The Return of Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Yes, Magic Monday is on again. I appreciate deeply all the kind words, thoughts, and prayers sent my way in response to the recent passing of my wife Sara. I know that a lot of people respond to grief by taking time off, but that's not at all what I need or want just now. I've been through a long, lonely, stressful time during which I had nothing to do but provide a dying woman with the care she needed and would accept, which wasn't much, while we both waited for the inevitable to happen. What I need now to start the journey back to balance is conversation, interaction, and useful work to do.

So...

It's a few minutes before midnight and thus time to 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.  

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. 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 -- that is to say, no further comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

My prayers and thoughts continue to be with you and Sara.

Some random questions for you and the commenters:

1. JMG, you said that Archangel's power would reach the Milky Way. What would be the reach of a Divine Name or an Angel (or angelic choir)?

2. Have you ever heard - or has anyone here - of a book called “Remmaping your mind. The neuroscience of self-transformation”, by Lewis Mehl-Madrona? I'm thinking about buying it but I'd like to read reviews.
I think about how neuroscience can help with magic and our personal transformation. In this sense, does anyone know of other books on the subject or that correlate magic and neuroscience?

3. Beginner's question: when we leave the body during sleep or in a guided astral project are we in yesod?

4. Last: things are breaking down here at home. Bed, toilet, bank losses. What can we magically do to ward off this tide of expenses?

Thanks a lot for the help

[ecosophia]

1) Any divine power, whether or not expressed by a name, has infinite reach. An angel's work is typically limited to a single solar system.

2) I'm not familiar with it. Anyone else?

3) That depends very much on how exactly you interpret the Tree of Life. In the system I use, yes, most of the time; it's sometimes possible to rise to Hod or Netzach in dreams.

4) Well, what kind of magic do you know how to do?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,
Thank you for keeping this space. I have an astrology question. Some consider such points as AC, IC, and Nodes to be legitimate points to form aspects, like Mercury opposition AC, for example. Others say that only planets can form aspects and in my example Mercury has nobody to talk to and, therefore, there is no aspect. What is your take on this topic?
Kirsten

[ecosophia]

I've seen arguments for both views. My suggestion? Pay attention to what happens when you make predictions based on aspects to nonplanetary points, and see if those predictions work out or not. That should give you a clear sense of whether the nonplanetary points are relevant in this context.

[hippieviking]

JMG,

With respect to the heathen MP you laid out a few years ago, the opening is performed with the LBRP, is it acceptable to switch that out for the LSRP or does the MP require that it is a banishing with it?

Thanks,
HV

[ecosophia]

It requires a banishing. The banishing cleans your aura and the energies of the place where you do the working, and the Middle Pillar then invokes balanced positive energies into you and the space.

On the subject of cathars

[vitranc]

Greetings JMG,

In the last post on the main blog there was a brief mention of Cathars and Endura. To which you wrote:
“as all serious occultists she remembered a Cathar life”
This got my mind spinning and I have been reading up online about the Cathars, The Albigensian Crusade, Bogomilism, the Balkan crusades and so on.

The common factor in all the online sources I found was a certain superficiality and insufficiency. For instance; Yes, the Cathars were supposed to be dualists and some superficial explanation of what that might be. But why would this be so wrong as to require a crusade?
Also there were multiple waves of crusades. On the other side of the Adria the Hungarians were launching crusades against the Balkan’s for centuries, sanctioned by the church , until the Turks came.
I somehow gut the Radience wibe reading about it.

Could you be persuaded to write about the Cathars?
Why were they apparently so important for occultists?
Why did they have to be wiped out?

Best regards,
V

Re: On the subject of cathars

[ecosophia]

What made the Cathars and Bogomils so terrifying to the mainstream churches is that they were Gnostics -- in other words, they taught people how to experience the spiritual realms for themselves, rather than demanding that they have blind faith in whatever a church hierarchy happens to tell them about the spiritual realms. It didn't help, of course, that the Cathars took their moral and personal teachings more seriously than the mainstream churches took theirs -- one of the reasons so many people converted to Catharism in France, for example, is that Cathar perfecti lived lives of voluntary poverty and asceticism, while Catholic bishops wallowed in luxury at the expense of their parishioners.

