ecosophia | Magic Monday

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Magic Monday

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 magical altar. In the traditions of the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, this can be any flat surface large enough to hold the four working tools of the elements, the four elemental candles, and the two pillars. In ritual, it represents the world -- meaning here both the microcosm of yourself and the macrocosm of the universe. A ritual itself forms a mesocosm that mediates between those two extremes and is capable, within the limits of magic, of making changes in either or both.

GD altar

As the image above suggests, an altar can be very, very simple. A lot of mages I know, in and out of the traditions John Gilbert taught, have used the kind of little folding table I grew up calling "TV trays" as altars -- they're convenient to put up and take down, and can be stored folded up for the many times when you're not doing ritual. Throw a colored cloth over it and you're good to go. Black is standard in most Golden Dawn-derived traditions, representing the opaque world of matter, but you can use other colors for specific symbolic purposes.

Of course you can get much fancier than the simple FHR approach; the image on the right shows a Golden Dawn altar kitted up for a ritual, and the one below shows a Martinist altar similarly bedecked. In magic, as in most things in life, you can get as simple or as fancy as your heart desires.

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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 -- as in, NO MORE COMMENTS WILL BE PUT THROUGH. See you next week!***

Threaded | Flat

Good Evening,

Where I am, we've had some egregiously beautiful weather the last couple of days, and look to get a couple more before things become merely "fine." Wherever you are, I hope you've weathered the eclipse successfully and have some similar pleasant local conditions.

To Share: A shorter post this week on a couple of ways that I look for stillness in a much-agitated world: https://jpowellrussell.com/#seeking_stillness

To Ask: I've noticed over the last few months that sometimes when a scrying goes "poorly," I can still get rather a lot out of the meditations about the scrying. Other than "yup, that's one of the reasons you do the follow-up meditations," do you have any thoughts on this seeming oddity of practice?

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

If we work at it, each of us surely has at least one thing about ourselves that we feel sure we can improve, but we haven’t managed it yet. Something that would improve our lives, that would improve us. I’d like to invite everyone reading this post to take a few moments of reflection to see if they can identify such a desired change in themselves. To those that can, I’d like to offer you the chance to take the plunge and attempt to make that change with some aid from the prayers of members of this community.

There is only one price of admission: whatever you request, you must take concrete actions in the world to increase your chances or rates of success there, for the duration of however long your request stays on the list. Prayers can act as the wind in your sails, but they do little good if you don’t even raise your sails in the first place! Or worse, cast anchor and sit there… of even start rowing your boat in the opposite way…

Besides that one requirement, normal Prayer List FAQ rules apply: requests can be pseudonymous; it’s nice to get regular updates from folks; and I hope people receiving prayers will consider praying for at least a few others on the prayer list in some semi-regular fashion, at least for as long as they are on the list. (None of these things are required, though I think it’s nice to do.)

Blessings on all who will have them, and I hope some will join me in this endeavor! I’ll certainly be adding a prayer request along these lines of my own in the near future. Perhaps I’ll see you soon.

JMG might I ask about an auspicious time for a working ment to improve oneself.
An action, ment to turn into a habit.
Day and hour of the moon? In an Waxiing moon?

Best regards,
V

I'm in the process of writing a novel where a plot point is that a means is discovered to avoid radiation poisoning, prompting a trip to Mars, and the people sent on this trip slowly get sick and die; despite the fact that there's nothing physically wrong with them, all the tests show them to be in perfect health, they slowly get weaker and then end up dying.

I've realized that this sounds a lot like etheric starvation, which seems like a real risk with long distance space travel. The ISS is supplied with food regularly, has regular turnover, and is close enough to Earth that it might still be within the etheric bounds of our world in a way a spacecraft heading to Mars isn't.

1) Do you know any sources I could look at for what it looks like when someone's etheric body is starved, in case it suggests other details for the story?

2) Is it possible that etheric starvation plays a role in the way astronauts are so often extremely weak when they return from trips to orbit? This would be in addition, of course, to the effects of zero gravity, radiation, and other factors.

Good Evening,

My first question has to do with my daily practices. They are shifting somewhat as I have decided to focus my attention on Bardon’s Initiation into Hermetics for my next course of study.

