to reflect. You have dealt with the cautiously-aware, naive before. How do you think it will come out with Wolf? Is there anything the wiser ones can do to help her and her audience?
Occult philosophy question
Date: 2023-06-12 07:46 am (UTC)Kybalion
Date: 2023-06-12 07:48 am (UTC)Lately I’ve been reading through the “Kybalion”, since I recalled you strongly recommending anyone interested in occultism to do so, and so far it has been an easy read which references a lot of concepts you’ve included in your own work.
My question is, what advice do you have for getting the most out of this book?
J.L.Mc12