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 Pamela Coleman Smith, the designer of the Waite-Smith aka Rider-Waite tarot deck.)

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 use the button below to access my online tip jar.

With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

In the DMH crane bag enchantment ritual, the wand is receptive and the cauldron is active—is this a reversal to test if I am paying attention? I would expect it to be the other way around.

Is learning to do Ogham magic a prerequisite to the 3 cauldrons working, or is the order of things a bit more flexible by that point?

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

1) The reversal is quite deliberate. Magical workings don't always conform to one's expectations!

2) In that specific case, the order is more flexible; as long as you've done extensive practice with the previous aspects of the Sphere of Protection, you can take up the Three Cauldrons working whether or not you've mastered Ogham magic yet.

Magic baths and controling astral sex?

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
Your Hoodoo recipe for a cleansing bath worries me. What happens if you get some of the chili water in your eyes or on your genitals? Is it gentle enough to use on all parts of the body? I have used oil of rose geranium and Angelica tincture to very good effect in magic baths. What do you think of them?

Second question concerns a distant cousin of mine in England. He is a devout Roman Catholic (sexually repressed) and claims to have never studied magic. When he thinks sexual thoughts about me, I can often feel it. Being English, he likes anal sex and I have for the last six months occasionally woken up in considerable pain because of his fantasies. I have tried to get him to think of imaginary people and he has curbed his fantasies somewhat.

I don't understand how he is getting through as I wear a protection amulet, even at night. I made from your recipe in the ENM. What else can I do to protect myself from his attentions. I am sure he did not mean to hurt me. My last experience of his attentions was very pleasant.

I have a couple of times in the past few years woken up feeling his emotions. He is a very powerful warlock but he doesn't have any control. He said he could feel my anger when we last had a spat. I am in British Columbia and he in Dorset. I do not understand what is happening. Is there any book you could recommend for me to learn about this sort of experience?

Thanks so much.
Max Rogers

Re: Magic baths and controling astral sex?

[ecosophia]

1) That's why you only put a pinch of chili powder in the water. Trust me, a lot of people use such baths regularly and don't seem to have any trouble with sensitive tissues. I haven't worked with rose geranium, but oil of angelica ought to be fairly effective.

2) You're dealing with a very complex situation. Yes, these things happen, and sexual repression is a really good way to build up a supply of magical energy; combine that with intense visualization, and yes, you've got very effective magic. When there's a family connection, that sort of thing can be even more potent. The best book I know of that bears on the subject is Dion Fortune's book Psychic Self-Defence, and this also includes a range of methods that can be used to respond to such things.

Geomancy and The Tree

[(Anonymous)]

In working with the Celtic Golden Dawn book, I've been puzzling over the attributions of geomantic figures to the tree of life. I'm new to all of the systems, and am concurrently studying your book Paths of Wisom.

My recent response to confusion has been to discard any other published interpretations of the geomantic figures, and interpret only according to the path or sphere to which you have attributed them. While this had added a layer of complexity, I feel like the practice is expanding my sphere of awareness about the forces at play in the mundane of day to day living.

My question is: Is pursuing this method of interpretation in divination ill advised, or missing the point of.. Something?

Thank you for making yourself available for our questions. I find it both sad and beautiful that, even as a silent reader, the Ecosophia blog and the Magic Monday exchanges are the strongest feeling of community I have in my life these days.

Re: Geomancy and The Tree

[ecosophia]

It's sometimes helpful to focus purely on one aspect of the symbolism of a divinatory system, especially if you're having trouble integrating a lot of diverse information. Over time, you'll find that it becomes easier to build on that one aspect and add in others.

I wish it were possible to build communities in the real world that would work like this odd little online gathering we've made together! All in good time, perhaps.

Possible low-level poltergeist activity?

