Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is just a few minutes away, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and 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.  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.  And further:  I'm going to draw a line, a hard one, under questions involving the evocation of spirits. Down the road a bit I'll be doing a post on the blog about why that's far less important than it's been made to look, and how the way of occult initiation takes a radically different path; in the meantime, I'm tired of fielding repetitive questions from people (or, quite possibly, one person using many sock puppets) that rotate gyroscopically around that one habit.

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-ninth published book, and remains far and away the most successful of my books from the peak oil era. Its genesis, like most of my other peak oil books, began on the blog I ran in those days, The Archdruid Report, with a series of posts on the appropriate technology movement -- one of the most promising of the movements of the 1970s ecological scene, which attempted to craft advanced technologies that could work within the limits of sustainability. Though it was erased from collective memory by mass media and corporate interests, it produced quite a few useful technologies, and this book was my attempt to bring those back to the attention of those who might use them. Given the steady sales of this book, I still have hope. If you're interested, you can get a copy here.

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. (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, and no further comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

Q

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings everyone!

I am starting to understand the relation between eternal forms and their reflections in our psyche as archetypes.

This article (https://www.openhorizons.org/what-is-the-number-two-whiteheads-eternal-objects-jungs-archetypes-and-infant-psychology.html) alludes at what's going on:
" Kling is right to use the word "resonance." On the one hand, Whitehead and Jung agree that numbers, understood as concepts, are not consciously invented for purposes of calculation. Both would change the title of the BBC podcast from "The Invention of Numbers" to "The Discovery of Numbers." They would see counting as a mode of discovering numbers, not creating them. And both believe that the universe itself includes a place, a reservoir, where numbers have their autonomous reality, even if not perceived or actualized by human beings. For Jung this is the collective unconscious, for Whitehead it is the primordial nature of God. When we awaken to numbers - for example the number 2 - we are awakening to one or both of reservoirs.

On the other hand, Jung's idea that numbers are spontaneous and autonomous products of the unconscious will seem different from Whitehead's idea that numbers, understood as eternal objects, are pure potentials which lack agency of their own. Whitehead's eternal objects can be actualized by the world, but they do not actualize themselves. If they have spontaneity, this spontaneity is not that of an agent.

Perhaps the key to reconciling these differences lies in recognizing that eternal objects begin to function archetypally, once they are actualized by actual entities in the universe and become part of its collective unconscious. As they become part of the unconscious, their presence as felt becomes charged with subjective aims, and subjective forms that they do not have in the mind of God. When twoness becomes part of the universe, it has a power it lacked when it was merely in the mind of God."

1) This helps me understand that archetypes then influences the creation of lower order concepts and ideas by being their perceptual mirror so to speak.

2) I tried to divine whether planetary influences, the zodiac, and the spheres of the kaballah were archetypes. It said the zodiac and the spheres of the kaballah are archetypes but the planetary influences are not. Could you speak to these details and help me understand them a bit better?

Re: Q

[ecosophia]

1) A great many people misunderstand Jung. He didn't say that the numbers as such were spontaneous products of the psyche; he said that the aspect of numbers that he dealt with as a psychologist could be described that way. He went out of his way to point out that he wasn't rejecting, or for that matter affirming, a metaphysical dimension to the archetypes -- it simply wasn't what he, as a psychologist, intended to talk about.

2) I have no idea what your divination was getting at. From my perspective the planets are as archetypal as either of the others.

[jenniferkobernik]

Hi JMG,

2 questions re: 5 rites, if I may:

1) If unable to perform the physical exercises for a time, is it okay to continue with the solar plexus meditation and later the visualization of the other vortices spinning?

2) Since doing the first phase of the 5 rites (exercises, solar plexus meditation, cell salts, tepid bathing), I have had an odd, fairly bad ache in my lower back. The thing is, it doesn’t seem to be caused by the physical exercises, but by the solar plexus meditation. Have you encountered this symptom before or know what might be going on, and do you recommend ceasing the meditation or changing anything?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, but see below.

