ecosophia | Magic Monday

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

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Dear JMG:

Thank you for this service you provide. I have two questions this week.

1) I recently came across a copy of The Craft Cup: Ritual Mysteries of the Goddess & the Grail, by Shadwynn (1994). As I think you know it is the primary theological and liturgical manual of the Ordo Arcanorum Gradalis, an eclectic Wiccan tradition combining classic paganism, esoteric Christianity, and Gnosticism using the Arthurian and Grail mythos. Before I was concerned it was going to be another example pop Neopagan slop. However, I'm so far highly impressed with its density (nearly 500 pages) and depth of content. I've been on the market looking for a Craft or Green Ray practice that would complement my studies and practice of esoteric Christianity and Hermetic Qabalah, and this book seems to fit the bill. As far as I'm able to tell this organization seems to be defunct, given your extensive knowledge of fringe occult orders do you know if this is the case? If the order is no more and I still wanted to practice the rites in this book as a solitary would that be acceptable? It has a "self-ordination" rite, but the issue of validity (as in "valid, but illicit") concerns me. Also, is it kosher to wake up a dormant egregore?

2) This may or may not fall under the scope of Magic Monday, but since you consider Jungian psychology to be a form of occultism in disguise I thought it was safe to ask. (And if it is off topic feel free to leave a blank space for the answer). Lately I've been contemplating the thought of perhaps going back to school in order to become a Jungian psychotherapist. It's one of the few professions I can think of that takes spirituality seriously, and if I became a non-stipendiary priest in the Independent Sacramental Movement the two vocations would dovetail with each other neatly. The present sad state of affairs in the university system is a concern, but I hate working for the corporation I'm employed in and desperate looking for a way out. What advice on this matter would you recommend?

Thank you in advance for any advice you have to offer. Have a wonderful day. May the blessings and protection of the Divine be upon you and your loved ones.

Sincerely,
Sanctuary of the Rose and Chalice.

1) To the best of my knowledge, yes, the OAG is long since defunct -- which is unfortunate, as it had a good system. Since it's defunct, you have every right to pick it up and reawaken the egregor -- in fact, you may find that it's eager to work with you. As for the self-ordination rite, the usual approach in situations like this is to do the self-ordination and then find someone in the independent sacramental movement who can give you an ordination with valid lineage -- there are plenty of these.

2) The difficulty here is that it's very, very difficult to make a living as an old-fashioned psychoanalyst these days. Most insurance companies won't pay for that kind of therapy any more -- they've been sucked into the pharmaceutical model, and it doesn't help that too many psychoanalysts got into the maintenance model of treatment, which means that you keep the patient sick as long as possible to get maximum income. Learning Jungian psychology is a very worthwhile activity but if your goal is finding a new way to make a living this may not be your best bet.

If I may piggyback on JMG's answer to #2 a bit, a few things to know if you plan to pursue this:

2a) Academic psychology (and therefore the programs that would be training you if you seek a Masters or PhD) has almost entirely rejected Jung as anything other than an interesting historical footnote. The most widely-taught methodology of talk therapy is "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy" or its variants. CBT isn't incompatible with Jungian understandings, but just know that you're gonna have a tough time finding teachers that take Jung seriously if part of your goals are getting the more prestigious credentials associated with psychotherapeutic practice.

2b) Depending on what locality you're in, there are a variety of licenses offered for things that might generally be called "therapy," and these will tend to draw different clients. One rule of thumb that I've heard both physicians and regular folks recommend to those seeking a therapist is to seek one out with at least the same level of education, or higher. In other words, if someone has a Masters degree or PhD, they should seek out a therapist that holds an equivalent degree. What this means from the therapist side of things is that having a higher level degree usually lets you charge more and usually means you'll be dealing more with folks with PMC-type jobs, whereas if you get a Licensed Social Worker certification or the like, you'll be more likely to deal with working class and poorer folks, which will have impacts on what kinds of issues you help folks deal with and how much you can make.

2c) All that being said, those folks who do take Jung seriously and practice professionally tend to be very outspoken and willing to educate folks. You might consider doing a web search for "[your city] cg jung" and see what centers, institutes, or the like pop up. For example, my city has a "C.G. Jung Center" that hosts classes, has a library, keeps up a list of local therapists who use Jungian methods, and so forth.

Whatever you end up doing, good luck, and I hope some of this helps!
Jeff

Dear JMG and jprussell:

I want to thank both of you for the advice you have given me on these issues. I was afraid that we were fast approaching the point where Jungian psychology would be dismissed as "pseudoscience" by the establishment, I just didn't realize we arrived there already (wishful thinking?). It's hard being an intentional heretic when all the available jobs on the market makes us compliant or willing cogs of the Technopathocracy/Black Iron Prison. How are we supposed to stick it to the Archons AND put bread on the table? My apologies, I needed to rant or let me feelings fester. I'll just keep quiet for now and wish you both a pleasant and blessed evening.

Sincerely,
Sanctuary of the rose and Chalice

Magic Monday

Defunct Traditions and Jungian Psychology

Re: Defunct Traditions and Jungian Psychology

Re: Defunct Traditions and Jungian Psychology

Re: Defunct Traditions and Jungian Psychology