Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's a few minutes before midnight, so we can launch into 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 1.1 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 image? I field a lot of questions about my books these days, so I've decided to do little capsule summaries of them here, one per week. The book above on the left was my fifteenth published book, and it's the one book of mine that I've allowed to go out of print permanently. The publisher who brought out Monsters was interested in other books in the broad paranormal-weird stuff end of things, and the Atlantis legend was an obvious topic; unfortunately the result was rushed, and not really well thought out. Someday I want to do a proper book on the Atlantis legend, and more generally on the tradition that there were entire cycles of advanced civilization in the distant past -- but this is not that book, and I'm somewhat embarrassed by it. 

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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 further comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I’m the person who posted on the open post about type II diabetes, wondering what is driving the rather stunning increase in the frequency of the disease. I think I’ve figured it out: there’s a plausible mechanism by which excess fructose consumption over prolonged periods of time can cause diabetes; the mechanism is complex enough that I won’t post the details here, as they are not relevant to my question, but every step of the process is either already known to exist or can be inferred to exist from other factors.

What is really striking to me is that if I’m right, then ever since insulin was discovered in 1921, the medical establishment has gotten quite literally everything wrong. This effect has been too consistent to be a coincidence, and also way too consistent to be a result of intentional malice on the part of any human being or group of human beings. Further, many of the people involved in this bizarre story seem to have been genuinely interested in helping people, but seem to have been utterly unable to grasp the logical implications of the things they studied.

First, using insulin for Type II diabetes at all, since one of the key problems is excess insulin; then encouraging sugar, since using insulin without sugar risked the dangerous state of hypoglycemia; then an obsession with getting weight down, since it’s linked with a host of metabolic issues, without addressing the fact the excess insulin found in all cases of diabetes, whether by physiology or an attempt by the medical system to control blood sugar, causes weight gain, and that experts in metabolism showed clearly that attempting to starve yourself to control your weight is futile and makes many of the issues in diabetes worse; then attacking dietary fats, since heart disease is linked to higher cholesterol, fats in the diet were known to influence cholesterol levels in the short term, and fats are denser in calories than carbs which made them seem dangerous if controlling calories is important; then the push to increase fructose instead of glucose in the diet, because glucose directly increases blood sugar levels, while fructose has no direct effect on blood glucose levels.

A very large number of people seemed to get caught up in some sort of weird trance and pushed for something their own research clearly showed would be detrimental. In some cases, such as when Mark Hegstead was testifying before the McGovern Commission about his research showing carbohydrates increase insulin which reduces the flow of fats out of fat cells, and then shortly after told the commission dietary fats were the cause of weight gain because they were denser, scientists would present their research, and then immediately contradict their own research without the slightest hint of self-awareness. Do you have any ideas as to what could have caused this frankly disturbing inability many scientists displayed to see the implications of their own research?

It’s as if some sort of weird spell was cast over the majority of the medical community around when insulin was discovered, and ever since they have been utterly unable to see what is right in front of them....

[ecosophia]

I have no idea. Seriously, I've been watching things like this for years and wondering why so many people have demonstrated such a complete inability to notice the contradictions in their own thought, speech, and actions -- since I have Aspergers syndrome, I'm used to being baffled by the behavior of neurologically normal people, but this behavior pattern is bizarre even by that standard. Nor is it just insulin and things connected to it.

[(Anonymous)]

Are there any protection/cleansing rituals that you'd recommend for someone working in healing?

Are you familiar with power of 8 intention groups by Lynne McTaggart - Basically a group of approximately 8 people hold a specific and directed intention together (usually related to healing) for approx 10m in meditation. Some remarkable effects have been documented (including healing of cancers etc). I have no doubt it works, but Lynne tries to explain it through a materialists paradigm which makes no sense when it's clearly more metaphysical. Do you have any thoughts on what might be at play here? (It seems similar to prayer to me, but it's not directed towards any diety)

[ecosophia]

1) The banishing or protective ritual of your choice, done daily. The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram and the Sphere of Protection both work very well.

2) I wasn't familiar with that version, but my teacher John Gilbert used to run something similar called the Intentional Prayer Network. His system was that everyone who joined the network could submit a prayer request, and five people they didn't know would pray for them; each person who joined was also given the prayer requests of five other people, and the rule was that you should spend at least one minute a day praying for each of those people. It also had some remarkable results.

As for how it works, that's quite simple. An intention held with clear focus in the mind will tend to shape the universe in accordance with itself, provided that the energy of the intention isn't drained away by personal emotions. That's the basis of one kind of magic.

Qs

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings everyone including our host! Had some questions for JMG but open to all:

1) So I have been praying to St Micahel via his prayer card for the last 8 months. I also have a quarry stone from his shine at Mt gargano in Italy inside a hexagram case.