Along with divination, I am continuing to perform the SOP as I learned to in the Dolmen Arch. Reading ahead to preview future exercises I note Bardon has the elements assigned to different directions and colors from the SOP.

Would you anticipate any difficulties arising from these differences when doing the IIH exercises and performing the SOP in the same room?

Something else of potential interest. I have been observing an unintended experiment similar to the one done by forum members a while back using pointy pieces of iron or steel.

On my east wall on top of 4 foot tall book case I have a very sharp katana on display. Cutting edge up, pointing south, with scabbard displayed separately below.

My computer is on the north wall of my office at the north end of my house. The modem and one wifi router are on the south end of the house.

Within about a week of putting the blade on display a very curious change in my behavior manifested. My interest in spending time on my computer dropped dramatically!

Is my waning interest in being on the computer, particularly online, related? I don’t know. No complaints from deities, yet. So, the katana is staying put for now just in case!

Thanks,
Eric

Happy Monday JMG,
Thank you for this forum. I'm finalizing my application to MA program in Magic and Occult Science at University of Exeter. What would be a good time to click the Submit button?

What a pretty altar!

I am proud to announce I have released the choral score (SATB) of the Orphic Hymn to Saturn. Here it is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_dYTuRWTIo and here it is to download as editable sheet music on Musescore (notation software) https://musescore.com/user/59410345/scores/12602137

Also, I am lending out books from my library for free to people in the continental US, which includes many nonfiction and fiction books by JMG as well as other sustainability and occult titles:

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

Hello JMG
I wish you a good day and good health

A question puzzles me. A few Mondays ago you pointed out that the number of fairies is decreasing in our world.

May I ask by what you make such a claim and why this may be happening?

Hello ArchDruid

I am having a bit of a crisis of faith. Like all of us here (probably all of us) I have the pleasure/unpleasure of living the world of western civilization (Europe to be exact).

I've been practicing magic for 2-3 years, mostly without some sort of ongoing training. I undertook such only about a year ago.
I've generally dabbled in natural magic, sat a bit in witchcraft practices based on Gemma's books or Chumbley's traditions or just folk practices, without bragging with pretty good results.

However, I have a problem. It is known, working full time, living with other people, just a normal life, trivial you could say. Recently, I have been wondering about the sense of magic practice (I do not want to abandon it, Gods forbid, I love magic with all my being). But...I can cure someone's illness with a spell, that is, I have achieved the power of...paracetamol. I can talk to spirits but so what if it mostly has no physical direct effects. Magic is very subtle which makes me wonder what the end goal is? What can be done using it that a modern person would call "practical". As much as I love spiritual pondering and learning about the nature of the world, these practices will not put bread on my family's table and there are only so many hours in the day.

So tl;dr I wonder what are the real possibilities of magic to influence the world, maybe what cultural sources best show them? Without magic like from Harry Potter but what is real.

Looks like the Magical Resistance was a serious movement so much that there was an anthropological study on it

https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jola.12249

Any news on this front, are there things you learned about Magical Resistance that would be worth mentioning?

Thanks,
And keep up the good work!

1how can i tell if i have seen aura or if i have seen some sort of afterimage or other thing? i also see visual snow
2you have once proposed SOP with polish gods, i can't find it, can you link that comment?
3 what's your opinion on Evola's hermetic tradition? i recall you aren't fond of the guy and mentioned other more interesting traditionalist, but i also can't remember what was his name, only that he was a mason. Other traditionalist recomendations would also be appreciated.

Hi,

I listened to a podcast sometime last year and there you mentioned a new book you were working on called 'Perfect Timing'. Is this still in the works and if yes, in which timeframe will it be released?

Kind regards,
Mark

Hi John Michael,

I am in a place in my life such that I would like to find a compatible partner with whom I can spend the rest of my life.

Many love spells in ancient grimoires seem more like spiritual rape spells or domination aimed at particular people. Since I do not want to engage in the former, and have no particular person in mind, what would be the best magical approach to find love?

I recall reading in the past that you have suggested making oneself more lovable as an adjunct to love spells. In a practical magical sense, what would a spell of this sort look like?

(I am most familiar with the Golden Dawn tradition from your books, if it helps.)

