Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's 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. Along with Louis-Claude de St. Martin, last week's honoree, the inner circle of pupils of Martinez de Pasqually included this week's figure, Jean-Baptiste Willermoz. A very active Freemason, Willermoz played a central role in cleaning up the mess left by the implosion of the Strict Observance (the most important Templar order in 18th century Europe) and created a new order with its own rituals, the Rectified Rite, which survives to this day. Much of what became the ritual of Martinism came from Willermoz's hands.

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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.

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

Essene Healing Voice

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

I had a question about the following instructions

"The Essene Healing Voice may be activated by establishing yourself in the Essene Healing Breath
(or other meditation technique), activating your Essene Healing Hands, tracing the four Elemental
signs of Earth, Water, Fire and Air on your throat with your right index finger, and tapping your
third eye three times with that same finger."

If I follow these instructions exactly as I use my right index finger to trace all four signs on my throat rather than alternating hands like I do when activating the palms. That is the "right" way, correct? I just thought it was odd, having gotten so used to doing the Water/Earth with right hand on left palm, and Fire/Air on right palm with left hand, so thought I might as well ask. Also, if following exactly I would start with Earth, then do Water, Fire, Air. (Typing this up makes me realize that is the reverse order of the elements in the SOP and wander what that might be about in relation to the throat center.)

Thanks,

Justin Patrick Moore

Re: Essene Healing Voice

[ecosophia]

That's correct. John never did tell me why it's done differently, just that that's the way to do it. (And yes, it's a great theme for meditation.)

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

Can you please help me with some questions?


1. In the FHR Vol.1 pdf you stated the following:

"In the occult traditions of the West, there are schools and orders that focus on magic, and others that don't. These others focus on meditation, divination, and the studyof occult philosophy; their goal is wisdom and the development of intuitive and mystical awareness, rather than magical power. Their students achieve success in life not by forcing the world to conform to their wills, but by sensing the flow of events and being in the right place at the right time. It’s not a path for everyone, but it works, and works well."


Apart from the FHR, are you referring to the MOE and OSA? And maybe the UGC? Did John Gilbert pass on more traditions that you haven't made public yet? I'm fascinated with the type of occultism mentioned in the quote above; I'd love to learn more about it.

2. Regarding the Essene Blessing Walk. I live in a remote area, so blessing strangers as I walk (Step 1) will be difficult.

Can I just bless my family members, neighbours, and motorists whenever I see them throughout the day? Also, the lessons don't mention blessing the deceased. Could I also offer blessings to my deceased family members, friends, and ancestors?

3. What's the difference between astral and etheric banishing? The Judson Exercise looks interesting. It might be good to combine with New Thought work as New Thought has some roots in the work of Franz Anton Mesmer and Mesmerism in general e.g. P.P. Quimby. In any case, I don't know how one would decide whether they should do the Judson Exercise, the SoP or something like the LBRP.

I hope this isn't too much. Thanks as always for answering our questions.

Best wishes.

[ecosophia]

1) John's system lacked an occult order of the kind I discussed there. I'm in the process of creating one, the Golden Section Fellowship, in book form:

The Way of the Golden Section
The Sacred Geometry Oracle
The Occult Philosophy Workbook

Two additional volumes, The Way of the Four Elements and The Earth Mysteries Workbook, are finished and will be published next year; the last two volumes, The Way of the Secret Temple and The Life Force Workbook, are currently in preparation.

Other than that, there are plenty of orders outside John's system that fall into this category -- the Societas Rosicruciana in America, the Brotherhood of Light, the Builders of the Adytum, and so on.

2) Yes, of course you can do all these things. You can also skip a step or two ahead and bless the animals and plants you encounter.

3) The difference is simply which plane the work is done on -- astral (the plane of imagination and dreams) or etheric (the plane of the life force). As for how to decide, the best thing to do is to try all three and see which one feels best to you.

Angelic 'Chaperones'

[boccaderlupo]

Thank you, as always, for hosting these forums.

1) Forgive me if you've heard this one already, as it's been something I've been musing on some time: In Picatrix, I've been wondering about the invocation of planetary angels in addition to the "planets" themselves. Given that the book was put together in an Islamic context (and then imported to Christendom), is this a way to assimilate what would effectively be regarded as other "divinities" under the "chain" of a pantheonic "boss" deity by assigning angelic "chaperones," as it were—monotheizing what would otherwise be a plurality? Is it also a safeguard when working with the planetary spirits? Is there something more at work?

