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, and at this point we've reached a genuine man of mystery, Jacques de Livron Joachim de la Tour de la Casa Martinez de Pasqually. Nobody knows when Martinez de Pasqually was born or where he came from; what's known about him is that he showed up in southern France in 1754, taught an extraordinarily rich system of Gnostic esoteric philosophy and practice to a circle of pupils that included Louis-Claude de St.-Martin and Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, and then sailed away to the Caribbean in 1772 and reportedly died there two years later. The image I've posted is one of the very few portraits of the man.

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

Daily Heathen Prayers and Question on Persephone Myth Comparative Work

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

As many of us bring our summers to a close, I hope you find chances to enjoy friends, lovely places, and any flexibility you can find in your work schedule.

To Share: I'm still working through Maria Kvilhaug's /Seed of Yggdrasill/, but we had a trip with friends this week, so instead of keeping on with my review just yet, I have a collection of some Heathen prayers I say most every day. As always, I welcome hearing how this might be helpful to you, or what works for you in the same ballpark: https://jpowellrussell.com/#a_few_daily_prayers

To Ask: For JMG and the commentariat: has anyone come across comparative treatments of the Persephone and similar myths? For example, in Germanic myth, some folks like Maria Kvilhaug have compared the myth of Idhunna's capture by Thjazi to Hades taking Persephone. If anyone has come across a discussion of similar possible parallels, most of all if it's more wide-ranging than only Persephone to one other myth, I'd be very thankful for a pointer to it. Linked to this, even a good discussion of the Persephone myth alone would be great.

As always, thanks very much to JMG and everyone else here for all that you do.

To any who will have them, I put forth my blessings and best wishes,
Jeff

Re: Daily Heathen Prayers and Question on Persephone Myth Comparative Work

[ecosophia]

I'll have to hand this one over to the commentariat, as I haven't done that much with comparative mythology.

Lending My JMG Library!

[kimberlysteele]

I am making my JMG book collection available by mail to anyone in the continental US:

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

[(Anonymous)]

Good Evening JMG,

I recently had a rather vivid dream where I think I may have been visited by a goddess or other powerful female/feminine entity. This involved the most beautiful music I ever "heard" (rather lucidly); female choral singing with some exotic-sounding stringed instrumentation that followed later. "She" didn't appear in any sort of anthropomorphic form, just as a hexagram of blazing/brilliant white and golden light with a blue sky in the background.

1. I know dream interpretation isn't your thing, so I won't ask for that. My first question is that do you know of any goddess who uses such a symbol or anything like that as her calling card? Of course I open this up to the commentariat if you've never heard of or seen a blazing hexagram or choral singing associated with a goddess.

2. Is performing SOP silently any less powerful than doing so while sounding the words out loud? While doing it silently I'm still doing all the hand gestures and directional positioning normally, and of course visualizing everything as instructed.

-Cyan Truculent Possum

[ecosophia]

1) Choral singing seems to be pretty common in divine manifestations. As for the hexagram on a blue sky background, that's a solar symbol in Western occult tradition, so you may be dealing with a sun goddess.

2) It's less powerful, because the vibration gives it additional power all the way down to the material plane. Still, if you need to do it silently for some reason, that's still effective -- you'll just have to work a little harder to make it equally effective.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning Sir and Druid.

Two questions:
1) Have you looked into the Mormon temples and their suitability or not with regards to the temple technology principles?

2) Several months ago, there was discussion on the topic of Ganesha being described as a child God. That stirred up memories of Christmas time novenas, wherein The Child God was the main focus of both the novena prayers and the carols. While titular Child God is implied to be Jesus, the Ganesha discussion highlighted the ambiguity of the title and opened up the question of which Child God is being referenced. This was in South America, so there is a grain of syncretic salt (just as the large numbers of Virgins of _____ that seem to abound in these regions) to consider. Apart from Ganesha, what other gods are there that can be described as child gods?

