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. I'm currently tracing my Martinist lineage.  That's rendered complex by the Martinist tradition that one does not name one's initiator, so we'll have to go back through less evasive routes. Last week's honoree, René Chambellant, became head of the Eglise Gnostique Universelle on the death of his teacher and consecrator, Constant Chevillon, whom I'm honoring this week. Martinist, Rosicrucian, Freemason, and Gnostic bishop, Chevillon was born in 1880, showed remarkable intellectual gifts in youth, but went to work in the banking industry while devoting his free time to occult and spiritual pursuits. He wrote seven books and many essays about Gnostic theology and practice, and his integrity and spiritual qualities won the respect not only of his fellow Gnostics but of Catholics and nonreligious people. In 1944, he and other leading citizens of Lyon were taken hostage by the Nazis in revenge for activities of the Resistance, and shot to death. He is considered a saint and martyr by most modern Gnostic churches; the day of his martyrdom, March 22, is his feast day.

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

Comments

Necromancy, alchemy and vampirism

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG

Today I have some strange questions :D

I need your wisdom on three things.
1. please advise what herbs to use for male pattern baldness? This is for my brother who is 24 years old. He is fully healthy and I would like to help him.

2. for many years of practice I feel a constant pull towards the chthonic world, I often even feel the 'need' to practice with the dead (I don't want to sound edgy), is it possible to combine necromancy and druidism? Can I read somewhere about the art of necromancy? What books would you recommend? I'm worried that working with the dead will make my ,'aura' slightly off-putting (I work in commerce and have to be careful about such things)

3 What is your opinion on vampirism in terms of energy practices?

Re: Necromancy, alchemy and vampirism

[ecosophia]

1) Male pattern baldness is healthy and normal; it allows more light to penetrate to the pineal gland, which plays a significant role in male hormonal balance. Your brother should let it happen. If he likes the look, he might consider shaving his head.

2) By "the chthonic world" do you mean the realm of the dead? That's not what it means in Druid terms; the deep Earth is vibrantly alive. As for necromancy, I strongly encourage you to have nothing to do with it at all. Yes, it will mess up your aura, filling it with dead energy; it can also mess up your health, potentially fatally.

3) About on a par with my opinion of bloodsucking leeches. Vampirism is a nasty, parasitic habit and anyone who practices it should be shunned by anyone concerned about their own health and safety.

Unhappy Deceased People

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
My niece, who is very empathic, recently took a job in a Funeral Home. She likes the people she works with but said she has met some very angry deceased people. Some of them seem to be angry it took them so long to die in pain, other seem to feel aggrieved they were left to die alone and one woman wanted to talk to someone in authority because it seems she was expecting something else. My niece says some of the newly deceased people she picks up are empty shells, the ones who died by MAID here in Canada have so far all been quite happy, presumably because they got to tie up all their loose ends and were ready to go.

So, besides prayers, is there anything that can be done to comfort these people? How long does the spirit typically hang around their old body. Can people get lost once they die? Could you tell us what you think a recently deceased person should know?

Many thanks from Maxine

Re: Unhappy Deceased People

[ecosophia]

Working with the spirits of the dead is a task for specialists, because it involves serious risks. Prayer is very helpful, and so are other religious ceremonies. I'd encourage your niece to read Dion Fortune's book Beyond the Gates of Death, which covers all this in great detail.

Oswald Spengler's conceptual three-dimensionality?

[team10tim]

Hello JMG,

I've been wrestling with Spengler lately and I think that I have figured out how intuited so much. I wanted to run it past you.

Over on your other site going through Levi's High Magic you have a tarot exercise. Meditating through the tarot gives a "conceptual three-dimensionality." So, do you think it's plausible that Spengler did the same thing with history? And if so how?

There are established methods for meditating through the tarot, the tree of life, or books like Fortune's Cosmic Doctrine and Levi's High Magic. But how does one go about breaking new ground with this method? Are there any known tricks? Or is the approach the same as the work, ie meditate on it?

Re: Oswald Spengler's conceptual three-dimensionality?

