Magic Monday
Apr. 7th, 2024 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
It's just a few minutes to midnight, so we can launch 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 twenty-first published book, my second published book-length translation, and my third co-written project. It's also one of my most famous projects. How to describe Picatrix? The easiest way to explain it is to say that it's a fabled book of forbidden magic written by a mad Arab sorcerer in the early Middle Ages, packed with strange incantations that can call down eldritch powers from the heavens when the stars are right. You know, the Necronomicon!
The big difference is that Picatrix is quite real. It was a manual for professional wizards penned in Muslim Spain in the 11th century by an anonymous Arab author about whose sanity I don't propose to speculate, and it does in fact teach invocations for calling down stellar and planetary powers using astrological magic when the heavens are in an appropriate condition. In its Latin translation, prepared in the 13th century at the court of Alfonso the Wise, King of Castile, it was immensely influential in occult circles all through Europe until the end of the Renaissance, but until Chris Warnock and I got to work on it, there had never been a usable English translation of the Latin text.
Chris and I spent years slogging through the awkward half-Spanish medieval Latin of the text and turning it into readable English, but it finally saw print (via Chris's house press) in 2010. It's been enormously successful, both in terms of sales and as a pair of shock paddles applied to the once-prostrate form of classical astrological magic, which is now once again a widely practiced tradition; it's one I still practice from time to time, though it's not my usual approach to magic. It's only fair to say that this is emphatically not a book for beginners, and requires a good solid knowledge of medieval astrology, Platonic philosophy, and herbalism. If you're up for it, though, you can get a copy here.
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***This Magic Monday is now closed--as in, no further comments will be put through. See you next week!***
The destruction of Atlantis
Date: 2024-04-08 04:22 am (UTC)2) Also, were the psi breeding programs you mentioned once Atlantean or Lemurian?
Oh, and I never got you translation of Picatrix because I saw the diagrams on it and they made me frightened because I felt them to be evil, I don't know why.
Regarding the increased use of hidden potential
Date: 2024-04-08 04:27 am (UTC)That said, I would like to train my mind to boost my capabilities within the reasonable limits I mentioned above. If I remember correctly, you said that there are specific methods that enable this, one of which is discursive meditation. Could you list some others? Also, could you suggest a book or any other resource for this kind of mental training, which employs the methods used by occultists to do mental training?
Re: The destruction of Atlantis
Date: 2024-04-08 04:29 am (UTC)2) The programs Dion Fortune wrote about, the ones that left such extensive traces in Celtic societies (due to a lot of survivors reaching northwest Europe during and after the period of acute sea level rise), were Atlantean.
3) The Picatrix isn't something to handle lightly. It includes quite a bit of powerful and dangerous stuff, and some of the practices are boobytrapped -- Chris and I did our best to identify the traps and warn people, but it requires a great deal of care and thorough knowledge to use effectively. What you sensed from the diagrams may simply have been a "do not touch this!" warning from your intuition.
Re: Regarding the increased use of hidden potential
Date: 2024-04-08 04:34 am (UTC)Occult training of the mind tends to focus on developing psychism (paranormal abilities), developing intuition, and developing memory. For the first, W.E. Butler's How to See the Aura, Practice Psychometry, Telepathy, and Clairvoyance is the text I recommend. For the second, daily practice of divination using any oracle you like is the best way. For the third, Frances Yates' The Art of Memory is a good starting place.
Q
Date: 2024-04-08 05:02 am (UTC)Re: The destruction of Atlantis
Date: 2024-04-08 05:10 am (UTC)If Atlantis was very advanced technologically speaking and didn't use oil (or at least didn't manage to blow through the entire world's oil supply that was created over hundreds of millions of years over 200 years), why does peak oil necessitate an irreversible decline in civilization for us?
