Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for 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? A wooden disk. In the traditions of the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose and the orders and systems related to it, the disk or pentacle is the emblem and working tool of elemental earth.  The disk is traditionally painted or decorated with a symbol the individual initiate considers sacred, whatever that happens to be -- I saw pentacles made by Christian initiates that had an image of Christ on the cross on them, for example, surrounded by Christian holy names and words of power. The disk can be used as a means of magical protection, imposing the unyielding solidity of the element of earth between the initiate and any hostile magical force

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 -- in other words, no more comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

War time magic

[(Anonymous)]

Back again this is for both Greer and the community, Whats your favorite War time magical story, mine is when Francis “Peggy” Pegahmagabow the Canadian First Nations soldier was in trench warfare and the Germans released a gas attack on the allies. An allied General asked Pegahmagabow if their was anything he could do to help offering him a cigarette. with the tobacco from the cigarette francias called upon the spirits of the wind to turn the breeze around, thus turning the gas attack back on the Germans saving the allies lives and winning the day (thanks for letting me post this again)

[(Anonymous)]

In the https://www.ecosophia.net/on-the-metaphysics-of-sex/ you adviced against masturbation, but if it takes more than weeks without it, thus without releasing the glands, nocturnal pollution comes on the scene.


Is nocturnal pollution effect on the etheric body similar to masturbation?

[ecosophia]

Nocturnal emission, to give it its usual medical name, is the process by which the male body gets rid of unused semen. It doesn't have the same effects, because it's purely a biological activity, with at most a little dream-imagery woven in; the etheric body isn't activated. If you don't have a sex partner, and sometimes even if you do, it's going to happen while you're young; don't worry about it.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG and commentators,

I hope everyone is well and healthy!

1. A few weeks ago we talked about the relationship between the apostles, the signs and elements and quadrants. Is this association random? I looked for elements in the gospels that associated each apostle with these elements, mainly with the quadrants, but I found nothing.

2. I feel like I have a karmic problem with a family. I dated a girl from this family when I was much younger. The relationship was quite difficult. I discovered that this girl I was dating has a cousin in my building and we had an argument recently due to noises from construction work at her house. Finally, I supervise another relative of theirs in a training program and our relationship is very difficult. How can I be free and far from this family?

Thanks you!

[ecosophia]

1) Oh, it's not in the gospels themselves. The equation between the apostles and the elements was worked out centuries later on a symbolic basis.

2) You might try journaling to see if you can find something in yourself that attracts such problems. If that doesn't help, consider moving to a different state.

[(Anonymous)]

Does the wife of a demonic possessed can get possessed by the same demon, can it happen to other family members?

Can the possessed ones oppress the unpossessed ones on the call of the demon? it looks to me that there is a lot of suffering in family oppression and the demon might feed on that

[ecosophia]

Demonic possession in the strict sense of the word is rare, and involves drastic symptoms: the voice changes, the personality becomes completely different, fits and convulsions are common, and so on. It doesn't seem to be contagious from person to person. Demonic obsession, in which a negative entity controls or influences someone's thoughts and feelings without actually evicting them from their body and taking it over, is more common, but here again it's not usually contagious. The things to watch for are thoughts, speech, and behavior that are really bizarre; demons don't understand our world, and their logic has been described as "1 + 1 = petunia." If you've got an actual case of demonic influence, the behavior of the people being influenced just plain makes no sense.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a question about the "rainbow crosswalks" that have started springing up around where I live. It's occurred to me that there is a very awkward symbolism, having people literally walking on a symbol of the LGBT community, given the symbolism associated with "walking on" people (ranging from the expression "walk all over" to the symbolism of "boots in necks" and the like). Do you think I'm correct to worry about what this symbolism actually means, and concerned there may be something more to this than straightforward support of the LGBT community?

[ecosophia]

That I know of, the rainbow symbol doesn't refer to people in the alternative-sexuality community. In the standard six-stripe version designed by Gilbert Baker, the colors had these meanings:

Red -- Life
Orange -- Healing
Yellow -- Sunlight
Green -- Nature
Indigo -- Serenity
Violet -- Spirit

Thus walking a path composed of those things shouldn't harm anybody, quite the contrary.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm curious about something, and am wondering if there might be an occult dimension to this. I've noticed a while ago that there is a sharp divide in the "LGBT" community, between the LGB, and the T. A lot of gay and bisexuals (myself very much included) have mixed or outright hostile attitudes towards transgenderism. Even many of us who support people's right to be trans are against a lot of things like puberty blockers and the like.