[jprussell]

Not JMG, but I've been thinking about Spengler a lot lately. I can think of at least two things Spengler did that are similar to the Lullian method from the High Magic book club posts - 1) using "morphology" and the organism metaphor, and 2) comparing "contemporary" periods from different Cultures.

For 1), simply looking at a culture and going "what if I thought about this like a living thing with a life-cycle, what would I figure out?" A whole host of meditation fodder falls out of that - what is the equivalent of adolescence? Do cultures reproduce? Can cultures get sick? And so forth.

For 2), once you've settled on a life-cycle, like Spengler did, you can take that frame and test it out on different cultures you know about, again, giving lots of fodder for meditation: hmm, what did Caesarism look like in China? In Egypt? Did the Mesoamericans even get there, or was it interrupted by the Spanish? What's the world image of Ethiopians?

I reckon you could get a lot of meditation out of just those two. And that's before you try to combine Spengler with other cyclical thinkers :)

Cheers,
Jeff

P.S. Tooting my own horn a bit, but here are the posts I wrote trying to distill Spengler a bit, in case they're helpful or interesting: https://jpowellrussell.com/#understanding_spengler_s_decline_of_the_west_bit_1

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I know you don't do dream interpretation and I'm not asking for that, this seems to be more of an expression of my soul during dreams. I often have dreams, or possibly the occasional more objective astral experience, where I am singing or rapping and it's really really good. In waking life I am decent at best at those things. I think these experiences are telling me to practice music, but I don't understand why I'm so much better at in my dreams than in physical life. Can you make sense of this esoterically? Thanks in advance, Luke Z.

[(Anonymous)]

FWIW, I have dreams like that when I'm studying a foreign language-- in dreams, I can speak it fluently and it feels great!

I think they're encouragement-- like, see how wonderful this could be if you keep working at it :)

[(Anonymous)]

Which planetary devotion might be helpful with overcoming porn addiction?

[ecosophia]

Saturn is your friend. He's old, he's cold, he's measured, and he's the traditional enemy of uncontrolled cravings of every kind.

Summer Solstice

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Summer Solstice to All!

Justin Patrick Moore

Re: Summer Solstice

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you and same to you!

—Princess Cutekitten

[(Anonymous)]

I’m currently single, and have a bit of a porn problem; part of it, I’ve come to think, is because I have a great deal of sexual energy and am not able to find another release for it for the time being. Do you know any good sources that discuss ways to channel sexual energies into other directions that are relatively safe to stop if and when I find myself in a relationship?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, and for clarity/in case it matters, I have some very basic practice with the Classic Golden Dawn.

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings,

Does the prophet Abraham appear much in the western esoteric literature?

Thank you very much!

[ecosophia]

The only context in which I've seen him discussed much is his interaction with Melchizedek King of Salem, and the war that preceded that. He's not a major figure in the lore.

Q

[(Anonymous)]

If I want to request help with a good rental house to live in and an office space nearby for work, would saturn be the right authority to do a round of charity with?

Re: Q

[ecosophia]

Yes, but only if you want to be there for the long term. If it's a short or medium-term place you want, invoke Mercury instead.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
"That's rendered complex by the Martinist tradition that one does not name one's initiator". Is this a kind of security measure, caused by the historical entanglement between Martinism and Synarchy?

[ecosophia]

I've yet to see anyone explain that -- it's just there in the obligations of initiation. It's quite possible that that's what's behind it, though.

[(Anonymous)]

I am awaiting the result of a medical test that, if it goes the wrong way, will be life-changing, for the worse. I am due in to the clinic to receive the result in a few hours.

I’ve been praying hard and last night I gave up an offering, in the form of a substantial charitable contribution (related to the health concern). But I feel that I’m too vague about who I’m offering to.

Can you recommend how I might do one more offering? I practice LBRP and Middle Pillar exercises regularly, as well as discursive meditation on occasion. I read my tarot cards, although not for the past few days. I pray to and for my guardian angels, the arc-angels (particularly the four invoked in the LBRP), my higher self, God, Saint Brigid/ Goddess Bríg, my ancestors and friends and family past.

I’m also open to planetary offerings if you think that is more suitable.