Re: Regarding the increased use of hidden potential
Date: 2024-04-08 05:19 am (UTC)1) The "Psmiths" write very interesting book reviews, and the husband of the duo is pretty into math, so many of his reviews touch on it from a more intuitive, deep-understanding way. The latest by him touches on the efforts of an early "AI" researcher to teach kids math using a computer programming language, but along the way he links to other relevant reviews and includes a discussion on how much of "intelligence" is innate versus can be developed and so forth: https://www.thepsmiths.com/p/review-mindstorms-by-seymour-papert
2) Mind Performance Hacks and Mindhacker by Ron and Marty Hale-Evans are collections of techniques for doing various cognitive tasks better, from memory to coming up with novel ideas to focus and more. Their stated goal is to come up with the skills to "be a mentat," though there's less focus in these books on raw calculation than Dune implies for the mentat.
3) Though they tend to be less focused on mathematical models specifically, there's a whole literature on "mental models" for improved clarity in thinking and decision-making. The concept was at least partially pioneered and popularized by Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's business partner, so often the presentation of such assumes you're looking for useful ways of thinking about business, but many are generally useful. The blog Farnam Street has done a lot on them and has published a series of lovely books explaining the most useful ones.
4) The short essay "A Mathematician's Lament" by Paul Lockhart was written by a research mathematician turned math teacher about how the way our culture teaches math stifles all of what is beautiful and interesting about math, and proposes some better approaches. Lockhart has also written some other books on mathematical concepts, like Arithmetic and Measurement, which I understand as trying to get at what these fields of math are doing at a foundational level, but in a way understandable to non-specialists, but I haven't read them yet, so I can't speak to how useful they might be.
5) Though he went publicly dark a while back, Eric Weinstein (brother of his by-now better known brother Bret Weinstein) is a mathematician by training and thinks he has come up with a "theory of everything" that solves various inconsistencies/problems with the mathematical models of fundamental physics. I've listened to some of his talks on the subject, but they went waaaay over my head. I mention him because he has said that his way of approaching math and thinking about it is very different from almost every other serious mathematician he's met, so perhaps his explanations or descriptions of intuitions could spark some novel approaches.
6) Rather tangentially related, but The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin is a lovely book on the process of learning a field deeply, drawn from his experiences as first a youth chess champion, and then a world champion at Tai Qi Quan Push Hands. It's not about math, but he tries to derive principles about learning that apply across fields. It's very abstractness might be a help in this case.
Hope these help, and good luck in your pursuits!
Jeff
Re: The destruction of Atlantis
Date: 2024-04-08 05:38 am (UTC)I have recreated in a very small form, one of the particular energies, tested it on a sensitive subject, who confirmed to me it was real, powerful, weird, and potentially dangerous, which tells me the ancient and modern texts aren't lying.
My Tutor
Date: 2024-04-08 06:02 am (UTC)I have been working on JMG's, "The Occult Philosophy Workbook and odd things have started to happen. I am being woken up usually about 5:30 in the morning by someone I cannot see, hear or feel. This does not stop them waking me up in the dark and keeping me awake. Before this series of meditations, I usually slept in until 6:30 or even 7 a.m.
One morning I was so tired and had a long day in town ahead of me that I pleaded with the entity to let me sleep in and I would meditate that evening. Only that one time was I allowed to sleep in. I did manage to do the meditation that evening.
I believe the entity is waking me up so early because once my husband is up, there is too much going on to meditate. My question for everyone is, has anyone else noticed this happening? Who might this entity be? Despite my insistent tutor, I am finding this book a very valuable and pleasant study.
Maxine
Blessings; Hermetic initiation ritual in Manly P. Hall?
Date: 2024-04-08 06:35 am (UTC)And I hope everybody had a good weekend! :-)
1. To everybody:
I‘m offering blessings again on Wednesday, for everybody who signs up. More info and signup here:
https://thehiddenthings.com/weekly-blessings-14
I practice my blessing skills, and you‘d do me a favour by signing up! :-)
2. To JMG, and everybody else who has pointers for me:
In Manly P. Hall‘s „Secret Teachings of all Ages“, at the beginning of his chapter about Hermes Trismegistos, he gives a curious and dramatic account of a mystery initiation ritual in a temple:
Thunder rolling, the veil of the temple, hung between two lotus-headed columns, tears. The initiator does/says dramatic stuff, the candidate trembles. From the darkness appears a luminous haze/cloud, Thoth Hermes Thrice Greatest appears, surrounded by greenish sheen. His heart changes into an ibis, his brain into a flashing emerald. He holds the caduceus with live snakes.