P

Hello JMG,

I like to listen to hard music, some of it with lots of disharmonies, fast tempo, very hard guitar riffs etc.
Are you aware of any negative influences of metal music?

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer.

ExecutedByGandhi

Hello JMG

Recently, for various reasons, I perform my daily rituals in meditative form (I close my eyes, assume a meditative position and perform the ritual in my imagination). I have noticed that it is much better for me to feel the energy when I don't perform , "physically" a given ritual and the ritual seems to be stronger (based on the effects in reality). Is this a popular phenomenon or a trap to be wary of?

Good Morning JMG and the Commentariat!

Thank you for providing this space for questions. I'm going to steal jprussell's comment format today. I hope he doesn't mind.

To Share: Last week there was an anonymous comment discussing Joseph Smith's involvement in magic and the occult. JMG replied, "I've hoped for years that someday one of the LDS churches -- there are a number of them, as you may know -- will rise to the challenge of the movement's origins and become the magical religion that Joseph Smith arguably founded."

I was doing some research on priesthood robes for a completely unrelated topic and came across this website: https://cjccf.org The Church of Jesus Christ in Christian Fellowship, which is another Mormonism based online group. It is an ecumenical movement which includes "Mormon Kabbalah" as one of it's practices. It is found under the "Edification" drop-down at the top of the page. I thought the anonymous poster might find it interesting. They use an altar, Rod of Aaron (wand) = Air (can be substitutes with 7 feathers tied to from a wing), Athame = fire (can substitute the athame with the rod of Aaron if the feathers are used for air) Chalice/Communion Cup = water, and Panticle/Communion Plate = earth. (Panticle is not misspelled) Admittedly, I did not spend a whole lot of time looking into it, and I have only read about Kabbalah, not practiced it, but it is very apparent it is altered to fit a Mormon worldview. I know it peaked my interest and I may spend more time looking into it.

To Ask: I did my first scrying last week. I had been holding off for a number of personal reasons. I expected to dip my toe in, slowly get used to it as discussed in the WGS. That did not happen. I felt like I was thrown into the deep end of the pool at the start of my first swimming lesson. It was a TSW moment to be sure!

To the actual question: As a part of the scrying, I was asked (more like told, as in "you will") to work with a goddess that I am not very familiar with. I have meditated on it, and done some research on her. I have yet to do a divination, mostly because I already know how it would come out. I was absolutely not expecting nor prepared for this. Is this "normal"? Does this happen? Where do I start? Most of the occult practices I have done up to this point have not included direct work like this. I don't really want to make a goddess angry at me, especially not this one. Any advice from JMG or the commentariat is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Bert

I recently went down the EMF radiation rabbit hole, the theory that the electrification of the industrial world and the rollout of cellphones/5G is at least partly responsible for a lot of modern health problems.

Since you've read a considerable amount about early 20th century occultism I'm curious how much similar theories were discussed back then, if at all. I'd also be interested to know if you've personally experienced any subtle, or not so subtle, effects from being near electrical equipment appliances/cellphones/radios, etc.

Over the past week, I had the odd experience of suddenly coming across mentions of a book I had never heard of before several times in a row. I lost track of whether it was two or three times, and then thought, “If it happens again I’ll consider it the third time.” (Keeping in mind the power of three.)

The very next time I went on the internet, mention of the author was the first thing I saw (in a comment on an unrelated article). Definitely a “whoa” moment.

So, I take it I should probably seek out this book, which is Michael Heiser’s “The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible.”

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-unseen-realm-recovering-the-supernatural-worldview-of-the-bible-michael-s-heiser/6895426

My question:

1.) Have you encountered this phenomenon of suddenly seeing references to something repeatedly, and is it generally a good thing to follow up on when it happens? (Using one’s own discernment or divination of course.)

2.) Have you or anyone here in the commentariat read this book or any others by Heiser? And if so, any thoughts?

For context, I have also been reading Stephen de Young’s “The Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century” which apparently overlaps somewhat with Heiser’s book. I’m a kind of “weird” Christian with sympathies toward the sacramental churches, and I was previously an Orthodox catechumen, but I haven’t joined a particular one.

Thanks in advance!