However, ever since the middle of the 2010s, it suddenly became very, very common to insist that the LGBT community was monolithic and start gliding over the differences between sexual orientation and gender; and suddenly it started to get hard to discuss the issues affecting the gay/bisexual community as opposed to the trans community. What was totally surreal is that on more than one occasion, people have stared at me blankly when I tried to explain to them that there is a difference between the gay community and the trans community, and then started repeating the same talking points. This has happened with both people supporting and opposing the "LGBT community". It's frankly been more than a little creepy.

Is there an occult dimension to the weird way that so many people seem to have lost track of the fact that there is a major difference between gay people and trans people, and that in some cases our interests and values are not identical?

[ecosophia]

I don't know of an occult dimension to it, but certainly a lot of people in recent years seem to have lost the ability to perceive any nuance in much of anything. That's tolerably common among people suffering severe stress, for whatever that's worth.

[(Anonymous)]

One last question, but before that I have to thank our generous host for the effort and intentions.

Is there in the occult literature mentionings of links between narcissistic behaviour and demon possession? They look pretty connected and in the light of a narcissistic egregore we've seen in certain tyranical medical response, that would explain some things.

[ecosophia]

Here again, demonic possession is something very distinctive and quite rare: the human personality is expelled or overridden and a different being, a malevolent spirit who knows very little about the human world, takes over a human body. I recommend Felicitas Goodman's book How About Demons? for a good survey of how that actually looks in practice. It's much, much more than simple narcissism -- it generally makes a florid psychotic break look relatively calm and rational.

Athena Reader's Club Library

[kimberlysteele]

I have made more books available in my lending library! There are now some sustainability and DIY titles and more Western magic books along with the usual JMG books. More coming soon.

Email me at k steele studio at gmail to borrow books in the continental US.

https://kimberlysteele.dreamwidth.org/tag/library

Pantheons, Wine Offerings, & Aikido

[realmscryer]

Good Evening JMG,

I’ve got a couple questions I wanted to run by you.

1. I am interested in doing a second SOP in the afternoon or evening in addition to my morning practice. Would there be any cautions regarding having different pantheon for this additional SOP? My motivation is an interest in the Greek or Norse pantheons.

2. Turns out I have developed, or at least am developing, a pretty solid relationship with a goddess in the Irish pantheon. As a result, I have procured a special cup I am dedicating for use in offerings to her and others. Is there anything I should do with the cup before beginning to use it? Also, would storing the bottle of wine being used for the offering near the alter be a problem?

3. Aikido is turning out to be an amazing experience. Sensei is going full on esoteric with the techniques and principles we are practicing in class. I have to say it is working out very well. I am curious to see how high up the planes I can go. Physical and etheric are very clear. Astral and mental? Maybe!

To supplement the classes I am now spending some time most days in a deep relaxation meditation practicing Aikido in what I call my Inner Dojo. I am also experimenting with ways to mix in symbolism in the inner practice.

Do you know of any resources, not necessarily Aikido, which might be useful in this direction I’ve taken with my practice?

Thanks as always for your time and attention.

—Eric

Re: Pantheons, Wine Offerings, & Aikido

[ecosophia]

1) That should be no trouble at all.

2) I'd recommend washing the cup in cold water with a little salt in it, and then rinsing it with plain water. That should remove any unwanted energies. As for the wine, no, that's actually quite common.

3) I don't, but it sounds fascinating. I know there are books on the esoteric side of aikido, but since it's been many decades since I practiced that art, I haven't kept up on what's available -- and the wider field of interfaces between martial arts and esotericism is probably too large for any one person to know well!

Schizophrenia and clairvoyance

[(Anonymous)]

I have a question about my mother. When I was around four she developed schizophrenia, started hearing voices and developed a range of psychotic delusions. She was violent towards me and I never had a mother/daughter relationship with her but my brother stayed in touch visited her regularly. He would tell me about things she said, such as about her reports of telepathic contact with various people around the world, as well as non-humans. When she became elderly her health suddenly took a turn for the worse and she went into hospital. My brother visited her there and he told me that while he was sitting by her bed he was thinking to himself that the kindest thing that could happen would be if she died in her sleep. At that point, he said, she opened her eyes and said 'I'm not dying yet!'. He denied saying he wanted her to die and she said 'Yes you did, I just heard you'. I'm wondering what was going on. Could it be that she was clairvoyant and the voices in her head were those of people around her and drove her to insanity, or could it be that schizophrenia and clairvoyance can go together?

