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've decided that questions involving the evocation of spirits are permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I'll have a post on this on the blog in due time.

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 thirtieth published book and, in sales terms, one of my least successful works yet. I was invited by a small psychology press, Karnac Books, to write a book about the psychological implications of peak oil. It was an interesting project and one that I accepted with enthusiasm; it got a nice clean editing job and a good cover, and saw print. The result was one of my better books, a tolerably crisp analysis of the cascading mental health consequences of the mismatch between the modern mythology of progress and the reality of decline. Those few psychologists who noticed its existence at all, however, responded with horror or flat dismissal. Its sales have been so modest that, while it remains in print (with a firm that bought out most of Karnac's titles), the distributor that supplies stock to my Bookshop store doesn't carry it. You can get it from your favorite online bookstore.

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. See you next week!***

Comments

Keeping a Polytheistic Household and Alternative Spirituality that Has Outlasted Fads

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

For any who will mark it on Sunday, a happy Fathers' Day!

To Share: Galina Krasskova has written a nice little guide to incorporating polytheistic belief into running a household, which I found a helpful reminder, and some of y'all might as well: https://krasskova.wordpress.com/2024/05/16/how-to-keep-a-polytheistic-household-a-beginners-guide/

To Ask: As I mentioned, last week you somewhat pre-empted this question by mentioning hoodoo and the Spiritual Church movement in your answer to my question then (https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/282498.html?thread=49001346#cmt49001346), but I was wondering:

what alternative spirituality groups/movements/religions/trends besides the biggie that comes to mind (The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints) and Revival Druidry would you point to as doing a better job of riding the boom/bust wave of religious fads than, say, Spiritualism, Theosophy, and (apparently) Neopaganism?

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: Keeping a Polytheistic Household and Alternative Spirituality that Has Outlasted Fads

[ecosophia]

Oh, Druidry hasn't done a good job at all. Remember that when I became head of AODA in 2003 it had all of eleven members and I was the youngest by thirty years. The Revival was nearly dead in this country, though it responded well to shock paddles. ;-)

In terms of churches that have done a much more effective job, you'd want to look at the more robust African-American churches, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and you'd want to look at the more enduring New Thought churches such as Unity. Some occult orders, such as Builders of the Adytum and the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, have also been able to keep things going in a fairly steady way.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG, I have two questions this evening:

1) It has recently come to my awareness that I've been under psychic attack from a person in my life for a number of years now. It manifests like a hex but I don't think they're a magician; they just bear me ill will. It isn't possible for me to cut off contact with this person for the foreseeable future (think coworker or family member) so I'm looking for suggestions on charms or practices that I can use to protect myself. I do regular smoke cleansings of my house and hoodoo washes but they have limited effect. It was just a few days ago that I put it together that the negative energy kept returning because of the semi-regular presence of this person in my life. What can I do to protect myself specifically from this?

2) I've recently felt called to venerate Jupiter, which is a new thing for me, I'm more of a "talk to trees and birds" kind of person. Where can I find information on how to do planetary charity and/other other ways to celebrate Jupiter?

Thank you,

FSH

[ecosophia]

1) Do you practice a daily banishing ritual? That's my standard suggestion in such cases, and of course it has many other benefits.

2) Pray to him and ask him to guide you -- he's the expert on the subject, you know!

Seriously -- a relationship with a planetary intelligence is exactly that, a relationship. It's not something you can manage by following other people's rules.

Computers

[(Anonymous)]

This might be wrong but a divination suggested that computers (of the modern kind) were invented before. What are people's thoughts?

Re: Computers

[ecosophia]

Did you ask whether it was on earth or somewhere else? There are a lot of star systems in the universe, and some of them are billions of years older than ours...

Father’s Day

[(Anonymous)]

If you are, were, have, or had a father, Happy Father’s Day!

For those who are searching for their fathers, may you find him, and when you find him, may you also find love between you.

—Princess Cutekitten

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 or in the comments at the first link above.



* * *
This week I would like to bring special attention to the following prayer requests.

May Jennifer’s father Robert, who passed away on May 29th, be blessed and soothed, and may his soul be helped to its ultimate destiny and greatest good.



Tyler A's wife Monika's pregnancy is high risk, and has now successfully entered the third trimester; may Monika and baby Isabelle both be blessed with good health and a smooth delivery.



