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.  

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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. 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

[causticus]

Jeff, thanks for your response. Very thought-provoking as always!

1. The whole LARP factor has been bugging me more and more lately. To me, using Anglish (a modern linguistic construct) and digging the aesthetics of knotwork (something that some very crafty and creative present-day artists work with) seems a lot more authentic than trying to pretend you are someone from some arbitrarily-chosen time period and locality. I guess this version of "authenticity" is the exact opposite of how a strict reconstructionist pagan might use that term.

2. Yeah, I've been able to unpack some degree of inspiration from some myths. It's just no one set of myths inspires me more than another. Once I cease being the world's worst meditator, I might be able to unpack some more more profound insights.

3. On Christianity and egregores....I was friendly-arguging with some well-meaning guy over on a social media platform who is taking his own stab at reviving the ancient Roman pagan religion; taking ancient Roman holidays/festivals, mixing in Neoplatonic theology, and taking Catholic holidays and practices and rebranding them as Roman Pagan (what in the automotive industry is referred to as "badge engineering". I was trying to make the case that religions (especially Natural Religions) take many centuries of organic development and much of this development comes from authentic religious experiences of ordinary people. His work seems like an attempt at a top-down engineering project, like an instant, "ready-made" religion that has "just add a bunch of followers, then...boom!" as its next step. I shook my head in a polite manner and wished him the best. This is what inspires me to tinker around and find something that actually works, even if just for me and no one else.