2) Try stopping the solar plexus meditation for a month, get some therapeutic massage to your lower back, and then pick it up again and see whether you can do it without the backache. If a practice causes you physical pain, that's a warning to heed.

A riff off of friday's discussion

[degringolade]

I suppose that this comment is a riff off of the discussion of the costs and merits of caffeine that happened over at “Frugal Friday” last week.

Most everyone was of the opinion that caffeine was a good thing. But it got me to thinking, and then I got to thinking about the four temperaments (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic),

Now this isn’t a request for medical advice, but it seems that the use of something like regular cups of tea/coffee might be more or less appropriate for folks of these differing temperaments. I am thinking that the positive aspects of use/abuse of coffee/tea would decrease in the order of;

1.) Melancholic,
2) Choleric,
3.) Phlegmatic,
4.) Sanguine

Any thoughts on this? I am struggling through trying to figure out the whole four elements/Galen way of looking at things. I figure that everything you put in your body has a mixed bag of good and bad effects.

Re: A riff off of friday's discussion

[ecosophia]

Oh, of course caffeine has mixed effects, and those can be a problem, especially if it's overused or misused. I'm not sure exactly how its effects would work on that scale, though I tend toward the melancholic temperament and it's true that I get along well with modest amounts of caffeine.

Eeman Screens

[temporaryreality]

I have a question for anyone who has built an Eeman screen/biocircuit - particularly the frequent, anonymous commenter, but really for anyone who's made one.

I'll ask here, but I've also started a post with an open comment section on my dreamwidth blog (click my username to go there), so if the conversation looks like it might want to be continued past today (or past our host's patience), let's feel free to move over there.

My question is about the method of construction of the handles. The information I've come across is really little more than a supplies list and I have not been able to wrap my mind around how to combine copper-pipe handles, wire, pop rivets, and the terminal connectors that are all listed in the Patten book.

Is it possible to just attach the wire to the handles with the rivets? Are the rivets even necessary if the wires connect to the terminal connectors directly and if those in turn contact the handles?

Alternatively, if Eeman found that a) the mesh conducts the relevant subtle energies, and b) the conductive material or mesh doesn't need to touch skin and can be a slight distance away from the body, what if the "handles" were simply mesh/screen loops into which one could insert one's hands (with the side benefit of allowing more completely relaxation as you wouldn't need to grip anything). There's also the plus, here, of being able to weave the wire directly into said mesh loops without additional supplies.

Thanks!

Re: Eeman Screens

[(Anonymous)]

Hi TemporaryReality,
I built my Eeman devices with copper pipe with copper wire simply in connection with the copper pipe by drilling a hole in the end of the copper pipe. I prefer not to use rivets because I assume every substance I include in the circuit may be a conductor of etheric energy. Along those lines, for the first circuit I built, I used copper wire insulated with plastic of the sort you can find at any big box hardware store. I realized this wire is introducing plastic into the circuit, so I switched to wire rope encased in undyed cotton drawstring material. I found that gentler. I also used acetone on the copper pipe to remove the ink printing on it and then rinsed the pipe in water. From my perspective everything in the circuit has energy, so I even lay on a piece of undyed cotton over a cushy yoga mat when I lay in circuit so that my body is touching cotton and not the plastic mat or the plastic laminate floor in my house.

Having said all of that, I find the silk biocircuit I am now regularly using to be even more gentle than copper and well worth building (pretty easy with a sewing machine).

I am happy to continue the conversation on your dreamwidth journal outside of MM. Thanks for setting that up.

Handling Saturn In Detriment

[(Anonymous)]

Last Magic Monday a poster asked about Saturn entering his detriment next year. For me Saturn is mixed dignity and located in the 9th house. This got me thinking about what it will mean. The 9th house as I understand it rules spirituality, higher education, long distance travel, and possibly other stuff. (I say possibly because I've read conflicting information here.)

What does this look like for spiritual pursuits? Will starting them during this period not work out? Continuing them will prove difficult? That it'll be one long dry spell?