Re: Schizophrenia and clairvoyance

[methylethyl]

If it's OK, I'd like to tack on a follow-up question here:

It seems to me that there's a lot of overlap between what's termed "clairvoyance" and the sorts of things that happen in some mental disorders-- schizophrenia in particular-- and that quite a lot of it could simply be grouped under "loose boundaries". Like, let's posit for a moment that this is simply a perceptual scale, where there's a "normal" range of perception where most everything is explicable in physical terms (light refracting off objects, vibrations of sound through the air to your ears) and if you perceive anything else you ignore it. And then there are incrementally larger ranges of perception (which I think are not all that uncommon) that extend to... various aspects of the not-so-physical world.

Are there any generally-accepted guidelines on the difference between people who are clairvoyant, who have a larger, looser set of perceptual boundaries and are able to manage those just fine, and people who are schizophrenic, who also have a larger, looser set of perceptual boundaries, but manage them very poorly?

Is it possible that the difference is simply... uh... (awkwardly musters words) the boundaries defining the self? Like, in a case where the boundaries of perception are broader than normal... is the difference between sane and not-sane, how solid your own perceptual boundaries are between "self" and "all the rest of that stuff"?

Jung's Shadow concept & the occult

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John Michael,

There seems to be a movement in the online Occult scene to regard CG Jung as an Occultist in some real sense. In particular, Jung's aphorism to look to Heaven for form and Hell for energy (I am paraphrasing here) seems to have taken in the meaning that it is as important to work with Goetic and Chthonic entities to get things done as it is to work with Angels and Intelligences for less immediately mundane issues.

My questions are as follows:

1. Do you believe that there is any danger in working with one's Shadow through techniques such as Active Imagination/dream work and psychodramatic ritual, if one also has a magical practice?

2. If it is valuable to work with ones Shadow in the above ostensibly magical way, do you believe that the corollary holds and that working with the more shadowy denizens of the astral world can have some real value?

3. If you agree that there is some value in (2), what safeguards would you suggest be put in place? (Based in my understanding of Jung, I imagine it would involve some sort of control over the process by an Angelic or Divine (correlating to Jung's idea of Archetypes) being.

4. Do you have any other thoughts to share on Shadow work and how one might best get in touch with those resources of trapped energy hidden in the shadow?

Thanks as always for this space,

P

Re: Jung's Shadow concept & the occult

[ecosophia]

0) First of all, I want to make a comment about the "heaven for form, hell for energy" business. That has been completely misunderstood in the modern pop-occult scene -- Jung emphatically did not mean that it's fine to invoke demons for practical magic. He was a capable occultist, and knew better. His point is that power comes from the passions, but direction and guidance from the higher aspects of the mind

1) Of course there is. Any time you work with archetypes, there are dangers. It can still be worth doing.

2) That's not at all the same thing. Your Shadow is the archetypal dumpster that contains everything about yourself you don't want to admit. Jung comments that it's quite common among criminals to find that their shadows contain things like mercy and gentleness! What is in your Shadow is already in you -- you're just caught up pretending that it's not you, oh, no, it's those other people over there who are the Bad Thing you don't want to admit in yourself. Resolving that hypocrisy is an important first step in any kind of inner growth. That's not related to wallowing in the muck of the submaterial and trying to get favors from the debased beings that dwell there.

3) The Abramelin operation is a good model here. In that working, you invoke and interact with your Guardian Angel and in the process rise up toward the angelic level; from that height, you can then command evil entities and they don't argue, because they recognize you as their superior. If instead you lower yourself to the demonic level, as most demonolaters do, you don't become their master, you become their plaything. "Why, this is Hell, nor am I ever out of it," is what Mephistopheles says when Faustus summons him in Marlowe's play; the implication is that Faustus has descended to the demonic level, and his doom follows accordingly.