Then Typhon appears. Hermes hits him with his staff. Typhon dies, and Hermes puts his foot upon Typhon‘s head. Then Hermes disappears again with a bang.
I‘m almost certain that Hall didn’t make this story up himself, but got it from another source, and (probably) paraphrased it.
A. Do you have any idea where he might have taken the account of the Hermetic mystery initiation from?
B. There are some stories about Hermes engaging Typhon, but as far as I can tell, only in the context of Zeus‘ fight with him. And Hermes always seems to do Hermes things (stealing from Typhon, tricking him). I can‘t find an account of Hermes engaging Typhon in a direct fight.
Is anybody aware of any such account?
(It’s mostly the mystery initiation account from A. I’m looking for, and I‘m hoping that B. might be a clue towards finding A.)
C. Do you know any general material about/accounts of Hermetic (= Hermes-themed) Mystery Initiation rituals?
I‘m mostly thinking about ancient temple rituals, but maybe there are newer practices as well (i.e. accounts of such rituals, mentions of them in other texts, but also „scientific“ studies and investigations).
Thanks a lot in advance to everybody who might have pointers for me, and especially to JMG for providing this wonderful and interesting space again!
Milkyway
(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 06:39 am (UTC)Firsts in politics
Date: 2024-04-08 06:39 am (UTC)I saw your recent comment about a possible outlier state to be the first to secede and not necessary Texas. You mentioned Kentucky and that caught my eye as few years ago I did a tarot spread about US civil war and possible separation. It read that five states would initially separate, led by a green state, symbolized in green as a color not green policies, and I immediately thought of Kentucky.
Back then the tarot was not pointing to a civil war but more a confused situation. As trigger for the secession, it called some type of sex scandal or scandal involving a high ranked woman in politics.
In my recent reading, still a woman shows up but the civil war is more assured yet not imminent.
Also the new reading says, Trump is not going to be president, it looked like he’s going to be under house arrest and there will be actually no president. Some type of delay but nobody shows up as the next president.
Anyone seeing similar in your cards or other oracles?
Eclipse
Date: 2024-04-08 06:53 am (UTC)I believe I've read something you've said before about certain Native American customs saying that eclipses are somehow dangerous to be around outside. I was just wondering if I should avoid being outside during this time (I am in Ontario, so I am in its' direct path). I'm just wondering if you could elaborate on that, and let me know if I should avoid being outside during this time. I know you've said not to do any magical workings during this time, but I just wanted to know if there are any other precautions I should take.
Thank you.
Wounds to physical and etheric bodies
Date: 2024-04-08 07:02 am (UTC)Strange question here. Several years ago, I gave the top of my head a good whack on a piece of stiff timber while not paying close attention under a low roof.
The area bled a little bit, healed up so I thought, but then a few months later I noticed that the hair in that part of the scalp started to go thin. It's hard to see unless you're looking for it, but there's a small oval patch where the hair doesn't grow quite as it should.
Ever since then, in quiet moments when my mind's open to seeing the invisible, I've experienced the impression of a sharp, jagged object, like a chunk of iron or even black glass, embedded in that spot.
My training in magic and such matters is minimal, but I do have a background with meditation and visualization. On a few occasions I've visualized myself pulling out the intruding object, which is followed by a sensation of warmth and relief. The overall feeling is not unlike pulling a physical splinter out of the material body, though this is a much larger "object".
It seems odd to me that the symptoms of this otherwise boring injury have carried on for so long, and also that I'm experiencing these images.
Do physical wounds carry over to the etheric or astral bodies? Is there anything else that could be going on?