[(Anonymous)]

It’s an occasional banging or knocking: usually one knock, sometimes two, in or near the bedroom where I am currently sleeping. This bedroom has an adjacent bathroom, and a walk-in closet near that, and the sound generally seems to emanate from that area. It always happens in the small hours of the night, at intervals of a few nights to a couple of weeks apart. Last night it occurred at about a quarter to one; often it has happened at three or four AM. It sounded as though someone had thrown a rock at the outer wall of the house, on the floor below mine (I’m on the second floor of a rickety old Victorian).

I used to put this down to malicious activity by a hostile neighbor. She lives in the flat below, and has been known to violently awaken me by banging on the floor (her ceiling) just below my bed. But her attacks generally have a discernible pattern, there is a buildup to them. This does not follow that pattern. Also a family member long slept in this room, experiencing the same phenomenon; and she has never been under similar attack from our neighbor. It would be most inconvenient for our neighbor to get up at one or four AM every so often just to make this occasional odd noise.

This is a creepy house. We’re here because we can’t afford to move. One “sensitive” woman I know who saw no more than a photo of the facade online even said it looked creepy, and she was dead right. I’ve sometimes wondered if there isn’t a body buried under it or something like that. My one or two tarot queries suggest that the bad feeling about the house stems from the less-than-good characters and intentions of the owners, whom I have reason to think are fairly awful people.

Does this sound to you like some kind of haunting? If so, is there anything I would be well advised to do about it?

Kevin

Re: Possible low-level poltergeist activity?

[ecosophia]

Could be a haunting, could be any of several other things. It's very hard to tell without a thorough investigation. One thing you can try, though, is pouring some vinegar into a small bowl and putting it in the area from which the sounds emanate. Acid vapors in the air interfere with the concentration of etheric energy needed to cause physical effects. If that stops it or slows it down significantly, you've certainly got something nonphysical.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear John
Are you familiar with the book by Jonathan black called “the secret history of the world?’’

[ecosophia]

I've seen it, and flipped through it briefly to check some of the things I know a fair amount about, and wasn't impressed. Still, I haven't read it, so don't have a considered judgment to offer.

[neonvincent]

What do you know about Jack Parsons, an associate of L. Ron Hubbard, a Thelemite, and founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory? His life is the subject of a TV show being streamed now.

[ecosophia]

Just what I read in the biography Sex and Rockets by the pseudonymous "John Carter." Thelema doesn't greatly interest me, so I haven't followed up on Parsons beyond that.

P.S. -

[(Anonymous)]

I really enjoy the portrait of Pixie. It’s a shame she can’t collect royalties on her Tarot deck.

Kevin

Re: P.S. -

[ecosophia]

She's getting the posthumous equivalent, which is fame and remembrance. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there are people putting pictures of her on their home altars and burning incense to her; in a robustly polytheistic culture she'd probably be on her way to becoming a goddess of divination and creativity.

i ching; tarot; astrology; or other?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John, I know you've experience in divination via tarot, geomancy, and now astrology. What else? I've experience with no divination system at all and I'd like a recommendation or, at least, some guidance on picking someplace to start.

If it's of any help, I am most drawn to I Ching - probably only because from what I've read it is a system of wisdom and not just divination. I'm correspondingly a bit resistant to tarot - probably because it reminds me of Ouija boards and I had a bad experience with them many years ago. I'm kind of neutral about astrology, but I imagine it is much, much harder to develop any level of real facility with astrology??

Anyway, how would you suggest I go about picking and getting training in a divination system? This will be a bit of a test case for me. I confess I am not inclined to "believe", so some positive /TSW experience fairly early in the learning curve would be nice....

Re: i ching; tarot; astrology; or other?

[ecosophia]

If you're drawn to I Ching, then go for it. Personal preference is as good a guide as any other. One thing about the Book of Changes, though, is that you need to treat it with respect; every oracle has a distinct personality, and the I Ching is notorious for being basically a wise old man who will teach you if you're polite. As for getting training, the rules are the same for any oracle: cast a daily divination asking for guidance for that day, write it down, do your best to interpret it, then go back to it a day later and see how you did. Rinse and repeat, and after a while you'll teach yourself how to understand the oracle.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey jmg
Has anyone used coal as a magical gemstone before, does it have a use in natural magic at all?

