ecosophia | Magic Monday

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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!***

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

That's a very worthwhile thing to do. There are states between waking and sleeping; if practicing the MP in that way helps you enter them, good -- because in those states your body can rest, and the energies of the MP will continue to flow through you and heal you. Yogins practice a similar exercise called yoga nidra that is actually more healing and refreshing than ordinary sleep.

A bunch of Neopagans have come to believe that we're passing through a time symbolized by the tarot card The Tower:

That is to say, stuff going boom and falling down. "Tower time" is their shorthand for it.

I thought so, I wanted to check if there wasn't some metaphysical or logical reason for the other sentences I wasn't seeing.

I suppose it's a case of: The infinite, being infinite, includes all those things but is not limited to them. I have an issue accepting a human statement about the nature of the universe or the divine, when the universe and the divine are much greater than I am. But then again, my statement just there is one also made by a human.

Also, you've given me the title of my forthcoming new book: The Cucumbalion!

I'd be a little more specific, or perhaps nitpicky. Each of the things we're discussing -- life, God, and the universe -- is an abstract universal term embracing an infinity of subordinate things or qualities. To pick one of those things or qualities out of the multitude -- suffering, love, or mind -- and say that this one thing defines the whole universal term is absurd; my examples were an attempt to show just how absurd they are.

I would pay money to read the Cucumbalion, though!

They’ll lean towards the south if there’s nothing blocking the sun, such as a big building. It’s not like the Leaning Tower of Tree, it’s more subtle, but you’ll notice which way a tree leans if you watch it for a while.

My Xmas cactus, Big Yellow, sprouts new leaves after the old ones are trimmed, and then it blooms, so as far as I can tell it doesn’t mind. (Jungle cacti bloom directly on the tip of a new leaf, for those unfamiliar with the plants.)

—Princess Cutekitten

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

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

So demons are petunias and God is cucumbers. I see a vegetarian theology developing here.

—Princess Cutekitten

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)

0) I tend to take one system as my standard approach for a period of years at a time. For quite a while it was the classic Golden Dawn system; I've worked half a dozen others that way; these days it's John Gilbert's gallimaufry of methods, which are all more or less intercompatible. I can do pretty much anything I need to do with that, though of course I have other systems handy if I run into something better suited for them.

1) 5" outside diameter, so the cross and circle are the same in width and height.

2) No, the LBRP isn't as intentionally focused. It banishes everything, so it's best to be cautious about where you do it.

3) Yes, that's correct.

4 & 5) Yes, you can do these in an open temple, and you can do all of it at a sitting.

I'm glad you like the book! It was a fun project to develop and work with, and I got excellent results during the decade or so in which that was my standard system.

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?

1) It can fill that role, but its simplicity means that you have to work harder at making it effective. As for how to decide, try the various options a few times and see which feels best to you.

2) Yes, you could certainly do that, but Science of Mind and Unity are so closely related -- both came out of the New Thought movement of late 19th and early 20th century America -- that I'd like to ask that you do two entirely different scriptures from unrelated faiths for your second and third options. It's important to get a sense of the diversity of human religious experience.

3) On ecosophia.net -- at least on my browser -- it's on the top right of the page, just below the banner in the corner that reads ECOSOPHIA - Nature Spirituality in the Twilight of the Industrial Age.

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

No, there need to be volatile aromatics in the air. If you can't do that, you may want to postpone work with the CGD until you are in a better place.

I wish I did! All the books on the elements I've encountered so far are heavily larded with the sort of Neopagan material I find unhelpful. The best approach I know of is to spend time around the physical elements and meditate on them at length.

An extract from the second chapter:

I. The Principle of Mentalism.

"The All is Cucumber; The Universe is Mental."
-- The Cucumbalion

This Principle embodies the truth that "All is Cucumber." It explains that THE ALL (Which is the Substantial Cucumber underlying all the outward manifestations and appearances which we know under the terms of "The Material Universe"; the "Phenomena of Life"; "Matter"; "Energy"; and, in short, all that is apparent to our material senses) is SPIRIT, which in itself is UNKNOWABLE and UNDEFINABLE, but which may be considered and thought of as AN UNIVERSAL, INFINITE, LIVING CUCUMBER.

It works!!!!! :)

There are two ways to deal with an energy vampire. The first is to stop the vampirism from affecting you, using protective rituals and amulets. The second is to feed it energies you want to get rid of. Obesity isn't an energy -- it has many causes, and most of them these days are biological rather than psychological or energetic. (You might be surprised how many heavily marketed medicines have weight gain as a side effect.) But if you want to be rid of depression, frustration, leftover emotions from bad childhood experiences, etc., the vampire might be a good garbage disposal. No, it's not the high road, but in my experience energy vampires dislike that sort of treatment so much that they go away very quickly.

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.

They're basic, rather narrow in their focus, but effective. I don't see any problem for them as a first step, especially if you've got serious practical problems to cope with. The problems would come if you get stuck there and don't go further on into the wider world these things open up -- but even so, if that's your work in this incarnation, that's what it is.

I don't know the modern versions of these but one of the 1930s equivalents, Burks Hamner's Order of the Essenes course, turned my life around in a big way and helped me get rid of a lot of unproductive habits. That being the case, I'm kind of biased in their favor.

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

Alongside the OSA work, the writings of William Walker Atkinson are useful and compatible -- you can get practically everything he ever wrote for free download here, since his work is long out of copyright. He was a major influence on the founders of the OSA, and also on John Gilbert. Atkinson's works on the mind and its uses ought to be very helpful for you.

That's certainly what I would do.

I'll have to hand this one over to my Heathen readers. Any suggestions?

If you like, I’d be willing to send you my exact words privately. They make it even funnier. I’d be fine with you using this story to illustrate the concept, so long as my privacy is conserved.

Your words seem to suggest that consciousness might travel even on the physical plane. The idea that we are connected with everything is inspiring, but also a little scary. One doesn’t want to excite a connection with, say, Ahrimanic spirits. Must choose spiritual company carefully!

1) The Golden Section Fellowship (GSF) derives from the traditions I received from John Gilbert. it was common back in the day for bishops in the Universal Gnostic Church to found fellowships of their own, which took the basic template of the UGC and its related traditions and applied them to some specific field of occult study. This is my contribution along those lines.

2) You can do those in either order.

3) You'll want to be careful, when you get to The Way of the Golden Section, about the practice involving the solar plexus and the pineal gland. I don't happen to know how that will interact with whatever qigong practices are part of your lineage. If you have any doubts, just keep doing your martial arts work and leave out the solar plexus-pineal gland work; you'll get to the same place by a different route.

4) The Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, my reworking of John Gilbert's magical order, is 100% compatible with the Golden Section work.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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Magic Monday

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Re: And now a new goddess

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Norse equivalents to Saturn

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Qs

Re: Adapting to new system

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Hoodoo Bath

Re: Alternative for incense with CGD

Re: Elements

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Re: Magical thinking practice

red protection bags

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Lending Library

Re: Order of Spiritual Alchemy Lessons

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Re: Norse equivalents to Saturn

Re: TS for sure W

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