Last month or so, during one such prayer, I started feeling something in my hands where i held the card and the stone. At a point it got pretty heavy and I could almost feel it up my arms. I didn't know what to make of this.

Since then, this has happened more than once, including today. Sometimes the stone case get pretty hot too. My hands definitely feel like they're buzzing.

Question is: what is this / what is going on?

2) What are the best book(s) or articles to understand the energy body and the chakras well? A lot of unreliable content on the internet.

3) I want to cultivate and deepen my relationship with Saturn and ask for his help with my professional work and to inculcate wisdom, patience, knowledge of cause and effect and causality, and deep discipline into it. I know he is a stern deity so I wanted some advice on how to go about this.

I am primarily look to do planetary charity and general planetary invocations.

(I have a strongly dignified saturn as L10 but it squares my sun and pluto).

Re: Qs

[ecosophia]

1) You're coming into contact with the energy field of the archangel, of course.

2) I have yet to see a book I can recommend wholeheartedly. It's a field full of discords.

3) Cast a divination, first of all, to see if this is a good idea for you.

Astral Chatter and Mental Silence

[yogaandthetarot]

Re: Astral Chatter and Mental Silence

Dearest JMG and Winifred
This comment is in delayed response to last week Magic Monday as I too am in the throes of caring for my declining 93 year-old Dad, and not always able to get to my studies in a timely manner.

However, as I diligently attempt to catch up, I am always rewarded with insights, gems of wisdom and practical advice from JMG and this amazing commentariat.

So, in reference to observations and comments about astral plane and nearing death: thank you thank you thank you. And I would like to add my thoughts as follows while observing my father’s recent behaviors ( no dementia but heart failure, cancers, diminishing energy, home hospice). These behaviors are nighttime conversations with invisible people ( not distressful), his talking both day and night rehashing events of the day while half-asleep, a physical proclivity for grabbing and moving invisible objects with his hands, and mercifully, dropping into a deep sleep throughout the day where he almost cannot be roused.

Though I’ve not read the book in a while, I do recall from DF The Machinery of the Mind her explanation of separation of mind states describing them as “sieves”. As I understood her, the waking, dreaming and deep dream memory states in healthy minds are separated by various meshes of “meshed sieves”, allowing the right amount to penetrate each, keeping us functionally tethered to being awake in the material-etheric plane, when dreaming in the astral, and deep-sleeping for mental rest and renewal. ( Of course all these planes/ states operate in tandem but need to functionally operate at particular degrees together.)

My theory is that diminishing brain health (as with the diminishing health of all the organs) results in these “sieves” becoming compromised severely. The mesh sizes (staying with the metaphor) of the sieves loose their appropriate and optimum function, leading to a “bleed” into the mind states.

And of course, this is a natural bodily death process, yet, even though my father is a devout Catholic, he is (for many reasons) resisting his passing (a blessing and a curse situation in my opinion.)

Anyway, it’s rather fascinating (albeit EXHAUSTING) to watch the various planes in action as they make their way into separation and withdrawal from the physical form and absorption into the Soul.

Thank you again!
Jill C

Re: Astral Chatter and Mental Silence

[ecosophia]

That certainly corresponds to what I've seen in dying people!

Changing conciousness for what purpose

[(Anonymous)]

Hi new to magic monday.

I didn't see a question in the faq addressing the purpose of changing conciousness through occultism.

Some think the universe is composed of conciousness and that all forces and matter expand from that concious fabric. Is that your view? If so, is then the purpose of occultism to change the material world via the conciousness that underlies it?

If not, what is your view of a concious universe and the purpose of changing conciousness through occultism?

Re: Changing conciousness for what purpose

[ecosophia]

There's no discussion of purpose because the purpose of occultism is the intention you bring to it. Occultism doesn't specify a fixed purpose, and occult philosophy holds that every single soul has a unique destiny in the cosmos -- so your purpose in practicing occultism is pretty much certain not to be mine.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John, would you be able to help me find out what my past lives were? Im very curious.
If you cant help me where do I go and who do I talk to?

[ecosophia]

I understand being curious about past lives, but this is something that needs to arrive at its own time and in its own way. You can go to people who claim to be able to do this for you, either by clairvoyance or by putting you into under hypnosis, and get all kinds of pretty fairy tales, but accurate information doesn't come that way. The way to regain the memory of past lives is to take up daily meditation and stick with it; one of its side effects, which sometimes takes years to show up, is the recurrence of what some of the old occult writers call "far memory."

Don't be too sure, by the way, that you want to know your past lives. What if it turned out that in your last life, you were whatever you hate and despise most in this life? That happens more often than you would think. It can also be pretty traumatic to remember in gory detail your recent deaths...

