Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Once again, it's technically Monday now -- past midnight Eastern time -- and here I am on Dreamwidth, so it's time for another Magic Monday.  (The picture is R. Ogilvie Crombie, a Scottish occultist who helped the founders of Findhorn make their contacts with the elementals.)

Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. Any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer, though it may be Tuesday sometime before I get to them all.

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 find my online tip jar here. 

With that said, have at it! 

***This Magic Monday is now closed to new comments. See you next Monday!***

Comments

Prayer and exercises

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
You warn against doing magic for people without their consent and I can see why. Prayer is a magical communication and is a spell of sorts. I have been getting great results praying for family and friends and they all like it. What are the ethical implications of praying for someone who does not know and has not given permission?

I am working out of your Druidry Handbook and Druid Magic Handbook. I know beginners tend to over do it and would like to know how many exercises such as a solar current or a telluric current, Druid's Egg or colour breathing would be too much?

Thank,
Max Rogers

Re: Prayer and exercises

[ecosophia]

1) I wouldn't do it. I've been prayed at by Christians trying to convert me -- in one case, by a whole church of them -- and it was indistinguishable from any other kind of magical attack meant to control someone's will. (The energies from the church in particular felt dank and slimy; I don't know what they were praying to when they thought they were invoking Jesus, but it wasn't a power I'd want anything to do with.) Always ask permission before invoking spiritual forces for anyone else.

2) Take up one at a time, practice it until you can do it without having to think about the details, and then add another. You can do everything in both books at the same time, but don't try to learn them all at once!

Lord's Prayer

[(Anonymous)]

Sorry, I just remembered this one. I attend an Anglican church and they say the Lord's Prayer, the one that goes "lead us not into temptation but deliver s from evil."
Is that prayer a Christian invoking and banishing ritual? It sounds like it to me. Do you think it would be effective as a banishing ritual?
Max Rogers

Re: Lord's Prayer

[ecosophia]

It's not a banishing ritual but it is a good solid prayer with protective effects. Most schools of Christian occultism advise saying it at least once a day, and that strikes me as a very good idea.

Filling in the blanks

[eremon]

JMG, in November of 2016 you wrote:

“Then we go to the other extreme, to those systems of divination that require no special states of consciousness, because they rely on cyclical phenomena that, at least in theory, have objective effects on human consciousness and thus on human affairs. There are a number of divination systems in this category, but the one that I plan to discuss—partly because it’s the one with which I’ve had a decent amount of experience, partly because it has had an immense role in the occult traditions of the western world—is astrology: “the speech of the stars,” to give the combination astro-logos its actual meaning in ancient Greek.”

To satisfy my seemingly endless curiosity, could you possibly enumerate and elaborate on some other systems of cyclical phenomena that fit into the same classification as the various schools of astrology?

Re: Filling in the blanks

[ecosophia]

I'm not familiar with a great many of them, as astrology has filled that role in the Western world pretty much to the brim. One I do know of is Nine Star Ki, which is an east Asian system still extensively practiced in Japan, and tracks a series of nested calendar cycles in which days, months, years, and so on each take on one of nine characteristics which interface with your birth characteristic. There are also offshoots of the I Ching that map the cycle of hexagrams onto the cycle of the year. There are doubtless others, but it's not something I've studied extensively.

Magic, Elements and Sex

[(Anonymous)]

Well here's a weird one.

I occasionally experience sexsomnia, that is, having sex while asleep. Or, really, initiating sex-- Typically I wake up as the events get underway, by which time both I and my partner are committed to the course.

I discovered during the course of the Ovate grade of the DOGD that my sexsomniac episodes are affected by my magical practice. During the roughly 10 months I spent in the Ovate grade, I recorded 6 sexsomniac episodes in my journal. 4 occurred on nights that I had pore-breathed elemental fire during my meditation, 1 occurred after breathing Air, 1 after breathing Spirit, and no episodes at all occurred after working with either Earth or Water.