One correction, though -- I didn't say that all serious occultists had Cathar lives; I didn't have one, for example. It's just quite common for serious occultists these days to have had a Cathar incarnation.

Stories of the Rose and Tapping

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

Very thankful to have Magic Mondays back, and I hope that the work is helpful and healing to you, JMG, rather than a burden. This space is a huge boon to those of us who learn from you, so thank you for once again providing it in such a tough time. Even if you're not just being gracious by saying doing the work helps, it must still not be easy, and the rest of us still benefit, so thank you. I hope that JMG and everyone else here is finding the comfort needed to deal with whatever is hard in life right now.

To Share: I read a lovely little book on the development of the Rosary in the late Middle Ages called Stories of the Rose, and I've gathered my thoughts here: https://jpowellrussell.com/#book_stories_of_the_rose

To Ask: Have you, JMG, ever heard of "tapping" as a practice? It seems to derive from TCM meridians, but has become something of a pop movement for releasing blockages in the energetic body. If anyone else has experiences or thoughts on it, I'd welcome hearing those as well, of course.

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

My blessings to all who welcome them,
Jeff

Re: Stories of the Rose and Tapping

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. I've heard the term "tapping" now and then but never followed up on it and so don't know anything worth mentioning about it. Anyone else?

Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[milkyway1]

Good morning (or probably good night),

Thanks a lot for offering Magic Monday again - I hope our questions will be good company for you today. :-)

1. to everybody: I offer weekly blessings for everybody who signs up:

https://thehiddenthings.com/weekly-blessings-8

You'd actually do me a favour by participating, as I want to practice my blessing skills, especially for larger groups of people. Thanks!

2. to JMG: You wrote on the main blog that "a lot of serious Western occultists these days remember a Cathar life"- That must have been quite a concentration of occultists (or people on the verge of becoming an occultist) back then in some very specific areas of the world.

Do you have any ideas as to why that was the case?

And is such a cluster a common occurence?

(I know that e.g. Prague was an occult center back in the day, but I'd imagine a lot of occultists weren't born there, but flocked there because of the conditions. Whereas for the Cathars, people back at that time probably would have had to be born at least in the right place in order to know of the movement at all, let alone participate.)

Thanks for your insights this week, and I wish you a wonderful and healing ceremony, full of old and new memories, on the shoreline of the Seekonk river.

Milkyway

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[ecosophia]

In the 11th and 12th centuries the south of France was a very cosmopolitan place, with burgeoning cities and important trade links with all the major Mediterranean ports of the Byzantine and Arab worlds. People came there from a great many parts of Europe and the Mediterranean world -- and the Cathars were anything but secret at the time, of course. That said, as I understand it, a great many souls who were pursuing the occult path were born in the region, partly because of the Cathar presence and partly because of some of the other spiritual movements in that place and time -- that's where the Cabala came into being, for example.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning and thank you as always for your generosity in providing this space, especially after recent events.

I’ve encountered people in my life who have levels of physical energy and capacity for activity that seems in excess of what their lifestyles would explain. A friend is like this—he doesn’t exercise, doesn’t sleep well, drinks too much, and is indifferent to his diet; nevertheless he’s always raring to go like an energizer bunny (and I’m confident he’s not using any illicit substances to get there).

Could it be that this sort of thing has an etheric body component? I’ve also noticed that people like this also often have a charisma and presence in excess of their physical form.

[ecosophia]

Yes, very much so. It's the etheric body, not the material body, that determines how much vital energy you have, how vulnerable you are to illnesses, and so on.

Modern Order of Essenes and Spirit Guides

[(Anonymous)]

In the MOE lessons spirit guides are mentioned. What's the protocols for contacting spirit guides and working with them? Is it the same as working with guides in pathworkings? (Prayer for a guide, asking any guide that appears in the pathworking if they come in the name of whatever divine power you prayed to, etc.?)

Re: Modern Order of Essenes and Spirit Guides

[ecosophia]

That's a complex question. The concept of spirit guides came into American occultism from Spiritualism, since most mediums have one. I recommend waiting until a spirit guide shows up, rather than going out of your way to trying to get one, and testing the prospective spirit guide thoroughly before making any commitment to work with it -- there are a lot of parasitic and predatory spirits out there. A spirit guide worth following won't make predictions that turn out to be false, for example.

two CGD questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

blessings to you, if you will have them. I have a couple of queries about the CGD.

