ecosophia | Magic Monday

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Magic Monday

Midnight is here, 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 about getting goodies from spirits are also 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've discussed this in a post on my blog.

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 was my fortieth published book, and the product of an investigation that's still ongoing. I happened to notice back in the early 1990s, as a result of voracious reading in odd books, that a surprising number of temple traditions around the world are connected to legends about increased agricultural fertility. I know, that's supposed to be mere superstition -- but it's funny how often "mere superstition" turns into evidence that the ancients knew more than it's fashionable for modern intellectuals to admit. That launched a quest that resulted in this book. I've come to theorize that woven into the design and use of certain specific kinds of temples is a lost folk technology that boosts agricultural productivity. I've collected physical evidence (including controlled double-blind studies) that there are energies known to science that could have been concentrated and put to use with resonating chambers of stone, designed according to specific geometries, filled with volatile organic compounds, and activated with sound waves. What's more, it's a technology that could be rediscovered and put to work to help plants thrive now.

This book was my first progress report on that investigation. It's about to go out of print -- Llewellyn, the original publisher, still has a few copies left on sale, which you can get here -- but there'll be another edition in due time, and probably a further book not too long after that, as I'm continuing to find relevant data. Yes, there are also other people busy with this; the prospect of a working model, so that the details of the technology can be tested in real world conditions, may not be far off.

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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!***

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Dear Mr. Greer,

After reading about your recommendation to another reader last week concerning the Octagon Society I cast a geomantic chart about it. I’m a bit confused as to the interpretation.

My question was: “Should I start the Octagon Society lessons?”

Right Witness: Cauda Draconis
Left Witness: Laetitia
Judge: Conjunctio

My interpretation:
The judge, of Conjunctio shows a combination of forces, it is also influenced by the other figures. It is favourable for things that need to come into contact (perhaps me with my inner self, my childhood trauma etc). But it is also unfavourable for situations that call for solitude which the lessons will require.

Laetitia seems reasonable positive in this regard, and should thus strengthen the Judge.

Cauda Draconis represents letting go of the past and is favourable for things coming to and end which might include my ongoing issues with my childhood.

Do you think this chart is telling me to proceed to try the lessons or should I try and find a different way of dealing with my past?

Thanks for providing this forum.

Good Evening,

Whatever may be going on this week for all here, may it go well!

To Share: Lots to share this week!
1. Earlier this week, I followed a link from Galina Krasskova to the blog Of Axe and Plough by Marc Gaidin and have been finding it very interesting. Though I don't agree with him on everything, he practices Anglo-Saxon Heathenry and approaches it with a mixture of scholarly and practical viewpoints I find most congenial (even if his "academicese" can be a bit much at times). I'm still poking through the archives, but so far I've found his thoughts on syncretism, prayer, and hearth cult/home practice especially interesting: https://axeandplough.com/
2. PIE Religion: For anyone with any interest in Proto-Indo-European reconstruction, this website has some interesting resources and takes, though I sometimes wish it were clearer about what are original conclusions and what are based on other sources (for example, this is where I encountered the claim I think I've mentioned before that some Mesopotamian myths might have been influenced by the Proto-Indo-Europeans, or one of their offshoots, very early on - specifically, cutting up/sacrificing a chaotic giant to create the world, like Ymir and Tiamat). I found this site ages ago, but when I recently tried to track it down, I couldn't find it. Turns out it's gone dead, but luckily a footnote on the above-mentioned blog gave me the URL to plug into the wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20220112214858/http://piereligion.org/index.html
3. A bit of a weird one, but Mark Bisone over at The Cat Was Never Found kicked off a new series trying to explore what's going on with the seeming increase in encounters with and influence from the demonic in recent years, based on his own brush with such things detailed in an earlier series. Interesting to read compared to the viewpoint found here and in Monsters, as he's coming from a totally different background (Christian, artist, computer programmer). Once again, I don't necessarily agree with his take on everything, but he's a thoughtful, interesting guy who takes the risks of the bad side of spirituality seriously: https://markbisone.substack.com/p/spook-central
4. Also earlier this week (trying to get in the habit of publishing on Wednesdays for a bit of planetary boost), I put out four more rough drafts of the "All Father" prayer I'm working on for the Heathen Rosary project: https://jpowellrussell.com/#more_rough_all_father_prayers

These are getting closer, but I'm still not quite there, so I'd very much appreciate critiques from anyone willing to share them over on my dreamwidth: https://jprussell.dreamwidth.org/21911.html