I don’t follow any religion but I’m post-Catholic - I kind of believe in one God above all (not saying there aren’t other deities) and in the angels and arc-angels.

Thanks.

Oh as a longtime reader, admirer and occasional buyer of your books, I would truly appreciate a quiet prayer. My name is Charlie.

[temporaryreality]

Healing hands and an incense offered on your behalf, Charlie. May you be well.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning, JMG! Happy Magic Monday to all. I have a couple questions for today:

Firstly (1), how are you? 😁

Secondly (2) is about the FHR. Please feel free to correct any errors you observe in my understanding.

So the grades go, Seeker, Sojourner, Server, Student which correspond to Malkuth, Yesod, Hod, Netzach.

John Gilbert’s paper describes Hod thusly: “Sphere eight is the Air Element expressed in the World of Fire. It's our thoughts, ideas and attitudes filtered through our emotions.” This makes sense because Hod comes after Netzach.

Elsewhere online and I believe in Paths of Wisdom if I recall correctly, Hod is also described as the Sphere that sort of breaks things down and takes them apart whereas Netzach is the Sphere of union and things coming together, right?

So on the pathway of the different FHR grades, Malkuth and Yesod take us up the balanced middle pillar, which is good because most of us could probably benefit from that sort of balancing. And then we go off into Hod/Severity This is imbalances us energetically until we move on into Netzach/Mercy. By moving from Hod into Netzach, we go firstly through the Sphere of dissolution and then into the Sphere of union.

Is this solve et coagula?

[ecosophia]

1) Fine, thank you.

2) Yes, exactly! From the point of balance in Yesod you go to solve in Hod, then to coagula in Netzach, and then complete the process with the ascent to Tiphareth.

[(Anonymous)]

Springboarding off of the latest chapter of "Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic," I have this question:

Ever since I did the DMH cauldron enchantment, I have only the cauldron sitting on my altar in my grove rituals. (The exception being the four smaller cauldrons used in the crane bag enchantment.)

Do I need to incorporate some other symbol of equilibrium in my altar set up, to replace the four smaller cauldrons?

-Cliff

[ecosophia]

Nope. So long as you invoke the four elements in the SoP during the opening, you've got the elemental balance present.

Counteroffensive

[(Anonymous)]

It is clear now that the Ukrainian counteroffensive started in the night of the 4/5 June. The time is probably uncertain and variable. A peak at the chart for Kiev at 4 am on the 5th has Mars in Leo but conjunct Venus in Cancer and square Jupiter in Taurus and opposition Pluto in Aquarius, but a quincux Saturn in Pisces.

That looks like running into a brick wall and flaming out but possibly spared tooooo much bloodshed because of the Saturn aspect. What do you think?

Any suspicion that the western elites' obsession with this conflict is anything more than an ending empire's desire to remain dominant? The obsession looks pretty unhinged.

Re: Counteroffensive

[ecosophia]

1) Oog. That's certainly not an election I would have chosen to start a battle. Zelensky needs a better astrologer.

2) This is an existential struggle for all parties involved. The overtly stated goal of US elite groups for years now, since our attempt to conquer the Middle East failed so abjectly, has been to break Russia apart into a collection of weak states that could be stripped of wealth, so that the US can prop up its faltering empire on the proceeds. That was the point of the 2014 coup d'etat the US sponsored in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian invasion of the Russian-held Donbass that Russia forestalled by its invasion in February of last year. The sanctions levied by the US and its allies were expected to bankrupt Russia, while the Ukrainian army was prepared to fight a defensive war that would cost Russia more than it could pay.

The problem with that was that Russia flipped the script. It turned out that most of the world, crucially including China and India, had zero interest in playing along with the sanctions, and so the Russian economy didn't collapse. Furthermore, once the Russian leadership figured out what kind of game the Ukrainians were playing, they changed their own strategy and tactics accordingly, played to their own strengths, and pushed Ukraine into a war it couldn't win. Now, if Russia wins, nobody is going to be afraid of US sanctions or the US military, the collapse of the dollar and of the US economy will not be long delayed, and the clique that manages Biden will end up with zero chance of a second term. Anything short of a decisive Ukrainian victory will be a disaster for the US -- and anything short of a decisive Russian victory will be a disaster for Russia. "This shall end when one is dead," to borrow a quote from "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi."

