ecosophia | Magic Monday

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. Papus and Chaboseau, the honorees of the last two weeks, each got their Martinist lineage by a tangle of mostly forgotten figures, so we can jump straight back to one of the founders of the tradition, Louis-Claude de St. Martin. St. Martin was born in 1743 in an aristocratic family and became a student of the elusive master Martinez de Pasqually, learning the distinctive system of theurgic magic Pasqually taught. Later in life, after Pasqually's death, he focused more of his attention on Christian mysticism, studied Jacob Boehme's writings, and penned a series of influential mystical tracts under the pseudonym "The Unknown Philosopher."

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~~With that said, have at it!~~

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

Current Mood: pensive

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Threaded | Flat

From:

hearthculture

A blessed and joyful Lughnasadh to all who celebrate it!

Good Morning JMG,

0. Knowing that some energies don’t mix well (i.e. SoP and LRP,) and that you have proficiency in multiple systems, I’m curious as to how you discern which practices and correspondences you use. Do certain situations respond better to magic of one kind or another? Is there a seasonality? Or do you have a "home" system you primarily use and return to after working with others for experimentation and research. I ask all this only for a data point as I move into learning a new system, I do not seek to aggrandize whatever it is that works for you.

Technical questions on Celtic Golden Dawn:
1. When making the cross and circle, the cross is clearly 5" by 5". Should the circle have a 5" outer diameter (similar coverage as the cross) or a 5" inner diameter such that the cross fits within it and it is 7" total across.
2. I'm used the imaginal and verbal banishing from the SOP and the intentionality of stating exactly what is banished. With the Celtic LRP should I be more cautious about the space I perform it in, and/or is it appropriate to give a disclaimer targeting what I am banishing (or omitting the spirits living in the area) before I open, or even just to mentally hold the intention of only banishing harmful, hostile, and imbalanced beings and energies?
3. The Rite of Rays bookends each LRP, so when opening and closing the temple there would be 4 per temple working, correct?
4. If I am also doing prayer, tarot divination, and MOE work, is it appropriate to do this within the opened Ovate Temple? ...
5. And, if yes, can this work be done in the same session along with the book meditations and geomagnetic divination, or should it be done at a separate time.
Thank you for this space and support; and thank you for the books you've written. I'm amazed and excited by the density and depth of information in the Celtic Golden Dawn book.

From: (Anonymous)

Dear JMG,

I have some questions for this week's Magic Monday that I hope you can help me with.

1. Is the basic Sphere of Protection from the Apprentice Manual of the Modern Order of the Essenes (page 16) a good protection practice? I'm attracted to its simplicity, but I don't have any experience with such practices. Also, why would a practitioner pick one protection practice over another? How does one decide?

2. Regarding the UGC reading requirements for Ordination. Would the Science of Mind textbook be a suitable form of material to study? I am also interested in the Unity school of Christianity, but they don't have a single text. Would a variety of Unity material be suitable as well?

3. Is there a search function specifically for your blog? I can't seem to find any.

Many thanks for your help.

From: (Anonymous)

I need to be discrete with magic where I live, and burning incense would be bad. A potpourri was mentioned as an alternative.

1. Could I use a lidded flask with powdered black pepper as a substitute for burning incense with the Celtic Golden Dawn?
2. For how long can I reuse the pepper?
3. How should I discard the pepper after use?

Thank you for the Magic Mondays!

From:

degringolade

I am still beavering away at understanding Tarot/Qubalah and while I am making decent (not good just decent) progress, I think that I need to understand the "elements" better than I do.

Is there a resource you can recommend that thoroughly discusses the four (five?) elements? I am thinking that having a solid grip on these (or at least a better grip than I have now) will help the progress toward understanding the whole.

Thanks again.

(BTW: I picked up your re-release of "the Doors of Tarot". Thanks for this and good job.

From: (Anonymous)

A wonderful day to you, JMG, and to everybody else! :-)

I‘m trying to hone my magical thinking, i.e. my understanding of how magic works and what it can do, and promptly got stuck on one of my thought exercises :D - would appreciate your input!

1. You often stress that if somebody uses hostile magic on a victim, the best thing would be for that victim to put the energy which is thrown at them to another, productive and positive use.

How could one apply this principle on cases of energy vampirism? In my understanding, in this case there is no excess energy, but rather energy being pulled away from the victim, so to speak.

How could one turn this around to something productive and positive?

2. A potential solution I came up with is giving the energy vampire something to pull towards them, in particular something the victim wants to get rid of anyway. E.g. excess weight for an overweight victim etc.