To Ask: For the past few months, or maybe a little longer, I've been getting rather a lot of use out of the looped-fingers version of kinesiology taught in the MOE material. I tend to use it throughout the day for pretty small questions, more of advice/guidance than prediction, as it seems to be much more limited for me in that department, and bad at timing even when correct about something happening. I've also been paying attention to birds, trying to figure out what kind of signs might be there. At times, I've put these together, using the kinesiology to ask things like "is this what that sign was trying to tell me?" (though often much closer to 20 questions than just that one). I've had what seem to be a few confirmations, but many of these haven't had a way to confirm whether they're accurate or not just yet.

1. Does this strike you as getting too close to "not trusting your method of divination by double checking with another," which you've advised against in the past, or potentially fruitful? Or perhaps just a matter for experiment?
2. Related, I've sometimes used the kinesiology to ask "should I do a divination on X?" or "Would Ogham be better for this than the Runes?" Though it has seemed to work out fine, it's kind of inherently hard to readily test (unless I'm being obtuse), so does that sound like something that might work, or am I stumbling into an obvious pitfall?

As always, thanks very much to JMG and everyone else here for all that you do.

My blessings to all who welcome them,
Jeff

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 and/or in the comments at the current prayer list post.

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

May Falling Tree Woman's son's girlfriend's mother Bridget in Devon UK, who has recently started to sit up and converse after more than six weeks of bedridden tracheotomy following a life-threatening fall from a horse, be blessed and healed and returned to full health.

May Corey Benton, whose throat tumor has grown around an artery and won't be treated surgically, be healed of throat cancer.

May Heather's brother in law, Patrick, who is dying of cancer and has dementia, go gentle into that good light. And may his wife Maggie, who is ill herself, find the strength and peace she needs for her situation. (Update on Patrick's condition here)

May Neptune's Dolphins' husband David, who lost one toe to a staph infection last year and now faces further toe amputations due to diabetic ulcers in his left foot, be blessed and healed, and may the infection leave his body for good.

May Rebecca, who has just been laid off from her job and is the sole provider for her family, quickly discover a viable means to continue to support her family; may she and her family be blessed and sustained in their journey forward.

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.

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.

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.

Good evening, Mr. Greer.

I have been avidly reading Lévi’s High Magic (it’s become one my favorite books of all time) and gotten to chapter 19 of Ritual. I have a couple of questions, as the chapter is blowing me over…

“To find the absolute in the infinite, in the indefinite, and in the finite — such is the Great Work of the sages and what Hermes called the work of the Sun.”

— I immediately thought of Gurdjieff’s absolute; and also thought of the Upanishads, the philosophers finding the Self in all things. It sounds like he is saying the absolute is a subset of the infinite, in Brahman.
I can wait till you get to this chapter in your blog, but would love a commentary?

And, “There is only one important operation in the work: it consists of sublimation, which is nothing other, according to Geber, than the elevation of the thing which is dry through the means of fire, with adherence to its proper vessel.”

I’m guessing you can say only so much. But ‘sublimation’ would be of the sexual energies?? That is my take on it. And I would suppose it denotes not losing energies, and perhaps a denoting of a specific ‘vessel’?

This is a great chapter!

BTW, regarding your introduction on temple technology. I rode my bike to Stonehenge years ago and vividly remember riding through windswept fields; it had the eeriest aura on that ride. Very powerful.

E. S.

Good evening JMG,

Is Elen of the Ways also good for people to be in the right place in life as well as physically?

Speaking of astrological planetary influences, is AI another one of the Plutonian themes like nuclear power which was hyped up big time by many people only to fail and fizzle out into nothingness? I don't think anybody was talking about AI before Pluto was discovered. If Pluto does indeed rule over AI, then by 2036, when Pluto's influence has completely disappeared, nobody will care about AI anymore. At least it's hard to see what other planet can take and promote the mantle of AI after Pluto's downfall, unlike say Neptune for Jungian psychology.