Aside from using caution are there other ways to make things easier? Invoking Jupiter to offset the Saturnine influence or doing planetary charity? Working with Mercury for travel? Are any of these worth doing or will none of them make a difference in those areas impacted?

Re: Handling Saturn In Detriment

[ecosophia]

You'll want to consult somebody with a background in natal astrology, which I don't really have. I can tell you that how it affects you will depend on how Saturn's current and upcoming positions affect your entire chart by transit; if it trines your natal Sun when it passes into Aries, that's going to have one effect, while if it squares your natal Mars six months later it's going to have a very different effect them!

The Occult and Architecture

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, and commentariat,

Greetings from across the pond.

I hope you are doing well. This is my first time posting but have been following your blog for a couple of months. I have a small but growing collection of your books and today I became a long awaited and now very happy owner of The Academy Of The Sword, which I'm really looking forward to reading.

I have two questions for today that follow along a similar vein.

I studied architectural design at University and as you've highlighted in your ongoing posts on lenocracy there wasn't much in it, if at all, that wouldn't have worked better in an apprenticeship of some kind. Infact those course mates who got work in the field afterwards in low paid entry level jobs essentially had apprenticeships for the first year or so to learn the better way of doing things!

All that being said, my path ended up being different and I have the chance to self study, filling in gaps that were missed and following my own intrests.

1, Can you recommend any historic or modern books relating to occultism and house design or architecture? (This can include architects or architectural design practices ) Any threads I can follow would be greatly appreciated.

2, I know that Feng Shui is more than just the basic approach that has been adopted in the west over the last few decades, and includes aspects of geomancy and the placement not just of furniture and rooms but whole buildings. I wondered if there is there was an earlier existing western occult system that you are aware of that is similar to the design layout/principles practiced in Feng Shui?

Many thanks,

Rob

Re: The Occult and Architecture

[ecosophia]

1) There's a lot of literature on that, much of it confused and inaccurate, and even more of it taking a fragment for the whole. You should certainly start with Rudolf Wittkower's Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism and then go on to Richard Padovan's Proportion, which disagrees with almost everything Wittkower suggests. (Neither of these is by an occultist, which makes what they have to say all the more interesting.) Then it's time for a deep dive into historical works on architecture, starting with De Architectura by Vitruvius, fortunately long since translated into English, and going on from there to the Renaissance classics. (Padovan's discussion will point you to the texts you need.) That will give you the background you need to pursue your own studies. Most current literature on sacred geometry is frankly drivel, but there are exceptions; with the background I've sketched out you'll be able to sort them out.

2) Yes, but it survives only in the most fragmentary forms. You might look into Nigel Pennick's books Sacred Geometry, Creating Places of Power, and Geomancy for one of the most sustained efforts to reconstruct it.

The Mood of the Runes

[(Anonymous)]

Esteemed JMG and all!

I really regret missing the real-time discussion last Monday—so many good questions and discussions! I much enjoyed the discussion about characterizing various forms of divination, and it explained a lot to me about why so many of them don’t work well for me. I’m responding here regarding the runes as a divinatory system, following on Jeff Russell’s good response last week, and something you said, JMG, about those who do Ogham well don’t do Runes well, and vice versa. Both of these systems, to my mind, have important roots in a specific culture and historical timeframe, and the more those roots are embedded in the diviner, the better that cultural divination system works.

For me, each of the runes has a ‘mood,’ and this mood is more than we tend to think of today when we use the word ‘mood.’ Mood is a fundamental aspect of soul, in the Heathen soul lore that I explore. The runes express moods and nuances that are also expressed in the ancient lore: in myths, legends, poetry, sagas, tales, folklore, landscape, historical events and trends, and fundamentally in the old languages themselves. As Jeff implied, the Heathen Deities speak through the runes, express their own moods and states of being as responses to one’s query.