[ecosophia]

Jet, which is one of the classic stones of Saturn, is simply a very hard and smooth form of coal. You can use coal as a Saturn correspondence, though the better quality the coal, the better the magical resonance (i.e., anthracite is quite decent, cheap brown coal won't get you far).

Learning Ritual Magic

[lunarapprentice]

Hello JMG.

I have been developing a magical practice piecemeal from a Hellenistic pagan perspective. I am working up to daily mediations, and am doing a daily banishing ritual with the pagan Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, and will soon be adding the pagan Middle Pillar Exercise. I am still trying to settle on a system of divination, and am now wondering if I would be best off sticking with something well-established like Tarot (I do feel comfortable with its symbolism). I have your book "Learning Ritual Magic", and am wondering if I might use it to learn Golden Dawn-type magic, swapping in equivalent pagan rituals. If not, how would you recommend I proceed?

LunarApprentice

Re: Learning Ritual Magic

[ecosophia]

You could use either that book or The Celtic Golden Dawn, and swap in the symbolism you prefer. Since the Hellenic tradition doesn't really come with a divinatory oracle -- Delphi hasn't been open for business in too long! -- choosing something well established and nondenominational such as the Tarot is probably a good idea.

[(Anonymous)]

The image of Pamela Coleman Smith reminded me of something I've been wondering - why do you consecrate Druid wands but not tarot cards?

[ecosophia]

In some systems you do consecrate tarot cards. Most people don't, because it's fairly common if you're doing tarot readings for someone else, to have the other person handle the deck -- and normally, once something is consecrated, you don't let anyone else handle it.

[(Anonymous)]

Do the occult swordfighting systems sacrifice much biomechanical efficiency in return for the magic effect? Has anyone ever developed an occult gunfighting system or applied it to any other kind of modern combat?

[ecosophia]

1) Quite the contrary. Gerard Thibault's system of Renaissance Pythagorean rapier fencing is extraordinarily efficient in terms of movement -- since it's based on geometry, the principle of least motion governs its movements. I've had the pleasure of watching matches where somebody using Thibault's methods faced somebody using either the contemporary Italian methods or the later French methods; the other guy's capering about, lunging and leaping and crouching, while the guy using Thibault's methods has an easy upright posture, takes measured steps, and has his sword always extended at the other guy. A few clashes of the swords, and then thump -- the other guy takes the point of a rapier straight the middle of his mask; end of match.

2) Not that I know of, but it would be easy to do. My first novel, The Fires of Shalsha, includes a system of mystical handgun fighting as one of the plot elements; it was partly inspired by Thibault and partly by kyudo, the Japanese tradition of archery.

[(Anonymous)]

What sort of different effects do you get from practising primarily solar, primarily telluric, or evenly balanced magic? Are there different traits that make a person more suited to one rather than the others (or at least which one they would be best to start with) and is there any way to tell before beginning training?

[ecosophia]

I don't know that anyone's done enough study of the results of the different systems to be able to say. I've done all three, and although the results were different, I have no way of knowing whether the differences were purely a function of the way they interact with my personality, or what have you.

[(Anonymous)]

I know you haven't systematically studied shamanism, but from what you do know, what would you say are the most significant differences between shamanism and Western occultism? From what I've read they don't seem overwhelming as a lot of people were magicians before they became shamans. And those who weren't, after a few years the spirits seem to start prodding them to learn magic so they can be more independent and do more things on their own.

[ecosophia]

Since I haven't studied shamanism, I'm not the person to ask. Why not talk to someone who's done both, and find out what they say?

Questions about etheric charging

[(Anonymous)]

I don't have the book in front of me so I can't remember exactly how you worded it, but it was in Paths of Wisdom, if my recall is correct, you were talking about a solar and a lunar 'charging' of the etheric body, and I was wondering:
1. Can it be done mentally, as I'm a suburbanite and the neighbors probably think I'm eccentric enough as-is;
2. Do you have to actually be able to see the sun, as it is blocked until rather late by buildings, or is it enough for it to be up; and
3. Is being out in the early morning sun 'charging' anything? I get the impression that being out in the sun vs. ritual charging is rather the difference between a stroll through the park vs. having a jog.