Would something like that, in theory, work, or is this not something magic could do?

3. What is your personal take on the ethics of such a solution as in 2.?

(For what it‘s worth, I‘m torn on it. If there is no other, milder way of stopping things, I suppose this would be better than letting the energy vampirism continue unchecked. On the other hand, it‘s not exactly taking the high road… Your thoughts appreciated!)

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us again this week. And if you would have them, my blessings to you and your wife.

Milkyway

From: (Anonymous)

Curious what your thoughts are on methods of magic from those who provide a very practical breakdown of how medidation works to change your reality.

Someone like Joe Dispenza, but there are many others who offer I suppose more general motivation advice. The type of advice which relies on aligning a vision in your mind, with emotions in your heart. To practice gratitude and see how you will feel once you achieve your goal and act through that to turn yourself into a force which attract and receives back what you are seeking and holding in your mind and heart.

I recently stumbled upon these and felt that it was a type of scientifically(?) explained approach. One which speaks of how your vision, voice, emotions act upon and influence your DNA, which also say that everything is energy in the form of light. That there is an underlying unified consciousness to everything, etc

Do you feel these type of approaches work and may last? Do you feel they may be equivalent to other forms of magic, in terms of the art and science of causing change in consciousness in accordance with will?

My inkling is yes, but that they either do not open up the possibility of interacting, or knowing they are interacting with entities, and that there is a greater risk of negative consequence from less study in a symbolic tradition.

I hope this background and questions made sense!

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG,

I've started working on the preliminary OSA lessons and until at least the end of the year I plan to make these lessons and then the eight Octagon Society lessons my main focus. Even though I already know it will be tough going at times, I feel this is work I need to do and could benefit from. Alongside this I also plan to do the SOP and Healing Breath Meditation taken from the MOE.

However, I'd like to supplement the work on the Octagon Society lessons with related reading and discursive meditation. Can you recommend any subject areas or resources, for reading or for discursive meditation, that are relevant to spiritual alchemy or would benefit the OSA work?

Are there any other practices that you would recommend that would help with or complement the OSA work? For instance in dealing in the moment with difficult thoughts and emotions that come up.

Best wishes and thanks in advance,
S

From: (Anonymous)

What is suitable planetary timing for opening a pension? is it Saturn and waxing moon? Any other recommendations?

(I am middle aged myself, so it is possible these things may still be of some use to me, and the scepticism of younger folk towards them makes sense.)

From: (Anonymous)

JMG,

Good Afternoon, I suppose this question could/should be directed at Senor Russell. Which Norse God or Gods are most closely associated with Saturn? Njordr seems to be the consensus choice but it feels incomplete to me. Specifically as Njordr is missing the implacable divine justice that is such a feature of Saturn. But Justice and fair dealing seem to be spread over several deities (Tyr, Var etc). Although I suppose disrespecting the sea has consequences that are just a brutal and final as disrespecting divine justice.

So any other candidates?

Other Dave

From:

zosmia

Thank you for hosting this site and Magic Monday specifically. After reading through a number of your works, I feel the most drawn to the Golden Section work and before I begin the work I have a couple of questions that are lingering which I was hoping you could answer.

>First, as you are a holder of a number of lineages I was wondering which lineage this is most directly related to.

>Next, I was wondering when starting the work if it matters if you start with the Occult Philosophy workbook or the Golden Section workbook. I was personally thinking of starting with the Occult Philosophy workbook as it seemed a good primer and review of the fundamentals.

>Also I have been a Chinese internal martial art practitioner for over 20 years both Tai Chi and Ba Gwa and am wondering if there is anything I should be aware of when combining these practices with the Golden Section work. In the past, I believe you have made comment about this but could not find it.

>Finally, I understand that the Golden Section work is occult work versus magic work. Would you be able to expand on this and also could you recommend what other work of yours is most compatible with the golden section work specfically if one wanted to work with magic some day.

Once again, thank you for efforts in supporting the occult. It is mostly definitely appreciated by those of us wandering these somewhat overgrown side roads.

Thanks,

Brian

From: (Anonymous)

Greetings everyone,

Dear JMG, few questions for you (and anyone else who wants to opine).

1) Is inflation a big risk of spiritual work?

It seems to me that spiritual work often increases the ego and sense of self in some ways and there are real dangers to the sense of significance/grandiosity it can create. As people walk advanced paths, real dangers or tests show up with greater consequences than when you were a neophyte.

Could you comment on his and how to address it in one's daily life and spiritual life?

2) What are you thoughts on envy vs pride as spiritual or emotional/psychological imbalances and where they come from?

