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. Both of the last two honorees, and most of the other Martinist lineages in existence, were also taught and influenced by this man, Robert Ambelain, a prolific writer and occult scholar whose work extended from astrology and Freemasonry to Druidry and Martinism. Ambelain was born in 1907; he became an astrologer in the 1920s, proceeded to become a major figure in the Martinist scene and a bishop in one of the French Gnostic churches, played a central role in reviving several defunct occult orders, published 42 books, and earned the Croix de Guerre for his service to France during the Second World War. He died in 1997.

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With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

Effects of Shipping Costs and Girardian Memetic Contagion

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

For any who marked it, I hope you had a lovely Summer Solstice. For everyone in the Northern hemisphere, I hope you're finding fun ways to stay cool.

To Share: After reading a blog post about how the costs of shipping in space would affect a sci-fi setting, I got to thinking about what the costs of shipping mean for our own world: https://jpowellrussell.com/#how_the_cost_of_freight_has_shaped_the_world

To Ask: Have you, JMG, or anyone else here, ever grappled with Rene Girard's theory of memetic contagion and its leading to scapegoating and violence?

Briefly, Girard believed that folks mostly want what they see their neighbors wanting/having, but since your neighbor has it, you now see your neighbor as a rival. This works both ways, so your neighbor sees you wanting what he wants/has, and sees you as a rival, and wants the thing all the more, since you wanting it proves its worth wanting. Girard believes that this leads to ever increasing rivalry and violence that can only be resolved (temporarily) by blaming some scapegoat group and doing violence to them. He claimed that Christianity (and to a lesser degree, Judaism) uniquely solved this by offering a religious myth that short-circuited this cycle (you don't need any more scapegoats, because Jesus is the ultimate scapegoat).

It's an interesting theory that seems to have some explanatory power, but when he loses me when he gets to "and Christianity is the only religion that has solved this." That being said, I don't yet have particularly good counter-arguments. I'd welcome any thoughts from either JMG or the commentariat, either for or against his moral theory.

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: Effects of Shipping Costs and Girardian Memetic Contagion

[ecosophia]

I've read Girard, and I was unimpressed. To begin with, it simply isn't true that everyone in the world is locked into the kind of rising spiral of envy he describes; human beings are more complex than that. More crucially, though, his logic is flatly disproved by history. If he was right, Christian societies would be less prone to scapegoating than other societies, and this simply isn't true -- er, pogroms against Jews? Witch hunts? Red-baiting? I don't propose to argue that Christian societies are more prone to such excesses than non-Christian societies, but they're certainly no less so.

[(Anonymous)]

I made this question on the other blog last week.

I unfortunately got two doses of the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine (no other doses). Would spiritual practices be helpful to undo the potential blocking of the Unseen? Would be some specific practice be more advisable?

[ecosophia]

Nobody knows. That's just it. The vaccines weren't adequately tested for their health effects, much less their mental and spiritual effects. I'd encourage you to pursue whatever spiritual practices appeal to you, see what happens, and post your experiences somewhere; that will provide some data points for others who are in the same situation you are.

[open_space]

Good Evening!

I wanted to thank you for the initiation of the Healer, I was a little shaken after it and I've no idea what I said when I stood up! Whatever that was, it felt powerful, and the theatrical voice helps! It was nice to put a physical body to the astral one and it's mental sheath, after a long while of interacting online. Heh :-) Looking forward to next years potluck.

1) I noticed that the Coelbren has 24 letters but there where 2 that were added at a latter time. Would it be "incomplete" to trim those two letters and use the remaining 22 to form a cube of space using the Coelbren?

2) I found some time ago that syncing the breath during a healing session works pretty good. Inhaling while the energy flows through the left and exhaling with the energy flows out from the right to the healee, without retention in between breaths of course, would you consider that a problem to the way Healing Hands work?

[ecosophia]

1) That's an interesting question which can only be settled by experimentation.

2) I don't know of any reason why that should be a problem -- but again, you'll want to test it and see what happens.