1. I've reached the Work of Fire but am having trouble visualising the Sign of Fire. Is it similar to the Sign of Water (as in a triangle) but with the thumb-forefingers against the forehead and pointing up? The "press the back of your hands to your forehead" is confusing me.

2. And a pronunciation query - if Elw is pronounced El-oo then should Sulw be pronounced Sill-oo? p33 of my edition says "Sill-w", which isn't quite the same.

My thanks as ever for your gracious time.

Re: two CGD questions

[ecosophia]

1) Yes. Make a triangle with your thumbs and forefingers, pointing upward, and press it against your forehead so that the palms of your hands are facing forward, away from your face. If your face is relatively thin, the backs of your hands won't touch your face.

2) Ah, pronunciation! In the western Washington accent I grew up with, w is pronounced "oo." A very short "oo," but an "oo."

[(Anonymous)]

I'm the person who asked you about using magick on your frugal Friday thread.

I have a question about geomancy divination. I'm finding it hard to gain advice from the geomancy for my situation. I haven't asked the question about what should I do both magically and mundanely yet

For example, can I ask questions such as, 'Is this job worth applying to?' to avoid the hassle of applying to positions I don't even qualify for?


I was thinking of using geomancy this way to cut down on sending constant job applications and see the general pattern of what kind of jobs the geomancy thinks I am suitable for and why. What do you think of this strategy?

2nd, do we always look to the 10th house for the job itself and 7th house for the competing candidates? What about the 4rth (end of the matter) and 6th house? (house of servants)?

What other houses should I be looking for in this situation?

[ecosophia]

1) You can ask geomancy any question with a yes or no answer. Yes, that one will be fine. As for the strategy, why not cast and interpret a chart asking if that strategy is a good one for you?

2) Overthinking a geomantic chart is the easiest way to miss what it's trying to say. If you're asking a yes or no question about a job using a geomantic house chart, the only thing that matters is whether there's a mode of perfection connecting the first and tenth houses. If there is, the answer is yes; if there isn't, the answer is no. Once you know that, other houses can be brought in to add nuance, but you can get yourself hopelessly confused by trying to integrate a flurry of different houses before you've paid attention to the basic answer.

Magical Church

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Archdruid John,

My condolences on the passing of the beloved Sara.

I am interested to know your thoughts on magical or magic oriented churches. Some examples are Dion Fortune's Guild of the Master Jesus and on the other end of the spectrum there is Aleister Crowley's OTO/ Ecclesia Gnostic Catholica.

I am thinking of harmonizing and setting the rituals and lessons for Magical Church or association. Does the Christian deity respond particularly well to this endeavor?

Thank you
Blessed Be

Re: Magical Church

[ecosophia]

There are quite a few magically oriented Christian churches in existence right now; look up the Independent Sacramental Movement sometime. (John Plummer's book The Many Paths of the Independent Sacramental Movement is a first-rate introduction to this scene.)

The Christian god seems to be entirely comfortable with such things. I've attended services at several such churches and they had a clear, bright, gentle energy worlds away from the muddy air of general decay you find in so many mainstream churches or the edgy, hysterical, jarring mood you get in charismatic churches of various kinds. If that path calls you, I'd encourage you to pursue it.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd like to know if you think I'm on the right track with a line of thinking that suggests that one of the weirder and more dramatic shifts in politics right now, the rapid change where support for the gay community has started becoming a right-wing issue instead of a left wing one, is a result of a large scale accidental magical working using "rainbow crosswalks" as an unintentional symbol.

A huge number of people in the gay community despise, with a passion, the "rainbow crosswalks". Several gay men have told me that since it's a symbol of the gay community, a lot of gay people find it distasteful because it's meant to be walked over; and the phrase, "walking over something" means something quite negative. Apparently, a very large number of gay people will flat out refuse to walk on these, stepping aside to walk around the crosswalks.