MOE Healer Attunement; Blessings offer; Bridge of Love energy centers

[milkyway1]

Good morning,

Thanks to everybody who participated in the MOE Master attunement yesterday, and congrats to any newly minted MOE Master Healers! :-)

1. I'm going to offer an MOE Healer attunement next, on Sunday Feb 18th. More infos here:

https://thehiddenthings.com/moe-healer-attunement-2024-02


2. I also offer weekly blessings. These are open to everybody, i.e. not only for MOE practitioners:

https://thehiddenthings.com/categories/weekly-blessings

(I want to practice my blessing skills, so you'd do me a favour in signing up... :-) )


3. The Bridge of Love uses some rather distinct energy centers. I wonder if you've ever seen a reference to them anywhere else, maybe during your research for the Five Rites?


JMG, thank you very much for hosting Magic Monday today!

Milkyway

Re: MOE Healer Attunement; Blessings offer; Bridge of Love energy centers

[(Anonymous)]

I’m not at the point where I’m prepared for the Healer or Master attunement yet, but wanted to thank you for taking the time to continue offering these!

Geomancy on dual citizenship

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG & all--
While I am a US Citizen, I live in Canada and have the opportunity to become a Canadian Citizen (dual citizenship). I did a geomantic house chart on the question, "Will becoming a Canadian Citizen help me in my future life path?"
Mothers: Albus, Puer, Rubeus, Puer.
Querent - House I Quesited - House VII

Here's a link to an image of the chart:
https://amissio.net/gen/house/4b/2b.svg

Looks like a 'yes' to me, positive figures in I and VII (Albus, Laetitia) with Albus moving to XI for favorable aspect with VII, and company of houses between Laetitia VII and Acquisitio VIII under Jupiter.

Questions:
1) Do you or any of my fellow readers have any other observations on this chart, or a different interpretation?

2) There is a citizenship oath that involves pledging allegiance to "King Charles the Third, King of Canada, his heirs and successors..." I don't see this as much different from the US Pledge of "Allegiance to the Flag" that I did throughout gradeschool--
What are the implications, generally, of taking an oath of this kind?

My thanks in advance to you and my fellow readers for any observations you can give!

--Polkadot Mumbling Spider

Re: Geomancy on dual citizenship

[(Anonymous)]

A citizenship oath is a legally binding commitment. If you become a citizen, and then do what is prohibited to citizens, you could face some serious consequences that you could reasonably know about ahead of time. When you take a citizenship oath, the nation officially takes on the obligations and responsibilities it is required to perform on behalf of any citizen. You'd be voluntarily making this choice as an informed adult. It would show your desire to become part of the mainstream of society, and to accept the authority of the nation's political system.

The Pledge of Allegiance has no legally binding consequences. It promises nothing to you from the Flag, the Republic, God, or the principles of liberty and justice. Children are required to recite it in a coercive environment where opting out is never stated as an available choice, and trying to opt out is made difficult and seen as highly disruptive action of a disreputable troublemaker objecting to the authority of the nation and being an antisocial troublemaker. When included as a ceremonial ritual of other groups, they make no promise to you on behalf of the Republic, and may be unlikely to kick you out if you politely abstain.

These are two very different circumstances!

The questions for you, it seems to me, are:

Do you intentionally want to have this King and Royal Family, and whatever next laws or rules or traditions might come along in their line, in a position of authority to which you humbly submit and subordinate yourself as their dutiful subject? If so, no problem!

Do you see the commitment language as problematic if literal, but also ceremonial only, meaningless verbiage of linguistic curlicues without actual force of legal power over you? If so, you could sign on for the citizenship package that happens to include a free useless historical doodad in every box!

Do you see Canadian citizenship as otherwise valuable and important, the most reasonable, appropriate next step in your life? Would being kept from it be a major setback? If so, you could perhaps think of the personal loyalty oath element as an imposed condition term that you accept but only under duress.

You could ask if there's a version of the Canadian oath that would make you a Canadian citizen yet not swear a promise of personal fealty to a King. Perhaps you might say that doing so would put you in conflict with the U.S. Constitution, if that's what you came to believe. Or, maybe you could become a Quaker and get their help with the matter.

Christopher from California

Atlantis (Your Book) et al

[wizard_in_the_woods_1949]

JMG and all,

That's one of your titles that got by me, that said, here's a question: What do you think of such anomalous
phenomena as items of Gold jewelry (chain) found in Coal deposits, and Human footprints in natural stone for
example. Coal, Oil formation, etc. began long before we believe humankind and Atlantis could possibly have existed.
But... that doesn't change the fact stuff like this really has been found?

Re: Atlantis (Your Book) et al

[ecosophia]

We live in a very weird universe. I can spin any number of speculative hypotheses to explain these things, but it's all just handwaving; what we know is that these things really do get found from time to time.

Thought Layers

[(Anonymous)]

Are you familiar with a system that brings intention through the elemental realm before acceding again into the material world? If so, please, what would be your reading recommendation?