Also, I was looking through your encyclopedia [fascinating] and I noticed David Goddard's Tower of Alchemy in the bibliography. May I ask your opinion of his work? Many thanks!

Re: Questions about etheric charging

[ecosophia]

1) Nope. If you do it mentally it's mental, not etheric. The etheric realm is the realm of life force, and your etheric body is closely linked to your physical body; if you want to charge it, you have to use the physical movements.

2) It's enough for it to be up. You're tapping into the sun's etheric radiations, which aren't blocked by buildings.

3) That's a good comparison. Being out in early morning sun will give you a very mild charge; the breathing and movements give you a much stronger one.

4) It's been something like twenty years since I read it, but as I recall, it was pretty good.

Cleansing bath

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG
Thank you for the cleansing bath recipie - I tried it last sunday and it had a good effect as far as I can tell (feeling more grounded). The pepper was not a problem: I just had to wipe off a bit of yellowish-ring after I let the water flow away.

Beginners questions:
1 I have fairly thick hair - do I need to drench it through and through?
2 Can I change the sequence? First add the salt and then add the vinegar (otherwise the salt will stick more to the cup) and when do I add it? When the bath is drawn?

Thanks again for all your work!

(Emily 07)

Re: Cleansing bath

[ecosophia]

1) No, just wetting it lightly is enough.

2) There's no particular importance in the order in which the ingredients go in, and you can put them in at any convenient point, so long as they're in the water (and the salt is fairly well dissolved) before you bathe.

Rhetoric

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

You recently mentioned Miranda Lundy's book on Sacred Geometry, which I saw has been reissued by the publisher as part of a collection of smaller books on the Quadrivium. This rekindled my interest in reading up on the Trivium and Quadrivium as an approach to education and training the mind. Do you have an opinion on this approach? I recall you saying that there might be a series of posts on adult education in the works; is that still a possibility, does it have an ETA? Also, I believe you wrote something a while back about the practice of Rhetoric as a means by which results similar to those attainable through the pratice of magic (not just of the thaumaturgic, but also of the theurgic kind) can be achieved. I'm imagining a process of persuasion to bring the subconcious, non-rational aspects of the psyche into alignment with the will. Could you say something about that and maybe provide some pointers?

Thankyou for your time

Mike

Re: Rhetoric

[ecosophia]

1) The trivium and quadrivium, as a system of education, produced a great many first-rate intellects; it's proven, it had the bugs worked out of it before the Dark Ages, and so it's an excellent option if you want to use it.

2) I've done some of the posts already; others will follow as inspiration and other subjects permit.

3) There was some serious scholarship on that back in the 1980s, focusing on the late Renaissance scholar Giambattista Vico. Ernesto Grassi's Rhetoric as Philosophy covered some of this ground, as did James Goetsch's Vico's Axioms; of course, being modern academics, they evaded the magical dimension of it all, but it's not too hard to read between the lines.

Cleansing bath addendum

[(Anonymous)]

...and

(Emily 07)

Re: Cleansing bath addendum

[ecosophia]

...and what?

another question about mixing eastern and western spiritual practices. Apologies for the long post.

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,
In the past I've done a fair bit of eastern meditation practices on and off over the last few decades.
I had stopped for a long while due to poor health and other reasons, however I'm now looking to start again, and having followed your blogs for many years and through this developed a respect for you, I've decided to try your western style.