Mr. Greer,

I firstly would like to say I’ve been a fan of your books for some time. I have a background in Ceremonial Magick via yours ,Lon Milo Duquettes and Donald Michael Kraig’s writings and have been practicing on and off since 2017. (More off than on in recent years). One of the main things that has led me to this hiatus is that I became involved with a group based out of an occult shop that was local to me at the time. I was on fire for all things esoteric at the time and like many, I tried a lot of different systems without giving them much second thought. (Lesson learned)

Namely the system that has led me to writing you to ask your guidance today was Jason Millers Sorcery of Hekate. At first it sounded like a new exciting flavor of esoteric practice. I don’t judge its effectiveness but did sincerely feel as though many parts of the practice threw caution to the wind. His approach led one to believe that Ceremonial Magicians banish entirely too much and it creates an adversarial relationship with spirits that would otherwise be glad to have a quid pro quo relationship. I had quite a few magical friends around me who were doing the course along side me and so I kept at it. We were mostly doing mandala work, nightly chanting, and monthly devotionals. When the actual work began to start, one exercise we were instructed to do was to invoke a guardian spirit of Hekate’s into a bottle where its sigil and various herbs and items were kept.

Further into the system I got the more I began to feel like my noodle was getting a little fried. Ultimately I finished the course but decided not to continue as it felt like a regression from all the profound clarity, clean energy and pristine aura that a solid year of nightly ceremonial Magick had given me.

We ended up moving states and I brought all my ceremonial Magickal tools with me (candles, incense, etc.) along with this stuff I brought my Hekate altar, along with that spirit bottle. I didn’t reset it up as I felt as though I was no longer interested in being a devotee to Hekate. (I was always very clear that I wouldn’t ever be exclusively).

All of this stuff has been sitting in a chest in my basement for the last several years and I have to say, it’s given my house a rather Saturnian energy. I’ve felt significantly bogged down the last several years. I’ve felt as though my actual Will had been entirely and significantly weakened. I’ve suffered from some level of a chemical depression finding it hard some days to be motivated to do anything. I strongly believe that it’s some sort of stagnant version of whatever remnants of a Hekatean current are left over . We once again had to move and I’m now in a position where it is the last thing in my basement to go and I want to get rid of it, and cleanse myself of any attachments or ill effects it had on me so I can get back to the truly transformative work of Ceremonial Magick.

How can I best get rid of this chest of Hekate stuff?

To share, a list of abbreviations used on ecosophia.

Some time ago I recall you discussing that place out beyond hope and despair. It deeply resonated with me, and I did find it to be something of a north star in guiding me through difficult times.

I've often wondered what it is. My working theory is that it's a developing mental body, or at least, work on the sheath. I know what helped me the most was the Cos Doc, and meditating on that always assists me further.

Dear Mr. JMG
dear commenters!
Some random questions:

1. I care for an elderly member of my family. Something I realized is that I am having the same pain and illnesses as him. Problems with the femur, stomach, etc. Exactly the same. Would LBRP help me with this problem?

2. The other day I read something interesting: “the more we give horizontally, to our peers, the more we rise vertically!”. What do you think of this phrase? Of course, there are other ways to ascend spiritually, right?

3. I would like to lose sexual interest. Sometimes I think I spend too much time and energy in this sector. Any magical recommendations for transmuting these thoughts and energies?
And thank you very much for your availability!

Hey JMG

I have continued my meditations upon the LBRP and RC ritual, and a question has come up.

Is the "Rosy cross" of the RC ritual identical or descended from the "Celtic Cross" in terms of meaning? I imagine that since there were Irishmen in the original G.D. that there must be a connection.

J.L.Mc12

I remeber you mentiong that any form of hypnosis is incompatible with Golden Dawn type of magic/occult practices. is that true of other systems you teach. I'm especially interested in golden section stuff since i started that and i'm sloooowly going to the initiation.

Dear John Michael Greer, I have a few questions regarding spirit vision scrying I hope you can answer:

1. I have noticed that you have authored some new books under the Golden Fellowship, books of occultism that self-initiate the reader into a specific branch of occult mysteries. I wish to know whether this is a significant detour from the traditional Hermetic Kabbalistic system of the 4 elements, planets, zodiacs and sephirots. So far I have not seen the same symbolism and teachings prevalent in the Hermetic Kabbalah. Are these two traditions compatible or should I ignore those books if I am interested in the regular plain old Kabbalah?

2.How does one communicate with a saint in spirit vision? Saints don’t map up on the Kircher Tree of Life as they do not belong to any planet, or sephirot. People have always worked with them through simple spellwork like Hoodoo or merely prayers. Would you say that Malkuth or Mercury (planet of communication) is a safe bet to interact with saints via spirit vision?