Further documentation over the course of the Bardic grade bears out the initial findings. Visits to the Fire grove bring on sexsomnia, as does pore breathing Fire, Air or Spirit. Moreover, regular work with a particular element also affects HOW my sexuality expresses itself. When I work with Fire regularly, I become more aggressive; when working with Water, more receptive. Not, I should note, at the level of deliberate consciousness-- I mean what I respond to sexually changes, depending on my engagement with the elements.

Have you ever heard of anything like this?

Re: Magic, Elements and Sex

[ecosophia]

No, but one thing I have learned over the years is that magical energies express themselves in individual lives in very, very idiosyncratic ways. It's fair to say that no two people have exactly the same response to magical practices, and while your response isn't something I've heard of before, it's far from the weirdest thing I've heard of.

Flashes of light

[marktaber]

JMG,

First, thanks for your answer last week. I followed your advice and ended up making several changes on my mentor’s recommendation.

One of the recommendations was to not wear my smart watch to bed, so I quit. A couple of nights after I quit, I turned out the light, but before going to sleep, I reached over with my left hand to move a book into a less precarious position on the bedside table.

As I put out my hand, flashes of white-yellow light edged in green came from my palm and fingers, and lit the darkness a kind of blue. It happened several times, but much more quickly than my description makes it sound.

Definitely a first for me. I asked my mentor while meditating, and apparently I had a glimpse of my light body (which I haven’t run across in my studies). I don’t know the proper terms, because the communication is instant and visual, and I often translate to words later.

Re: Flashes of light

[ecosophia]

That does indeed sound like you've gotten a glimpse of one of the layers of your light body -- this is also known as the aura. It's nothing to worry about, or focus on too intently; such glimpses sometimes let you know that you're going to develop clairvoyant gifts over time, but those are perfectly natural and will develop in their own time.

No question, just a comment

[(Anonymous)]

If you go to the wiki article for the Temple of Julius Caesar, you’ll find a photo of the altar in the ruins of that temple: basically some masonry with a heap of dirt on it (the marble and travertine were stripped away centuries ago). But over this altar are many flowers freshly placed. Apparently, someone in Rome is *still* making offerings to Divus Iulius in the temple built to him by Augustus. Some traditions seem to have lasting power.

Kevin

Re: No question, just a comment

[ecosophia]

Delighted to hear it.

Franz Bardon

[(Anonymous)]

Last week you mentioned you wouldn’t recommend Franz Bardon’s books to beginners.

What are the dangers or issues with his methods which make it not recommended to beginners in your opinion?

What level of training and/or skill would you recommend one should attain to before pursuing initiation according to Bardon’s method as described in Initiation into Hermetics?

Thank you for the opportunity to ask questions.

Re: Franz Bardon

[ecosophia]

The difficulty with Bardon's work for beginners is twofold. First, most novices who start out with Bardon, without any previous magical practice, bog down permanently in the first two steps of his system; it's a lot to take on when you have no previous background in magical work. Having a year or so of practice in less demanding systems makes the transition to Bardon's process of self-initiation a good deal easier.

Second, Bardon provides the beginner with very few options for dealing with the unpleasant magical energies that are so common in today's world. (If you're an advanced practitioner of Bardon's work, that's quite another matter, but we're talking about beginners here.) I've mentioned before that I consider daily practice of a good banishing ritual essential for the mage in training, and of course the central European traditions from which Bardon's work derives don't include those. Here again, a year or so of practice with a system that includes a functional banishing ritual would be extremely helpful.

[(Anonymous)]

Concerning my question from last Monday, I would like to ask what kind of patterns and circumstances can cause one to be reincarnated in a body with corporeal or mental disabilities? Thanks! Booklover

[ecosophia]

That's like asking "what causes physical and mental disabilities?" A vast range of things can be involved.

[fluiddruid]

1) Now this is a serious question, Archdruid. What are the magical implications of watching pornography? I have read some conflicting opinions about it, from it not being a big deal, to it causing serious harm to one's etheric body. Could you lay this issue to rest for me?