So too will a lot of conservatives I know, including myself. Many of us aren't doing it out of any animosity towards gay people, but rather out of animosity towards a political ideology that has taken shape and claims to act in their name. Many more, including myself, are doing it out of distaste for the transgender push; which is apparently a major issues in the gay community these days. A lot of them seem to be worried they'd have become trans; and that they'd have screwed up their lives.

So now, many conservatives and gay people are taking steps to avoid walking over a symbol of the gay community, with a great many conservatives doing it to avoid supporting a cause a large portion of the gay community finds horrific; while a great many liberals are enthusiastically walking over the symbol of the gay community, with some going out of their way to do it.

The end result is that there's a significant shift in consciousness as a result of this unintentional magical working, with the left increasingly coming to "walk over" the gay community; while the right is increasingly walking in solidarity with them; an outcome that no doubt would horrify many of the people engaged in this accidental working on both the left and the right.

Does this seem plausible to you?

[ecosophia]

It seems entirely plausible to me. It's not impossible, given the growing hostility on the part of the left toward the gay and lesbian community, that the rainbow crosswalk business was a deliberate piece of magic intended to make gays and lesbians more willing to be walked on.

For what it's worth, I won't walk on a rainbow crosswalk either, out of simple respect for the gay and lesbian community; I don't think they, or a symbol that's deeply meaningful to many of them, deserve to be trampled.

[(Anonymous)]

You've said that occult practices help keep people lucid and calm right up until the end of their lives, and cited Sara as an example of this. I'm watching my grandfather die, slowly, with severe dementia, and am interested in anything which will help me avoid that fate. It runs in my family, so I may not be able to do so, but it sounds like my occult practices could help here.

I do daily prayer, a weekly candle working (to a different planet each time), a daily practice of the LBRP, R+C, and MP, a daily meditation, and a bit of divination (I'm learning geomancy as a daily practice and putting a great deal of study into astrology). Are there other practices you'd advice adding adding for my goal to remain lucid for the remainder of my life, no matter what sort of challenges I end up facing?

[ecosophia]

Daily meditation is the keynote here. Sara practiced discursive meditation every morning starting in the mid-1980s and continuing until well into her final illness; it was one of the foundations of her spiritual life. It gave her a huge amount of help in dealing with her childhood, and also helped her develop the clarity that made her last days so much easier for both of us.

It's also helpful to practice deep breathing, relaxation, and light to moderate exercise. That improves blood flow to the brain, which can be an issue in old age.

Books and sewage systems

[earthworm_uk]

Been doing a comparison between ideas of various people including some of the theosophists as well as others including Bo Yin Ra and Paul Brunton - fascinating stuff. Anyway, I came across this from Brunton's notebooks:

19
Civilizations do not progress; they grow, but they crumble by their own weight, or, rather, overweight.

20
If anything ever impressed me with the truth of civilization's transformatory nature it was my reading of the Frenchman Volney's book The Ruins of Empires, together with my visit to the remains of two cities. One, Anuradhapura in Ceylon, sixteen miles long and sixteen miles wide stretching in the sunshine with thousands of golden and silver pillars, was eaten up by jungle growth or dissolved into dust! The other, Angkor in Cambodia, displayed huge temples rising out of the thick clogging undergrowth and broken, weather-beaten statues of the Buddhas tangled with, or root-bound in, gnarled wrinkled trees.

Doing a search found: 'The Ruins or Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires:: And the Law of Nature' - Volney, C. F.

Since western 'empire' seems to be a turd on the cusp of being flushed (the cistern handle has been pulled but we await the final torrent of water for our journey to the septic tank of history), was wondering if you or anyone reckons Volney's book is worth a read?

Looking at Bo Yin Ra's 'The Book on Life Beyond' I was fascinated to read that he seemed to think reincarnation only happened in very exceptional circumstances. The book gave some good things to chew on but in the end, I could not decide if he had written it somewhat tongue in cheek as a laxative for 'neo-theosophy' [whatever that might be].

The idea that a single human lifetime might be enough to learn how to be human is a puzzle to me, but maybe I'm a slow learner.

Re: Books and sewage systems

[ecosophia]

1) Volney's book is readily available for free download in English translation:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1397

It's worth a read, though very much a product of its times.

