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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I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

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

Comments

Astral Light

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG! And thanks again for all you do.
Could you expound a bit on the definition of Astral Light and if it could be compared to “prana”in Yogic systems?
From Jill C

Re: Astral Light

[ecosophia]

In occult theory there are several different levels of nonphysical reality that human beings can experience and work with. There are various ways of talking about these; the system I use talks about the etheric, astral, and mental planes or levels. If I understand the Indian concept of prana correctly -- and I'll gladly accept correction if I don't! -- prana is the life force, which flows along the nadis and keeps the physical body alive; this is what occultists call the etheric level, the level of life force. The astral level is one step further from dense matter -- it's the level of dreams, imagination, and visions -- and that's the level on which the astral light operates. The astral light is the substance of the astral level, just as the life force/prana is the substance of the etheric level, and matter is the substance of the physical level.

Re: Astral Light

[(Anonymous)]

Oh my gosh! So clear! Thank you much.
I have been working on some essays comparing and contrasting Yoga and Magic ( yes, I know - rather broad topics:-) and this was very helpful.
Prana in Yogic systems is one of those technical terms (as I understand it) that has several definitions and delineations - in essence, everything that moves consists of Prana - and, of course, just to be a bit confusing (like “soul”, “spirit”, planes, levels, bodies etc) the word prana is used variously: there is the pranic sheath (prānamaya kosha), there is prānāyāma as proper breathing techniques etc. But as “life force”, not only does the etheric sheath consist of prana, but even the finest essences of Being, the sensory mind, emotions, intellect and bliss sheaths/levels of “mind” consist of Prana. And in the metaphysical system of Hatha Yoga (those crazy and elusive chakras;) all the energy centers right up to the crown are said to consist of prana.
Thinking about it, I might say that Prana, in its most unlimited capacity, would be the “material” of the Great Unmanifest, the Uncreate.
Thanks for letting me put some thoughts down after bouncing off yours!
Much much appreciated.

Re: Astral Light

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this. Okay, then prana is a much broader concept in trad yogic practice than I'd realized!

Re: Astral Light

[(Anonymous)]

And thanks again for the clarity on the astral light. It’s very challenging using words to explain these concepts but you have a superb mastery in that regard - a true gift and talent.

Re: Astral Light

[(Anonymous)]

Not the OP. What would the substance of the mental plane be? Or does the lack of fully developed mental sheaths prevent us from knowing that?

Re: Astral Light

[ecosophia]

It's the raw material from which meanings and values are shaped. If you can make sense of that, you're probably well on your way to having a mental body.