Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's nearly 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've been tracing my lineages back as far as I can, and last week took my Martinist lineage back as far as they can be documented. The next step -- and it's the last step in the entire process -- involves a fair bit of speculation, but it's speculation backed up by some evidence. It's been suggested by some historians, Marsha Keith Schuchard foremost among them, that the mysterious Knight of the Red Feather who conferred the Templar lineage on Baron von Hund, last week's honoree, was none other than Charles Stuart, the Bonnie Prince Charlie of Scottish song and story. The claim is that in the years immediately before 1745, when the House of Stuart made its last (and disastrously unsuccessful) attempt to reclaim the British throne, Charles and his inner circle of supporters used various forms of clandestine Freemasonry to raise funds, engage in espionage, and gather arms and supporters for the planned rising. Baron von Hund's initiation was an incident in that process. Martinez de Pasqually, who was honored a couple of weeks back, also claimed to have a charter signed by Charles Stuart as the basis for his occult Masonic order. So it's possible that what lies behind one of the great traditions of Western occultism is a failed political intrigue that got picked up and repurposed by a couple of canny occultists. Stranger things have happened in the history of occultism.

...And with this, the rambling tale of the odd lineages that I've inherited comes to an end. Now I'll have to think of something else to use as illustrations to Magic Mondays!

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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.

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With that said, have at it!

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

***Please note -- when Magic Monday is closed, IT'S CLOSED.  I just had to delete a flurry of attempted comments posted up to eleven hours after I shut things down. I do need some time to write and do other online chores, you know, so please don't keep trying to post after 12:00 am Monday night/Tuesday morning -- there'll be a new Magic Monday in a week, you know. ***

Comments

[mmelvink]

Hi JMG,

Happy to report that our new, fully funded History MA in Magic and Occult Science here at USC -- which wasn't even a pipe dream a year ago -- is already going gangbusters, with an inaugural cohort of eight students as of this week! Our sister MA at the University of Exeter will be launching with a similar cohort next year; the grand plan is to combine them into a joint transatlantic degree in Magic from 2025 onward. Scholar-practitioners are encouraged to apply, and really anyone who'd like a paid two-year ride to explore whatever occult goodness they will in a rigorous academic setting. TSW :)

That we've managed to tap into the seismic zeitgeist shift currently underway, against all academic odds, is confirmed by the fact that our program has now attracted the attention of millionaire and billionaire donors, some of whom may be interested in endowing Chairs in Magic and Occult Science at USC and Exeter respectively. This would help ensure the program's long-term survival and insulate us somewhat against the ever-more manic defunding and destruction of the humanities. They've asked for a formal short manifesto, which we've begun work on for circulation post-Mercury retrograde.

In the meantime, what ritual protocols would you recommend we use to take full advantage of this gobsmackingly astonishing opportunity? And what astrological timing is best for donor communications? Simply Mercury day and hour, or would Jupiter be more appropriate here, since we're asking for something on the order of ten to fifteen million clams? And would a group intention be appropriate as well? If so, we most gratefully welcome any and all good vibes from the esteemed Magic Monday readership :)

Thanks as always for MM! The times they are achangin'....

Matt

PS -- For those interested, our joint announcement on SHWEP is here: https://shwep.net/2023/06/28/emily-selove-and-matt-melvin-koushki-on-two-new-postgraduate-programmes-in-magic/

[open_space]

This is fantastic!

Are there previous field requirements in order to apply? I read the announcement but didn't see it mentioned.

I consider myself an amateur scholar and practitioner but my degree is on engineering and math.

[ecosophia]

This is wonderful to hear! For something like that I'd recommend electing a chart with Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter all dignified essentially or accidentally; having one or more of them in or ruling the 9th would be wise, and of course the Moon should be waxing and Mars and Saturn should be as far out of the picture as possible. Your ritual protocols -- well, depends on what approach to ritual you want to use; me, I'd design and perform a Golden Dawn Z-2 formula ritual, but your mileage may vary.

In terms of donor communications, Jupiter, Jupiter, Jupiter all the way -- you want peace and prosperity and happy donors. A group intention might help, but you might also encourage any of your initial class who happen to be practitioners to do whatever they know how to do to make the project prosper... ;-)