Each of the runes has its own complex, multivariate, nuanced mood; it’s not a matter of just “Oh, I’m a happy rune! I’m a grumpy one!” When I am given a rune to ponder in divination, I sink into all the cultural / historical / spiritual nuances each rune offers, based on my experience and learning, which may differ from how others perceive it. It starts, for me, by meditatively repeating the rune-poem(s) associated with that rune in the original language(s), and follows cues, clues, and moods stretching out in all directions from there. I could give a few examples if asked. It’s a lot like the exercise of discursive meditation.

The mood of each rune has grown from many sources and is expressed in the rune poem(s) for each one, but I think the fundamental source is the Norns and their Well of Wyrd. In the Old Norse poem the Voluspa, the Norns are described here:

Urdh one is called, Verdandi another,
Scoring on a slip of wood, Skuld is third.
Layers they lay, life choose
For children of Aldr (mortals), speak orlog.
(verses 20-21, my translation)

The ‘scoring on a slip of wood’ must refer to carving runes, whether the ones we humans know, or other runes specific to the Norns and their mysteries. The verb ‘to shape,’ in all the Germanic languages, including modern English, is derived from Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European words for ‘carving, cutting.’ The Norns score or carve runes on slips of wood, and they shape orlog / wyrd—the word ‘shape’ is often used in reference to their actions. (I’m explaining this in much more depth in the book I’m writing about orlog.) In the process of doing so, what the Norns shape is infused with its own mood, arising from all the layers of orlog in the Well that went into its shaping—all the layers of history, culture, language, events, godly influences, etc. This includes the shaping of each of the runes, as well as the shaping of people, events, etc.

(I would say the same thing about JMG’s beautiful Sacred Geometry Oracle: those geometrical shapes arise from the Wells of Being / Existence, too, in different but equally profound ways, and JMG has captured their moods so well in his oracle! The meditative exercises for drawing the geometries is a form of creative shaping, as the Norns do, and the process of discursive meditation is very similar to the process of exploring the layers of orlog, the ‘ur-layers’ or primal / originating layers in the Well of Wyrd that relate to a given subject or mood.)

The mood of each rune interfaces in its own way with the moods of our own souls, our own personal history, our wyrd, outlook, the language we speak and think in, many personal factors. The result is a combination of the mood of each rune with the moods of our own souls, different for each of us. This creates a web of understanding within us, a set of lenses through which to pursue divination and other work with the runes from our own perspective, our own roots of being blended with the roots of the runes and the wisdom they bear.

As people remarked in the discussion, some forms of divination are better for some kinds of questions than others. I find that questions relating to what actions I should take, what response to make to a given situation, what direction I should go in, and similar questions work well for the ‘mood of the runes.’ The results of the divination indicate one or several interwoven ‘moods.’ I then explore in my imagination what actions or responses would create such a mood in me—whether a desired mood, or one to avoid; what would cause me to respond with that mood, or require that mood for its pursuit and achievement, or warn me off a course of action by its negativity, then follow that rede of the runes. Again, ‘mood’ here is more than ‘just a mood.’ It is a movement, a coloration, a music or resonance of the soul, and it can be deliberately chosen and strengthened, or withstood and resisted, as well as being something we ‘just fall into.’

Getting back to JMG’s note about Ogham versus Runes, I think this is why it’s hard to be good at both: both systems are deeply rooted in specific cultural nuances and languages, as you summarize so nicely for the Ogham Fews in your “Druidry Handbook,” JMG. It’s very clear, from reading through those summaries, what great depth of cultural understanding undergirds the Fews, and explains in part why Druids needed to study for so many years! All of this cultural depth creates the moods of the Fews.

The degree of work and study, of immersion into the respective cultures and languages needed for this approach to a divinatory system would be daunting if one tried to do it for both Runes and Ogham Fews, not to mention trying it for the many other traditional culture-based divination methods that exist around the world! So I'm thinking that might be one reason why if one is good in one system, it's difficult to be as good in another that requires immersion into a different culture, language, etc. I'd be interested to know whether others agree?