Much thanks.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 07:04 am (UTC)1. In your geomancy book, the topic of Impedition considers an example of a woman interested in starting a sexual relationship with one of her coworkers and her Mothers are: Amissio, Amissio, Carcer and Fortuna Minor. The querent significator in the 5th house was Via - no perfection - but the judge and the right witness (querent) were both Acquisitio while the left witness (quesited) was populus. Since there was not a direct perfection, it was concluded that the relationship was not going to happen. But the judge and the RW were both Acquisitio, a powerful figure of ‘yesses’. How is it that the lack of perfection overruled the judge and court’s verdict?
Also there was another perfection by translation between the H1 and H10 - her place of work. Does that mean that while her target person might not start a relationship with her, another person at work will?
2. I know you said that you don't work with the grimoires but I wish to ask about the Heptameron whose conjurations have made it into your geomancy book. Do you use that conjuration as well as its sigil/seal or do you use the Rose cross sigil of the archangels?
In the Heptameron, the archangel is called last preceded by the heavenly angel (Tetra for Mercury) preceded by the godnames. But neither the golden dawn or Agrippa's 3 books have a mention of the heavenly angels, which also didn't make it to the Golden Dawn.
Ecosophia Prayer List
Date: 2024-04-08 07:51 am (UTC)Just a heads up, as of April 1st I am now following the guidelines I announced at beginning of the year, and no older prayers are grandfathered in any longer. Which is to say, I've removed any unupdated prayers older than three months from the list. If anyone should notice themselves removed from the list, and wish to be included again, it is a simple matter to leave a comment or private message me, and I will be happy to re-include your prayer for another three month cycle.
Now...
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 Erika's partner James, who passed away on April 4th after a battle with cancer, be blessed, soothed, and lent courage in his soul's onward journey; may Erika be blessed with the support she needs in this difficult time, and be granted the strength and self-understanding to avoid unhealthy levels of darkness and despair.
Jay (SDI) and his family are being seriously impacted by an increase in chemical use in their area; may circumstances come together for Jay, Liz, and their children to relocate swiftly, and that they are well enough to manage until then.
Tyler A's wife Monika's pregnancy is high risk; may Mother and child be blessed with good health and a smooth delivery, and be soothed and healed from their recent pains and discomfort in a manner that supports a positive outcome to the pregnancy.
May Deathcap's friend Mike, who has begun a 5 week course of radiation treatment after a nearly fatal surgery for a malignant tumor on his leg, be healed of his cancer and return to full health quickly and as completely as possible.
May new mother Molly M recover quickly and completely from her recent stroke and the lingering loss of vision and slurred speech that ensued, 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 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 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.
Eclipse
Date: 2024-04-08 08:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 09:58 am (UTC)I'm reading Paths of Wisdom for the second time, this time very slowly, using the characteristics of the spheres and paths for meditation.
In your discussion of the twenty-fifth path and the Veil, you touch briefly on the way in which our pattern-making creation of the world is influenced by unconscious fears (you also mention this earlier in the book.)
I'm familiar with this idea from other traditions, but not the Western Esoteric one. Have you written about it at greater length? Has anyone else that you know of?
Thanks as always.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 10:04 am (UTC)What a fantastic research and translation job you and Warnock did. Congratulations! Could you comment more on accessing the primary sources (which was probably difficult) and how the process of translating the Spanish and Latin of the time into today's English was like (I imagine the languages were mixed in the same sentence).
(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 10:05 am (UTC)One question and one request:
Q: How do I measure an eclipse on my natal chart? The place & time of it's peak where I'm located?
Request is for a brief comment today on what to look for and what cringe to avoid concerning today's eclipse.
The Way of the Four Elements
Date: 2024-04-08 11:17 am (UTC)I just wanted to let you know that my copy of "The Way of the Four Elements" is being delivered today. I'm looking forward to this and can't wait dig into it. Thank you again for putting this together.
Maybe I'll be ready for the Picatrix at some point in this lifetime...