2) If I wish to see etheric energies (as a form of clairvoyance I suppose) what is the best exercise/training regiment to achieve this ability?

[ecosophia]

1) I don't have a lot of personal experience of that -- well, not since my teen years, at least, and the stuff I could get then was pretty mild by today's standards! -- but what I've seen leads me to think that it's no big deal.

2) If you're already engaged in a specific system of practices, stick with those until you've completed them. Chasing after specific abilities (such as etheric vision) is a common way for students to run off the rails.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey John
Are you familiar with the divination system called napoleons book of fate? It appears to be some kind of simplified geomancy which only gives prewritten answers to a handful of prerecord d general questions. (E.g “ shall I gain or lose in my cause?”)

[ecosophia]

Yep. There used to be quite a few systems like that in early modern pop culture. I never got much out of them, but you can certainly experiment with them if you like.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey jmg
When you do the beginner grade in the golden dawn how exactly are you supposed to meditate on the zodiac? I’ve been simply visualising the zodiac signs will remember their characteristics, is that the correct way?

[ecosophia]

No, it's a lot more complex than that. I'd encourage you to read my book Paths of Wisdom, which has a chapter on the subject of magical meditation. (It also covers all the Cabalistic lore you'll need in your Golden Dawn studies, which might be useful as well.)

An Old Man's Prophecy

[quietmagpie]

Hello again JMG,

Sometime ago you advised me to go to the Theosophical society because of an issue I was having. Its taken some time for me to work up the nerve to ask for help there, but that is ongoing. However, while going there an old man told me in hushed tones that I had an exceptional spiritual gift. I humored him and asked him "how so?" and he said that I had the potential to be a medium. I didn't know what to make of that, and left feeling troubled. Having known a number of people who were told strange things by old men, I took his assertion with a grain of salt. Part of me wondered, though, if there was any truth to what he said, at all. The next day I got out a paper and a pen, and thought of a figure I had seen while meditating, and attempted something I have since learned is called automatic writing. My written queries got responses in a cursive hand and I got really weirded out, and worried that I was getting myself into more trouble. The information I found about automatic writing was primarily either Christians saying it was diabolical, or else people claiming to be psychic saying it was perfectly safe. So my question is, is this something that is safe to pursue, and do I need to protect myself in some way?

Thank you for taking the time to answer all of these questions.

Re: An Old Man's Prophecy

[ecosophia]

Automatic writing is one of the safest of mediumistic practices, but you might want to talk to your Theosophical contacts about the subject, since any help they are giving you may be impacted by any additional spiritual practices.

Geomancy

[casmen900]

Good day Mr Greer,


Agrippa’s “On Geomancy” says ”...Caput Draconis is the sixth House increaseth sicknesses and diseases...”
Indeed it does look like Caput Draconis could well mean the beginning or possibility of disease.

In “The Art and Practice of Geomancy “ (page 159) you say "...Caput Draconis indicates the querent’s health is about to change for the better..."
How is that so?

Re: Geomancy

[ecosophia]

Tell you what -- go pick up half a dozen books on the Tarot and see if all of them say exactly the same thing about any given card. Books disagree with one another; that's why it's important to study the cards, or the geomantic figures, and develop your own personal understanding of the divinatory symbols you're using.

Protective Wash for Carpet?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, and thank you for the generous sharing of your learning.

Do you have any suggestions for executing a protective floor wash in an entirely carpeted house? The place we're renting has carpet everywhere, even in the kitchen and bathroom (yea, it's awful. Even more so with two big fluffy dogs, but it's all we could find to rent that we could afford, close enough to work and would take our dogs. The housing situation in Maine is seriously messed up for anyone who's not elite.) It's become apparent to me while living here that the place os full of some nasty, nasty mojo - the former inhabitants being a long string of thieves, addicts, and general lowlives. I'm hoping it (and we) will benefit from some sort of cleansing, but mopping isn't really in the cards here. It's bad enough sometimes that we've considered sleeping in a tent on warm nights.

Many thanks for any guidance.
CK

Re: Protective Wash for Carpet?