3. Similar to saints there is another group of spirits who don’t map at all anywhere on the Tree I am interested in. These are the genii of the hours in Levi’s book (can’t remember which) but you can find them in Liber 777. Crowley organized them under the signs of the zodiac without providing an explanation or a source. How would one interact with them via spirit vision?

Good morning JMG and commentariat,

So this may be a bit of an odd one,

As long as I can remember I've had "brain tingles" when I've met certain people, this isn't an everyday thing, so I don't feel it's a case of some type of first impressions. It may only happen a couple of times a year at most, though often less.

I don't necessarily need to converse with the person as there has been occasions where it's happened passing by someone in the street. When it's happened with someone who I've then made aquaintance with or formed a friendship it doesn't continue, it a one and done kind of thing.

It's occured more when meeting practicing psychics of various kinds, though this isnt always the case either..

My wife has previously suggested it could be something like the feeling people attach to listening to ASMR, but having tried it a couple of times it isn't anything like that. It certainly seems to be attached to being in the presence of someone for the first time.

It feels like a tingling sensation that radiates out in waves from the top of my cranium and flows around and down my brain to the base of the skull. The sensation is pleasant and typically lasts about 5-10 seconds.

I wondered if there is an occult explanation for this. I imagine that there is, but so far have been unable to get a clear answer and would appreciate if someone more knowledgeable has one.

Thanks,
Kind regards.
Rob

Good morning and thank you for hosting this space.

Does the Tarot have applications besides divination and meditation? I think I recall you describing it at one point as a sort of Swiss Army knife of high magic.

Hello, and hope you're well, JMG. This one is more for the commentariat at large, if that's okay, but of course I'd be happy to have your thoughts too.

The Heathen LBRP/MP you posted here were my first real foray into occultism, and I practiced them for a few years before drifting into other spiritual directions for a while. In part because the full course took so many years to arrive, but to be clear I'm not complaining, since I know complications happen in life and that you have many projects on your plate. Still, now that the book is finally done, I had to get a copy. (And if Mr. Hill aka. Gullindagan happens to be reading here, thank you for all your work and dedication in making this.)

Right now I'm at a crossroads for deciding which path to pursue, and I decided to try the Heathen LRP again a few times for old times' sake after reading through the book. While I still have a lot of affection and respect for the Norse gods, I never expected to return to Heathenry as my primary path, but I experienced a very powerful response to the ritual and subsequent meditation, something I feel I probably shouldn't ignore. So now I'm thinking I might at least commit to working through the Thrall grade and seeing where it goes from there. Which brings me to my more specific questions:

1) Have there been any plans for an organized Order of the Heathen Golden Dawn, along the lines of the DOGD? Or alternately, is there any interest here in such a thing?

2) Apropos the Merlin's Wheel discussion, I've also been thinking about what a Heathen adaptation would look like. Maybe based on Egil's saga, since he's such an archetypal Heathen, and it follows his whole life cycle? But I know there's quite a few seasoned and knowledgeable Heathens here who might have better suggestions. (Maybe some purists would say it doesn't make sense for a Heathen tradition to work with the eight festivals to begin with, but I think it's a very elegant structure and such a big part of modern Pagan culture there's a case to be made for it. And anyone who can accept a Germanic-GD mixture to begin with shouldn't be that much of a purist, right? :P)

I committed a wrathful momentary lapse of judgement while off the clock but potentially identifiable as an employee of a business that is highly concerned with public perception - I flipped a bird at a visitor. The chances of finding this particular individual to apologize are not none but are low. Consequences could range from none at all up to termination. This is clearly a me problem, and bluntly I need to keep my job. Is there an appropriate recipient of planetary charity to atone for wrathful thought and action, or benefit the other person I insulted? Is there another simple working I could do try and make amends from a distance?

Hello JMG,

I am the guy who fell in love with another woman at his own wedding and has been struggling with his feelings ever since.

Over the past few weeks, I have tried to follow your advice and have been searching for the reasons behind this situation.

One thought that crossed my mind, though it's probably not the most likely explanation, is that this whole situation might be related to the new house we bought before the wedding. The house previously belonged to a couple who separated very unhappily and with a lot of anger, and are now embroiled in a court battle.

1) Is it possible for a house to be cursed or otherwise tainted etherically or astrally, causing this misfortune to befall us?

2) You often suggest keeping a journal. Could you perhaps elaborate on this? Should one actively reflect on their life, or just dryly record what happens in their daily life?

Thank you!