[open_space]

To all that have a question that would like me to ask my Tarot about it, or would like to know what astral forces are influencing you and your life right now, here is the latest iteration of the Ecosophian Public Divination Service:

https://open-space.dreamwidth.org/16546.html

Asatru Folk Assembly

[brenainn]

To both JMG and the commentariat: is there any merit to claims that the AFA is a racist hate group? I've been visiting their website and reviewing some of their materials, and they strike me as very reasonable (at least on the surface). Since the Anglo-Saxon Gods are a major part of my religious practice now, and the AFA has a decent real world presence, I've been considering applying for membership.

Re: Asatru Folk Assembly

[ecosophia]

I have no idea. I don't have a lot of contact with Asatru circles; I know there have been some groups connected with that scene that are fond of armbands and jackboots, but I also know that accusations along those lines have been flung at groups that don't deserve it. Anyone else?

DOGD Question

[wizard_in_the_woods_1949]

Greetings JMG and All,

JMG, have you had occasion to grant any DOGD charters since the inception of
your order? If so, what is the quorum call for a lodge, and what radius around
the hall to allow that number? I assume that it would be permissible to commute
a reasonable distance to celebrate with other members for Equinoxes and Solstices!

Thanks

N.B.
Of course I understand one must be a member of DRUID grade in good standing to
merit such a charter. I really like those Banners! (Website Header)!

Re: DOGD Question

[ecosophia]

During my time as head of DOGD, no, I didn't grant any charters. I don't believe the current leadership has done so yet, either, but you might contact them via the email linked on the website to find out what their current policy is.

Yes, I stepped down a little over six months ago. I'd trained up a set of students who were ready, willing, and able to take over the project, so I handed it over with a sigh of relief and went onto the next project.

random questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG and friends of Magic Monday,
I hope you are well and healthy!
Some random questions:

1. I have Mars in Taurus in the 12th house and I seem to have all the negatives aspects here. I tend to repress my own anger or irritation or have delayed responses to what brings me frustration. This pent-up anger, however, is often channeled against myself or the universe. How to work better on this aspect? How to let anger go or even not let it grow?

2. Imagination is the matter of the astral!? Can a good work of imagination (with a beginning, middle and end) lead to the fulfillment of the magician's will? Any recommendations for good books on the subject, please?

thanks you!!

Re: random questions

[ecosophia]

1) I very strongly recommend the Order of Spiritual Alchemy practices for this sort of thing. You have to deal with the childhood experiences that are at the root of your anger before you can let it go.

2) Imagination by itself won't make changes on the material plane, because the planes are discrete and not continuous -- if you do the whole working on the astral plane, it will stay there and not affect any other plane. That's why you need to include actions on the material plane in any work of practical magic, so the pattern you imagine can move down the planes into matter.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG! I am continuing to learn both natal and mundane astrology. I love it! What a perfect mix of meditation fodder, rational logic, and intuitive openness! I have a single question about a mundane chart I am looking at, which also may help me in general with evaluating dignities.

I want to know which is stronger, the sun or the moon. The Sun is peregrine in Gemini, and intercepted in his fifth house. He is also conjunct Venus, has an exact (!) trine with the moon, an applying tribe with the north node and Chiron. He has an inconjunct/quincunx with Jupiter.
The Moon is peregrine in Aquarius, in the first house. She has the aforementioned exact trine with the sun, in addition to a trine with the north node, a trine with Venus, and loose squares with both Mercury and the midheaven.

Since I want to know the relative strengths of the central government and other parts of society, it is crucial to know, and you can surely see how close it is.

[ecosophia]

If it's that close, trying to work out which one is slightly more powerful than the other doesn't seem useful to me -- especially since you've got a trine connecting the luminaries, showing that they're going to work well together. I'd delineate this by saying that both luminaries are in mixed dignity but work together to strengthen each other.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

Here are all of the requests for prayer that have recently appeared at ecosophia.net and ecosophia.dreamwidth.org, as well as in the comments of the prayer list posts. 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.

It's a boy! Hippie Viking and his wife are the parents of a new baby; for blessings on the child according to his nature and the nature of the deity prayed to; and for good health for both mother and child. (Original request here)

Tamanous'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.