May Jennifer's mother Nancy G. in SW Missouri is still recovering from various troubles including brain surgery for hydrocephaly; may she be healed, regain her mobility, and be encouraged with loving energy.



May Erika, who recently lost her partner James and has been dealing with major knee problems (and who senses a connection between the two), be healed in both broken heart and broken knee, and be able to dance in the sun once more.



May Doug Y of Geauga County, Ohio be supported and healed as he makes his way through the diagnosis and treatment process for prostate cancer.



May Ms. Krieger's hometown of Norwalk, Connecticut recover quickly and fully from the gasoline tanker fire that destroyed an overpass and shut down interstate 95 on May 2. May the anger and fire that has made driving in the area so fraught cool down in a way that benefits all beings. May all people, animals, and other beings around the highway, the adjacent river and the harbor be protected and blessed, and may the natural environment improve to the benefit of all. (update)



May Christina, who passed away on 5/8, experience a peaceful repose; may the minor child she leaves behind be cared for, and the needs of all affected me met; and may her family be comforted in this 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 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 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)]

Greetings, mr. Greer! Hope you're doing fine. Thanks for answering our questions.

Today I want to ask about the way the good old Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is badmouthed around the net. I've been following a Golden Dawn program and never had any problems with it. But I keep reading about the LBRP actually tends to make the practitioner more and more "sterile," as in "distante from spiritual contacts." They say one could "cut themselves" from the spirit world by doing too much of the ritual. I, of course, know you don't agree. However I must confess that even though I've been studying magic and doing the LBRP and other GD rituals for a few years, nothing really HAPPENED. I never saw anything, never experienced a single thing out of the ordinary. As I'm christian all of these became sort of a religious expression to me, but I wonder if I'm not doing something wrong and actually making myself "cut off" from whatever I'm supposed to be experiencing.

[ecosophia]

Are you just doing the LBRP, or are you doing the Middle Pillar exercise daily? Just banishing every day can have an unbalancing effect; the Middle Pillar is an invocation, and thus balances the banishing.

The broader issue here, though, is that the ritual work of the GD is not a complete system all by itself -- nor did the GD teach it as one. Initiates of the original order were also expected to practice meditation and divination, and to put serious study into the teachings and symbolism. All of that is necessary if you want to get results: meditation and divination expand your awareness so you can sense the effects of the rituals, and the study helps you understand what you perceive.

If you want to do GD work successfully, and you don't have a daily meditation practice, I very strongly recommend my book Paths of Wisdom -- daily discursive meditation on the Tree of Life will give you a solid basis for practice. If you don't have a lot of background in GD work, you might try working through the introductory study in my book Learning Ritual Magic first -- just don't skip any of the practices!

Sphere of Protection

[nightsgate]

Happy Monday JMG and all.

I'm not sure these are questions versus observations, but let's see.


1) The FHR's instructions for the SoP recommend beginning with the opening and closing, then adding in one calling each week until calling all four elements and three aspects of Spirit.

I noticed a definite shift of energy in the weeks with even numbers of callings, when Air balanced Water and Earth balanced Fire.

This morning when adding Spirit Above to complement Spirit Below, it became impossible to ignore. Much more profound with those energies compared to the elements.

It isn't that the "odd" weeks feel wrong. It's more that the energies feel somehow more complete, full, or balanced with symmetry.

I almost want to ask "is this normal", thought intuitively it seems like a case of a three-legged stool being more stable than two uprights.


2) For the last several days, I've found myself spontaneously visualizing a miniature sphere of light around me while outside walking. It's almost as if carrying a piece of the SoP with me.

It is large enough to contain my body with enough comfortable padding to surround anyone standing close to me, so a bit smaller than the standard SoP imagery I use.

It carries the same feeling of cleaner, brighter, and lighter energy with it.

What to make of that?

Re: Sphere of Protection

[ecosophia]

1) Interesting. This seems to vary from person to person.

2) Well, of course! A protective ritual won't do you a lot of good if it stops working as soon as you finish it. You're beginning to perceive your aura in its cleansed and strengthened form.

Learning/practicing Western magic outside of one own's culture

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

Thank you very much for providing this platform.