4) The best approach I know of to Shadow work is to pay careful attention to everything you can't stand in other people. Make a list -- a good, long, detailed list, enumerating every single thing that makes you rage and snarl and gnash your teeth about the thoughts, words, and actions of the people you know. Then, once the list is finished, sit down and read through it, realizing that every single detail is true of you, and the reason it makes you furious is that you can't stand seeing yourself in the mirror. Rinse and repeat, and you lessen the gap between your ego (that is, your self-concept) and your actual self. (It's helpful to do this alongside the Order of Spiritual Alchemy work, which can help you clear away the old traumas and unresolved emotions that often underlie the sort of hypocrisy discussed above.

Thanks

[aekeenatia]

Dear JMG,
thank you for providing and maintaining this space of occult sanity:o).

Dear Christophe,
thank you for your answer last MM on the topic of foreseeing future. I have meditated on it and found the advice in accord with my path.

Dear commentariat,
thank you for inspiring questions and topics.

Have a nice Monday!
With regards,
Markéta

[(Anonymous)]

Someone I knew moved to Prague for a while and came back with disturbing skills in cursing and afflicting people. Back then I didn't know about the occult, so I had figured he just had a bad experience that changed his personality for the worse, making contact with him toxic. Only in hindsight have I realized that he probably went to Prague specifically to train in some kind of black magic.

A few days ago I watched a film about Jiří Arvéd Smíchovský, a Prague occultist during the wars who was very learned and very into black magic. That left me wondering whether Prague is known as a center for occult teachings? The Western focus in the West and the English-speaking bias in the English-speaking world have provided me with very little information about Eastern European or Slavic occult traditions. Do you know whether Prague was ever a major hub of occult activity?

Do you know if Prague now has the kind of reputation for dark sorcery that could have enticed a profoundly disturbed American to move there in search of some sort of apprenticeship or initiation? Whatever caused it, he came back from that sojourn so toxic that I stopped all interaction with him, so I can't exactly ask him if he went to study demonolatry or something. Plus, asking him would surely draw his hateful attention back on me, which is not something I ever want to have to experience again!

— Christophe

[robertmathiesen]

Prague (and generally the Czech lands) have been a major center of occult study and practice ever since the days of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II (reigned 1576-1612), who had a strong personal interest in all the esoteric and occult disciplines. In the West the best-known Czech occultist was Franz Bardon (1909-1958), but he was and is far from the only one there.

[(Anonymous)]

John--

I ran across a passing reference to a comment Jung made about Nicholas of Flue and his vision of a divine feminine balancing the traditional male conception of the Trinity. Looking up Nicholas, however, I haven't been able to find any references to this divine feminine. Is this something you are familiar with and if so, would you know what works or incidents Jung was referencing?

[ecosophia]

I'm not familiar with that at all; Jung knew an enormous amount about central European Christian mystics and, well, I don't.

[betwixttheworlds]

Hi JMG,

You wrote that the time in hours of a solar eclipse will have a mundane effect for the same time, except in years. I've searched for the duration of the Leo eclipse in 2017 but the numbers vary.

How do you determine the duration of a solar eclipse? And does it need to be a total eclipse?

Thanks.

[ecosophia]

1) I get the time from www.timeanddate.com -- they have a good detailed page on each eclipse. The time I use is from the beginning of partial eclipse to the ending of partial eclipse. That site still has a page for the eclipse in question:

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2017-august-21

If my math is correct, it lasted for 5 hours 18 minutes from beginning to end.

2) No, not at all. A partial eclipse is weaker but it still counts.

Quareia

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Mr. Greer


I was curious if you have an opinion on the works of Josephine McCarthy, in particular her books about quareia?

Or if anyone from the esteemed circle can comment on these books

Re: Quareia

[(Anonymous)]

Hello...

...of the public writers on magic, the mysteries, and the occult, Josephine McCarthy is my other favorite living one next to JMG.

I gained immensely from the close study and practice of material from her books, and also of the portion of the Quareia course I completed.

Even though I'm not working that system now, I still find myself coming back to the things I learned from her over and over again.

Some of the methods I still use also, such as going to the Inner Library in vision/scrying to learn. This is what I found most valuable about her work: her candid writing about places on the inner planes that initiates can have access to and writing and giving the practitioner guided scripts (similar to a pathworking) for getting to those places. Other places include: The Chapel on the Edge of the Void and many other inner temples and places.