[(Anonymous)]

Not to step on JMG's response by any means, but what occurs to me is a smoke purification, known in the Heathen trads as recaning and in the Celtic as saining. Juniper is traditional for both, and you're meant to fill the space with smoke as much as you can stand (don't forget to turn off the smoke alarms!). It might also help to make a banishing powder, sprinkle it over the carpets, and vacuum it up. After either purification, asperge the place generously with blessed water, paying particular attention to the corners, and hang up some kind of protective talisman, like a Brigid's Cross, a Troll Cross, or the like and invoke the blessings of your ancestors or whichever of the Holy Powers you know.

Natural magic and natal astrology

[(Anonymous)]

I've recently acquired your handbook on natural magic and am using it to pick out some materials to work with. I've picked out some planetary and astrological influences that also appear in my natal horoscope, in the hope that this will make the results more 'personalised'. Is this a solid theory or is it more likely to reinforce my pre-existing bad habits? Thank you.

Re: Natural magic and natal astrology

[ecosophia]

Well, what is your intention? Natural magic isn't decorative; for each working you do, you should have a specific intention, and you should pick the materials you use on the basis of the intention you have, not on the basis of personalization.

Elemental Cross / SoP With Egyptian Gods/Goddess

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I am at the beginning/practical phase of the "Druid Magic Handbook". In the practical exercises in the Druid Handbook (i.e Elemental Cross, SoP, etc) I would like to know your thoughts on working with a set of Egyptian Gods / Goddesses in place of Celtic's. I find myself more drawn towards Egyptian Pantheons.


Also in the Druid Magic Handbook and The Druidry Handbook there is no mention of working with the different phases of the moon. For example as it regards to invoking the different powers represented by the full moon. Please shed some light on this.

Finally, I have your Sacred Geometry Oracle. How could one use the sacred geometry oracle as a complement to the the Ogham divination?

Thank you very much,

Peace and Blessings from London, UK

Re: Elemental Cross / SoP With Egyptian Gods/Goddess

[ecosophia]

Tell me this. If you decided to bake a cake and had never made the recipe before, and you decided on a whim to replace 500 grams of sugar with 500 grams of salt, do you think the resulting cake would be edible?

A magical system isn't just a grab bag of things pieced together on the basis of personal preference. Each element is there for a reason. MY recommendation is that you do the training program exactly as given, all the way through, and then you'll know enough about magic to know what you can replace and how.

Wild Wild Country

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG!

I'm watching the documentary on Osho's former Oregon community, and certainly you were aware of it at the time. The whole thing striked me both as an amazing and absolutely unbalanced work of magic. Such immense and sudden work of transformation was certain to amass imense resistance! What's your take on it from an occult/magic perspective?

Thank you!

Re: Wild Wild Country

[ecosophia]

That kind of thing is very common in the history of alternative religion. One of the routine thing that happens when religious communities head out into rural country to set up some kind of would-be utopia. Every action produces an unequal and opposite reaction -- so, yes, things very often spin out of control in colorfully dysfunctional ways.

The land

[ferngladefarm.com.au]

Hi John Michael,

I had the time today to listen to your latest podcast and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to take part in such endeavours. I expect that they're a magical act for you.

I've been curious about something here for a while and would be interested in your opinion, if you could please indulge me?

I'm finding that the land here on the farm, sort of (and I don't really know what the English words are to describe this form of insight) speaks to me. For example, I get insight as to what is possible here. And I have absolutely no idea where such inspiration comes from, but it does. Now of course, as you know, I am adding my own perspiration to that inspiration, so it is all to good effect, but it is a guided act of creation.

But what I wanted to know is, what sort of magic is this, and do you know of anyone who practices it and has written about it?

That's actually three questions... Sorry, I am nothing if not cheeky!

Cheers

Chris

Re: The land

[ecosophia]

Have you read any of the books on Findhorn, the very strange farm in Scotland? That's the most famous example of this sort of thing . Yes, it's very common; I don't know that it has a specific name, but it's very much a real thing, and I suspect most good farmers practice it to some extent or another.