2) I think he's wrong.

PTSD

[(Anonymous)]

Morning JMG.

With a difficult future stacking up all around us I was wondering if you have ever addressed PTSD, or more to the point an inoculation against it. I see a lot of mild mannered folks such as myself having to make hard decisions the like of which we have not even confronted in our worst nightmares. I hope that I am wrong.

Jordan Peterson has described PTSD as the reaction of a naive person confronted with a profound level of evil especially one's own evil. He presents it as the flaw of a person who has gone through life thinking everyone is basically good and that it is society forcing people to do awful things which is straight Rousseau. Effectively this makes PTSD merely a crippling form of cognitive dissonance.

If we believe that definition, which I struggle to, then the innoculation is admitting the evil in the world but mainly in ourselves. It's admitting that statistically I would have been a good German should I have been around in the 1930s. I have never been in a situation to know my dark side because I have lead an easy life where making the right choice carried light repercussions.

That's the JBP version. What about the more mundane old fashioned shell shock?

This is probably asking a lot as anyone with a surefire fix for PTSD would have a line out the door and around the block but I thought I would throw it out there.

Thanks!

Re: PTSD

[ecosophia]

It's not something I've worked with, but that's partly because it's not something to which I'm especially susceptible.

[thinking_turtle]

Thanks for a new Magic Monday!

To share, for those who wonder what AS, OBOD or EESS mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia.

To ask, I noticed the abbreviation LSRP above. The LxRP stands for Lesser xxx Ritual of the Pentagram, but I've been unable to find the S. What does LSRP stand for?

[ecosophia]

Lesser Summoning Ritual of the Pentagram, an alternative name for the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram.

A tarot video I just can't find

[(Anonymous)]

A quick question, perhaps more for the commentariat than you, JMG. I've been trying to find a tarot video posted on this journal towards the start of last year. The reading was done on New Year's Eve for the next year in the US, and it was also a wonderful exegesis on the spread he used -- the Celtic Cross.

The reading was done by an elderly man who had a pronounced German accent. In Chicago, I think. There was some connection to an anthroposophical lodge or Rudolph Steiner.

I'd love to watch it again, but even more to find a similar reading for 2024. Anyone have the link or more info? Thanks!

*OHC*

Re: A tarot video I just can't find

[ecosophia]

There I can't help you. Anyone else?

[(Anonymous)]

John Michael my prayers continue for you and Sara.

Request for info from JMG and others that have experience with planetary magic:

I have been using Secrets of Planetary Magic by Christopher Warnock. The talisman designs in the book show different symbols in the talisman pictures for each planet.

You can get an idea by looking at this talisman in the British Museum:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_2011-8030-1

You'll want to go to the lower right and change the image to the other side of the coin from the table of numbers. There you can see an example of various symbols.

I'm in the process of trying to go to the source(s), in this case Henry Agrippa's 4th book of Occult Philosophy.

Link is to a page with some symbolism.

https://archive.org/details/bib_fict_4103360/page/36/mode/2up

So far, I realize that there are symbols for good and also evil angels associated with the planets.

I need to dive in and figure out the relationship between the planetary symbol, the star and heads symbols and the joining lines.

Q - I'm not sure the Agrippa's symbols are the source for the symbols in Warnock's book, especially those symbols only consisting of lines and circles (see British Museum image for an example, lower left symbol). Is there a connection?

Q - I intend to dive deeper in Agrippa's work and others but can anyone provide suggestions for further study on the meaning of the symbols, especially those I mentioned above with lines and circles that are used in the Warnock talismans?

Would be good to know what the symbols mean if I invest energy and attention to the talismans.

Thank you

[ecosophia]

1) You'd have to ask Chris about that.

2) That can be a real challenge. In many cases talismanic symbols like these were revealed by angels or spirits, or found in visionary states, and their meanings are not known. All we know is that they work.

[(Anonymous)]

I know "racism" has become nothing more than a term for "anything the elite doesn't like", but I think it's managed to reach a new level of absurdity. I've been watching the news debacle coming out of Trump saying that the indictments against him are helping him with black voters, because they see the legal discrimination against him and they've seen it in their own communities and so know what harms it can do, and several of the responses have been truly bizarre, with quite a few of them being remarkably racist in the strict sense of the word.