2) I'd seen conjecture that the workings of Jack Parsons & co. in California might have somehow contributed to the modern UFO (UAP?) phenomena. Do you feel there's any substance to such claims?

Thank you

Axé,
Fra' Lupo

Re: Angelic 'Chaperones'

[ecosophia]

1) Probably all of the above. One of the great challenges in any syncretic system -- and the Picatrix is way up there on the syncretism scale -- is how you work out relations between the different orders of being that correspond to each of the core symbolic categories. By the time the Picatrix got put together, people in different schools of magic had long been invoking planetary angels, planetary gods, planetary spirits, planetary intelligences, etc., etc., and so it was a matter of figuring out how to include all of them.

2) Hmm! I hadn't heard the claim that Parsons was involved in that. Meade Layne, on the other hand, was up to his eyeballs in it; his was one of the groups that announced the imminent arrival of alien beings before the 1947 sightings began.

Christos

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, someone here some time ago linked to a video about a short book by George W. Carey - The anti-Christ - https://archive.org/details/antichrist00carerich/mode/2up

It starts with:
«Primitive Christians, the Essenes, fully realized and taught the great truth that Christ was a substance, an oil or ointment contained especially in the Spinal Cord, consequently in all parts of the body, as every nerve in the body is directly or indirectly connected with the wonderful "River that flows out of Eden (the upper brain) to water the garden.»

Is what he writes correct in your opinion and experience? Have you written about this somewhere, blogposts, books? Or can you recommend any books where I can learn more about this?

Re: Christos

[ecosophia]

Carey's material is some of the weirdest stuff in print. He had his own astonishingly odd way of interpreting the Bible, and since I'm not a Christian I won't claim to pass judgment on his theology; as a teacher of a very unusual but effective method of inner alchemy, on the other hand, he's spot on. You might find his later book God-Man: The Word Made Flesh worthwhile:

https://archive.org/details/godmanwordmadef00perrgoog/page/n6/mode/2up?view=theater

I ran an online study of his method with volunteers from my readers, and got statistically significant positive results. You can read all about that in this sequence of posts:

https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/tag/cell+salts

talking to gods--a piece of anecdata

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

About a week and a half ago I was on assignment for a magazine, interviewing a billionaire. (Tough life, I know.)

This particular billionaire is a self-made woman who came from extremely difficult circumstances. Now she runs a business empire in which she emphasizes above all that her employees must be speak sweetly and be genuinely caring and considerate toward their customers, many of whom are elderly and/or disabled. She also makes a point of hiring people who may have no qualifications or experience, and then training them and promoting them up through the ranks of her company.

She mentioned that she prays a lot. And she said
"Lots of people pray and say 'God will answer in His own time', but when I pray, I get an answer either immediately, or the next morning. And often I know what is going to happen even before it happen, my staff call this my ESP but I just know. And I know, God put me into this position in order to help other people, in order to raise them up."

After the interview, my photographer asked me what I thought she meant by 'getting an answer to her prayers'. He thought maybe praying helped her to make decisions.

I said I thought that she was actually praying to a deity who really, really liked her. And that this deity had impressed upon her the responsibility of using her wealth to help others, and as long as she did that, this deity was going to continue to help her make good decisions.

My photog changed the topic immediately, because acknowledging the reality of not just God but many gods is apparently beyond the pale of polite discourse.

But...this is plausible, right? Some people have very direct relationships with a deity. I am pretty sure this self-made billionaire is one of them. Frankly she was a very impressive person who shone with an inner light of kindness and love.

--Ms. Krieger

Re: talking to gods--a piece of anecdata

[ecosophia]

I'd sooner dine on live tarantulas than have to interview strangers, so it would be a tough life for me. But yes, what you said is what I would have said; clearly the billionaire is a person who's done a great deal of hard spiritual work in previous lives, and she's now giving some blessings back to the world.

Summoning less air...

[hearthculture]

Dear JMG and Sundry Druids of the Commentariat,

I enjoy the blessing of an eight sided gazebo in which I'm attempting to do daily ritual work. How have more experienced druids managed ritual requirements within the varied conditions of a natural setting?
How do I keep the candles lit? Replace them with tiki torches... Use larger candles... (wind breaks have been tried and found lacking...) I'm not willing to replace with electrical light no matter how candle-like.
I can find/make space indoors but hesitant to forgo the synchronicities that regularly appear in the outdoors.