Levels of being/planes of existence from Learning Ritual Magic

[eudaimonia]

Hey JMG,

I worked through Learning Ritual Magic some years ago before switching directions and focusing on Bardon’s works. I found a lot of value in your early Golden Dawn books, though, and one area that I draw a lot of continued parallels to are your divisions of the 5 levels. Can you point me to any source that discusses this a little more, and the interactions between levels?

Thanks!

Re: Levels of being/planes of existence from Learning Ritual Magic

[ecosophia]

I wish I knew of one! There wasn't a lot of discussion of the planes of being in Golden Dawn literature.

Bornless ritual

[(Anonymous)]

Hey jmg

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion on the bornless ritual, and so I wanted to ask if this ritual is compatible with G.D. Work, and if it is something that should be occasionally used by G.D. Students with more than a year of experience?

Re: Bornless ritual

[ecosophia]

The reason you've heard of the Bornless One ritual is that the Golden Dawn picked it up, blew the dust off it, and put it to work. (That's where Crowley got it.) Do you have a copy of Regardie's Big Gray Doorstop book? You'll find a full-on GD version on pp. 561-566.

If you've only had a little over a year of experience, though, you may not be up to it yet. You'll need to be comfortable with the whole range of pentagram rituals, taking on godforms, the vibratory formula of the Middle Pillar, and the solitary opening and closing rituals. If you're not that far along, my suggestion is to get a copy of Regardie's book Ceremonial Magic and work with the Watchtower ritual for a year or so, starting with the basic form and working up to the complete form; when you can do that from memory, with good results, you can go onto the Bornless One ritual and get solid results with it.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a theory on why it is that some people are able to see through psyops like 911 and gene therapy shots, and I'm curious to see what the commentariat here think, as I'm assuming most know at least a little of their own horoscopes, and remain deeply skeptical regarding gene therapy.

Theory being that the astrological quality which encourages this tendency to not go along with the crowd is a debilitated Moon. I say this as someone with a void of course (yes I know that's normally a horary consideration) Capricorn balsamic Moon, not a terribly happy spot for Selene. I'm curious to know if anyone else here has what they'd consider to be a challenged Moon, and indeed from those who have happy Moon placements for a compare/contrast approach. I'm sure there's more to the tendency to question groupthink than just this Lunar aspect, but am also interested to know if it seens more common than might otherwise be expected to see difficult Moon placements in the oddbods who wonder why the BBC reported on the collapse of building 7 before it actually collapsed, for example.

[(Anonymous)]

How would you find out?

[ari_ormstunga]

Hello JMG, I was wondering if you are aware of any occult techniques for pain management. It's not something I need at the moment, luckily, but it seems like something that could be useful.

[ecosophia]

I don't know of any, I'm sorry to say. Anyone else?

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Mr Greer and Commentariat,

The question I’m going to ask is probably a little bit odd. Forgive me if you think it is ludicrous or silly.

Middle Earth, the fictional universe of awesome depth created by J.R.R. Tolkien, being rooted in genuine, historical cultures and myth(ologie)s, and having been “fuelled” by the enthusiasm and the imagination of thousands of readers over the years, I was wondering if anyone had ever attempted to tap into the tremendous power of this universe for mystical, spiritual and/or magical purposes?

In particular, the languages so painstakingly devised by Tolkien are worthy of notice. Do you know if anyone has ever used e.g. Tolkien’s Elvish languages in ritual practices and, if so, what the results were? Conversely, are there valid reasons, from an occult perspective, why this should not be attempted?

R.

[ecosophia]

It's neither ludicrous nor silly, but it's been tried over and over again since about a week after The Fellowship of the Ring first got into print. The results are consistently nil. I"m pretty sure Tolkien, who was a devout and conservative Catholic and knew much more about occultism than his Christian fans let on, boobytrapped the symbolism so it would be magically inert.