Regards,
Bert
Cosmogenesis etc
Date: 2024-04-08 11:32 am (UTC)I have immensely enjoyed recently discovering your writings and interviews, and you have given me much new food for thought with your wide ranging knowledge and wisdom. I gather that although you have been critical of Blavatsky and Theosophy, your beliefs in many ways correspond or at least converge with theirs: for example, karma/action, reincarnation, the afterlife sojourn, the manifold planes (e.g. upper triad and personality/lower vehicles) of the human and cosmic constititions, the monad's long progressive journey through the kingdoms of nature (mineral, plant, animal, human, beyond...mastership?), a multitude of evolved but finite gods and skepticism about a monotheistic infinite/supreme being, etc.
If humans eventually evolve/graduate into the next kindgom, is this kingdom comprised of the equivalent of your kingdom of polytheistic gods (or at least the higher portions of it)? And how does it compare with Blavatsky's "fifth kingdom" (kingdom of gods/heaven)? Relatedly, who do you believe Blavatsky's "mahatmas" truly were...genuine spiritual masters of this fifth kingdom (the next step on the evolutionary ladder), discarnate errant or deluded/limited (but sincere and honest) philosophers, advanced demons with an insidious geopolitical agenda, her unwitting or unconscious idealizations of people she actually knew, honest hallucinations/projections by Blavatasky, or intentional inventions by a charlatan/fraudster extraordinaire (HPB)?
Is human civilization actually trillions of years old, and is there any empirical evidence for the apparently infinite cyclical cosmogenesis/anthropogenesis propounded in theosophy (as well as in some forms of Hinduism and Buddhism such as the puranas, vedas, pali cannon, though using different language/terminology)? Are such theosophical ideas (regardless of their true origins) worth knowing, understanding, integrating in life? Do you believe there is really an isolable body of beliefs that could be fairly termed the "Ageless or Perennial Wisdom Teachings" that form the fount or source of all the great religions, or is this just a false "umbrella term" to lend legitimacy or credibility to otherwise dubious geo-history and faux spirituality?
I am a bit familiar with the Coloumb inquiry and have read conflicting interpretations (difficult to find neutral/objective info on this contested history); also read that the originals Mahatma Letters have been examined by independent commisions of experts who have concluded that they were indeed not written/forged by Blavatasky. Also, some of her critics seem to have ignored the plausible evidence that her "adepts" did also exist in physical form as actual persons.
Given all the above, what should we take (if anything) from the originary corpus of theosophical teachings (notwithstanding its many new age offshoots and subsequent distortions)? What is worth salvaging and continuing to build upon and what is plainly false and should be discarded? And how to your mind did this split, advancing both truth and error, attain and perdure? I realize no tradition or body of knowledge is absolute, infallible, or all-encompassing, but am trying to separate the wheat from the shaff...or avoid the common (black/white, either/or, binary) temptation to discard the baby with the bathwater.
If you could you help me (begin to) sort these things out I would be very grateful. I feel as though I'm starting all over at Square One with my spiritual/religious beliefs...a mental maelstrom/dark night! Feel free to also suggest your books or links to blogs/interviews where you address some of these ideas and questions. I truly appreciate your widsom and intellectual honesty. PS My deepest condolences on the loss of your wife Sara.
Anthony
Esoteric Freemasonry
Date: 2024-04-08 11:45 am (UTC)This month I will be raised to the grade of Master Mason. I am curious if you know of any good books on esoteric Freemasonry. I came acrodd the books by Jean Louise DiBiassi (head of the Aurum Solid and Freemason) but am not sure if I should look at something else.
Best Regards,
Ian
(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 11:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-04-08 11:58 am (UTC)I hope you're doing OK and getting whatever help and support that you need.
Part data point and part question.
!/ During last month's Lunar eclipse I noticed that my meditations were stronger than usual, button this morning eclipse (or only slightly).
My speculation is that is because the lunar eclipse fell "exactly " on my poor old Natal Mars, afflicted by sign and a very tight T square with Sun, Moon and Uranus. Comment ?
2/ Since then I've noticed more aches and pains and fatigue; does that fit ?
I assume this would pass off ion a few month anyway but suggestions as to how to ease it off would be welcome.
I'm not really bothered- I've had this T square - for a lifetime already :)
All the best
Lurksalong