Jasmine Harris, who serves as the "Black media director for the Biden-Harris reelection campaign", is now on record saying that Donald Trump has proved he's racist by talking to black people during Black History Month. I'm also remembering the issue it seems some people are having where their family is freaking out because they are white and dating a black person, and the trend towards giving preferential treatment to people based on race in the name of fighting "racism", and what's striking to me is that if current trends continue, within a few years "racism" is going to mean "supporting racial equality", if it doesn't already.

Plenty of people on the right seem to have noticed this, and plenty of us are baffled by it; especially those of us such as myself who have come from the left because of this sort of absurdity. However, what I cannot understand is how people could end up changing positions so radically, without ever seeming to notice they are doing this.

Is there any occult explanation for why so many people are turning into neo-segregationists but seem to be unable to notice? The whole thing seems bizarre and more than a little creepy to me...

[ecosophia]

It is indeed bizarre, and more than a little creepy, but there's a straightforward explanation for it in occult lore. There's a maxim that goes, "What you contemplate, you imitate." This works whether you love something or hate it or are indifferent to it, btw: if you spend your time focusing your attention on something, you gradually and often unconsciously become more like it.

Over the last few decades the American left has become absolutely obsessed with the Nazis. They can hardly open their mouths without talking about Nazi this and Hitler that and so on down a very narrow list of themes, all of which focus on a particular set of notions about German National Socialism. They're doing it because they don't want to face the huge cognitive dissonance between their self-image as liberated rebels and their actual position as defenders and beneficiaries of a corrupt and abusive system; fixating on someone else's misdeeds is always a popular way to avoid noticing your own. It's a disastrous mistake on their part, though, because what you contemplate, you imitate, and so bit by bit they're turning into Nazis.

Their current state of unawareness is typical of people who contemplate something they hate. In the years ahead, more and more people will do what you've done and leave the left because of the cognitive dissonance, but there will be those who stay with it. They're the ones who will start having sudden conversion experiences, the kind of thing Conway and Siegelman wrote about many years ago in their book Snapping; they'll blink, shake themselves, get glassy smiles and thousand-mile stares, and become full-blown, race-baiting, Jew-hating, Hitler-worshiping Nazis. My guess is that this will start in a big way about the time that a majority of African-American voters abandon the Democratic Party.

Dion Fortune about the Tree paths

[sebzefrog]

Dear John Michael,
reading through Dion Fortune Mystical Cabalah, I noticed again that she mentions a description of the Paths as psychological states, and this approach as being useful in practice. She even mentions, I think, that she will deal about it in a separate book. Yet, I so far failed to find the right pointer, even in your Path of Wisdom bibliography. If you had pointers, I'd be very grateful.

Yours under the starlit skies
Seb

Re: Dion Fortune about the Tree paths

[ecosophia]

She never got around to writing that book, I'm sorry to say. It's unfortunate, since she had the psychological background (as a trained lay Freudian therapist) to do it well.

[(Anonymous)]

What's your opinion on William Walker Atkinson's arcane teachings and formulas?

[ecosophia]

A classic text of golden age American occultism. You could do considerably worse.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

At this link is the full list of 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 new mother Molly recover quickly and completely from her recent stroke, and may newborn Lela and husband Austin be comforted and strengthened through this difficult time.



May John Michael Greer's wife Sara Greer, who passed away on February 20th, be blessed and soothed as she moves into the next stage of her spirit's journey. And may John Michael Greer be blessed and lent strength in this most difficult time.



May Timmy W. have the guidance, support, and strength he needs to overcome his PTSD, and may his mother, Rachel M., have the energy and wisdom to support him through it.



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,

When doing the Lesser Ritual of Opening and Closing, do you light the black and white candles? I've been lighting them for the ritual and extinguishing them as I do the Lesser Middle Pillar. That seems to make the most sense, and also saves on candles!

Jon
tangerine tangential cactus

[ecosophia]

You can certainly do that. I tended to light the candles just before the opening and snuff them at the closing, but there's plenty of room for variation.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

Thank you for answering our questions during this difficult period for you, and please accept my continued best wishes and prayers.