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]

Thanks for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG
I am working through the GSF and have a query about scrying. I am new to all this magic & occult stuff so have needed to build up all my basic skills. I am working through each card in the deck by re-doing the meditation exercise and then doing a session each on the meaning for the card upright & reversed. Then I do a scrying session for the card with the recommended 3-4 mediation sessions reviewing the scrying session. Scrying is something I am struggling with a little bit, but I am seeing some improvement. Sometimes I struggle to get any results, or I request a guide but none show up. I have recently had a guide appear but when I ask for confirmation that they have been sent as requested they have replied no and left. For these scrying sessions that do not go to plan should I be dedicating a mediation session or two to review them or just trying again the next day.

Thanks

[ecosophia]

I find it useful to put one session of meditation into a scrying that flops, focusing on why it flopped, and then go back and do it again.

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday JMG,
Thank you for sharing the materials of the Octagon Society. I've completed all the lessons and found them tremendously helpful. I've sent you an email asking for the examination and await a reply. Is the option of taking the examination and going further still available?
Kirsten

[ecosophia]

Back in March, once I finished getting the new leadership up to speed, I stepped down as head of the Order of Spiritual Alchemy and handed over the email, the website, and everything else to the current leadership. Here's their contact page:

https://octagonsociety.org/contact/

Yes, the option of taking an examination and going further is very much open, but you'll need to go through the order.

[(Anonymous)]

A couple of responses to questions from last week:

Someone asked bout how I use salt jars. I have one in each room and the upstairs and downstairs hallways. I just have them wherever is convenient. I don't have them in the bathroom, cellar or attic. Cold and damp conditions make them rust much faster, regardless of any malign energies.

On the problem of gurus in the West, there are Mariana Caplan's books Halfway Up The Mountain, The Guru Question, and Eyes Wide Open. They're also the best things I've read on enlightenment traditions in general, and what the quest for enlightenment actually means.

[antoine_eva]

First, let me thanks you for this place and the time you put in it, it's really appreciate.

1) Is there any reason i shouldn't do the Carey Cells Salts protocol more than once a month on the date prescribed ?

2) With the talk on natto on the others tread, i started to make my own again. I used to make it in a slow cooker and in a yaourt maker, but i decide to make it faster and buy a Instant Pot (basically a presto with a electronic control). I notice the food cooked with it is different. Any one else notice that food cook under pressure feel deader for a lack of better word ? I suspect the food get some etheric changed.

3) The dust from the forest fire have reach me and its really heavy, my last 2 Sphere of Protection have been different. Can the dust be enough to block some of the Sun energy or its just my imagination and the change is due to something else ?

[ecosophia]

1) I don't recommend it; it really is specific to the lunar period.

3) Good question. When we get smoke and dust from the fires, it affects my breathing -- not badly, but enough to notice -- and of course that affects my magical work. You may be having the same thing happen to you.

On the Subject of Egregores

[(Anonymous)]

Blessed Alban Heruin.
As far as I understand it, from what you wrote, am I correct that an egregore is the spirit of a group? Sort of a created entity on a psychic realm that both influences and is influenced by members of a group? So that joining the group, one would become more connected to the egregore as time goes on?
Thus people who work or spend time together develop a kind of group mind, and begin to associate their sense of self with that of the organization?

I am wondering, first, if the idea of an egregore is related to Adam Crabtree's group trance which he describes in "Trance Zero". He describes interactions in terms of a trance, defined as a process of focus and abstraction: the more one focuses on something, the more abstracted from the rest of the world one becomes. Two people in an engaging conversation are in a degree of trance. A family can create a trance to function as a unit with society, so can a society create a level of trance, which is how the majority of people from a society come to think in very similar terms. Could one say there is a national egregore? Certainly either view could describe the way we see the bulk of a society suddenly adopting a particular viewpoint.

Second, would the fact that I spent my youth moving from place to place every couple of years, including different countries, explain why I don't "get" connection or community? Is it possible that the ability to be absorbed into or at least connect with an egregore must be nurtured as a youth? My girlfriend also moved from place to place as a child and youth and she too feels no sense of connection to organizations, places, communities. I've lived in the same house for 20 years, yet I don't feel particularly connected to my neighbours. People who just moved in last year spend more time socializing than I ever have.
When I met my girlfriend she was working for the same corporation -- different locations -- and we giggled together about some of the incomprehensibly garbled and essentially meaningless corporate missives, the kind that reads as if one is being attacked by a swarm of buzzwords. Yet both of us had the eerie sense that others in our respective offices actually took this seriously and believed in it, with almost religious fervor.