[ecosophia]

1) No, and that's a fascinating question. I assume the Mormons aren't public about the inner dimension of their temple workings, so I'm not sure how much I could find out, but if the opportunity presented itself I'd certainly look into it.

2) There are quite a few of them. In ancient Egypt, the child Horus, also known as Harpocrates, was a focus of worship, for example, and the Hindu god Krishna is often worshiped in child form. The Chinese protective god Nezha is always seen as a child.

China

[(Anonymous)]

Have you seen the latest china news . They have insulted another god. If you see the pathway of the taifun that hit Beijing area avoiding Taiwan that would have weakened the taifun and hitting full force in the North. It is brutal to watch floods partially done by the government but partially by some really angry deity. Apparently the temple of the storm dragon and its son's was spared.

Also another god has made itself known of this age perkunas i think

When a totem pole mysteriously appeared on a popular coastal path in south-east England.
The 8ft (2.4-metre) wooden pole, erected on the clifftops on the North Downs Way in Kent, between Folkestone and Dover, has particularly provoked interest for its inscription with the name Perkūnas, the Baltic god of thunder.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/09/mystery-totem-pole-appears-on-coastal-path-in-south-east-england

The council in all its wisdom wants to demolish it because no permit.

Re: China

[ecosophia]

1) No surprises there. Atheist governments may need to rethink their beliefs.

2) No, I hadn't heard of that! And Perkunas, too -- translate that as Perun, Thor, Thunor, and (just possibly) Bran, and you've got a very ancient and widespread deity. (I tend to think of Bran and Beli, the archaic pair of quarreling deities from Celtic antiquity, as cognates of Perun and Velezh, who had the same role among the Slavs.)

[(Anonymous)]

- I've been doing the DMH Grail working for about a year. The Cauldron of the Moon is linked to intuition. Does the Grail working interfere in any way with the intuition exercise in John Gilbert's book The Doors of Tarot?

- In The Sanctified Life document you posted in the UGC posts, on page 7 at the bottom, there is the quote below. Is that meditation technique described the same thing as mindfulness meditation?

"...begin by directing unceasing efforts to keeping the mind free of attachment to any specific idea, concept, or exercise, even while actively engaged in its practice. Strive to exist solely in the moment, in God—every act, every thought, an offering to God—letting the past, the future, the “10,000 things” take care of themselves. Endeavor to maintain as pure a state of objectivity as possible, observe each and every thing around and within, tangible and intangible, animate and inanimate, with equal care and thoroughness, yet cling to nothing. As various thoughts, emotions, and sensations manifest themselves, examine them, trace each to its source, but allow no opinion, no prejudice, no preference to take root."

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) Not at all.

2) That I can't tell you. I'm not a specialist in either mindfulness meditation or mysticism.

Tendon Healing

[(Anonymous)]

JMG - I partially tore my distal bicep tendon (attaches near elbow) in the gym about a month ago. I'm doing everything I know to help it heal quickly - rehab exercises, appropriate herbal remedies, drinking bone broth for the collagen. It's really being stubborn, and I'm starting to get a little discouraged, which I know won't help. I prefer to not see a doctor for the typical reasons discussed here. Are there any additional magical approaches that I could take? Thanks!

Re: Tendon Healing

[ecosophia]

That's not something I'm qualified to answer. If traditional Chinese medicine is legal to practice in your jurisdiction, you might see if you can find a practitioner, as I hear acupuncture has a very good reputation for healing such things.

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday JMG and everybody,
I finally had some success with my meditation work. I'm sharing it in the hopes that my experience might be helpful to someone. For the longest time I was doing everything by the book yet the sentence "I entered into a meditative state" rang hollow to me... until the last Tuesday. What moved the needle for me was frankincense. In the presence of its scent, I finally did it... taking the position, relaxing the muscles, fourfold breath, go! And I did! The smell of frankincense helped a lot. It was not easy to learn to burn it properly though.
I have a question about SOP. I am invoking Druid Deities, but that's the extent of my relationships with them. Is it OK to do so? My parents were atheists and I am slowly working my way toward faith and religion, but slowly is the keyword here.
Kirsten

[ecosophia]

1) Glad to hear this!