Thank You
Carnot Analogy

Re: Thought Layers

[ecosophia]

You're going to have to explain in a little more detail what you mean by this. It's not a terminology I've encountered before.

Mahjong divination

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, have you ever done much looking into Mahjong divination using the tiles from the game? There are a few guides out there on it. I've been thinking of getting into it because I enjoy the tactile aspect of the tiles and it "feels right" which seems to be a good general principle.

I was also thinking of ordering a vintage set from Japan to have tiles with more character than something made recently. But I also thought such tiles may have some unwanted subtle influences adhering to them given the high likelihood they were used in yakuza-operated gambling parlors. What's your perspective? Thanks.

Re: Mahjong divination

[ecosophia]

I'm sure Mahjong divination is possible, and no doubt it's practiced, but it's not something I've ever encountered. If it's like Western styles of divination, though, I don't recommend a used set -- that'll have its own energies imprinted by the people who've handled it in the past. Get a new set that will only have your energies in it.

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings sir and Druid,

Several months ago the observation was made that the the schools of psychology of the 20th century correspond with the outer planets. Namely, Pluto with Freud, Neptune with Jung, and Uranus with Alder.

Therefore, with its brief moment of planethood, what is Erisian psychology? And for that matter, what is Cereian psychology? With the category shuffling that took place, there should have been a school of psychology dealing with Cereian themes in the early 19th century, which promptly occulted itself once Ceres was downgraded, and is now having a small revival, alongside whatever Erisian psychology happens to be.

The other observation I want to make note of is the effect of iron as an etheric barrier, displayed by the way railroad tracks divide the landscape bottling up the etheric in a miasmic way as summed by expressions like "the wrong side of the tracks". The direct comparison should be to rivers and canals, which also divide the landscape by the flow of its waters.

Etherically, how do water barriers and iron barriers differ in action?

[ecosophia]

1) I think your examples demonstrate that the association of planets with psychological schools doesn't really work. What planet ruled Behaviorist psychology?

2) It's an astrological difference. Iron is ruled by Mars but water is ruled by the Moon, so railroad tracks have a harsh, cutting effect while canals and rivers flow and change.

everything

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG

I have worldview reflections and am curious how common/how far our paradigms diverge.

I've read quite a few occult books, mythology books, philosophical books and so on and so forth and I have to admit that the more I read the less I sometimes know how magic works :D

Are spirits needed for magic? An animist will say yes, an energy model person will say no.

Are tools needed for magic or just useful props? That also depends, according to most of what I've read the tools are only to focus the will of the magician but by themselves are just a prop. On the other hand, a hole in the ground can be dug with the hands but also with the help of machines.

In Dion's definition of magic, magic is the art and science of influencing consciousness. I assume it is not about human consciousness. If we take a hermetic view of reality where the World is God experiencing itself, then magic is the art of influencing reality (of course, without a fireball, unless someone has succeeded, then great)

But actually how does magic work? In natural magic we take things with the right correspondence, combine them in the right way and it works, in ceremonial magic we use a trained imagination and use what I would call life force at a time when it is just forming.

In all of this we have European grimoire traditions with a European heavily animistic outlook (where either angels or other spirits are summoned) and the occasional use of herbs. In Islamic countries we had absurdly good astrological magic in the form of Picatrix and further east we had more energetic Taoist systems.


So in my ultimate question is:

Are these simply different ways to practice magic and each is equally good? Is it that there are simply different ways to practice magic just as science has its divisions like biology or physics?

Re: everything

[ecosophia]

There are different ways to practice magic. Are they equally good? You'd have to find someone who's practiced all of them -- which is of course more than anyone can do in a single lifespan -- to be sure. To some extent the methods differ in their focus, as chemistry differs from physics; to some extent they differ in their preferred tools, as electrical engineering differs from mechanical engineering; and to some extent they are radically different maps of the same territory, like the energy flows that look like waves when you do one set of experiments and like particles if you do a different set.

SoP Divine Names Question

[frankrhartman]

Mr. Greer,

In the original posting here on dreamwidth regarding the Sphere of Protection you gave a set of Judeo-Christian divine names to use in each of the directions. Tetragrammaton for air, Elohim for fire and so on.

Is there a reason that this set of names was not included in the SoP as described in the GSF book?

Thank you as always for this space.

Frank

Re: SoP Divine Names Question

[ecosophia]

Merely that I wanted to give a selection of options, rather than trying to be encyclopedic. If you like the Hebrew divine names, by all means use them.

[(Anonymous)]

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1753190238502170900

Dear JMG, This is gnat. You suggested I bring over here a question I had originally posted to last week's "Deindustrial Warfare" thread. Quoting from the original comment:

"Is it possible for powerful egregores to conflict to the “death”? If so, what would happen, and what might it look like to us humans (who supposedly birthed them to begin with, if I understand the concept), and what would you expect to see on the higher planes? I think it was in the last open post someone asked if there might be some sort of demonic force afoot. And you responded — if I understood correctly — that you see/sense no evidence of that."

