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.

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 

 

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.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

Re: Asatru Folk Assembly

[jprussell]

So, I also find it kind of off-putting, but I haven't really come to a firm answer. Here's my understanding of their position and the history of it (as remembered off the top of my head - so I don't have direct sources for each claim/summarization, and doubtless I introduce some errors):

- Garman Lord had some kind of visionary experience involving Woden, who basically said "go start up my worship again!" This was apparently in the 70s and he was not directly involved in the burgeoning Neo-Pagan movement for some time, nor was it an offshoot of Asatru, which originated with Icelanders reviving their religion, but spread to the US pretty quickly
- From the start, Lord and the other early Theodsmen maintained that the social organization of personal oaths and service that made up early Germanic groups was an integral part of the religion - the religion and the social organization supported each other, and the Kings were literal descendants of the Gods, and so had a key sacred role to play
- So, for many years, Theodism was arranged as a basically feudal system, but the spot for King was left open, as Lord didn't feel like it was right for him to do that. New members of the Theod would come in with lower status titles, but as they proved good members, could be elevated. They used Old English titles for this, starting as a thrall, becoming a churl, and maybe eventually a Lord. Crucially, though, these roles were based on personal oaths to a specific person, and they had to be approved by the Witan (council)
- From what I can tell, they never made any attempt to make this temporally significant - like, if you were a "thrall," the guy you swore your oath to couldn't make you come clean his house or something. But having higher position was seen as having more spiritual responsibility (provide more of the food for the festivals, do more in the rituals, and so forth)
- At some point Lord did as the other folks in the "Winland Rice" (Kingdom of North America) and took on the title of King
- Now, I'm inferring a bit here, but it seems like Theodism kinda fell on some hard times in the 90s - maybe the broader Neo-Pagan movement attracted folks who had otherwise been there, maybe Americans were squicked out by feudal oaths and titles, maybe they were embroiled in some of the drama of the wider Heathen world, I dunno all the details, but I think it might have gone nearly dormant
- Then, from what I can gather, Thorbeorht Ealdorblotere basically took it upon himself to revive things - reaching out to Lord, forming a new, but subordinate group, and so forth. One key innovation he brought was the idea that trying to mirror mannerbunde-style warbands as the form of organization might not have been the best, and instead introduced the haliggild (Holy Guild) model. Historical research suggests that guilds used to be used for all kinds of things besides craft, including religious observation and organization, and they may have had pre-Christian roots
- In the last few years, Lord stepped down as King and named Ealdorblotere as his successor, who was approved by the Witan and sworn in

So, that may be way more detail than you were looking for, and some of it is my speculation from reading between the lines in some of Lord's and Ealdorblotere's books. I think there's a strong case to be made that the role of "king" had a very important religious function in pre-Christian Germanic societies, and that if you are going for strict reconstructionism, you just might have to grapple with that. But as an American, I'm deeply suspicious of anyone being a "King." That being said, from checking out the Ealdrice Theod page, it looks like being "King" mostly just means Ealdorblotere runs the organization and heads the seasonal rituals and does weddings and stuff, and I haven't heard of anything untoward, but I also haven't seen any of this for myself, since it's up in Virginia and I'm in Texas.