2) That's perfectly okay. As you might expect, the deities invoked in the Druid Revival tradition tend to be a very laid-back bunch, and nobody's in a rush.

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what LARP, IIRC or TSW mean, I've compiled a list of Ecosophia abbreviations.

Thanks for appearing on two new podcasts, I'm looking forward to listen to them!

To ask, I've read people mention the Qabalistic Cross and Rose Cross rituals. These both appear to be part of the Golden Dawn tradition. What is the goal of these? What are the differences between the two? Which of your books describes them?

[ecosophia]

I'll answer your questions in reversed order.

3) They're both in Circles of Power.

2) They're completely different in every way; the Cabalistic Cross (hereafter CC) is an opening and closing practice used at the beginning and end of many rituals, while the Rose Cross ritual (hereafter R+C) is a specific, standalone ritual of blessing. They literally don't have a single word or action in common.

1) The CC is meant to balance and energize the subtle body at the beginning and end of a ritual. The R+C is meant to call down specific positive energies into all the levels of the self as a form of blessing.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

a friend of mine said that he had heard from Sadhguru that it is possible to be reborn even into the past. Have you ever heard that such a thing is possible?

Greetings ExecutedByGandhi

[ecosophia]

I know some people who say this. All I know for sure is that all my past life memories appear to be in chronological order.

Sacred geometry

[(Anonymous)]

Welcome our host

I am looking for books on the practical aspect of sacred geometry, perhaps something towards making talismans/amulets using sacred geometry?

Re: Sacred geometry

[ecosophia]

Sacred geometry until quite recently was very nearly a lost art, and has had to be reconstructed a bit at a time by the hard work of scholars and mages. With the exception of architecture, the practical aspects of sacred geometry haven't seen much development yet, because the basics still needed to be recovered. Other than material about the use of polygrams in talismans -- you'll find a good essay on that in Israel Regardie's The Golden Dawn -- I don't know of a useful book on the subject. You could always get to work studying and experimenting, and down the road a ways, write one.

Orders of practical magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hello archdruid

In the previous week there was a question about magical orders centered around exploring the more mystical aspect of occultism (aimed more at "making the adept be in the right place at the right time" and exploring occult philosophy).

My question:
Do you know of magical orders dedicated more to learning and developing the practical aspects of magic? More towards changing the world according to the will of the magician?

Re: Orders of practical magic

[ecosophia]

No, and if I did, I wouldn't recommend them. Trying to change the world without changing yourself is the classic route to total magical failure, because the circumstances you're in and the events that you encounter are always powerfully shaped by your own actions and your own character. That's why those orders that teach practical magic -- for example, the various branches of the Golden Dawn -- put as much energy into self-transformation as they do into more obviously practical workings, because if you do magic to try to change something in your environment, while still doing all the things in your everyday life that make your environment what it is, the magic will fail.

[(Anonymous)]

I hope you find this week's questions nice and interesting!

My questions:
1. what are the real possibilities of bringing a change in the human body through occult or magical methods? I'm not asking about the method of how to do it but I'm curious if this would be a good direction for research and meditation. Could we create a prosthetic limb of a severed limb using magic/occultism?

The second question has been lingering on my mind for a long time. I love magic and spirituality, they give incredible depth to my life however I have a perpetual problem with one aspect. I'm not sure if these will be well-chosen words but I'm curious what are the real possibilities of magic to influence the physical world? Wouldn't more good be done by occultists studying physics or biology? Is magic just a matter of subtle energies not directly affecting physicality?

To sum up my second question
2. what are the real possibilities of influencing physical reality through magic/occultism?

[ecosophia]

1) Nope. Magic is the art and science of causing changes in consciousness in accordance with will -- that's Dion Fortune's definition; it works with the mind-side of things, and is wholly subject to the ordinary laws of nature. Thus you can make yourself successful, happy, and wise through magic, but you can't regrow a severed limb.