Last MM someone posted a link showing the damage done to some images of Athena and Nemesis, speculating this was not a good thing omen-wise. Then late last week it was reported in the press that a piece of marble at least 2 feet long crashed to the ground in an area used by the US Supreme Court Justices and their aides. No one injured but it's a point of interest that the incident took place last year in the spring. Any other time this would have made news when it occurred, but it looks like someone was concerned it could be interpreted as a bad omen if it took more than a year before the story became public.

JLfromNH/Jaundice Intoxicated Porcupine

Hi JMG,
Are you aware, or have you read this book?
https://www.wob.com/en-us/books/gregory-paul-martin/watch-it-come-down/9781795043168
It's actually written by the son of the Beatles'record producer, George Martin.
Apparently it's pretty short, about 85 pages
Here is a review:
https://beatles-freak.com/2020/10/03/book-review-watch-it-come-down-by-gregory-paul-martin/
I'm thinking of getting it.
Helen in Oz

I just found out that my eldest nephew has brain cancer. This marks the eighth person in my mother's family (her generation, mine, and the next) with brain issues - cancer, senility, injury, etc. I am beginning to think that we must be cursed or something.

Yes, do divination - but what sort? Do I ask directly? Is my mother's family cursed?
Could this be a past life issue with an entire group of people? Soul cluster?
Could this be a generational issue - some ancestor did something and the next generations pay for it.

Or is this a part of living - either drinking to excess all their lives or being aged?

Thank you as always.

Within the GD tradition, is it useful to work with individual Middle Pillar spheres? I’d like to strengthen my etheric capabilities and sometimes visualise Chesed while I’m walking or driving, and I wonder if that would help.

Recently, I was reading several new books from the outhouse moon people. Their authors have land acknowledgements in the front - such as we recognized that this land was taken from this group of Native people, blah, blah.

Anyway, this has been creeping into general Neo-Pagan rituals of acknowledging (stolen) land. Does this affect the magic in anyway? Also, when doing Ancestor work, and working with the Ancestors of the Land, how does one recognize the prior inhabitants? Or do they?

My own opinion is that at least in the Northeast, that everyone fought everyone else, to the point of one group won. Like the way the Romans or Mongols conquered other lands. Moreover, I don't see in these land acknowledgements, any movement to repay the people or to give back the land.

John--

Looking at the Tree of Life, I see three paths by which to use Will (Geburah) to direct Feeling (Netzach), in each case indirectly through the mediation of another sephirah: "down and over" via Thought (Hod), "over and down" via Compassion (Chesed), or "diagonally" via the Self (Tiphereth). The first of these I can see being implemented as affirmations and the like. How would you see the other two being implemented?

A slight piggyback on another comment relating to a story the are working on.

1. I have been trying to apply things I have learned and practiced with in a laymen way to a story centered around a person receiving a heart transplant from a successful and personally well attuned individual.

The recipient is then imparted with memories, sentiment, and intuition of the donor. Prior to the transplant the character is like a man without a chest, disconnected from their own heart and ruled by their gut.

An area I am struggling to define is the growth of communication with their new heart and how this might look. There is a heart-brain, so my main approach is 3 tiers methods of communicating: emotional response, thoughts the protagonist could never have had, and memories. The protagonist will discover the accident that brought the heart to him was not an accident and will strive to finish the donors unfinished work.

I am wondering if you had a particular resource or reference you might recommend for helping to conceptualize this transplant communication? Currently I am relying on interviews, stories, and some meditation techniques.

2. I came across a video recently which had a message of "our self sabotaging tendencies (i.e. addiction) are like spiritual practices tailored and designed for the individual to transform the undesirable into an increased awareness."

I was curious if you would agree with this, or perhaps frame it differently? Personally I found it encouraging for helping to limit a particular vice I find myself returning to and just feeling the impulse come over me.

Threaded | Flat

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Seeking Stillness and Meditating on Poor Scrying

Prayer List ***AUTUMN SPECIAL***

Astrological hours

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Magical Resistance scientific paper - any news on this front?

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Perfect Timing

Ethical love spells

Metal Music

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Mormon Kabbalah / Working with a Goddess

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity?

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Book

Family with brain issues

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Land acknowledgements

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Prayer List AUTUMN SPECIAL