I was just wondering about egregores within the context of watching the woke movement coming apart at the seams. As the corporation is pushing the racist 'anti-racism' bunk, and decorating itself with the 'new angry-pride' flag you so cogently described (BTW, if you put four flags together in a pinwheel, it makes a swastika), and pushing the abusive DEI policies, it occurred to me that this whole craziness might be due to the creation of a hostile egregore. Certainly cultural Marxism that took over the university world in the mid-20th century and entranced students (the only word for it) seems to have something more than merely enticing but bad ideas going for it, as if it took on a life of its own as it metastasized across departments and out into the corporate world.

Bruce
AKA Renaissance Man.

Re: On the Subject of Egregores

[ecosophia]

1) Yes. What Crabtree is discussing is what Dion Fortune calls the creation of a group mind, and that's the first stage in the generation of an egregor. An egregor is a group mind that isn't just temporary, but is reinforced and strengthened by repeated interactions over time.

2) That's an interesting question to which I don't know the answer. I don't fit into groupminds, either, but in my case it's Aspergers syndrome.

3) Egregors can very easily turn sour, septic, or even suicidal, if they're not managed well by people who know what they're doing. The woke movement is a good idea. It started out with a mix of good intentions and grubby agendas, got turned into a vehicle for privilege and an excuse for hatred and intolerance, and is now caught in a doom loop in which every self-inflicted failure is simply another reason to try harder. The end is likely to be messy.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, I currently do SOP/daily meditation and daily tarot divination. I don't have much extra time for more but could manage to do something else once or twice a week. Is there any natural progression of something you would recommend to be added as a next step?

[ecosophia]

Depends on where you want to go. If you're interested in magical work, for example, you might want to have a look at the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose material, and do some of that each week as time permits.

[thinking_turtle]

To share: the List of Ecosophia Abbreviations now has Jeff Russell's delightful definition of LARP.

To ask, I'm trying the protective amulet from the FAQ. To anyone who wears one, how often do you wear it? Do you wear it during sports, shower or swim? Do you keep it on at night?

[ecosophia]

If you let the amulet get wet, the salt will dissolve and it'll lose all its effectiveness.

Fiction and magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG and others, hope you all are doing well!

1) Last week, you responded to another question about the Lord of the Rings, claiming JRR Tolkien, “boobytrapped the symbolism so it would be magically inert” for ritual/magical purposes.
How would someone (in this case, Tolkien) accomplish something like that? My practical knowledge of magic is sparse, at least for now, but I assume the symbols would have to contradict certain rules? For example, your recent Levi post talked about equilibrium; is Tolkien’s symbolism “unbalanced” somehow?

2) I suspect people have made similar attempts with other fictional stories, particularly those in the fantasy genre. Are you aware of any such workings succeeding? If so, would you be willing to describe the results?

Re: Fiction and magic

[ecosophia]

1) It's not a matter of contradicting certain rules, it's a matter of leaving out things that would provide links to magical power. No, I'm not going to list those; if you want to learn them, study and practice magic and you'll figure them out.

2) Oh dear gods, yes. That I know of, people have tried doing magic using symbolism from Katherine Kurtz's Deryni novels, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar and Diana Tregard series, the Star Wars movies, the Dragonlance novels, and a gaggle of comic books. I haven't heard yet of somebody trying to do Harry Potter magic but it's doubtless only a matter of time. The results vary; if the fiction you're riffing off has a lot of popular enthusiasm, you can get some energy from that; but it never lasts long, and the results are never as significant as what you'll get from nonfictional magic.

way of the golden section

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning and thanks as always for being willing to answer questions. This is unbelievably helpful. In the opening of the temple, if you are used to using a set of prayers every morning, should that be done before opening the temple, or should they be kept strictly separate and do everything exactly as written? Also, have you given suggestions for a gnostic SOP? I was thinking you had but I'm not sure I remember that correctly and can't seem to find it if I did. If someone were to go through all of your suggestions for various options of the SOP and make a file of them, would you have a place they could be made available,and do you think that would be helpful? Thanks.