(I find I don't really experience envy at all, but pride is a something I have to contend with, whereas most people I know in real life experience envy a lot, and I'm wondering how it came to be this way).

3) Wondering if you've read this piece by Mark Stavish on the kundalini energy (secret fire), kaballah and alchemy, and its link to the vital energy (ether?), and how imbalances of the latter in our energy centres create issues with how the former affect a person who has a rising kundalini: https://hermetic.com/stavish/essays/secret-fire

I am intrigued by how the kundalini energy is a force of individuation, and a distinct force from other energies/forces.

Does this sound roughly right?

3)

From: (Anonymous)

Hi, I’m reading your The Way of the Golden Section and have some beginners questions I was hoping you could answer. Also a more general question.

1: Language: my native language is not English. Should I translate things said, for instance the morning exercise-affirmation, SOP etc. to my own language, or should I use English? My instinct says to use my own language, but I am not sure. What about the tracks in space you write about, and so on?
Also, when translating to my native language sometimes minor details change, but I assume that this isn´t such a big deal, atleast for the morning-exercise-affirmation.

2: You say «do it exactly as it says in the books», but what if I´d like to take things a bit slow, perhaps morning and evening exercise first, then add meditation, and later add the SOP, and even later divination. Not all at once but gradually. Or perhaps I´d like to just start meditating, and wait with the other things. Would this be ok (I get that getting results will take even longer this way) or could it for some reason be problematic?

Something else:
3: In various corners of the internet the occult is frowned upon. As an example, the UN-connected Lucis trust was supposedly renamed from Lucifer trust. People find the word Lucifer in some books about magic/occultism and assume people worship Lucifer and are satanists… There are internet-rabbit-holes about this giant (conspiracy)theory about the UN, depopulation, planned deindustrialization, related to the climate-change-scare etc. and so on. What exactly is Lucifer in occultism, has it something to do with early gnosticism, and is this some kind of misunderstanding from the people who frown upon this?

From: (Anonymous)

What does the salt and cayenne powder do? Is it important to not wash that residue off?

From: (Anonymous)

Hello.

I made a red protection hoodoo bag per your instructions a ways back. It worked well--thanks.

But now it's feeling done. Could I wash and reuse the red bag, or do you suggest not doing that?

Thank you.

From:

kimberlysteele

I am making my collection of JMG nonfiction books (and a smattering of others) available for free to Ecosophians in the US who want to borrow them by mail. I had dreams of converting my music studio space partially into a library before I had to shut it down in 2022. Those dreams are not possible to turn into a material space for now but I want the collection to be circulated and I am moving forward despite my lack of a commercial space.

I will mail up to three borrowed books to you at no charge, though donations would be much appreciated at http://buymeacoffee.com/kimberlysteele

Keep the books for up to three months before mailing it back to me. It's an honor system, so if the book/s are not returned after 3 months, I will ask you to pay for their replacement value so I can re-order them.

I am not taking any book donations other than JMG books at the moment because I don't have the shelf space.

If you are in the continental US and would like to check out up to three of my books by mail, please peruse my library spreadsheet on this post: I am making my collection of JMG nonfiction books (and a smattering of others) available for free to Ecosophians in the US who want to borrow them by mail. I had dreams of converting my music studio space partially into a library before I had to shut it down in 2022. Those dreams are not possible to turn into a material space for now but I want the collection to be circulated and I am moving forward despite my lack of a commercial space.

I will mail up to three borrowed books to you at no charge, though donations would be much appreciated at http://buymeacoffee.com/kimberlysteele

Keep the books for up to three months before mailing it back to me. It's an honor system, so if the book/s are not returned after 3 months, I will ask you to pay for their replacement value so I can re-order them.

I am not taking any book donations other than JMG books at the moment because I don't have the shelf space.

If you are in the continental US and would like to check out up to three of my books by mail, please peruse my library spreadsheet at this post:

https://kimberlysteele.dreamwidth.org/96400.html

...and then SEND ME AN EMAIL at k steele studio at gmail dot com. I won't respond to book requests on this or other JMG threads, ONLY VIA PRIVATE EMAIL. Also, in order to send your loaned books, I will need your physical, snail mail address in my email inbox. That's how the meat plane works LOL

From: (Anonymous)

Greetings JMG

1 I am looking for books on alchemy. I have already read the works of Dubuis and Dennis Hauck, could you recommend me something more?