As luck would have it, this past weekend, I found the following link to a new Tucker Carlson interview with the evolutionary biologist Brett Weinstein. I think it is pertinent. He recently went on an exploratory mission to the Darien Gap in southern Panama, on intuition, to take a closer look at the "migration" flow from there to the US southern border. What he found there should disturb all of us. I hope you might take the time to watch. If you have limited time, you might watch a few minutes around the 14-minute mark, where he describes his surprise encounter with perhaps hundreds of Chinese government personnel, in their own camp, posing as migrants. After that you might skip to around the 40 minute mark, where he says "And it reminded me of how many things in our society had their purpose inverted...universities now make people stupider...Something has taken over our system and it has become sick."

So, that is what I am talking about, as well. Why use physical weapons when you can convince your enemy to, effectively, jab himself to death -- and his own children as well? You said it isn't a "conspiracy". And you also said, if I remember correctly, that you don't see anything astrological to explain all this, so many years later. Even in a societal collapse, why are so many common people going mad?

In preparation for this question, I did some reading about the intersection of the Roman religion with the emerging Christian religion, especially around the time of the Emperor Trajan. I was disappointed that I didn't see more of a lesson there for our times. (Although the martyrdom of Ignatius, calmly, in his faith, inviting the jaws of the lion, reminded me a bit of Trump and his travails).

So what is going on here, in your opinion? It is not simple incompetence of the managerial class. I've normally got a pretty good ability to navigate by intuition and to manifest. I did enjoy your post https://www.ecosophia.net/a-primer-of-magical-combat/. However, these days all I keep getting is an overwhelming sense of the diabolic. And to think I didn't use to believe in demons! It's possible you've previously posted on this and I missed it. I'd appreciate any light you can bring to the greater topic.

[(Anonymous)]

If a predominant belief paradigm in a field can be an egregore, "Luminiferous Ether" almost entirely conquered physics and metaphysics, in turn to be almost totally vanquished.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG and commentators,
I hope you are well and that everyone is having a great week.

1. What were the precursors of the so-called Christian Kabbalah? We always talk about Pico Della Mirandola and Ficino. Someone before them?
2. Can Catholic or Orthodox Saints be part of an occult/esoteric path?! I ask because I always think of the devotion of these entities as associated with official churches and not with a Kabbalistic path, for example.
3. Would the power or effectiveness of a saint be connected to the number of devotees he has?
4.Finally, a curious story: my 7-year-old niece is a devotee of Father Christmas, a toy she received a few years ago with the typical, commercial figure of Father Christmas (not the Catholic saint). After she started this devotion she has been receiving gifts from friends and relatives, raffles at school... My question: could Father Christmas have turned into an artificial server over time?

And thank you very much for your generosity!

[ecosophia]

1) Ficino wasn't a Cabalist, he was a student of the Hermetic tradition, which only later got blended with the Cabala. Pico and Johannes Reuchlin were the ones who set the Christian Cabala in motion.

2) Dion Fortune advised against it -- she held that if you start working with one of those saints, they'll inevitably lead you toward their church. The great exceptions are the saints, especially mythological ones, who were recognized before the year 1000 or so. Since the Christian church hadn't broken apart into quarreling sects yet, there's less pull toward any one church.

3) That's one of the sources of power saints have.

4) That doesn't surprise me at all. So many children have put so much emotional energy and belief into the image of Father Christmas that it's surprising he hasn't become more of a folk religious figure than he is already!

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

Here are all of the requests for prayer that have recently appeared at ecosophia.net and ecosophia.dreamwidth.org, as well as in the comments of the prayer list posts. Please feel free to add any or all of the requests to your own prayers.

If I missed anybody, or if you would like to add a prayer request for yourself or anyone who has given you consent (or for whom a relevant person holds power of consent) to the list, please feel free to leave a comment below.

* * *

This week I would like to bring special attention to the following prayer requests.

May John Michael Greer's wife Sara, who is recovering from a serious illness, recover fully and be restored to health.

May Erika's partner James remain cancer free, and make a full return to robust health.

Tyler A's wife Monika's pregnancy is high risk; may Mother and child be blessed with good health and a smooth delivery.

May the surgery for Yuccaglauca's mother Monica's malignant mass be safe, successful, and conclusive of the matter.

May Frank Rudolf Hartman of Altadena California (picture), who is receiving chemotherapy, be completely cured of the lymphoma that is afflicting him, and may he return to full health.

May Audrey's nephew Jon, who is now in a wheelchair due to ALS, have peace and comfort during this difficult time, and be healed of his condition to the greatest degree possible.