Re: way of the golden section

[ecosophia]

1) Please do everything exactly as written, during the period you spend preparing for your initiation. After that, you can experiment with making adjustments.

2) I provided a Valentinian Gnostic version:

East: Nous, Mind
West: Aleitheia, Truth
South: Logos, Word
North: Zoe, Life
Below: Bythos, Depth
Above: Ennoia, Thought

Yes, if someone were to make such a file, I could post it to my main blog as a page, in the same section as the Magic Monday FAQ.

Explanations for self destructive behaviors

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
Growing up I heard from elders that self destructive behaviors were rooted in sin (the big seven being sufficient in most cases) and or outside oppression or possession (the Devil made me do it!)

I suspect it’s complicated but what do your occult traditions say about things like addiction (sometimes called suicide for cowards) and the more dramatic and final acts of self harm?

Re: Explanations for self destructive behaviors

[ecosophia]

We all enter into each incarnation with various patterns derived from our thoughts, words, and actions in previous life. An addiction very often develops from habits cultivated over several lives -- many addictions, for example, are attempts to run away from life, or from one's problems. To resolve them, it's necessary to grapple with the habits of thought and feeling that give them power; that can be difficult, of course, but then life is that way.

Suicide can have many sources, but it often comes from a similar attempt to run away from life or from the problems of life. It's a waste of time, because you'll just be reborn into another life where you have to face the same problems over again. If you confront your problems instead of running from them, you can get past them -- in your next life, if not in this one.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you know anything about the lore or history of people who are particularly lucky? Or any insights into the phenomena which I will describe? Is there a proper occult word for the positive version of people with this kind of talent/gift?

One of my children is particularly "lucky," or perhaps more precisely, able to manifest things she wants very easily. Example: a few weeks ago, we were walking out and about, and she said she wanted a cookie. We said no, as she'd already had a treat that morning. A few minutes later went into a coffeeshop to get coffee, and the barista took one look at her and said, "Would she like a cookie? It's on us." (Of course, we accepted.)

Another example, a bit less wholly positive: she expressed a desire to ride in a family member's car she'd had not ridden in for several months and really liked. It's a hassle to switch the carseats/boosters, and I told her it might be awhile before that happens. Lo and behold, the very next morning, our regular car got a flat tire. Guess which car we had to borrow to get around until it was fixed?

I have numerous examples like these two (with this one about the car being the only arguably negative one). She is a very ethical child. I observe her play (at a distance) almost 100% of the time because we homeschool and attend a co-op, and she is the one child who never has any conflicts with other kids, is never mean, never excludes anyone, and so on. When others are nasty to her, she usually just walks away (never fights back). When she is angry about something, she directs it all inward (tears and wanting to hide, usually). She has her faults for sure but she appears incapable of holding a grudge. What I'm saying is—-she doesn't use this power in a witch-like way.

Is there a word for people with this kind of ability who don't use it negatively?

For context, I've asked about her on here before. She is the same child who appeared to know the rosary from a past life, and who is obsessed with the Visitation and the Virgin Mary (who also helped me during my very difficult pregnancy with this child and twice she nearly did not survive). I have made sure to follow her wishes with that and bought her rosary beads, help her to pray regularly, and so on.

One last note that I forgot about for several years but seems interesting in light of the folklore around it--she was born with a small piece of the caul half over her face/head (doctor removed it immediately).

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

It's early to tell, but this sounds a great deal like the childhood of saints, sages, and holy people, complete with the usual set of childhood miracle stories. Give her plenty of love and encourage her religious aspirations, and there's a good chance that she will become a blessing to the world.

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG!

I hope my comment found you in good health and humor. I am a big fan of your work.
Without further ado!

Questions:
1. can you tell me more about mushroom spirits? Maybe how to establish a relationship with them or what to expect from them?
2. Is it possible to use animal bones (obtained in a legal way, completely microbiologically safe) in druidism. One of the spirits I work with asked for a fetish in a certain bone.
3. do you know in what literature I can find internal alchemy based on pagan forces?
4. what books do you recommend to explore the subject of totems?
5. what can end up cultivating the energy of the deep underworld (described by you in druidic magic, among other things)?

Please forgive me so many questions :D and thank you in advance for your answers.