A few points though, one of the more advanced forms of work I've done is the rainbow bridge teachings, which basically clears the subtle bodies (vortex) and builds (widens) the Antahkarana from the soul star to the earth star. Even though I'm no longer practicing it, this sort of powerful work performed over many years has had significant and permanent effects. Would this be a problem when starting a western system? (I haven't done this for a while)

At some point about 10 years ago I started the Arcane school teachings (based on Alice Bailey's teachings - my original spiritual teacher (from late teenage for a few years - about 10 years prior) taught a mix of Alice Bailey occult philosophy and (if I recall correctly) Agni yoga (meditation no postures).
I didn't stick to the Arcane school teachings as it didn't work for me and my health problems started (severe headaches - tension in right side of body made it too difficult - much better now with ABC method Chiropractor).
I didn't make the link at the time but since you've mentioned the risks of mixing spiritual systems, I do vaguely recall some warning to not mix but I didn't take seriously at the time.

From reading your blogs and thinking about these systems...
I used to sit cross legged, (with your advice) I'm now converting to sitting in chair with legs not crossed.
The soul star was very active in this working, performing the channel widening, and I now feel the earth star was an afterthought in this technique. It always felt as though it wasn't clean as I should have done more cleaning work there (the "bath" work which I presume your banishing work is the equivalent was 'vortexing' the energies down into the earth)
If I'm to work with a new system with three channels should I handle it differently to other students due to my history of the significant work done on a single channel?

I don't know if my health problems we're caused by the mixing but it's under control now, but concerned I should be more careful in any specific western practices (CGD or DMH?)
I now think my prior work was more 'solar' than earth (teluric?). How would I know if I'm not balanced in this way and need to do something to rectify that?

With all this in mind, I've just started the CGD in the last couple of weeks, but I do have the Druidry Handbook & can get the DMH (I've bought a bunch of your books as an alternative form of filling the tip jar).
Reading your Magic Mondays, you make a point they are different systems.
What's the difference? Why would I choose one system over the other?
I'm finding it easier to spare the 10-15 mins per day to do the LSRP & LBRP than the 1 hour for the previous meditations (a few techniques combined)

Now I just need my wife to stop freaking out when I call out words in a strange language and wave my hands about :)
(she used to be fine with me quietly sitting cross legged in the corner)

-KNS

Re: another question about mixing eastern and western spiritual practices. Apologies for the long p

[ecosophia]

It's literally impossible for me to know whether you'll have difficulties or not taking up Western magic after so diverse a range of spiritual practices. You're quite right that regular practice of any energy work will make permanent changes in your energy body, and those will interact unpredictably with anything you do from here on.

Based on what I know of the Rainbow Bridge methods, you're probably better off working with The Celtic Golden Dawn, as that also works with a single channel down the midline of the body; working the additional channels that are used in The Druid Magic Handbook would be more likely to cause unexpected interactions. Regular performance of invoking and banishing rituals, and the other practices of the Ovate Grade, shouldn't be any kind of trouble; the point to watch is when you take up the exercise of the Central Ray, which is where the internal energy workings come in. If all goes well, that should feel relatively natural and you should notice at least a mild improvement in any remaining health problems you had from your earlier work. If you find your health suffering, though, you'll need to stop the exercise, and that probably means that you'll have to stay away from internal energy workings for the rest of this incarnation. Still, with any luck that won't be an issue.

Cleansing bath addendum

[(Anonymous)]

...and I forgot the most important question: in my countRy there is apparentely no concept for kosher salt except that it's natural salt in a bit bigger chunckS. Correct or should I dig deeper?

Re: Cleansing bath addendum

[ecosophia]

Basically correct. In the US, salt isn't always very pure, and kosher salt is recommended for magical use because by Jewish tradition it can't contain any impurities but a little bit of an anti-caking agent.

***

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,
I've been reading Manly P Halls 'The Secret Teachings of all Ages'. There's plenty of *** in there. I figure it's a way to highlight certain points.
But I do wonder, is there more to it? some secret code?

-KNS

Re: ***

[ecosophia]

Read his chapter on "The Cryptogram as a Factor in Occult Philosophy" and draw the logical conclusion... ;-)

Drugs and Spirituality in Teens

[(Anonymous)]

This question is not only for JMG but also the JMG commentariat who are parents or young adults.
As a parent I think of ways to minimise drug abuse when my daughter gets into the teenage years (long way off).
I'm not ignorant enough to think I'll be able to prevent it :)

When I was in my late teens and early adult years I was doing quite allot of decent meditation, I was also in a few social groups who smoked a lot of dope and didn't have any spiritual practice (never found 'my people').
At the time, while I may have smoked a little, I didn't become a druggie, in large part because I found the result of the spiritual practice more interesting and it adversely affected my spiritual practice.
However, listening to some podcasts and some recent Monday morning questions I feel drug use for many is part of their spiritual practice.
What experience have others found here? Advice?