2. I'm wondering about the practical possibilities of alchemy, is it possible to cast spells or create talismans/amulets/mistures using alchemy techniques (perhaps something along the lines of enhancing natural magic)

3. this question may be a tad ridiculous but I am curious and curiosity is healthy. I play RPGs (tabletop RPGs), I'm curious if during the process of creating and playing the character I play it somehow changes me and should I be careful about what characters I create? If I play, let's say classic barbarians, can I expect my aura to be polluted with rage? Or story is just a story?

From:

ecosophia

I have just deleted a question about doing magic around children. It's really astounding how many people not only lose their ability to read simple declarative sentences when that subject comes up, but go running in search of every possible way to not understand those sentences. "But does it apply to cross-eyed men named George?" If I meant to exclude them, I would have said so. Sheesh...

From: (Anonymous)

Greetings JMG

In natal astrology, what house/planet tells about what job one is destinated to do for everyday work?

And what retrogradated Jupiter would do in one natal chart?

From: (Anonymous)

This is more of an offhanded observation that has fascinated me, not something that I feel I must resolve or even look into very deeply. Have you ever encountered "clues" to past life experiences that are based on hard fact or undeniable synchronicity (rather than memories that come back after extensive spiritual work)? Here's the example from my own life. When I was much younger, I constantly met people from a very small geographic area (Iceland). These people didn't necessarily know each other, and I didn't meet them through a chain of each other (if that makes sense), but rather very randomly—-one turned out to run a shop in the town where I was living, another came to visit a relative in a different town I moved to, another was in the same college course, and yet another was in a different college course with me, and so on. (And really is "and so on"--I have left out several more examples.) There are fewer than 300,000 Icelanders total, and for several years, I met them everywhere. I ended up visiting the country, where I had some very odd experiences (a story for another time). Curiously, I had no issue picking up the language even though language is not my strong suit. Supposedly Icelandic is one of the hardest European languages to learn, but I found it easier than Spanish.

Later, my life took a decisive turn in another (better direction), I married a non-Icelander, and—poof! I stopped meeting them everywhere, and I fell out of contact with everyone I knew from that world. Quite happily, too.

My question is about whether this kind of thing points to a recent past life either in Iceland, or in a kind of "karmic network" (for lack of a better term), that included many of these same people. That said, I am rather cautious about investigating this too much. I don't feel a burning need to know about my past lives, and I don't want any renewed connection to the people from that time in my life (or Iceland itself). I feel relieved that karmically, that part of my life feels very much done. It's more of a kind of light curiosity that comes back to me sometimes. I was wondering if karmic webs like this are common, and how often they are tied to particular places, if you knew or had insights? (Or anyone else from the commentariat!)

Thank you!

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG,

Apart from sword fighting systems, are there any other forms of Martial Arts connected to Western esoteric traditions?

Thanks for Magic Monday!

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG

In the sphere of protection there is an invoking for Spirit Below and Spirit Above. In the FHR material it's mentioned that John Gilbert used the sign for Spirit above for mediumship work. If Spirit above would correspond to the "heavenly" realms, what would Spirit Below correspond to?
The way that I thought of it was that Spirit Above would be similar to a higher consciousness and Spirit Below would be to the collective sub/unconscious. Initially I thought the angelic intelligences would be in that Spirit Above category and the "dead" would be in the Spirit Below. Is that a shallow understanding of the ritual? Where would the "dead" fit in, if at all?

From: (Anonymous)

Greetings JMG

Are alchemy closer to natural magic or ceremonial magic?

Also, my cat is a asshole, but I love him, are there any kind of magical solution for me to make my cat more into relationship with me? (I'm really trying with non magical options here, but I'm runninng out of ideas here).

From: (Anonymous)

I've been studying Carl Jung's The Red Book and it struck me how similar his Active Imagination process is to scrying. Are they the same thing or is there overlap? What are your thoughts on this?

From: (Anonymous)

I have several books that I borrowed from friends over the years and, for one reason or another, tarried in returning. I've been making an effort to return them all, and have returned all but three (each of those three books belongs to a different person). I do not want to contact those three people for any reason if I can help it. With one of them it wouldn't be so bad, though definitely odd. But I must keep the door shut for the other two—-both would definitely take the return of the book as an indication I wanted to renew ties, and I definitely do not.

Do you have any suggestions for settling this debt that doesn't involve contacting these two people? My first thought was looking up the cost of the two books, and making a charitable donation to a literacy group for that amount, with the intent of trying to even the scale.

Thanks for your time & insight.

From:

jenniferkobernik

JMG,

I have a sword amongst my family’s personal effects which I suspect to be associated with a fraternal lodge. Would you be able to help me identify it based on these pictures?—I am hoping perhaps Masonic rather than KKK (we are a Southern family), but would like to know if possible. Thank you!