I'd like to ask about an experience I had a couple weeks ago while practicing the meditation technique Evelyn Underhill describes in her book Practical Mysticism.

After several months of working to focus the attention, I started being able to clear away 'big' thoughts and then 'small' thoughts until I was able to simply look at myself, as Underhill describes. I suddenly felt my entire body tingling, a sense of being cold and hot at the same time, almost wanting to go into tears, a slight sense of sexual arousal (but which wasn't really the same thing as that), and a kind of strange widening or clearing that is hard to describe. This lasted for about five minutes or so and I could feel myself wanting to shut it down because it felt quite strong.

That night it was hard to sleep, and I had tachycardia, palpitations, and an irregular pulse, which was a little alarming.

I was able to get into the same state right away during meditation the next day, but because I'm worried about these cardio symptoms, I've been intentionally lessening my meditation practices. These experiences ebbed off after a day or two and haven't occurred since.

I have doctor's appointment this week to ask about the tachycardia and the irregular heartbeat (neither of which are noticeable anymore).

The experience didn't have the character of afterwards permanently affecting my consciousness in the way some of William James' examples describe, or causing a change in personality. Indeed, in the days afterward there was ego inflation, which I kept an eye on.

I went searching through past Magic Mondays, and found a question from someone else who seemed to have a similar experience. That commenter talked about feeling like being filled by lightning, which was a great way to put what I had experienced. Here's the thread in question: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/179202.html?thread=29076994#cmt29076994

You replied that it could have been a low-level kundalini awakening. I remember your past comments that kundalini awakenings can be dangerous, but I don't practice kundalini yoga, so I don't know if what I experienced was something different? It may be that what I experienced was what was intended to happen as part of Underhill's technique, but I'm nervous about the potential dangers.

If my doctor finds no cardiovascular issues, is it a matter of following your advice in the comment above, and continuing to meditate without grasping for that type of experience?

I've also been doing the Inner Grail working from the DMH about once or twice a week for about a year and a half now, in case that is relevant.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[ecosophia]

Yes, that was a classic low-level kundalini experience. You're wise to turn down the volume on the meditation practices for a little while, so your body has a chance to adjust to the energy flow. In a while, once the effects have entirely passed off, you can resume your practices -- yes, without grasping for that experience, or any other. You may well find that certain aspects of your practices have become much more potent and effective as a result of this practice.

I Ching and the Golden Section Fellowship

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning John.

At the beginning of this year I have decided to take up a new divination method, in this case the I Ching. I need to get into the head space of some people I am writing about who also used the I Ching for their spiritual and creative work. Plus I want to get another system under my built as I work up towards eight (I'd say dreams, bibliomancy, tarot, the Sacred Geometry Oracle, and a smattering of Lenormand are the other ones I've learned so far --I'll want to go back to Lenormand more deeply in time.)

While I am learning it, I am still using the Sacred Geometry Oracle if I have a question I need a definitive answer to, because I have come to trust it's reliable advice. For that I use the three card method laid out in the Way of the Golden Section.

While learning such a complex system as the I Ching however, I have been doing a coin toss method, and it seems like it is best to do just one hexagram for my daily reading. It seems to be working fine, but I know you suggest drawing three of whatever system a person chooses to work with while doing the GSF work. While doing the I Ching however, when I get changing lines from the coin tosses, I will also quite often have a second hexagram to look at and interpret, and then the different lines that changed pointing too within the second hexagram. I did cast three hexagrams, but with all the changing lines etc, I felt it was too much to think about, and overwhelming, so I am going for a single hexagram with whatever it changes into and those lines to look at for daily readings - this provides a considerable amount of info already.

Do you have any thoughts about this modification to my divination practice? I do feel pretty comfortable with three card divination, as I used that as a basic past, present, future spread with Tarot for years before I started the GSF work.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Justin Patrick Moore

Re: I Ching and the Golden Section Fellowship

[ecosophia]

Okay, the three-card rule is purely for divination decks. The I Ching has its own way of doing things, which is what you've been doing. While you're working with the I Ching, follow its traditional method -- just as you don't cast three daily horoscopes each morning!