May Just Another Green Rage Monster's father, who is dealing with Stage 4 Lymphoma, and mother, who is primary caregiver, be blessed, protected and healed.

May Kyle's friend Amanda, who though in her early thirties is undergoing various difficult treatments for brain cancer, make a full recovery; and may her body and spirit heal with grace.

Lp9's hometown, East Palestine, Ohio, for the safety and welfare of their people, animals and all living beings in and around East Palestine, and to improve the natural environment there to the benefit of all.

* * *
Guidelines for how long prayer requests stay on the list, how to word requests, how to be added to the weekly email list, how to improve the chances of your prayer being answered, and several other common questions and issues, are to be found at the Ecosophia Prayer List FAQ.

If there are any among you who might wish to join me in a bit of astrological timing, I pray each week for the health of all those with health problems on the list on the astrological hour of the Sun on Sundays, bearing in mind the Sun's rulerships of heart, brain, and vital energies. If this appeals to you, I invite you to join me.

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

1. Have you had any reason to reassess your caution about doing Stages 2 and 3 of the Five Rites practices alongside the Middle Pillar and the other exercises you mentioned in your book?

2. What is the function of the energy centre at the base of the skull/top of spine?

3. What do you think about using non-specific and open-ended magical intentions like 'I receive that which I most need' or 'Heal that which most needs healing' if you're not sure enough about your most pressing needs to hone down a discrete and specific one?

Thanks for Magic Mondays

[ecosophia]

1) I haven't yet heard from anyone who's tried the combination, if that's what you mean.

2) It controls access to higher planes of experience.

3) It's certainly something people have done with good results.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello John. Thank you for hosting another magick monday for us.

I have a few questions about communicating with spirits by pathworking aka 'scrying in spirit vision'.

Well first, is there evidence of the existence of the technique prior to the Golden Dawn or is it purely a Golden Dawn invention? I don't mean Hindu and Buddhist tattwas, but rather scrying on the spirit vision plane communicating with spirits.

Secondly, how soon do you recommend we start with pathworking? If I want to communicate with Raphael, the supercelestial angel ruler of Mercury and the sephirot of Tipharath, how soon should I attempt for best results? Of course, daily meditation is recommended for best results which is what I do, however there is always a doubt that the pathworking might have just been me communicating with my own brain.

[ecosophia]

1) The imagination as a separate, potent factor in human life didn't really surface in public awareness until after the discovery of Neptune, the planet of imagination, in 1846. The Golden Dawn was among the pioneering traditions opening up the new possibilities of the Neptunian current, and using scrying to communicate with spirits wasn't something that the GD started out doing -- it emerged over time as people scryed the elements and learned that they could communicate with spirits and angels as well as elementals.

2) I recommend meditating on the symbolism of the Tree of Life -- all ten spheres and 22 paths -- before you attempt Pathworking on it. As for communicating with your own brain, that's always involved, because your brain is the reflecting surface onto which the images of the astral plane are projected. Judge the accuracy of what you get by its results.

Prayer List & gratitude.

[(Anonymous)]

This letter describes my situation since last August or so, when I was placed on prayer list that Quin maintains. I had been in economic distress as my medical practice had been marginal, as after a year in business, my case-load plateaued at a low level, as my patients’ workers’ comp claims were being closed or denied as quickly as I was getting new patients. My income was was not covering my outgo, and my savings were consumed by Jan, 2023. My situation is all the more onerous in that I am paying out a stiff divorce settlement, and my combined business expenses plus divorce settlement alone runs to nearly 6 figures.

As a practical matter, I had to submit to an onerous settlement because my former wife wanted to give the Covid shots to our 13 year-old daughter, and I negotiated a stipulation in our settlement that our daughter NOT get the shot. So my Ex is really motivated to comply as she knows perfectly well that my cooperation and the juicy settlement would disappear. I’m obviously motivated to pay to keep Lindsay unjabbed.

I became pretty preoccupied as my business languished, and by last Summer, I was commenting rather less than my norm, dropping to zero basically. A regular commenter here, Scotlyn, noticed my absence and wrote me asking if I was alright. I was touched by her concern, and I replied, reporting my situation. She kindly suggested adding me to Quin’s prayer list, though I hemmed and hawed as I felt ashamed at the suggestion, and didn’t reply to her for several weeks. Even so, I was facing prospects of even worse trouble, and I replied to Scotlyn to include me, and she kindly submitted my name to the prayer list in August, IIRC.