Invoking Deities

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I'm working through the Candidate grade of the AODA using the Druidry Handbook. Two questions:

1) I'm not clear on how to go about invoking deities. A number of other folks have written in here about things not to do, which has been helpful, but could you give a couple of pointers in what to do? Also, is invoking deities something typically reserved for grove ceremonies, or done daily as part of the SOP ritual?

2) I won't bore you with the details, but I've had a couple of meditative experiences linking me to the Celtic deities, specifically from the Irish tradition. The trouble is, the Irish mythology sources seem particularly sketchy and muddled compared to, say, the ancient Greek pantheon, which have a vast amount of material to draw on. So I find myself trying to define a relationship with deities that are quite unclear. Do you have any advice for how to proceed?

Thanks as always for sharing your time an expertise here!

Re: Invoking Deities

[ecosophia]

1) It's called "prayer." You have a conversation with the deity and listen for the answer. You can certainly do it in or out of ritual.

2) Your best bet is to pray to the deities directly, and ask them!

[(Anonymous)]

Hello and happy Monday,

There is a park in my neighbourhood that a famous person once ran through, and there are stones marking the path he took. It's a very well known route, and is taught in history classes here. Can such a thing give a piece of land an egregore? Do land spirits and egregores tend to get along?

Thank you.

[ecosophia]

Yes, and it depends on the land spirits.

Antipodean SOP

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG

I am working through TDMH and based in Australia. Two questions.

1. I am sure you have said in the past that altering the directions of the gates is ok. I felt a strong pull to rotate 90 degrees so Air is north, Fire east, Water south and Earth west. Here on the east coast those directions make some logical sense too. Just want to confirm that's not a rookie error.

2. Invoking by stags,salmons and bears doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Over a period of months alternatives have occurred to me. Welcome Swallows for Air. Tortoise for Water. Red Kangaroo for Fire. Great serpent for Earth. Again, is this advisable?

Cheers

Re: Antipodean SOP

[ecosophia]

Yes, it's a rookie error. I'd encourage you to do the practices exactly as given until you have completed the course of training; then you'll know enough about magic to be able to make appropriate modifications to the system.

Active Suppression

[degringolade]

Since I have been reading about witch-stuff a lot lately (The Cunning Man book is a great source) I am beginning to think that maybe a gauge of validity of an alternate way of viewing and interacting with the world around us is the amount of effort that the "normals" of the world put into repressing the alternate method.

Witchcraft was fairly savagely repressed in the day. Even now, if you sit down with a fundamentalist Christian and mention Witchcraft you will certainly get a earful about "evil" and a need to stamp it out.

Mostly the repression now is of a more urbane variety. Subtle mocking and a call out to science for "proof".

That being said, I have been looking into Wilhelm Reich and "Orgone" and found that idea somewhat interesting, but since the guv'mint took it on itself to burn all the data, I have minimal ability to assess the claims. And the claims themselves seem kinda odd. But truth is sometimes found in "Odd".

What is your opinion about the relationship of level of repression to possible utility?

Do you know anything about Orgone?

Re: Active Suppression

[ecosophia]

The more useful something is, the more likely it is to be repressed if it conflicts with the political, economic, and social hierarchies of the time. As for orgone, I haven't studied it in detail, but it seems to be the same thing as qi, ki, prana, vril, etc., etc. -- that is to say, the life force that every spiritual tradition talks about.

Meditation

[(Anonymous)]

(From Dudleydawson)

I got the feeling from your last article that you're not crazy about mindfulness meditation--or at least the version of mindfulness meditation that's commonly offered up in corporate environments as a stress-reliever. I researched a bit further and found a comment on the Whatever Happened to Transcendence article in which you mentioned that pursuing mindfulness meditation as a stress reliever (without the spiritual component) is roughly the same as drinking to the point of metal-numbness.

Your point seems legitimate to me, and I've given it a lot of thought over the last few days.