For those who desire it, may you be blessed,
:)

Re: Summoning less air...

[slclaire]

I use votive candles that I place inside a tin can from the grocery store with the top cut off. The can was cleaned and reused after emptying out and eating its contents. Put a layer of sand or soil on the bottom of the can to insulate it from the heat of the candle, then put the candle on top. It won't blow out.

Another option, which we used for my GCC ordination ceremony when I didn't want the down-home-funk look of the tin can and used a larger table than usual for the altar, is to put the votive candle inside a hurricane lamp. If you have a big enough altar to hold the hurricane lamp, this is the best looking solution.

[liamq]

JMG,

(1) During the relevant versions of the SoP’s Circulation of Light, are we to visualise the three spherical rotations as simultaneously occurring—ie, the first rotation is maintained at a very high speed before the second begins, and then both movements continue before the third is begun? or is there practically only ever one obvious movement at a time—ie, the first movement is eventually going so fast it appears to be standing still, and only then does the second one begin?

(2) I currently live in a very hot climate with very subtle seasonal change. We call it Florida, but it’s much more like purgatory. Do you think that the eight Holy Days of Druidry could be wisely incorporated into such a climate? It strikes me as being a bit of a fool’s errand, since my understanding of those holidays would (mostly) not be reflected in the natural world in my surroundings.

[ecosophia]

1) It depends on whether you can keep multiple movements going in your imagination. I like to do all three rotations at once -- it does a fine job of shredding noxious energies -- but not everyone can do that.

2) The holy days have as much to do with the heavens as with the earth, and there are subtle energy cycles as well. You can practice them anywhere -- yes, even in Purgatory. ;-)

FHR: Entering and leaving the Elemental Worlds

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Mr Greer,

Thank you as always for hosting this digital space.

I have a question concerning the FHR.

Volume 1, on “Using the Imagination” (pp102-103), has the following to say about entering and leaving the World of Earth:

ENTERING:
To prepare for the practice, place a chair in the North or stand to the south of a chair in your room. […] Face the North and trace the green symbol for Earth in front of you in the air. […] Expand that green earth symbol in your imagination to be as large as a circular door. […] Accept the invitation and step through the green doorway, turn around and sit down in your chair. Your physical body will be sitting down in this physical world, but your astral body will remain standing and alert in the Elemental World of Earth.

LEAVING:
As you return your attention to this physical reality you realize the green doorway is in front of you and your astral body is on the other side of that doorway. Just will your astral body to come through the doorway and return to your body.

1. Am I right in understanding that when entering the World of Earth I am to step through the enlarged symbol for Earth and, once on the other side of the doorway, turn around (to face South, towards the center of my ritual space), my physical body then sitting down in the chair in the North while my astral body remains standing, both my physical and astral bodies being, technically, on the same side of the green doorway?

2. If that is case, then when leaving the World of Earth how can my astral body be on the other side of the doorway?

I've perused the sections pertaining to entering and leaving the other Elemental Worlds in the subsequent grades of the FHR, but they follow the same structure, so I was none the wiser.

Of course, I also realize that my understanding of the "geography" (boundaries, etc.) of the Elemental Worlds may be too narrow. Thank you in advance for your answer, as my wish is to accomplish the FHR work with the Elements properly.

Re: FHR: Entering and leaving the Elemental Worlds

[ecosophia]

Your physical body steps back to the material side of the doorway -- "Your physical body will be sitting down in this physical world" -- while your astral body passes to the other side. Yes, it could probably be written more clearly; I kept John Gilbert's language pretty much verbatim.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I have two questions for you. (I didn’t see these addressed in the FAQ.) At the moment I do the SOP daily.

1) I’ll be visiting some relatives soon for a few weeks. There are no small children in the house. Is there some etiquette to practicing the SOP at someone else’s home? Do I need to ask permission? Where would be appropriate?

2) Some time in the future a pregnant cousin plans to come and stay at my house for a few days. Do I need to take any precautions (like keeping her away from the space where I practice)?

Thank you for hosting this space.

[ecosophia]

1) Make sure they're okay with it, because the practice will have effects on the subtle energy of the house -- positive effects, but some people aren't comfortable with that.

2) She shouldn't spend any great amount of time in the place where you do the practice, but that's all.

The path of the lonely ones

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
This is a troubling and messy situation, so I hope can state my question in a way that you will be able to offer some advice.