-KNS

Re: Drugs and Spirituality in Teens

[ecosophia]

I also took up meditation in my teen years, and found drugs boring by comparison. My recommendation? Teach your daughter to meditate!

Warding House

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,
I was listening to a podcast last night - interview of Gordon White (Chaos Magician), and he said one of the basic things people should do is warding their house.
What are your thoughts on the need to do this? and best techniques? (where in your books)

(p.s. sorry for being greedy with questions today - it takes a while to compile my questions and I always miss the Magic Monday window)
-KNS

Re: Warding House

[ecosophia]

That's probably good advice if you practice chaos magic, which I don't. In the kind of magic I do, the daily practice of a good banishing ritual, such as the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram or the Sphere of Protection, will give you the same benefits and more. You can find the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram in my books Learning Ritual Magic (Judeo-Christian version) and The Celtic Golden Dawn (Druid version); you can find the Sphere of Protection in The Druid Magic Handbook.

Divination

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG, I would be very interested in your opinion about two related notions I have come across repeatedly: one, that people paying close attention to astrology are going to be more strongly affected by current astrological influences than others ("because they are much more dialed in to the field"); and two, that repeatedly doing divinations to predict a particular outcome is going to lock that future outcome more rigidly in place each time.

The common theme here is, of course, that divination may not just predict effects, but actually serve to strengthen them for better or worse. This would certainly be important to take into account in one's practice, provided that things really work that way. From your experience, would you say they do? Many thanks for your help.

Re: Divination

[ecosophia]

There are two different issues involved here. With astrology, yes, you start by becoming more susceptible to astrological influences, because you're aware of them; over time, though, you learn how to balance them out with shifts in consciousness and behavior -- for example, if you've got some experience working with astrology, Mercury retrogrades are no trouble at all, because you know what's hindered and what's favored by Mercury when he's retrograde and you adjust your plans and your mental states to go with the astrological flow. Of course you also benefit more from positive astrological conditions -- when Mercury's applying to a trine with Jupiter, say, you know that it's the right time to submit that manuscript or apply for that new job, so you get the benefits that others miss.

As for repeatedly doing divinations about the same question, this is a bad idea, for the same reason that it would be a bad idea to ask me the same question over and over again on this forum. Oracles can get annoyed with you. If you do a divination and the result isn't what you want -- which is usually when this kind of thing happens -- accept that, and don't ask the same question again until and unless something obviously changes in the situation. If you do a second reading, and get the same result, accept it and don't ask again. If you keep on trying to force the oracle to tell you what you want to hear, you risk permanently impairing your capacity to use that oracle, or any other.

Green Wizardry

[(Anonymous)]

Hiya Boss
Since Tower 440 of the Green Wizards’ Benevolent and Protective Association is developing an educational focus, would you consider discussing or commenting on Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire? Critical pedagogy is a useful concept, but Freire’s writing style is rarefied and easy to misinterpret…
And – We’ve been calling the announcing officer “The Mortimer” because somebody needs to point out the obvious. Is there some way to ask a character and rhetorical device like Mortimer the Penguin if he would like to be our patron?
Speaking of penguins, how do we develop and maintain a healthy egregor? Joining the religious and spiritual groups skewered by Berke Breathed in “Bloom County” is probably an undesirable outcome… or maybe not...
Thanks
Rusty

Re: Green Wizardry

[ecosophia]

1) I haven't read the Friere book, so don't have a lot to say about it!

2) Since Mortimer the Penguin is a fictional character, simply imagine sitting down with him and asking him whether he's good with that.

3) A sense of humor is a really good start!