It seems to me that the system of Tarot is more based on our modern Western culture—‘modern’ meaning the last few centuries—and hence its popularity and resonance for many diviners today. There’s no need to learn about and immerse oneself in cultures, languages, philosophies, etc, that are very different from our own in order to make powerful use of this system, though learning about the history and development of the Tarot is certainly useful, I assume, and it’s important to explore the symbolism contained in it.

Well, sorry to go on for so long, but it’s an intriguing topic to explore; as I said, I was very interested to read the comments on the different characters of divination systems, and figured I’d add my own two cents here…or maybe three! It probably goes without saying that what I write about the Runes here is my own perspective; others can and do approach them quite differently and find the Runes work very well for them in other ways than mine.

My thanks to you, JMG, for this forum, and my good wishes to all who want them!

Winifred Hodge Rose

Re: The Mood of the Runes

[ecosophia]

Of course you're right about the depth of cultural context in the runes and other oracles, but there may also be some other factor involved. I've known people who had no exposure to Norse or Germanic tradition (and also no heredity from those parts of the world) who picked up the runes and immediately started doing good clear accurate readings with them, just as I've known people with zero exposure to Celtic culture and no Celtic ancestry who had a similar experience with the Ogham. Maybe it's a matter of past incarnations, but I sometimes wonder if there are deeper factors -- if some people just naturally resonate with one or the other fundamental oracular structure.

As for the tarot, despite various handwaving in occult circles, the first version of the tarot was invented in Milan sometime around 1415 by Marziano da Tortona, and the version most people use these days came into being over the next fifty years or so in the same part of Italy. The transformations that turned a lively card game to the world's most popular divination system happened in France and England between 1783 and 1909. So it's a thoroughly modern Western oracle.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm meditating on Chokmah right now and it looks like we can map the Sacred Geometry shapes onto the Tree of Life. If Chokmah is the second Kether, we have a second circle. Then Binah becomes the Vesica, Chesed the equilateral triangle and Geburah the square. It correlates nicely all the way down. Even Yesod with an eight sided figure works well because there are eight main phases of the moon and eight can imply regeneration. Malkuth as nine also works because nine is the end.

JMG, do you discuss this in your book, The Way of the Golden Section? I think I may start following your Golden Section Fellowship.

Jon
tangerine tangential cactus

[ecosophia]

No, I didn't discuss it anywhere. I left quite a bit for students and practitioners to discover all by themselves, through their meditations. ;-)

Weird of Hali

[goats_and_roses]

Hi JMG,
I am rereading Weird of Hali for the umpteenth time. I have a question about something in there: in the book there is talk about a group of humans that intentionally desecrated 7 sacred places on earth, which then distorted and corrupted the voor of the surrounding areas and affected the whole earth, and somehow suppressed the power of the Old Ones who are pretty much nature gods and goddesses.

Did something like that happen in our world and in humanity’s history? Are there anti-nature forces working intentionally to desecrate earth?
Thanks, Goats and Roses

I mean, its obvious that humanity is polluting, disrupting, and depleting very fast and thoroughly, and decimating the populations of other living creatures. My question is whether that has all been intentional…….. that is a terrifying thought.

Re: Weird of Hali

[ecosophia]

Something happened, certainly. I don't think it was intentional in the sense I used as a plot engine -- that is to say, there wasn't some kind of secret plot involved, and of course the Mi-Go don't happen to exist so they couldn't have had a part in it. But the points I made in the first volume about when the oracles fell silent and miracles stopped -- that's historical. Something shifted and set our species on its present trajectory, and the long war against the old gods and goddesses of nature is part of it.

Rooms of the athanor

[randomactsofkarmasc]

In Man: the Grand Symbol, Hall includes an image from Cohn’s Treatise on Cabalistic Medicine, “showing correspondences between the compartments of the human body and the rooms of the house.” It is quite similar to the athanor pictured in Lambspring.

I have searched online; the only versions I can find are all written in Hebrew. Do you know of any versions that have been translated into English?

Re: Rooms of the athanor

[ecosophia]

I don't know of one, though I haven't looked hard for it.