She has also made her entire course available for free, just as JMG has done with the teachings he has inherited (though her books and other things remain in print). I think this can only be of good to the continued development of magic in the west, especially in this time of decline and destruction.

Though she advises against cherrypicking her lessons -she does say, and I paraphrase, that even if you only learned the 8 lessons in the Core Skills module of the Apprentice part of Quareia, then she would be passing on some worthwhile things. That said, even just reading through the lessons you will learn quite a bit. The Apprentice module on "Understanding Destruction" I think remains very very relevant in these destructive times we live in.

Best of luck with whatever path you take up.

Justin Patrick Moore

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG, in the previous Magic Monday you wrote that quoting , "The term "Second Sight" covers a lot of ground. Some families with the Sight have hereditary clairvoyance like the sort that Butler discusses, some have less visual gifts, some have a simple intuitive awareness -- they might know, for example, when a family member has died, without having any idea how they know." And oh Gods, I had a giant zonk XD I always thought second sight was a matter of physically seeing ghosts!

It's less of a question and more of data for statistics. I come from Poland (eastern part) and I have to admit that this kind of abilities here are quite common, the last years of materialism tried quite hard to reduce these abilities in people but I can confidently say that a really large number of people here have this kind of , "powers" spiritual. This really raises a lot of questions about the possible affinity between the Slavs and Celts (considering also the very similar nature and the gigantic amount of population that has mixed over the centuries). I don't know if you know, but probably in the 16th and 17th centuries Poland was called the second mother of the Scots!

Anyway. Have a wonderful magical Monday!

[robertmathiesen]

Two thousand years ago the Celts were far more widespread than they are now, and some of them lived in what are now Slavic lands (Czechs, Slovaks, Moravians, Poles, Western Ukrainians and Belarusians, possibly also Slovenes). These Slavs moved westward from the original Slavic homeland (probably around the Pripiat' marshes) and intermarried with the Celts already there; their descendants ended up speaking Slavic languages rather than Celtic ones. So it is only to be expected that any special Celtic powers would also be found among these Slavs. (The same, by the way, is probably also true of Hungarians, who are not Slavs, or even Indo-Europeans.)

Etheric Energy

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG, would you have any insight in the etheric effects of the equinox or solar flares? I’ve been a mess since last Tuesday (when a solar flare hit) and all I can come up with is the energy around me feels “intense”.

Re: Etheric Energy

[ecosophia]

I've never seen any discussion of the etheric effects of solar flares, but the equinoxes are always intense and challenging times etherically, because of the major shifts in the energy interactions between the earth and the sun at those times. That's why so many ceremonial mages have specific rituals for the equinoxes, which channel the excess energy and put it to work.

[charlieobert]

You have worked multiple magical systems, with attributions that don't align. For instance, you've written about and worked Golden Dawn, and you're now doing a series on Eliphaz Levi's work, and the attributions of tarot to the Hebrew alphabet in those two systems don't line up with each other.

My question is, how do you mentally deal with knowing multiple systems that don't match? When you step in a magic circle, how do you call up just the set of attributions that you are working at the moment? Do you keep the different attribution systems in different "rooms" in your mind?

[ecosophia]

I read books in English, French, and Latin, and I have no trouble switching from one to another depending on what I'm reading. Magical symbolism is the same way. Each set of symbolism is a language, and I simply keep in mind what kind of magical work I'm doing and speak the symbolic language that corresponds to it.

[(Anonymous)]

Is the demonic bargain a case of demonic possession, demonic obsession or just has its own special place as a demonic bargain...

[ecosophia]

It's its own thing, though it can sometimes lead to obsession (and very, very rarely to possession).

Slack and Initiation as Process Rather than Event

[jprussell]

Good Morning,

For those who mark it, I hope you had a pleasant and reflective autumnal (or vernal) equinox. For those who don't, I hope you had a fine fall (or spring) weekend!

To Share: If you enjoyed our host's fifth Wednesday piece on "slack" a while back, you might like a few more thoughts on the topic from me: https://jpowellrussell.com/#a_few_thoughts_on_slack

To Ask: In a recent scrying, I engaged in what seems to have been an initiatory act. Meditating on it after the fact, though, I get the impression that a big part of it was a message about how I need to act day-to-day going forward - the initiation was more a model for ongoing behavior than an "event" that wholly accomplished its purpose. Does that sound like the kind of thing to expect, or like I might be missing something?