Within two months, I had an uptick in new referrals, and most of the claim closures & denials were reversed following my protests and the legal appeals filed by my patients. Also, a new medical lab opened in the strip mall next to my building. The proprietor asked if I would do DOT (Department of Transportation) exams for medical certificates for commercial truck drivers; he would refer them to me. I agreed, and now I’m doing DOT exams. I did only one in August, and am up to 13 in January. We’re anticipating 20-40/month as word gets out. And I met a physician at a swing dance who I became friends with; he needs space in a clinic for his new part time practice, and I have space for him. So he started paying me rent in August, and has been paying monthly, but he hasn’t moved in yet, or even signed a rental agreement with me! I do receive some packages here for him, and he’s been having delays in getting himself extricated from Florida, but he assures me he’s coming. (His practice involves treating chemically addicted patients, and no other medical practice wants his patient population walking in through the door. But he will have too few patients to justify renting an entire clinic.) He just paid for February.

I’ve also become aware of a proclivity to self-sabotage. It’s actually my biggest problem. While I’ve made headway, it’s not fixed yet. That will be the decisive breakthrough.

I’m now operating at 60% capacity (maybe 40% without handicap of self-sabotage), and my remittances for December and January have soared to the point where I’m easily covering my obligatory expenses, and can make some headway on my business and personal debt. I no longer need to borrow, or use the Food Bank, to eat. While I don’t yet live in a legal domicile, if this level of income sustains itself, I will be able to rent a proper place by the end of the year. Then my daughters can visit me and spend the night.

The one big, and potentially dangerous, unknown is my standing with the IRS. 2023 is a net loss, but I will still have to pay taxes on what I pay out on my divorce settlement.

In short, I’ve had a dramatic improvement in my fortune since I was placed on the prayer list, it’s been more dramatic than I dared hope for.

First, I declare my gratitude to The Holy One who has helped me, and given the varied beliefs of those who offered their prayers, I think I owe thanks to other deities, unknown to me, who have deigned to assist me (I expect all the deities involved are drinking buddies.)

I owe thanks to all of you who offered intercessory prayers, thanks to Quin for maintaining the prayer list, to JMG for allowing it on his blogs, and I owe particular thanks to Scotlyn who noticed my absence which lead to her championing my inclusion in the prayer list. This has been a blessing for me. I pray that blessings rebound onto all of you. Thank you all.

Your’s

—Lunar Apprentice

Re: Prayer List & gratitude.

[milkyway1]

Lunar Apprentice,

I just wanted to say that it‘s great to hear from you - and even better to hear you‘re doing rather well. I‘m looking forward to the time when you will again have the capacity to post more.

What I‘m not sure about is whether I want to know what a „swing dance“ is, but hey… ;-)

Milkyway

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what EOTCR, DF or OP mean, a list of Ecosophia abbreviations is available.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this as always.

1. Psychic distress and magical practice; 2. The metaphysics of stuff

[furnax]

Firstly I'd like to ask what forms of magic are safer for studying for people that are currently mentally imbalanced or are dealing with a strong projection of their shadows. Asking for myself first and foremost, of course, since I have been dealing with some very difficult personal subjects and discoveries in the past year or so, but it seems like an important subject in general. Maybe a second part of the question is what kinds of magic align with a process of slow self-healing. (I'm not sure if it counts as "magic" per se, but I've had nice experiences with Qi Gong).

A second question, and somewhat more philosophical rather than empirical, is: is there some magical explanation for the distortion that masses of physical objects (i.e. stuff in the most visceral sense) cause on people? I have seen people just utterly twisted to bits desperately trying to hold onto things they have (which I suppose isn't exactly greed, but rather something like a sort of worship or possession?) and it vexes me deeply. I have been doing some major cleaning of old stuff (old photos and the like, but not just) and I was impressed by how exhausting it is. Sure, it is actual hard physical labor sometimes and I'm not demeaning this side of it, but there seems to me a certain metaphysical edge to this work.

Re: 1. Psychic distress and magical practice; 2. The metaphysics of stuff

[(Anonymous)]

I've known some hoarders, and read what I could find about the subject. (I don't remember any source details now.) I believe it's a type of mental illness in which normal compartmentalizing of memories and ideas into categories of past, present, and future, doesn't occur in the tangled up mind of the hoarder.

I believe that, for the hoarder, if the thing from the past is physically gone, that means to them that right now and forevermore they are cutting off anything in any way positive about any related situation, person, or experience in the past. And, it would make them be without anything useful about in the present (even if it was only useful in the past and not now). And, it would prove the destruction of all faith or hope in anything good about the future they ever thought or felt in any way related to that thing, even if only through a chain of emotional associations.

This is such an overwhelming sense of loss that it leads to anger, despair, and overwhelm at any mention of the idea of letting go.

I mean to emphasize that this is totally unrelated to anything anyone else could see as at all useful or sentimental about something. The mental illness can't accept or process actual facts about whether the thing ever actually was useful, beautiful, interesting, meaningful, etc, in the past -- whether there's anything intact or beneficial or decorative about it now -- and whether there's any conceivable benefit to having it in the future.

It also dissociates from any facts about whether there's mold, bugs, outrageously high expenses, humiliating and dangerous unlivability, etc., that objectively show it's not reasonable to hang on to it.