[(Anonymous)]

1. OK, thanks. I may give the GSF version a try to see what I might learn from the experience, but it's nice to know that I can also use the old, familiar version.

2. That's great news. What's the working title, so I can be on the lookout for it? And until your book comes out, is there something I could do in preparation for that work, such as some GSF-compatible reading or practices?

3. Subtle scents that don't smoke a lot are just what I'm looking for, and I should have mentioned that I prefer asian scents. Thanks for the recommendations.

Thank you for hosting this space and sharing your wisdom.

KT

[ecosophia]

2) The working title of the Cabala book is A Cabala for the 21st Century. While you're waiting for it, you might want to read the collection of John Gilbert's Cabalistic papers I edited a little while back, The Tree of Spirit; a good thorough reading of The Mystical Qabalah won't hurt, though John's (and my) approach to the Tree differs from Dion Fortune's in important ways.

3) You're welcome! I know the feeling -- a lot of Western scents are frankly crass.

World War III

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you JMG for the Magic Mondays

Will there be nuclear war this time around?

The USA seems to be hell bent on it, after destroying most of the world over the past 70 years, South America: wholesale destruction, the Middle East: just look at pictures before and after American democracy ...now using Europe to take Russia and the resources...You said somewhere that these battles had already been fought in the spiritual realm, and so we are just looking at the consequences...delayed , here on Earth...would you elaborate on that? or maybe write an essay soon?

Also what's the occult meaning of these alignments of the planets...there's one tonight

Thank you


Umber Woozy Satyr

Re: World War III

[ecosophia]

1) You're watching the death throes of an empire. It's not the biggest or the bloodiest empire in this cycle of human history -- that was the British Empire, which dominated more of the Earth and enforced its rule more savagely than we ever managed (though most British people won't admit that these days). No doubt the next global empire -- I think we'll probably get one more, before declining energy and resource availability forces a contraction to mere regional/continental empires -- will be briefer and less able to engage in mass murder than we are. I don't expect a nuclear war, for reasons I've elaborated at some length here --

https://thearchdruidreport-archive.200605.xyz/2012/11/deterrence-in-age-of-decline.html

-- but it's going to be a long, slow, difficult process with a lot of deaths on all sides. No empire ever falls easily.

As for the conjunction of planets, well, you've heard of astrology, right? That's where you'll find the occult significance of those. You can find quite a few astrologers online talking about them. I don't, because the branch of astrology I work with -- political astrology -- doesn't find them useful for prediction.

[diletpoly]

The answers to last weeks questions seem to have helped me focus and improve my meditation practice, at least for a week now. Hopefully it'll keep up.

No questions this week, just a thank you to JMG and the commentariat. I'm doing a better job of keeping up with the MM in realtime, and it seems to be good for me as it gets my curiousity/creative juices flowing.

Oh, I suppose a minor question for our host. I'm in the process of converting the Essene documents into an Epub format so it's easier to read on my phone or kindle. I know, according to the license, I can publish that, but I'd like to ask JMG's blessing to put it out there, before I do. I've made a couple of very minor edits that are in all likelyhood fixing artifacts of the conversion process, but for the most part I've left it completely as-is, other than putting in a link back to the original.

Thanks,

The Dilettante Polymath

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted that you're doing this. Let me know when they're available -- right now I use .mobi rather than .epub files, due to having a couple of secondhand antique Kindles, but conversion isn't hard.

kundalini and karma

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Some sources, including Hiroshi Motoyama, discuss kundalini burning up or eliminating karma. It is described as a substance held in the subtle body, which at first seems to conflict with the idea of karma as unfolding consequences in the outer world that must be experienced before we are free from it. During my awakening, I have had numerous experiences of entering a pronounced low mood with intense thoughts and emotions becoming focussed around a particular issue, coupled with a range of energy sensations. After a day or two, this usually subsides and I feel cleaned out, with the issue seemingly resolved for good. As an example, one of these episodes was about being smothered in relationships with women (mother and ex-wife). I felt such an overwhelming feeling of being stifled, like the essence of biting your tongue or giving up on voicing your opinion or desires for years and years experienced intensely over an hour or so, followed by vehemence that it would never happen again. I assume this is what Motoyama and others are referring to.