I am a middle-aged man from Europe who has settled down in an East Asian country and, bar catastrophes such as a big war or the like, will most likely stay here. I have recently begun with magical training in a Western tradition, but I am wondering whether certain practices are not inextricably linked to the soil - or egregore - from which they arose. In other words, whether it would make much more sense to study a local tradition, of which there are many, instead of focusing on a Western tradition that, while more familiar to me, might be less powerful or beneficial here on these shores.

Can you elucidate this matter?

Thanks for your help!

Re: Learning/practicing Western magic outside of one own's culture

[ecosophia]

There are plenty of people practicing Western magic all over the world these days -- my book on the Tree of Life has been published in Chinese, and sales are brisk. Spiritual traditions are very portable; it's worth noting that Buddhism, for example, originated in northern India and thrives thousands of miles away in Japan, just as Christianity originated in the eastern Mediterranean and is doing quite well these days in North America. That said, the choice is of course up to you.

Generally gnarly situation

[(Anonymous)]

I’m following advice you’ve given before - daily banishings (LBRP) as well as invoking helpful planets, Golden Dawn fashion, and occasional offerings to Athena. However this situation is a really difficult one and if you’ve anything further to suggest I’ll try it.

Currently I’m the de facto caretaker for two family members; it’s extremely draining; finances are not catastrophic as yet but threaten that way, housing situation is highly unstable, rents are out of control expensive and the future totally up for grabs.

Thanks to these benefits of Bidenomics I’m continually run down and exhausted. It’s scary on a practical level, but the chief difficulties are maintaining a positive state of mind so that I can cope, and making some kind of rational decision about what to do.

I’m versed in basic Golden Dawn, Hellenic style, and in basic tarot.

Re: Generally gnarly situation

[ecosophia]

First, take care of your physical needs. Get adequate food, sleep, and non-sleep rest. Regular massage is also helpful if you can manage it. You won't be able to do any good for anybody if your material body is struggling to function.

Second -- well, it's always very difficult to do effective magic when the situation has already spun out of control. Magic should always be done as early as possible, because it doesn't work well when brought in at the last minute! You're probably best off maintaining your daily practices, invoking Athena for help much more than occasionally, and doing your best; once the rubble stops bouncing and you recover from the stress you can figure out what the next steps are, and start doing magic systematically to make them happen.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I know repeating yourself is annoying but somebody mentioned a post about a red jar instead of a red bag containing salt and a bent nail for helping with noxious surroundings. Is it a red jar with salt and a bent nail with an open top? If so, what kind of radius would it help with?. I think a lot of offices could use this if it is what I think it is. (stationary version of the red bag worn around neck as see in your Magic Monday FAQ)

Maybe you can add this to the FAQ sometime...

Thanks for MM

[ecosophia]

The jar doesn't have to be red; it's just a jar with an open (or nonmetallic) top, mostly full of salt, with at least one bent nail stuck in it. (You can have more than one.) The radius of effect varies depending on just how much noxious energy is in the space!

[jdecandia]

So a lot has happened to me personally in my magical practice.

I've opened up to a few of the other posters here...but as this is relevant to my question I will share a bit of my journey. I have been studying occultism and doing the sphere of projection for some time now. In that time, I have let go of my unhealthy crutch of using alcohol to self medicate during the covid crisis as a front line RN.

I truly see how having a worldview and set of ethics that is not subject to the vagaries of popular opinion of the time is crucial to a strong sense of self in tough times. I truly thank all of you for allowing me to explore that and pointing me to modes of thinking that are both astounding in many senses but also explain/put a lot of things in their proper place in ways that I couldn't even begin to explain before.

So far so good.

But now I've been meditating for 15 minutes a day for about 3 months as per the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose written by our wonderful host.

I've reached a strange point where I am so much more aware of my day to day actions. It's like realizing I was living life in a drowsy haze . Yet, in that awareness I have come to reach a very strange place of fear. It's hard to put into words but I feel more "raw", and wondering if I am psyching myself out in a detrimental way.

I can feel what most people would describe as a vibe a lot more, and things are making sense more in an intuitional way. However I have not made any contact with entities and a lot of my fear is that this all truly is in my head. That doing this is making me feel more disconnected as my immediate group has no way of talking to this and I can't even articulate it in a way that makes sense out loud to myself.