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

My blessings and best wishes to all who will have them,
Jeff

Re: Slack and Initiation as Process Rather than Event

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. The word "initiation" literally means "beginning," and every valid initiation is thus the beginning of a process that unfolds in daily life thereafter.

MM Queries

[denebalgedi777]

Hello,

Thanks as always for providing this platform.

1. Since the family emergency I described the past week, I have noticed that divination results have been unusually hazy or troubled. If I recall correctly, being in a distressed state of mind can cloud divination. The daily divination, without directed questions, doesn't seem to be affected in the same way. Would your advice be to simply stick with this while the troubles are ongoing?

2. I also mentioned my uncle selling my grandparents' property this summer. It happened very quickly and unexpectedly after a long pause since my uncle lives out of state. Furthermore, real estate has been more stagnant with recent economic conditions, so for everything to move so fast was highly unusual. There has been a lot of strife in my family related to that area over the years, seemingly going back generations to the earliest settlement. I wondered if there could be a karmic or destiny aspect to this -- is it possible that this is a nudge from the gods to move on?

3. I wonder if there are times in life when the higher self can express more clearly in everyday life, because since the start of this crisis I have had an easier time changing some things that needed to be changed in my life, although the way forward will still be difficult. Is that plausible?

Thanks,

Deneb

Re: MM Queries

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, I'd advise just going with the daily practice. It's quite common for divination to become difficult at such times.

2) That's how I would read it, certainly.

3) Yes, very much so.

Gateway Tapes

[(Anonymous)]

JMG and friends,
I found out about the Gateway Tapes by the Monroe Institute this weekend and some of the claims are powerful. Does anyone have experience with this program? Are there adequate protections against malicious beings? If not, would the SoP and basic magical hygiene provide enough protection?

Re: Gateway Tapes

[ecosophia]

The occult teachings I follow recommend using basic protective practices such as the SoP any time you're going to work with astral projection. I haven't worked with the Monroe Institute material -- I'm kind of old-fashioned, you know! -- but it would probably be worth doing the same thing with those.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been doing the week's Autumn Equinox work in the OP this past week. Most of it in advance of the actual day, which was Saturday. Because it was Saturday, and because we haven't reached the local equinox yet (which I also track), it still feels like Mabon-tide to me. Nonetheless, I've gone back to the lessons set aside in order to celebrate the equinox. Both feel right to me, but I'd like an opinion on "it's still Mabon-tide."

Thanks,

Plum Somnolent Skull

P.S. last week's Magic Monday's Expand functions failed after the first page, so I couldn't read many of the comments at all except by going one-by-one, and even then, some didn't load. Dreamworks malfunctions again?

[ecosophia]

1) That's entirely up to you. The equinox happens everywhere on the planet at the same time, though, and it was two days ago.

2) Apparently so. They've had some trouble with that.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

A quick question re Moon talismanry and related operations: Given that the Moon's gender reliably changes across cultures, being generally male in ancient Assyrian, Anatolian, Arabic-Islamic, Indic and various Native American contexts but generally female in Greek, Incan and Javanese ones, for example, there seems to be a fundamental gender ambiguity in radically cosmopolitan, melting-pot environments. This includes in the first place the Islamic: in Arabic the Moon is strictly grammatically male, in classic Harranian and Indian style, yet overlain with Hellenic female attributes too -- hence his/her status as almost a second Hermes/Mercury in the Ghayat al-hakim/Picatrix. This ambiguity only becomes more intense in the early modern era of Moon-decked empires, when he/she becomes the ultimate Persianate symbol of the divine Beloved. In my own talismanic and devotional practice, I similarly experience the Moon as male, female and hermaphrodite, equally empowering for battling and for boozing, though also with a strong trickster-transformer vibe Coast Salish-style :)

Such cultural syncretism is par for the course in human-god relations, as you've shown. In the case of the Moon specifically, however, is it better practice to formally code-switch genders in invocations depending on situation, instead of just stringing them together as I currently do, Picatrix-style? Should Selene be invoked separately from Sîn?

Thanks as always for Magic Mondays!

[ecosophia]

You'd have to experiment and find out. Deities, planetary and otherwise, tend to have their own very personal reactions to such things.