It all started years ago, while I was reading your stuff online, I was not actively doing any of it, still it proved useful advice in some situations. Then I met my current partner. And due to life circumstances and job availability it made sense to move across the country and I found myself in a new envronment, my partners home town. And I was new there. For personal strenght I started working with your Druid Handbook and Druid Magic Handbook. And over the years what was a fancy became a practice, became what in a recent post of yours Mother Maria Juliana called an imperative.
For me. But not so much for my partner. Recently in a discussion it became painfully obvoius. There is no interest for this stuff, and if I started to explain it I would be declared crazy. Furthermore there have been terible disagreements in the recent years, corona measurements have been particularly rough.
And I find myself thinking on some examples from your novels. The trouble that Martin Chaudronnier had with his wife, The diapointment of Trish.
I have heard this is the path of the lonely ones. I know you have trouble giving social advice, so I would ask diferently:
1. There are negative examples of relationships between occultist and someone who is not into it in literature and history. But are there positive ones? What comes to mind is "The world we used to live in" where Vine Deloria Jr. mentiones that the medicine people had to find someone who supported their work.
2. What could I do to help in this situation? Magically and ethically speaking.

(DH, DMG practice, OSA lessons, daily prayers to planetary intelligences)

Re: The path of the lonely ones

[(Anonymous)]

My partner and I differ on this as well but it isn't a problem for us. My occult practices are my own personal spiritual practices and they don't need to be shared by him - just like I have my own job that doesn't need to be shared by him. He prefers mainstream religion for his personal spiritual practice. We recognise the right of each individual to choose these things for themself. It does not mean we can't build a great life together on the material plane. Our greatest gift to each other is simply talking.

Meeting Fictional Characters

[(Anonymous)]

JMG - awhile back, I believe you talked about a technique to meet fictional characters of our own creation. If I remember correctly, you discussed meeting Jenny from the Hali series. My teenage daughter writes stories and novels and is intrigued by this idea. Do you have any details you could provide about how to do this?

Re: Meeting Fictional Characters

[ecosophia]

Sure. The first thing she needs to do is work on developing her imagination. One good way to do this is to take imaginary journeys. This is done by sitting down comfortably and imagining oneself in a place -- for a writer, a place out of a story is great. Imagine it as clearly as possible. If you're in a character's room, for example, what is the furniture like? What color is the bedspread? What personal items are on the dresser? Then go for a walk in that imaginary place, and pay attention to everything in sight. This is basically a directed daydream, but it shades into something more vivid.

Once this is something she can do easily, your daughter should be able to meet one or more of her characters in the same imaginary space. Conversations will follow. One warning -- when she gets to the end of a novel or a series and has to say goodbye to the characters, it can be tough!

Niger coup

[(Anonymous)]

We recently discussed the seemingly lack of coups due to Uranus being stuck in Taurus. And there was then a recent coup in Niger whose success is not yet settled. Interestingly this occurred once conditions ripened astrologically and they look pretty explosive.

Word has it that the coup went down on the morning of the 26th of July. A chart for Niamey at 9 am on that day has a T-square for Jupiter in Taurus, the Moon opposition to it in Scorpio, and the Sun square to both in Leo. (astrologically literate coupers?)

That is not great for the people (Moon) but is somewhat rescued by Trines with Mars (Virgo) and Saturn (Pisces). The sun is in its rulership but the T-square is a worry, especially since Jupiter is conjunct Uranus which is Trined Neptune, but square both Venus and Mercury (both in Leo with Virgo the ascendant).

The coup itself may be betrayed by seemingly friendly (square Venus) foreign countries (Uranus in the 9th). Jupiter also in the ninth may also mean this thing could spiral out of control with lots of foreign influence.

What would be your brief reading?

Re: Niger coup

[ecosophia]

I'm sorry to say I don't have time right now to draw up and delineate the chart. Let's see how it turns out and you can compare your analysis to the events.

Imagination, Bad Thoughts, and New Thought

[jruss]

Greetings JMG and Commentariat,

Today a twofer.

What is the Imagination according to occult teachings. I’m getting the impression that it is more than make believe and seems like guiding one of our subtler bodies and effecting other layers of reality.

Also as I read up on the more sane parts of New Thought something occurred to me. Could fantasizing bad things cause the raspberry jam effect to occur and one end up with the Karmaic equivalent of having done that.

I’m of to minds on this. Some ancients warn against it, but if that’s the case a lot of writers are in deep trouble.