2) See my answer above. If you want to influence physical reality, become an engineer.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG

Reading trought old grimoires (like Abramelin or Book of Oberon) makes me wonder if there used to be more magic in the world? The old grimuars describe monks traveling around the world on the backs of demons in the form of horses, summoning mystical illusory castles, there are also so many stories of ordinary villagers meeting spirits along the way and talking to them as if they were physical persons.

Does this mean that it is currently harder to do magic than it used to be?

[ecosophia]

That's certainly my take on things. There are several factors that make magic unusually difficult just now; some of them are in the process of fading out, but the most important won't change for around 4000 years.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John Michael Greer

I do a lot of physical exercise. I have also started practicing based on your books on Druidic magic (they are fantastic) for a few months now.

I'm wondering if there is a direction I could explore. I'm looking for a magic or occult field that allows you to enhance your senses and physical body. Czy coś takiego istnieje?

[ecosophia]

If you want to enhance your physical body, I suggest finding a good gym and lifting weights. If you want to enhance your senses, practice sitting very still in a natural area and paying very close attention to everything that surrounds you.

You'll have to translate that last bit -- is that Polish, by any chance? I'm sorry to say that whatever language it is, it's not one I know.

[(Anonymous)]

Greeting JMG!


I've been wondering, what would happend if one started to invoke spirits of animals inside? Like ,, I invokes totem spirit of bear''?

Also is there any good books about totemism? that you would reccomend?

[ecosophia]

That's not a field I've studied at all.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd like to share an astral experience I had last week. As background, I saved the life of two cats about ten days ago, and I had a very vivid dream, in which I was in my workshop at my house. A lump appeared on my workbench, which looked like it was infested with thousands of insects, which grew until creatures came out, that I initially thought were rats but turned out to be five cats. I got a intense feeling of gratitute from, um, Someone Else, and a sense that I was now responsible for these five astral cats.

It didn't seem like an ordinary dream. Do you have any thoughts on it?

[ecosophia]

It sounds very interesting, but the interpretation of dreams isn't something I'm any good at, and I'm not much better at the interpretation of potential astral visions. Anyone else?

[kayr]

I wasn't sure if this comment belonged with the discussion of the Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic or here, but here goes.

KVD mentioned Salamanders and their erasure of the Hawaiian town of Lahaina. While this is a tragic affair, it seems to me that it needn't be thought of as purposeful although it certainly could be. I have often gotten the impression during extreme weather events I have experienced that the elementals were taking advantage of an opportunity, as they interacted with each other, for some very rough and tumble "play" that seems to get out of hand as far as us humans are involved.

Levi talks about how elementals are like children who can be very cruel as well as heedless in play. Wouldn't they have to have been directed to burn down the town by a greater spirit or force to have made that a purposeful event? Or was it just very, very rough play that got out of hand?

[(Anonymous)]

JMG I would also be grateful if you expanded on the reason you suspect other spiritual powers were involved. Thank you. KVD

[deathcap]

Do you utilize any magical practices in the moderation of your comment sections? I'm always impressed by how remarkably civil and thoughtful they are and given that you're essentially the internet's favorite wizard, I was wondering if you'd done anything beyond just being a really good and consistent moderator.

[ecosophia]

Nope. I just delete rude comments and ban people who make too many of them. I also delete subtler (i.e., sleazier) forms of trollery -- this guide is a little out of date but it's still a good start -- and ban people who engage in them. That seems to do the trick.

nick land/ccru numerology

[(Anonymous)]

Good day JMG,

last week there was a discussion about the persistence of demonic residues even after a former practitioner actively distances themselves from the practice, prompted by a poster that used to be involved in "demonolatry"...

as someone who has recently started researching esoteric topics and discovered magic monday last week, I was hoping you could clear something up for me. I recently found the texts compiled by nick land's defunct research project ccru, specifically the stuff about the "numogram"

the latter is, to my understanding, a variant of numerological practice that replaces the 1-10 system with a 0-9 system, with implicitly feminine-telluric undertones, which is interesting, but I don't yet have enough knowledge to understand the true significance of this shift

my main concern, however, is the fact that this system specifically references "demons" and is employed to practice "lemurian time sorcery". this leaves me somewhat hesitant to delve too deeply into it, given your response to last week's inquiry about demonic influences and your post on Lemuria as possibly the civilization that precipitated the fall from Eden.

my main question is the following, are you at all familiar with the system I mentioned and if so, how safe would you deem it - is the reference to demons and Lemuria purely stylistic, or is it substantial and therefore a cause for concern?