To compound it...being in the bay area the spiritually I am most exposed to is a type of Buddhism that bodes very well for productivity and breaks down the world into very observable/analytical parts: think of the focus on insight meditation alone a la Daniel Ingrams. But this worries me more because they talk about the insight of an inherent emptiness of life and experience.

Since I don't feel a particular connection to any unseen entities at the moment, I am concerned that there really are not any. Perhaps I am psyching myself into thinking such things exist because I selfishly would like to have a fully alive world. Yet, when I run into Buddhists/philosophers/advancef mediators such as Mr. Ingram it appears that my desire for an alive world may be just that: a desire. It appears to me that there is no guarantee that there is a world full of life to connect to.

I know that is a large preface. However, I want to lay out my thoughts in their entirety because I would like to ask:

How does one move past what feels like a wall of fear when meditating and why is this coming up in such a way?

Why do I have such intense feeling of disgust in ways I didn't before? Being a nurse I've seem it all, but lately the thought of me and my husband being made of bones and sinewy tendons...the corporality of our bodies is hitting me in such a different way. I can see it growing old and decaying in my minds' eye. It's strange but when I talk to my husband now I feel attracted to him still, and it hasn't changed how I relate to him but I think...how was I not aware od the physicality of this all before? How come my increased awareness is bringing up fear and disgust in such a way...it's like I didn't realize how fragile our little meat lives where before (intellectually I did obviously, and working in my profession doubly so, but now I am so gosh darn AWARE of it).

Also, why do some long term spiritual practitioners never speak of entities/living intelligences? Have they surmounted a different spiritual summit? Does it negate the possibility of a world with such life?

Thank you for your time.

[ecosophia]

You've doubtless seen me comment about the Watcher at the Threshold. This is among the forms the Watcher takes -- the terrible vision of an empty, lifeless, meaningless world of meat objects lurching through automatic routines. It's a known landscape along the inner path, and it indicates that you've made some definite progress on that path.

The only way out is through. Keep doing your practices, remember that the Watcher is a transitory phenomenon, and you'll come out the other side into a world of renewed life and meaning. Stop, and you stay where you are.

That style of debased American Buddhism, by the way, is very much reworked for the sake of productivity -- that's why corporations push it so hard. I don't recommend it to anyone who wants to be more than a lifelong corporate slave.

Blessing offer

[milkyway1]

Good morning everybody,

And a slightly belated Happy Birthday! to you, JMG! :-) I hope you had a good day, despite the circumstances.

I continue to practice formal blessings, and I‘m grateful for everybody who signs up for them, as that gives me the chance to work with energies for larger groups of people. So… if you‘d like to be blessed on Wednesday (or maybe if „like“ is too strong a word, but at least you wouldn‘t mind being blessed on Wednesday ;-) ), you can sign up for this week here:

https://thehiddenthings.com/weekly-blessings-23

Thanks,

Milkyway

Re: Blessing offer

[ecosophia]

Thank you. It was more or less functional.

Sassenach Stray

[hwistle]

Hi John,

No questions this week but, in case you're not aware, there're 2 or 3 copies of Sassenach Stray available in the market just now. I remember you mentioned this was the only book of Nuinn's poetry you didn't have and that you didn't think you'll ever find a copy available... Admittedly, there're no cheap, with the cheapest option at £240 plus postage from the UK but, still...

Manuel

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31810761213&searchurl=an%3Dnichols%2Bross%26attrs%3Dused%26ds%3D30%26n%3D100121503%26rollup%3Don%26sortby%3D17%26tn%3Dsassenach%2Bstray%2Bset%2Beight%2Bvariations&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp0-_-title1

Re: Sassenach Stray

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this. Yes, I saw that, but getting on for US$300 is more than I can justify spending on that. Thanks to one of my other commenters, I have a scan of the book, and that will do until I find one for a less exorbitant price (or my income goes up far enough).

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what IIRC, IR or TCM mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

I think I remember you saying once (and I could be wrong so correct me if I am) that our dreams give us a glimpse into the level that our astral body is currently inhabiting on the astral plane -thus a glimpse of where we will go when we die.

I don't tend to remember my dreams but when I do they are usually of the nightmarish kind. I'd like to do something about that while I'm alive. How do we improve our standing on the astral plane while alive?