Do you agree with this? Have you had any experiences like this?

Re: kundalini and karma

[ecosophia]

Fascinating. Yes, that does sound like what he's talking about. I haven't had those experiences myself -- Saturn is too strongly placed in my chart, so I get karma in the form of big lumpy obstacles that sit there patiently until I deal with them.

[thinking_turtle]

For those who wonder what UB, Monsters or LRP mean, a list of abbreviation used on Ecosophia.

Thanks for the weekly snippets about your books!

[ecosophia]

You're welcome and thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG -

1) I've been practicing the SoP on and off for a couple of years now, although I've only gotten as far as the invoking and banishing of Earth. Does the ritual have any effect even though I'm only doing it partially, or do I have to get the whole thing going in order to have anything happen?

2) Can you provide a link to your posts on the 5 Rites?

Thank you,
David

[ecosophia]

1) You'll get some benefits out of doing any of it, but it will have more benefits the further you proceed.

2) I didn't post about it; it went straight to book format.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

A few Mondays ago you wrote you were leaning more and more towards the older occult tradition vs ritual magic as time passes and I would like to respectfully ask why?

Your comment was made answering a question about "what do you want" (all of us as individuals that is).

Many thanks for these Mondays.

[ecosophia]

Partly it's simply that magic did its work for me. When I first started studying magic I was profoundly dissatisfied with my life, and for good reason: it sucked. After some false starts I realized that the best way to change my life was to change myself, and with some hard work using magic for that purpose I got the life I wanted. One of the reasons I don't do much magic these days is that I have what I want -- there really isn't anything I would change, and if I do need to make an adjustment here or there I know the methods well enough that it's just a matter of doing a familiar working and then letting the results happen.

Partly, though, over time I've come to recognize that magic is a rather clumsy brute force method and there are simpler ways to do things that are equally effective. For example, I don't need to do workings to make my books successful; I simply use astrology to elect times to propose and submit the manuscripts, and surf the positive energies that are already in process. Equally, there are meditative methods for doing things like deflecting and absorbing nasty magic, on the occasions that some of that gets sent my way; it doesn't require the fancy handwaving. So I leave the handwaving to others and simply do things the way I prefer.

[(Anonymous)]

2) Somehow I missed seeing your edited book of John Gilbert's papers. I'll definitely get a copy and study that.

Also, I saw the interesting question from someone else asking you about mapping Sacred Geometry onto the Tree of Life. I had vaguely wondered whether that could be or had been done. Is it something your new book will include? Perhaps meditating on those correspondences myself would be a worthwhile exercise while I wait for your book to come out.

Thanks again!
KT

P.S. I completely agree about the crass nature of Western incense scents. Let's just say that I'm glad I finally finished up using what I had so that I can get something more palatable.

[ecosophia]

I certainly recommend meditating on those correspondences! No, the new book will focus on the distinctive philosophy, symbolism, and practical methods of Cabalistic work I learned from John; if I ever really explore the interface between sacred geometry and the Tree it'll be in another book.

orgone/earth pipes

[fringewood]

Just a quick post to say that we put 8 orgone/earth pipes on our property and we are very happy with the results. The pipes are small, about 6 inches of copper tubing 3/4 inch diameter, filled and sealed. We did it last year just before harvest and noticed our kale plants got huge. This year everything is taking off early, peach, pear and apple trees bloomed and fruiting, berry bushes and strawberries as well.All vegetables up and thriving. Our place is so lush and verdant it takes my breath away at times.

We are blessed.

We plan to place 3 more next month. I highly recommend others use them in their gardens.
TSW!

Re: orgone/earth pipes

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted to hear it. Have you posted the design you used somewhere, so that other people can copy it and put it to work?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG. What do you think about Aradia - The Gospel of the Witches?