Re: nick land/ccru numerology

[ecosophia]

Yes, I'm familiar with Nick Land's magic and I have a pretty fair collection of CCRU material. I would never use it in practice, though. One of the things that I find least pleasant about the chaos magic scene, and Land was very much part of that, is the way it gravitates so reliably toward the demonic and the antihuman; partly that's because it attracts so many would-be edgelords, but there may be deeper and more dangerous factors at work as well.

Pyramids and gifts

[vitranc]

Hello JMG,

I recently came upon an article about supposedly the oldest and biggest pyramids on the planet, the Visoko complex in Bosnia and Herzegovina. LINK to the website for reference. The article and reference encompass a large array of topics and I would not go all that much into it. But one thing stuck out. They state, that the great pyramid was obviously sealed about 5000 years ago. This got me thinking. Coming off of your Secret of the Grail; the wells/longbarrows were also sealed up. Now everyone keeps saying how this sites were beneficial, or they generate positive energy, they heal, etc. So why seal them up and abandon them? Why the same pattern of abandonment by our ancestors?
As a mater of fact, could it be related to the fact, that the site of the Temple of Solomon, supposedly one of the great nexuses of the world. Is also sealed up and a constant political hotspot?

On another note, I have been in the process of carving a DMH wand, and seem to have enough material to make another one that I would gift to a friend. Are there any considerations I should take into account? Obviously I will carve it, but can I engrave symbols or dedications? I would not consecrate the gifted wand, but can I bless it, or ask a goddess to bless it?

Best regards,
V

Re: Pyramids and gifts

[ecosophia]

1) Thank you for the link about the Bosnian pyramids -- I've seen a few discussions of them here and there but haven't followed up on that. The largest of them is pretty impressive:



The long barrows were indeed sealed up. Nobody knows for sure why that was done; the inner work I've done suggests that it was a change of religions, from an earth-centered tradition to a solar and lunar tradition, and it had roughly the same emotional charge as Christians turning their backs on Paganism thousands of years later.

2) You can certainly do that. The wand I used for that work was purchased from a wand maker at a Pagan event in Ohio, and she blessed all the wands she sold.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG and everybody,

I would love to hear any thoughts you might have about this question:

Q. Are you familiar with the work of Neville Goddard?

I first encountered Neville back in 2009 when I read Regardie's 'Teachers of Fulfillment' (a shortened version of The Romance of Metaphysics), which had a chapter on Neville. I have since read all of Neville's work and listened to all of the audio recordings of his lectures that I can find.

Neville has become very popular in the last 10-15 years; especially in the last 10 years.

Regardie seemed to appreciate Neville and his work. Ragardie said that of all the New Thought/systems of Metaphysics that he was acquainted with, Neville's was the most "magical."

Neville also wrote a book which had many stories from people who had made his methods of "manifestation" work. There's also a Reddit page/community for people studying his work. However, I find Reddit to be too chaotic.

I'm just curious if you or the commentariat have any experience with Neville's work.

Thanks for your time and generous help.

[ecosophia]

I've read a little of Goddard's work. It struck me as good standard New Thought material; I'd studied the same sort of thing in other contexts, so didn't pursue it, but I don't know of any reason not to recommend it.

Question

[(Anonymous)]

Good Morning JMG,
I loved your book the Witch of Criswell.
So I have a few questions.

1) how realistic is the events in the novel? I know it was a work of fiction but the magic and such, how accurate?