I think mindfulness presence type of spiritual practice can help, along with faith in a God or universe that can provide what's needed now. But it's fiercely resisted by the hoarder being unstuck in time, and frantically wanting to never have to say they don't actually understand something about life. There's also a huge amount of shame that if they did take action now, that would prove the worthlessness of all their sunk costs in the past effort, and make them a humiliated laughingstock. So better not go there!

Christopher from California

SoP + seasonal rituals

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

Last Magic Monday, I wrote to enquire about the mutual compatibility between AODA, FHR and GSF, saying that as a long-time practitioner of the LBRP I had had a not-so-convincing start with the SoP. (My query and your reply can be found here: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/264441.html?thread=46135033#cmt46135033)

First of all, I would like to thank you for your answer last week, which I was not able to do before the close of Magic Monday as I happen to live in very different time zone.

Heeding your advice, I set aside the LBRP and tried again the SoP, i.e. its first step (Opening+Closing).

Frankly, I’m not sure I’m doing it properly, as some of the operations involved may feel awkward when you come from the LBRP. But I must admit that something is indeed happening. It’s hard to say whether or not it is really due to the practice of the SoP, but since I began practicing the Opening+Closing after last Magic Monday I have experienced a mental clarity I hadn’t had in a very long time – in short, the kind of mental clarity that makes me realize how much garbage and negativity there is in my head most of the time. I am under the impression that this is somehow connected with the initial stage of the Opening, when the Light from above is drawn inside the head rather than above it as in the Qabalistic Cross.

Even though I can look back on many years of spiritual practice, I must say I am utterly baffled by the experience, and I am definitely going to proceed with the SoP: such an astounding start calls for more! Normally, learning the SoP is a 8-week program, but I will take an extra week: before moving on to the Calling of Air I feel I have to practice the Opening+Closing on their own a bit longer to make them feel slightly less awkward to me.

I have two questions for you:

1. Last week, another anonymous poster asked how one could learn the SoP when one has no affinities with any gods, to which you replied it is possible to invoke the elements without specific divine names, even if that makes the SoP less strong. (Link to original post and your reply here: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/264441.html?thread=46155769#cmt46155769)

Now I happen to be in the same situation as that anonymous poster, and I have the same question regarding the seasonal rituals: I wish to honor the 8 festivals of the Wheel of the Year, but at this point I have no affinities with any gods. Of course, coming from a Christian background I could include Saints, or even the Archangels (at the solstices / equinoxes), but for some reason that would not feel right to me. Hence my question: is it possible to honor the 8 festivals without including deities? And what should be included instead?

2. Among the many things you have written about Druidry, I feel most drawn to the Druid Magic Handbook and the Dolmen Arch. May I ask you to clarify the main difference(s) between these two paths? I imagine this question must have been asked a zillion times before, and I apologize for asking you to repeat yourself a zillionth time, but I haven’t found a way to search/google past Magic Mondays on Dreamwidth to find the info by myself.

I have many more questions, but I realize there are only 24 hours in a (Magic Mon)day and you have many other Ecosophians to attend to!

Thank you for all you do, Mr Greer.

Re: SoP + seasonal rituals

[ecosophia]

1) You really can't. Consider including them as symbolic figures -- this is what quite a few Druids do.

2) The Druid Magic Handbook is a course of training in a particular system of Druid magic which focuses on the SoP and certain practices connected with it. The Dolmen Arch is a far more demanding and extensive course of study and training in a particular system of Druid occultism; it includes the SoP and some of the connected practices, but it also includes much, much more.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

After regularly doing Grove ceremonies from the DMH, I've noticed that I can be pretty spaced out for the rest of the day. it can also be hard to get to sleep at night. It could be the sandalwood incense I use, and I will try ventilating the room more next time, but could it be something I am doing incorrectly with the energies raised by the ritual? I also notice the difficulty in getting to sleep after doing an Inner Grail working, which I do once or twice a week on separate days than for a Grove ceremony.

Many thanks!

[ecosophia]

You might want to try eating a little more red meat on days when you do those workings. Meat helps ground us in our bodies, which are after all made of meat.

Tarot cards repeating

[autpaxautbellum]

With the guidance of John Gilbert’s book, I’ve begun learning to read tarot cards. Still early on in his course, I’ve been doing a number of single-card readings every day - which I’ve generally found helpful and insightful.

The oddity is that there are a couple cards (3 cups and Empress) that have been showing up quite often, to the point I’ve questioned my shuffling abilities. The Empress is particular has been appearing across diverse, sometimes making good sense for the questions, sometimes not obviously so.

Is there any ‘meta’ reason why this might happen? Or is it just a ‘huh that’s weird’ kinda thing? Thanks!

Re: Tarot cards repeating

[ecosophia]

Meditate on them! When cards show up like that they're trying to get your attention.