[ecosophia]

Dreams are a measure of your astral state but not always an accurate one, because they reflect the astral condition of your environment as well as yourself. Regular spiritual practice will help both of those.

Doneraile Court, Lady Freemason

[apis_mellifera80]

Hello Mr.Greer,

I'm working my way through the phases of the SOP, with positive results. It's been interesting, in many ways.

I hope this question is allowed, it's in relation to Freemasonry and I'm just curious...

I was visiting some formal gardens here in Ireland (to take some reference photos for my paintings) and we were given a 2 for 1 ticket to visit another historical site nearby, we had plenty of time left, so we decided to go.

The historical site was Doneraile Court in Co.Cork. It was jam packed with kids playing outside in the parklands but thankfully only a handful of people were participating in the guided tour of the house. Aside from being a beautiful building, laden with interesting antiques and artwork, there was this story of Elizabeth St Leger Aldworth, known as the Lady Freemason, the first woman in the world to join the Freemasons. She had been inducted after stumbling upon a ritual at her home, she fell asleep in the library (which was next to the Lodge), heard strange noises and peered through a hole in the wall but was discovered. It was decided by her father and brothers not to kill her after spying on the ritual but to make her the first-ever female Freemason instead.

One of her distant descendants has written a piece of historical fiction based on the story, Doneraile Court - The Story of The Lady Freemason by Kathleen Aldworth Foster. It's also being adapted into a TV series!

Are you familiar with the story of the Lady Freemason? Have any similar incidents occurred? How could they have made such a big decision to allow her to become a Freemason and not instead have her sworn to secrecy?
And why are ladies still not allowed, just wondering...

Thank you for your time.

Re: Doneraile Court, Lady Freemason

[ecosophia]

Yes, I'm familiar with the story. That happened before Freemasonry had any form of national organization -- the first-ever Grand Lodge was founded in London in 1717, and she was initiated sometime between 1710 and 1712. That's why it could happen. And of course this was in Ireland, where rules are made to be tied in square knots. ;-)

As for women in Masonry, it depends on where you are. Regular American and British Masonry is still very much a men's club. I don't see anything wrong with that; I know a lot of women who belong to women-only groups, and seem to get a lot out of meeting with other women when men aren't around. Having someplace to go to get some guy time is equally important to me

Meanwhile there's an entire parallel system, sometimes called Co-Masonry, that admits men and women both, and a smaller system of Masonic lodges that are for women only. So it's not as though women don't have options if they want to engage in Masonry.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning,

Wanted to share this article about shamanism and divination in South Korea, if anyone's interested. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreas-young-shamans-revive-ancient-tradition-with-social-media-2024-06-08/

Question: I had a roller coaster week, and the Ogham were correct all week - a bird's-eye view the first day, and more details as the week went on. It's not the first time, of course, but to have the whole week clearly laid out for me was eerie. I've read that a common sentiment among Stoics in the Hellenistic world was something like "if astrology and divination work at all, then the universe must be at least partially deterministic."
Any advice (or book recommendations) for dealing with a creeping realization that the modern view of free will is probably not up to par?

Thanks
Noodles

[booklover1973]

Divination and fortunetelling have made a comeback, too, in North Korea, where economic conditions are quite harsh, and, is practiced and sought out even by higher-ranking people despite crackdowns by the government which considers fortune-telling to be an anti-socialist, superstitious activity.

trees, the fall of man, etc

[xcalibur_djs]

First, an update. Some weeks ago, I told you about the situation in my backyard, in which a tree that had been planted too close to the porch back in the 50s was buckling the stonework/foundation, and it had to be cut down & uprooted. I tried to find a workaround, or at least keep the stump there, but nothing doing. The work is all wrapped up, including the masonry repairs. So, I finally went into the backyard this morning and apologized to the trees & nature spirits. I put both my hands onto the bark of the biggest standing tree (which is 5-6 stories tall, no less), closed my eyes, and explained the whole situation -- basically what I said above, but in more detail, along with multiple apologies, an expression of appreciation for the trees, and my hope that they would accept this.

Before I carried this out, I was in a negative mood, with issues gnawing at me -- it took an effort to wrench myself into a suitable state of focus for doing this. But afterwards, my goodness, did I get a massive boost to my mood. I was flooded with positive emotion, the likes of which I've rarely ever experienced, and I still feel it as I type this. Best of all, it's not some artificial high, but genuine life-energy.