[ecosophia]

A very odd book. I tend to think that there's at least some scraps of medieval tradition caught up in Leland's book, if only because there are medieval references to a witch-goddess or female spirit with a name fairly close to Aradia -- Carlo Ginzburg's book Ecstasies covers some of the evidence, as I recall. But any original medieval material has been heavily overlaid by Leland's own romantic notions,. borrowed to a significant degree from Jules Michelet's Satanism and Witchcraft, and, quite possibly, by 18th and 19th century Italian secret society culture; J.M. Roberts' The Mythology of the Secret Societies is a good introduction here. So it's a jumble.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm wondering about how important it is to have a coherent narrative in one's life. It seems to me that the people who do tend to have much more unified will than those of us who have no 'life story' but just see it as 'one darned thing after another'. There is the very large exception of those whose life narrative is one of victim-hood, but it occurs to me that perhaps their wills are focused too-- such people seem to be very good at ginning up situations to fuel their sense of victimhood, after all.

Do you think that it is worth the effort to find some procrustrean narrative to fit one's experiences into as one means to assist with disordered will?

[ecosophia]

You can certainly experiment with it and see if it helps. I haven't found that to be necessary, but of course your mileage may vary.

Energy centres

[(Anonymous)]

Are the energy centres archetypes or related to them in some way? Or are those correspondences merely symbolic?

I ask because I noticed major changes in perception after energy work and I’m wondering how that works.

Re: Energy centres

[ecosophia]

I think you need to stop and think about what an archetype is. Is your gall bladder an archetype? (Hint: no.) Not everything falls into that one category!

If you're not sure about what archetypes are, Carl Jung's Man and Symbol is a good place to start.

Disposing of Used 'Red Bag' Contents?

[(Anonymous)]

I apologize if this question has been asked and answered before.

For the "Red Bag" amulet from the FAQ (or the larger "Red Jar" you suggested in a previous Magic Monday), what is the best way to dispose of the used salt and nails after they get used up by whatever etheric funk is flying around?

Thank you in advance, and thank you very much for hosting these.

Re: Disposing of Used 'Red Bag' Contents?

[ecosophia]

The nails should be buried if at all possible. The salt? Get cold water running in the sink, and pour the salt into the drain slowly enough that it all dissolves and gets washed down. That'll take care of it.

Any Good New Thought Authors?

[(Anonymous)]

Are there any New Thought authors whom you think highly of? Many if not all of them seem to focus on what we would now call “self-improvement,” though I think of it as trying to improve one’s life, usually in a material sense, which is a thing I wish to do.

In my mind, the subsequent New Age self-help books I’ve encountered, which appear to have been influenced by New Thought, seem to reflect unfavorably on it in a retroactive The Secret Pink Bubble Meditation way, full of faked-up optimism that appeals to people with an undue sense of entitlement.

Are there any such earlier authors whose works or ideas in your view one could actually use in the way I have suggested? If so, who?

Re: Any Good New Thought Authors?

[ecosophia]

In one of my books I drew a distinction, which I still think is valid, between the pragmatic and the psychotic wings of New Thought. The pragmatic wing taught realistic techniques to help you deal with the difficulties of life. The psychotic wing taught fantasies of universal omnipotence. You know as well as I do which one became most popular.

Of the figures on the pragmatic wing, the one I respect the most is Burks Hamner. I got a copy of his Order of the Essenes correspondence course years ago, and it did me a very great deal of good. You can find the whole thing for free download here:

http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/wing_lessons/order_of_the_essenes_florida/

The first course of 23 lessons, studied at a rate of one lesson a week, is a very solid introduction to the pragmatic side of New Thought. The second course of 29 lessons builds on it; after that, Hamner mostly just repeated himself.

Home Planet?

[(Anonymous)]

Which of the seven traditional planets, if any, is most associated with the safety and stability of hearth and home?

Re: Home Planet?

[ecosophia]

Depends on what threatens that safety and stability. Saturn protects against most instabilities, but Mars guards against violence, Jupiter against poverty, and Venus against the loss of mutual affection that wrecks so many homes.