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday, JMG,
I'm working through the SGO - exercises, meditation, and divination getting stuck occasionally, like today. The question is "What do I need to understand about today's events?". The first card is me, the second is my situation, and the third is the outcome. My 3-card spread is the following:
1. 32 Squaring the Circle (R) - Impossibility
2. 14 The Dodecagram - Completeness
3. 12 The Square (R) - Inertia
I totally get cards 2 and 3. I am going to a social event tomorrow and spending today memorizing my speech and attending to some boring details connected with this event. The somewhat bigger picture of my life for the next 2 months is stationary. In 2 months my child leaves for college and my life is going to be different. Card 1 puzzles me. Impossibility? What is about me impossible? I am not asking the right questions. Any ideas that may help me to get unstuck?
Thank you,
Kirsten

[ecosophia]

If I got that reading, I'd interpret the first card to mean that there are things I want to do that day that I won't be able to get to, partly because I have other things to do and partly because of the inertia of circumstances.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG and thank you again for these Magic Mondays.

I am planning to take a required government exam as part of an immigration process. I can schedule the (online) exam anytime I want to within a few week's bounds. I was wondering if there was an appropriate planetary day and hour I might optimally choose to begin the process of logging in, registering for, and hopefully if the tech behaves, taking the exam, in order to maximize my chances at passing it.

My goal would be specifically to pass the exam, all other aspects of the reason for taking it aside..

Given that it's an exam, would the day and hour of Mercury be the best choice for this, or is there another planetary ruler more appropriate to success in such an endeavour?

Thank you kindly,

V.O.G.

[ecosophia]

Mercury is the planet I'd choose for this.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for hosting these Magic Mondays and taking our questions.
You've talked a lot about the etheric effects of cold water and its benefits to biological males in particular.
I would like to ask: what are the etheric effects of hot water?

[ecosophia]

It doesn't do much, because the warmer water is, the less etheric substance it can carry. Hot water is etherically inert.

Eye in the Sky?

[(Anonymous)]

Looking to the west (I'm in Albuquerque, NM), there is a bright light in the night sky, about a third of the way up from the horizon (I don't know to explain this in astronomical/astrological terms). It appears to stay in a fixed position (perhaps just moving very slowly). It's been there for some time (weeks? months?). I can't find anything about it online that makes sense to me, plus a lot of the info is outdated. Could it be a planet or satellite (man-made, since it is obviously not the moon...)? IF it is a satellite, could it have some sort of astrological influence? I've been creeped out thinking about it, as the sky is usually clear here, and this light is steady, seemingly unmoving, and exceptionally bright. Any thoughts on this?

Re: Eye in the Sky?

[https://openid-provider.appspot.com/bryanlallen]

It’s the planet Venus.

[causticus]

Hello JMG,

Do you think dolmens may have originally been some sort of magical technology? One possibility is that they were used as "underworld portals"... that is, they could have been magically-charged landmarks where the recently-deceased would gather and then undergo an orderly transition to whatever astral destination spirit guides or deities would choose to escort them to. Alternatively, a designated place for etheric or astral spirits to manifest. Otherwise, do you happen to know anything about the occult side of dolmens?

[ecosophia]

That's a very complex subject, and one that I've discussed in two of my books, The Secret of the Temple and The Ceremony of the Grail. Dolmens are the stone skeletons of burial mounds, and the mounds had a very rich and complex set of magical technologies connected with them.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG! Hope you're having a good Monday.

In "The Art and Practice of Geomancy", you say that geomancy once formed "the core of a complete system of Earth wisdom with many practical and spiritual applications". What texts should I be looking at if I want to start digging into that tradition? Either specifically in terms of geomancy, or more generally in terms of discussion of the spiritus and anima mundi and related concepts. (I've had my attention drawn several times lately to those ideas, and I think it's time for me to do some more serious research.)

Either English or Latin recommendations are welcome. My Latin isn't amazing yet, but I'm working on it. :)

Best,
Peter

[ecosophia]

Start with the first volume of Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy -- that's the most accessible source for the basic concepts. I also recommend Nigel Pennick's books, especially The Ancient Science of Geomancy, Games of the Gods, and Creating Places of Power -- the bibliographies of his books will give you plenty of additional sources.