I can interpret this clearly enough, and I'm glad I was able to make amends. But if you can provide further detail on how/why I feel 100x better, I'd be interested. Is it normal for this to happen?

Secondly, since we discussed the civilizational cycles previously, I'd like to ask another thing about the Lemurian deviation, a topic I've dwelt on a fair amount. It seems to me that it was like throwing a switch, or shifting polarity, from spiritual light towards darkness. Not that we're entirely cut off, but we've been oriented the wrong way ever since due to demonic influence. That at least, is my understanding. Some occult authors argue that this event, and its long shadow, was necessary for our species' development -- is that true? Also, I wonder if the Deviation estranged us from nature, creating the "artificiality" of human society, working against nature rather than with it; it seems that way to me, and maybe I helped make up for that in some small way.

Re: trees, the fall of man, etc

[ecosophia]

The tree accepted your apology and blessed you. They do that. It may also have decided that you needed some of that negative emotional energy to be grounded out, and did so; they do that too. Making friends with trees is a very good idea.

I don't think it was the Lemurian deviation that put up the barrier, because this sort of healthy interaction with trees and other nonhuman living things is quite common outside the modern industrial West. I think it's one of the disastrous failings of our culture.

[mr_nobody1967]

Are you at all familiar with *Journey* trilogy of books written by one Robert Monroe? He was an accomplished astral traveler who formed an institution dedicated to studying astral travel. I stop short of thinking of everything he claims to have discovered in his travels as ultimate truth, as the highest he could have gone in his own experiences would have been the Mental Plane. I stopped reading his third book about a quarter of the way through when his writing turned into philosophical screeding worthy of the ALT hierarchy of Usenet.

Probably the most interesting thing I gathered from what I did manage to read is that an astral traveler can interact with the "super-consciousness", as he calls it, of people just living their lives in their physical bodies in the normal waking state, without these people's conscious minds having any recollection of the interaction.

[ecosophia]

I've heard of him but I've never read his books, having been warned about the philoso-babble. Thanks for the data points!

[charlieobert]

That book of yours, Not the Future - I read it when it first came out. Great book, and no major change for me by then since I'd been following your blog for years.

I told an astrologer/occultist friend about your blog - she said she liked your occult writing but couldn't take your "whacky politics" - her phrase.

Another friend, a Thelemite, dismissed you as a "Luddite" - this from a person who had a thread on FB discussing whether Trump was the Antichrist - serious discussion, no deadpan humor.

Their reactions used to puzzle me. Now, after watching the covid mania, I'm not puzzled anymore. Hive Mind really is that logic-proof.

[ecosophia]

I don't find this puzzling at all. Many astrologers and occultists have embraced the values of corporate America, and their political opinions follow suit: they may make various mouth noises denouncing the established order of society, but you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll rally around it if anything seriously challenges it.

The Thelemite's the one who puzzles me a little. If he's a Thelemite, shouldn't he be on the side of the Antichrist, since Thelema claims that Christianity is an outworn relic of the aeon of Osiris and should be overthrown, the sooner the better?

orgone/earth pipes

[fringewood]

Last week I mentioned placing earth pipes on our land and the excellent results we have seen this year. https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/282498.html?thread=49002626#cmt49002626

I mentioned I would give the info this week as to where we got them. This is who we got them from: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheLivingStoneOrgone. The ones we bought are on the third row far end. 3 for $39.95 shipped

I have searched for less expensive versions, but haven't had much success. I am sure the more talented here can make their own, we just don't have the inclination to do that and are very happy with the ones we bought. ;^)

Here's one set of instructions...there are many....on how to make an orgone/earth pipe. Your mileage may vary. https://www.theorgonedonor.com/blog/how-to-make-orgone-earth-pipes-a-tutorial

Re: orgone/earth pipes

[ecosophia]

Thank you very much for all of this!

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings from Panama!

I'm not sure if this is idiosyncratic to me, but I don't think it is: Certain geographic regions "feel" very energetically different. Being here in Panama I feel much lower amounts of the suffocating miasma which heavily permeates much of the US in general, in my experience, and California in particular. I do feel major variations from one state to another in the US, and I don't claim to have thoroughly tested this, much less figured out to what extent it is ME versus the actual location.