I'm an anxious person and I practice mindfulness meditation as a way to slow my thoughts down and relax. Without getting in to all the gory details, I'm trying to address my anxiety in several different ways, with the end-goal of being a more competent, composed, and measured person. I say that only to establish the point that I'm not doing this as a way of achieving a chemical-free high that enables me to suffer through the miseries that I don't care to fix or address.

...Which brings me to discursive meditation and magic in general.

In the Whatever Happened to Transcendence post, you mention the lack of people that want to "tear open the sky and step into the luminous beyond," (I apologize if I'm mangling that quote; I don't actually have it in front of me). That sentiment appeals to me.

I've lived life as a non-believer for a long time, not necessarily by choice. The more you talk about magic, though, the more I find myself nodding along, getting interested, an opening my mind to the idea that there's potential lurking within me and in the world at large that I'm missing. So, I may be on the verge of some new explorations.

In your opinion, what does Magic have to offer the human mind?

Can it help sharpen and focus a person, or are sharpness and focus things that you should bring to the table when you begin studying magic?

I've heard you put this in terms of "changing consciousness" in the past, I think. Can you explain that a bit?

Could this pursuit offer new ways for me to consider and address the anxieties I mentioned earlier? Or should my anxiety keep me from practicing in the first place (until I get them sorted)?

I apologize. I'm sure this is coming off as gushy and probably very amateur/noob-ish. Those would all be accurate terms. New possibilities are presenting themselves and I can't help but be a bit excited.

And if you’ll indulge me in one last question…Have you ever used discursive meditation to work through a writing project?

Okay, I’m done. Thanks for your patience, provided you’ve managed to maintain it!

Re: Meditation

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, lord - it's even more monstrous in print. Sorry? I'll try to be a bit more tl;dr next time and keep it to a one question minimum.

-Dudley

prayer 101?

[temporaryreality]

Hello, JMG,

Have you written for beginners about the practice of prayer? It's something that stumps me - I'm unsure if it's just the composing of a mental letter with a "dear deity" greeting, how it differs from the general "hello, anybody out there" mental loops that arise, etc. I'm kind of hamstrung at the thought of asking for anything (how do I know what's good, in the end?), am not much of a speak-out-loud kind of person, but can't imagine prayer is supposed to just be me, thinking thoughts.

Background: grew up in a Methodist church, didn't get prayer then (didn't get God, either) and felt out of place, wandered through life wishing for divine connection but ... well, general mundanity prevails; began the AODA 1st grade course as outlined in the DH (with addition of SOP, etc. from DMH) this past Alban Heruin. I've started with the work as provided in the two books (ie. Elemental Cross with Hu Gadarn, Esus, Ceridwen & Niwalen) and haven't found one pantheon more relevant than any other, so I'll just keep to what you've written until someone (as in a god or goddess) suggests otherwise. I just don't even know how to figure that out.

What might you recommend for a polytheist prayer primer?

Also, I suppose it's recommended to learn more about the deities with whom one is attempting to work - in this case, the few books I've found on Celtic legends haven't turned up much on the four deities listed above. Might you have some titles/sources you recommend?

Many thanks!

Re: prayer 101?

[ecosophia]

I haven't written much on it; there's a short chapter on the subject in my first book, Paths of Wisdom. There isn't much in print on any of the deities you've mentioned; you might consider simply praying to them and asking for their guidance.

The dangers of Magic

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

Last week, fluiddruid asked the following question: ".....the author warns that a person who begins to practice magic may attract attention of some "nasty" entities. I have never experienced anything like that, however all I do is banishing rituals. So I wonder what that passage was about."

And you answered the following: "Good question. You may just have been lucky. ;-)"

I got a bit worried there! So are there any risks of attracting undesirable entities by the regular practice of magic? If so, how do they manifest and what should we be doing then?

Thanks

Re: The dangers of Magic

[ecosophia]

Yes, you can attract malicious or mischievous entities; their manifestations can range from repetitive nightmares through stuff being knocked off shelves to visual experiences; and that's one of the reasons why daily banishing rituals are such a good idea if you're practicing magic.