JMG,

I found something that might be of interest to you and readers of this blog. I’ve been doing a bit of Italian cooking lately and watching a Calabrian cook and her husband on YouTube. One of her newer videos is not about cooking, but Calabrian and wider Italian folk magic traditions and superstitions.

In the beginning of the video they are speaking about good luck amulets and charms and they pull out a red felt bag filled with salt.m that is used there for good luck and protection. I was pretty surprised, it looks exactly like the red bag amulet described here and in North American hoodoo practice as a mojo bag.
Here’s the link to the video for those interested (JMG I know that you are not), the relevant part starts at 2:20.

https://youtu.be/skBUUtuJn7g?si=MRCnttGyhAP5cs0I

This got me going on a research rabbit hole to see if this was common in Italy and I couldn’t find anything at all, so I reached out to an academic who studies these things who is from Southern Italy. She reached out to multiple others and it seems that this practice is only done in Calabria. Not sure if this arose on its own, or was imported from another source but I thought it was fascinating, and might be of interest to those here that like to do research on these things as I do.

Best,
Dean

Good morning,

Hope you had a good weekend (or at least better than the last!). :-)

Your ban for „undruidly“ words on your sites, is that a personal preference/choice, or is there indeed some underlying reason in druidry in particular not to use swear words?

And for everybody: I‘ll be performing a formal blessing ceremony again this Wednesday and would appreciate signups, as this helps me to practice:

https://thehiddenthings.com/weekly-blessings-33

JMG, thanks for hosting this space, and my blessings to you if you‘ll have them,

Milkyway

Dear JMG,

A couple of weeks ago another commenter referred to Gregory Shaw's book Hellenic Tantra, which I ended up reading (thanks to whoever posted about that book; it's been very fruitful to read!). A question arose:

Shaw discusses how divine names are both the same as, and not the same as, their names, and goes on to discuss how, from the point of view of some Neoplatonists, these names can't be translated because of this - you can't translate or change the name of divine beings because the utterance of that name, in its original language, partly IS the divine being.

I'm still working on understanding this and I hope I haven't garbled Shaw's point, but it makes me wonder whether the shifting of language through history has meant the utterance of the names of older deities aren't actually referring to those beings. For example, Osiris in Latin was Osiride, and I'm not sure what His original Egyptian name would have been.

If this is a valid point, what effect would this have on prayer, for example, or vibrating divine names in the SOP?

Many thanks!

Is the transgender movement caused by society confusing the gender polarities of the other planes with the gender polarity of the material plane? There are people with masculine gender on the material plane and feminine gender on the ethereal, astral, and mental planes.

Good morning!

There are many systems of occult training out there, many of them worthwhile, yet, the way I understand it, a student should pick one and stick with it to completion, a commitment that can take years to fulfill. Can you give any advice on:
a) Choosing a system that is "right for you"?
b) Dealing with doubting whether you made the right choice?

Greetings JMG and others! A few questions for you:

1) I saw someone tweet about a math prodigy that could "taste numbers". It made me wonder what math actually was. Are mathematical objects "real" and "external" in some type of way? Do we get their glimpses on the mental plane? Are they one of the "forms" objects or archetypical? In that sense are we discovering them rather than creating them?

1B) How do they relate to physical and mental objects in that case?

I would be keen to know about the nature of math in the occult as well as philosophically.

2) I wanted to ask about the psychological inflation during kundalini awakenings that sometimes causes people to identify themselves as major historical figures (Lincoln etc), capable of impossible feats, having a mission etc.

It seems to do with the kundalini rising to the head particularly.

What exactly is going on? Are these archetypical images from the collective unconscious? Deeply buried subjective desires etc? It seems to go away once the K settles, but some people lose their minds.

3) If learning a language is L5 in horary, would asking what software, book, or coaching help to use be L5 too, or L9?

Good morning, JMG. Last week I asked you about a pathworking guide who said she'd be true and faithful, but then tried to attack when I rejected her. I've been thinking about this and it made me wonder: what could happen if I had agreed to go with her guidance? What are the potential risks?

As always, thanks for your comments.

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Axe & Plough, PIE Religion, "Spook Central," 4 More All Father Drafts, and Q on Checking Divination

Ecosophia Prayer List

Lévi, chapter 19

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Beyond hope and despair

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Rosy Cross origins

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Brain Tingles

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Heathen Golden Dawn

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Red bag amulet

Undruidly words; Blessing offer

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Question