But I strongly suspect there is something "real" to this, and some places are definitely more tainted versus others. Florida, for example, is much better than either California or NH/NY area. But Panama is almost like a different planet, with only a relatively slight heaviness about it.

For what it's worth, and doing my best to practice your admonition from last year's post on Spiritual Warfare, I have begun daily sitting in meditation and SOP, and visualizing bright light and happiness over the Earth in general, and certain heavily darkened areas in particular.

I'm curious if you have travelled enough, or otherwise learned enough, to comment on my strong variations in sense of miasma? As I said, maybe it is just my problem. But I don't think so. Certain places give me the creeps, which I generally can't shake. Certain places feel much more alive and hopeful, although I may not have any idea why.

Thanks for any advice or comment.

-gnat

[ecosophia]

It's not just you. Many other people have made similar comments. It's partly the energies of place and partly the collective karma of the people who live there. The US is in deep trouble in that latter category...

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning and thank you as always.

Which sphere (or spheres) of the ToL could be said to be most clearly associated with traditionally masculine energies the way that Mars is? I would like to work with Mars but he’s somewhat afflicted in my chart—he’s in Taurus, so I’ve always struggled with a tendency towards sluggishness and conflict avoidance that I’m trying to work on.

[ecosophia]

Okay, before you start doing any work with the Tree of Life you need to learn a little about it. That's the kind of question you could answer yourself if you'd read, and paid attention to, even one book on the occult Cabala. I recommend getting Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah and my Paths of Wisdom. Read them both, and then meditate on the ten spheres.

MOE Healing Hands

[kylec]

I am offering Modern Order of Essenes healing hands to anyone in need of a little help. If you have requested them previously, you can always sign up for another round. I'm grateful to have the chance to practice this skill. Just reply to this thread or PM me the details. Thanks.

Re: MOE Healing Hands

[open_space]

Thanks again Kyle, I would like to be on your list again.

[(Anonymous)]

Good day, JMG and all! I hope everyone is doing well.

1) I was reading the chapter "Training of the Will" in Regardie's _Tree of Life_ book, and I was quite surprised at his suggestion that you should punish yourself for every violation of your will-training vows by cutting your arm with a razor, and that you might end up with scars on both forearms before the "rebellious ego" finally gets the message and obeys the Will.

While this action seems rather extreme to me, my reaction is no doubt a reflection of the sensibilities of our time. But I was intrigued by the idea in general of inflicting some kind of punishment for breaking an oath you've made while trying to train the will. For myself at least, it might be helpful to impose a penalty of some kind, though probably something very annoying or inconvenient rather than physically harmful. What are your thoughts?

2) I'm putting together a reading list of books to study while working through the GSF and waiting for your Cabala book to come out. You suggested _The Tree of Spirit_ (which I ordered and should be arriving soon) and Fortune's _Mystical Qalbalah" (which I've read through once as a library book, but don't own). I was also looking through the books on my shelf that I haven't studied in depth yet and found Regardie's _Tree of Life_ and your edited/translated copy of Levi's _Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic_.

I'm going to start on Gilbert's book first, but I was wondering what you thought about the other books just mentioned. You said that studying Fortune's book would be helpful, and while I don't currently own it, I can certainly get it. And I wondered what you thought about Regardie's and Levi's books. Would they be helpful, too, as a preparation for your Cabala book and the GSF curriculum in general? And if so, in what order would you recommend reading them?

Thank you,

KT

P.S. Happy belated birthday!

[ecosophia]

1) Regardie borrowed that from Aleister Crowley, who was rather noticeably into sadomasochism. I haven't found punishment useful in my own will training; instead, simply choose tasks that will exercise your will and do them. You might decide, for example, to learn ten things about a city you've never visited and know nothing about; you might decide to put a note somewhere in your house that says "touch your nose," and touch your nose every time you pass it -- then change the rule, once that habit is established, and stop touching your nose when you pass it. You might decide to get to some place in town on foot at exactly 5:36 this afternoon, for no reason other than that you choose to, and then do it. I found that sort of thing much more useful as it establishes habits of action rather than inhibition.

2) You can read any or all of them in any order. It's just a matter of familiarizing yourself with certain concepts.