All the best,
-James

Re: Imagination, Bad Thoughts, and New Thought

[ecosophia]

1) The imagination is the organ with which you perceive and act on the astral plane.

2) Not unless you concentrate on it, brood over it, and pour emotional energy into it. If you just imagine some nasty events for a story, write them down, and then go on to other events, it's not an issue.

[(Anonymous)]

Good evening JMG,


Could animal flow exercises (combined with invocation of appropriate forces and visualisation) be the European equivalent of Qi gong?

[ecosophia]

I have no idea what animal flow exercises might be, but you're certainly welcome to experiment with them.

Sacred Geometry

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I'm wondering if you have any recommendations for books about sacred geometry? I'm particularly interested in ratios for the dimensions of buildings and rooms. I seem to remember some discussion of the topic in past weeks, but I'm not having much luck with search on dreamwidth.

Thanks

Re: Sacred Geometry

[ecosophia]

The book you want is Proportion by Richard Padovan. It focuses on the architectural side of sacred geometry, and Padovan is a professional architect so he knows what he's talking about.

Spirits

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG,

You made a comment in the past that for spirit evocation, you use the Rosicrucian model, which takes a different approach from the ceremonial model. Where can one learn this? It seems like a lot of different groups used the name "Rosicrucian" for their teachings. The most prominent one I know of is AMORC, who used to place all those ads in places like FATE Magazine offering the secrets of the universe if you'd send in the coupon.

Thank you in advance.

Re: Spirits

[ecosophia]

I have no idea how AMORC deals with spirits, as I've never belonged. I learned the Rosicrucian approach via the Golden Dawn, which is Rosicrucian in its orientation, and also from the SRIA.

Astral Plane

[deborah_bender]

I missed last month's open topic Wednesday and want to post something while it is timely.

I am not trying to persuade anyone to go see a particular movie if they don't like movies. However, if you do ever watch first run movies in the theaters, I have something to tell you about the surprise summer hit Barbie that you probably won't read anywhere else.

Barbieland, the imaginary place where Barbie and her doll associates hang out, is clearly and openly a depiction of the Astral Plane (or a portion of it).

If you are already clear on the concept of the astral plane and how it interacts with the material plane, I think you will be surprised at how much the movie gets right. If you are just beginning to explore the concept and find it too abstract, the entire flippin' Barbie movie demonstrates how the material plane and the astral plane interact and affect each other. There is also a bit of plot near the end on how existence would be altered if the planes were not discrete.

All of this is conveyed through visuals, action, and snappy dialogue in ordinary colloquial English, a little at a time, usually without interrupting whatever else is going on. No jargon.

Greta Gerwig is the director. She and Noah Baumbach wrote the screenplay. I think at least one of them has some serious knowledge of occult theory and they didn't get it from Astral Plane for Dummies

[(Anonymous)]

Do you or any of the community know anything about Damon Brand? He's written a few books on magic that I'm thinking of buying, but want to make sure I'm not getting into anything 'not of the light's so to speak

[ecosophia]

I haven't read his work. Anyone else?

[(Anonymous)]

A good day to you!

1) The SOP from DMH and the version you have shared here differ slightly. Is there anything speaking against exchanging the closing of the "blog-version" with the circulation of light as described in the DMH?

2) Trying to make sense of the various versions of "self"...
... lower self = personality?
... higher self = individuality?
... guardian angel = ?
... cosmic atom = ?

The higher self is something that you can - as is said - "merge into" or be absorbed into or identify with, or however it's called. It's basically you, only that most of us aren't conscious of it.
The cosmic atom is described very similarly and eventually, a highly evolved being might make contact with the cosmic atom that "projected" or dreamed all these selves into being. So it's basically an "even higher self"?
How does the guardian angel fit into the scheme?

Puzzled,
Nachtgurke

[ecosophia]

1) You can mix and match. I give different versions of the SoP in different books and blog posts to keep fundamentalists at bay.

2) The lower self is the personality. The higher self is the individuality and the cosmic atom -- all three of these terms mean the same thing. The guardian angel is the divine spark, an energy/entity radiated by the Solar Logos to help guide and protect the individual soul.

[betwixttheworlds]

I'd like to add to the comment made by someone last week about using the Middle Pillar to fall asleep. I've been using it when I wake up in the middle of the night, along with sometimes doing it before going to sleep.

