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

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.

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[milkyway1]

Thanks, that makes sense from the practical end.

I still find it curious that so many "occultist souls" should pick an incarnation as Cathar as part of their personal development.

I wonder if this was solely due to the rather gruesome aspect of getting rid of old karma through being prosecuted, or if there was something else behind it, e.g. in the forms of Cathar teachings or their way of life? (Or maybe I'm overthinking and it just was the occult hotbed of the time, and thus the most obvious place to flock to?). Would you happen to have any thoughts or ideas about this?

Milkyway

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[ecosophia]

It's an interesting question to which I don't happen to know the answer. What I know is simply that a lot of serious occultists over the last century or so who've recalled their past lives have remembered a Cathar life, and yes, quite a few of those ended at the stake.

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[open_space]

Their emphasis on personal experience makes a good karmic pattern for a future occultist I think, since you mentioned their way of life.

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[(Anonymous)]

I remember you mentioning that the Cabala wasn't Jewish originally but they revived it in medieval southern France. It was based on Pythgoras' teachings iirc. Why did Jews at the time decide to do this? Is there a book on the link between the ancient Greeks and the Cabala that emerged in medieval southern France?

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[ecosophia]

Keep in mind that the Jewish communities in the Mediterranean world weren't isolated in ghettos the way they were in central and eastern Europe; they were full participants in the society of their time, and the rabbinical circles in Toulouse and Narbonne that picked up Gnostic ideas and adapted them to Jewish use were simply part of a very broad trend of interest in Gnostic, Pythagorean, and Platonic ideas. As for books, not to speak of, since it's a hot-button issue; Gershom Scholem's The Origins of the Kabbalah is about as close as there is.

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[(Anonymous)]

A fascinating period!

Rather like Andalusia at its peak, where races and religions mixed to some extent, teachers could work openly,and ancient spiritual currents could surface despite orthodox repression and antagonism, eg Sufism.

The cultural area in which Cathars could move was notably very wide at that time: for instance, those who spoke not just Occitan, but any of the southern Romance dialects - such as the Arpitan of my direct ancestors - could live and, more importantly, work and trade happily in France, Spain or northern Italy, in any of the kingdoms or dukedoms and principalities.

However, all things tend to corruption, and the Perfects could degenerate into parasites - just like the later Franciscan friars - and I have read accounts of elderly people being forced to go through the endura somewhat unwillingly by relations intent of getting rid of them under the pretext of giving them a good death.....

Re: Blessings; Cathar incarnations

[ecosophia]

Oh, of course! Humans gonna human, and all that. It's simply that, like the Franciscans, the Cathars were less corrupt at the time than the mainstream hierarchy.