[ecosophia]

There are many different ways to be a Druid, and I'm pretty sure that your way of being a Druid is a long, long way from mine! I have no experience with mushroom spirits, animal bones, or totems. In terms of internal alchemy based on pagan forces, if any such books existed they were burnt by Christian inquisitors many centuries ago; I'm working on a couple of projects along these lines but they aren't yet in print. In terms of underworld energies, however, the writer you want to study is R.J. Stewart; his book

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There are many different ways to be a Druid, and I'm pretty sure that your way of being a Druid is a long, long way from mine! I have no experience with mushroom spirits, animal bones, or totems. In terms of internal alchemy based on pagan forces, if any such books existed they were burnt by Christian inquisitors many centuries ago; I'm working on a couple of projects along these lines but they aren't yet in print. In terms of underworld energies, however, the writer you want to study is R.J. Stewart; his book <i<The UnderWorld Initiation</i> is worth having, studying, and practicing if you're interested in work along those lines, and so are many of his other books.

Do Cities have Nymphs?

[cs2]

I had a vivid experience last week on the solstice and I am wondering whether it is the same kind of thing as scrying. Throughout the day I had vivid daydreams (that I did not create myself) of riding the subway in my prior city and feeling at peace. It felt like I was opening up mental or emotional blockages, stuck places, getting myself back to the spiritual state I'd been in when I'd lived there.

It also reminded me of how powerful and startling the lake was when I moved to this new place. It still is. The etheric force of the lake is enormous and I remember when I would be distraught at having moved here the lake would pop into my mind.

Then that night when I sat down to meditate about these 'daydreams' of riding the subway, in surprise I 'saw' the outline of a flowy person in front of me, like a heat wave. I couldn't see anything other than the humanoid-shaped wiggling and that they maybe had long flowy hair. I offered them a hug and got one, then they disappeared as far as I know.

So my question is: natural things like lakes have spirits, but do cities also? I'm wondering if the city where I left my heart has a spirit of some kind that said hello. Thank you.

Re: Do Cities have Nymphs?

[ecosophia]

Cities have spirits, created by the shared consciousness of all the beings that live in them. (The spirit of New York City has a lot of rat energy, for instance!) Yes, that may be what was going on in this case.

Queries

[denebalgedi777]

Whew, glad to be back here.

1. Single line of inquiry in 3 parts, 2 questions 1 comment.

a. If submitting a work for publication and announcing it, I assume the best time for this is the day and hour of Mercury?

b. I performed a divination suggesting three publication dates, earlier to later: 1- IV of Pentacles, 2- Page of Wands, 3- King of Cups. Am I right in thinking that the later date is the best option?

c. The affirmation about sticking with projects until completion worked!

2. I met someone who might be of potential romantic interest and did a divination to see if it is so.

Result was: III of Cups

The 3 is not exactly what I expected, because although it's generally highly positive it's also strange -- could it mean: yes, but you might not be the only one?

Thanks!

-Deneb

Re: Queries

[ecosophia]

1) Yes; yes, very much so; and I'm glad to hear it.

2) Hmm. I read this card upright as an indication of happiness, and in particular of success in love.

Chaos Magic

[yogaandthetarot]

Good Morning JMG
How do you define Chaos Magic - and any thoughts about it appreciated.
Many thanks!
(this is Jill C with a new account name;)

Re: Chaos Magic

[ecosophia]

Trying to define chaos magic is like trying to draw a boundary around an explosion! I'll settle for describing it. It's one of the movements in late 20th century pop-culture occultism. It drew inspiration from the magical writings of Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare, and even more from the appendix on magic in the back of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's brilliant parody of conspiracy culture, the Illuminatus! trilogy. It claimed to be freeing magic from centuries of outworn detritus; what that meant in practice is that it insisted that traditional occult philosophy was useless and that all those gods and spirits were simply arbitrary symbols whose only power came from human beings who focused their own power through them. I've known some people who got good results from chaos magic, but many more who experimented, got frustrated with the very limited results, and went on to something else.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello everybody,
JMG (or someone here from Magic Monday),
Do you know any reliable druidic group with good roots in Brazil?
Tks in advance!

[ecosophia]

I'm sorry to say I don't. Anyone else?