I was using the colors Regardie recommended in The Art of True Healing (lavender, red, blue and russet), but switched to the colors that he recommended later on (gray, yellow, violet, citroen, etc.) because that is what I use in the mornings. I didn't sense any conflict, but I don't want to mess things up.

Like the commenter, I'd get in this weird half-sleep and sometimes realize I'd been sleeping halfway through the operation. I'm glad to hear from JMG that this is not necessarily bad.

It really does help when it's difficult to fall asleep.

Jon
Tangerine Tangential Cactus

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this.

Fae

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I've been reading the book "Dimensions" by Jacques Valee, where he puts forward the hypothesis that many UFO sightings are actually the fae in a sci-fi guise. (As also hinted at by John Keel in the Mothman Prophecies).

On this topic, I have a question, and an encounter to relate:

The question - can fae, or other spirits and entities mess with our intuition? Many reports in the book state that people felt they were in the presence of something 'good' around the UFO visitors they met. Whilst fae are not necessarily bad, most of the first-hand reports I've read would describe them as 'amoral', at best. Given that many people receiving channelled sources also state that they feel a sense of 'good' from the sources that are contacting them, should such insights be treated with healthy scepticism as well? If so, how does one determine the intent of an entity they have made contact with (other than by whether its advice would run totally counter to your best interests)?

The encounter/second question - I was reading the book before going to sleep last night, and woke up just an hour and a half later from what felt like a very long dream (possibly several days long) in which I had to travel to the faery kingdom on business for some reason. Calls were made and arrangements booked, and after a series of long delays and checks through a set of rooms I don't remember in detail but were absolutely *covered* with astrological symbolism, I boarded some kind of disc-like train, with several short, elfin-featured female stewardesses smirking at me and giggling amongst themselves. After sitting down at a round table next to short, green-suited men reading newspapers, I felt the lurch of some kind of acceleration, and then woke up with a start, breathing heavily. All was quiet, but I was unsettled. What do you suppose would have happened if I'd not woken up - was I actually being 'spirited away'? I should point out that I banish nightly.

Thanks,
Mr. Crow

Re: Fae

[ecosophia]

Vallee is always entertaining to read! If you haven't read it yet, his book Passport to Magonia is also well worth your time.

1) Intuition is a catchall term for a whole series of different inner capacities. The lower modes of it can be misled, the higher modes of it cannot. When dealing with an unknown entity, intuition is one guide but it's not infallible. One of the benefits of a relationship with a deity is that deities can protect against faery tricks.

2) That sounds like a really fun dream. No, I don't think they'd have spirited you away, but they may have been having fun with you.

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday JMG,
Thanks for hosting. I'm about to begin the WGS. Do you happen to know, by any chance, if Pilates exercises compatible with this work? The chapter on body practice does not mention them, but that's something I'm currently doing.
Kirsten

[ecosophia]

To the best of my knowledge Pilates should be completely compatible with the Golden Section work. In the book I only mentioned those things I've practiced myself, and Pilates isn't on that list -- but it should be fine.

[(Anonymous)]

In the last Magic Monday, I phrased a question very poorly, so here is a second try:

I would like to use a pot with pepper powder to keep my CGD ritual equipment discrete. It would have a lid, that would be opened during the ritual to provide the needed volatile substances, and closed after the ritual. With that in mind,

1) Is it possible to use this setup?
2) For how long can I keep the pepper in the pot before discarding it?
3) How should I discard the used pepper?

Thank you for the Magic Mondays!

[ecosophia]

Yes, you could do that. The pepper can be used until you can't smell it any more, and then it can be thrown out in any way you prefer.

Kundalini

[illyria2001]

Could you give us some insight on Kundalini and its relationship with the life force/etheric energy?

Re: Kundalini

[ecosophia]

Kundalini, the energy in the center at the base of the spine, is etheric energy. As it rises up the spine, however, it transmutes to a higher mode of energy as it passes each of the chakras, so that what reaches the crown chakra is mental plane energy, which is why raising it successfully leads to the transcendence of the need for further incarnations. The classic ways of doing this, kriya yoga and laya yoga, are dangerous enough that you need the close supervision of an experienced guru to avoid serious risks, but there are gentler, more indirect ways to do the same thing. My forthcoming book The Secret of the Five Rites has a lot to say about this.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG. Do you think Joan of Arc was trained as an occultist by an underground esoteric school, or was she a natural-born psychic?

[ecosophia]

Everything I've read about her suggests to me that she was a natural psychic.