2) does the silver trick actually work?

3) and possibly the most important, when is the next one?!?

Thanks,
Lee

Re: Question

[ecosophia]

Thank you! I'm delighted to hear it.

1) One of the basic rules I'm following in that series is that all the magic is real. There will be no magic, nor any other supernatural phenomena, in any Ariel Moravec book that people don't routinely experience in the world we live in.

2) Yes, it's a classic hoodoo protective practice. Most of Aunt Clarice's magic comes from the material I studied with my hoodoo teacher Cat Yronwode.

3) The second volume, The Book of Haatan, is already at the publisher and should be out later this year. The third, The Carnelian Moon, is within a few thousand words of completion and should be out sometime next year. I hope to have one out each year for the foreseeable future. (Yes, I have quite a few more sketched out...)

Anecdote

[(Anonymous)]

No question this week, but a data point that I hope isn't an omen for the country.

I'm going to start with, I am not generally lucky. My natal Jupiter sits in my second house conjunct Saturn, which to me has always manifested as success through hard work. I have stopped believing in coincidence. Those things in my life that look like luck (both good and bad), have always been providence.

An example, I had the opportunity to work for the federal government back during the Trump/Clinton election in what I thought was my dream job at the time, and ended up flubbing the last interview. Had I gotten that job, I would have been fired a few years ago for not getting vaccinated, and even if I wasn't, I'm pretty sure I'd be miserable working for this administration. Instead, staying with my current job saw me get a generous raise. Only in hindsight, did I realize I was right where I needed to be.

So it came as a huge surprise to me when I won a charity gun raffle a few months ago. I had been wanting to expand my gun collection, but always had an excuse to put it off. Apparently the Gods saw fit to gift me with one, and I worry it's because they think I might need it.

I asked the Sacred Geometry Oracle is this was an Omen and drew card 31 upright, Infinity. I took this as a yes, and that its part of something a lot bigger than just myself. As things continue to derail in the US, I am reminded of Yeats, the centre cannot hold...

I thank you, JMG, and the commentariat here for this small chunk of sanity.

-Trubrujah

Re: Anecdote

[ecosophia]

Oof. Well, I hope what it means is that you'll have some good opportunities to add some venison to your dlet!

Attentiveness toward others

[(Anonymous)]

I have noticed that people vary greatly in their attentiveness to the
needs of others.

As an example, one person may think, “That person might need some water.”
while for another person, that same thought would almost never occur to them
(except perhaps in retrospect, like, Oh, why didn’t I think of that!).

Or, one person may instinctively think of small gifts for others, while for
another person, that thought would almost never occur.

Surely it is better to be attentive to needs and happiness of others, but not
everyone has this trait.

In occultism/esoterism, how would one explain the existence, or lack thereof, of this
trait of attentiveness toward others?

Have attentive people learned or cultivated this trait in a former lifetime, and that
is why it appears ‘natural or ‘inborn’ for them now?

Or is attentiveness the default for humans, but some of us are raised to be
distracted with other things?

Thank you very much for your time.

Re: Attentiveness toward others

[ecosophia]

There's actually a straightforward physical reason for it. The normal human brain contains a net of cells that are called "mirror neurons," because they mirror the feelings and (to a limited extent) the thoughts of other people. People who have a lot of mirror neurons are empaths. People who don't have any at all -- well, that's me; in Aspergers syndrome, none of the brain's neurons are set aside for mirror neuron duty, which is why people with Aspergers tend to have higher than usual IQs but are totally clueless at reading other people's feelings, picking up on nonverbal cues, and so on.

Now of course, as with anything else affecting human life, karma plays a factor in this; you incarnate in a given body because its strengths and weaknesses are the ones you need to give you the necessary experiences. But by the same token it's not something you can always do anything about. I spent much of my childhood being miserable because social interactions were a constantly frustrating puzzle to me, and it wasn't until I was diagnosed with Aspergers at 40 that I found it it's because 90% of human communication is nonverbal and I can't perceive any of it.