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 noted below, 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 forty-ninth published book, my seventh published novel, and the book in which The Weird of Hali really found its rhythm. It was harder to write than the two earlier volumes in my para-Lovecraftian series; Innsmouth practically wrote itself, and Kingsport took a little more work but I never had to struggle to see where it was going. Chorazin began smoothly, but once the action reached the little town of Chorazin in the shadow of Elk Hill, it took me repeated drafts to get things to come out right. Still, I think the result was as good as anything in the series, and it brought in themes and characters who turned out to be central to later books. You can order a copy here if you live in the US and here if you live elsewhere.

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 

 

I've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com.

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed, and no more comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

Background noise or something worse?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, are there any practices you would recommend for recognizing malign spiritual influences in different settings and situations? I find myself in many different social environments in the course of my personal and professional lives, and I've observed rising interest in the grubbier side of the occult among some people as well as influences like Covid mania that are having negative effects. Among other things, I've seen people who led normal lives for a long time go off the rails mentally and drop out of their old circles, and their stories have had consistent elements leading me to believe that something not entirely mundane may be going on.

It's a no-brainer to stay away from anyone openly professing or displaying involvement with noxious forces, but if someone doesn't do this I'm not exactly planning to ask them if they've picked up a habit of making offerings to evil spirits. I often encounter hippie types and sundry spiritual dabblers in my travels and I've read accounts including yours of such subcultures being ground zero for demonolatry and related practices. The polluted state of the astral leads me to wonder whether some bad vibes I pick up are specific to a place or a person or just part of background noise. Is there any method you'd recommend for making the distinction between "definitely avoid this place or activity" and "there's some muck floating around the subtle planes but not particularly so in this spot"?

Thanks for your perspective and for making these posts.

Re: Background noise or something worse?

[ecosophia]

The first thing I'd suggest is that you should take up a daily banishing ritual of some sort if you haven't done so already. As this cleanses your aura, people who engage in the grubbier sort of magic will tend to avoid you, and noxious energies will have no effect on you.

The second thing I'd suggest is learning some form of divination, and getting good enough at it that you can ask such questions of it and get clear answers. This is very useful for sorting out what you're experiencing.

[(Anonymous)]

SO, what are the options of how missings things just ...reappear ?

I had a loom for many years, that I decided to rehome, and another member of this forum wanted it, we set a date for it to move, today. there was a piece not attached that I couldnt find. Including not seeing it today. We literally, 4 people, moved the loom, and took all the other pieces from in the corner there. We grabbed them all, the corner by where the loom had been sitting was empty. One of the people with the new owner went back upstairs to use the upstairs bathroom. And walks back downstairs carrying this missing piece. It is like 42" long3x4 or so. We went back upstairs to all see where it was found. It was not there before, that was exactly where everyother piece of the loom that wasnt attached was, adn we had taken all of them. Then 29 minutes later the missing for a long time piece was just... there. And get the attention of someone not looking for it.

I took it as a good sign that the loom was going off to the correct new home.

But, what is the potential phenomena for this type of thing ? I believe it has happened before, not that everything turns back up.. yet. And, any ways to encourage things popping back up ?

mYbe it is just that things this week are definitely back in a positive flow somehow

Atmospheric River

[ecosophia]

The traditional notion is that your household elves took it, and then brought it back. Nowadays parapsychologists prefer to talk learnedly about spontaneous apportation, which means -- well, basically, that your household elves took it, and then brought it back.

Don't thank them. Faeries of all kinds are made uncomfortable by thanks.

First Pass at Saying the Heathen Rosary and Question About Paired Rulers of the Currents of Nwyfre

[jprussell]

Good Evening,

As we're at last getting some fall-ish weather down here in my corner of the humid subtropical south of the US, I hope that those of you in the northern hemisphere are also enjoying the settling in of autumn.

To Share: Now that I have enough of the prayers for the Heathen Rosary to put together into a coherent practice, I've shared that draft form in case anyone else wants to give it a shot: https://jpowellrussell.com/#first_pass_at_saying_the_heathen_rosary

To Ask: As a Heathen following Druid teachings for the time being, I've continued to be unsatisfied with the discrepancy between the Heathen worship of the Sun as a Goddess and the Moon as a God, compared with the respectively masculine and feminine attributions given in most other western occult/religious traditions. As I was meditating my way through the Fifth Grade of the Dolmen Arch course, though, I had a thought for one possible way to reconcile these, and I wondered what you (JMG) and others here thought: the Druid Philosophy Triads in this grade talk about how the three great families of Welsh myth, the Plant Annwn, Plant Don, and Plant Llyr, once had single, male rulers, but have in this age of the world moved to having male/female pairs of rulers. These three families are associated with the Telluric, Solar, and Lunar currents. It occurred to me that one possible (partial?) solution to my conundrum is that different religious traditions have given more weight to the male or female ruler of these current, and by that, associated that ruler with the source of that current. To get concrete, if this hypothesis is correct, the Germanic folk, for whatever reason, picked up more on the female ruler of the Solar Current and worship Her as the Sun herself, Sonne/Sunna/Sol, and the male ruler of the Lunar Current, and worship Him as the Moon Himself, Mone/Mani. Of course, this hypothesis doesn't account for whatever gender the celestial bodies and the earth might (or might not) have in and of themselves, and instead sidesteps that question by looking at one of the main ways we experience those bodies spiritually (through the currents that emanate from them). Any thoughts on whether this is worth further research and meditation or is barking up the wrong tree?

Thank you again, JMG and everyone here!

My blessings to all who welcome them,
Jeff

Re: First Pass at Saying the Heathen Rosary and Question About Paired Rulers of the Currents of Nwyf

[ecosophia]

Oh, anything is worth further research and meditation. I've seen people extract impressive spiritual insights from old Thundarr the Barbarian reruns. I would comment as follows:

1) I'm far from sure that planets have genders at all, and if they do, they needn't be anything like the genders that terrestrial multicellular organisms have.

2) Sun gods and moon goddesses are nothing like as universal as some writers like to pretend. In Japan the sun is a goddess and the moon a god. In Egypt the moon is a god -- that's one of Thoth's roles -- and the sun is sometimes male, in the form of Ra, and sometimes female, in the form of Sekhmet. Among the Native American peoples of the Puget Sound area where I grew up, the sun and moon are brothers, and the sun's the younger, weaker brother, since he just has to light up the day while the moon has to light up the night!

3) I sometimes wonder if the difference is simply that in northern climates, where the sun is so often veiled in clouds, it makes more sense culturally to see it as a shy maiden, whereas in southern climates, where the sun blazes down bright and fierce, it makes more sense culturally to see it as a brash young man.

[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 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 Inna's (from Sunnyvale CA, pronounced "EEna")'s surgery cure her from her skin cancer. May she be restored to full health.

May Rebecca's new job position, the start date of which keeps being rescheduled, indeed be hers, and commence as soon as possible; may it fill her and her family's needs, and may the situation be pleasant and free of strife.

May Divine help be granted to newlywed Merlin (TemporaryReality's daughter), that she be guided to beneficial information and good decisions that lead to perfect health. May the lump in her breast resolve rapidly with no issues.

May Leonardo Johann from Bremen in Germany, who was
born prematurely two months early, come home safe and sound.

May all living things who have suffered as a consequence of Hurricanes Helene and Milton be blessed, comforted, and healed.

May Kevin, his sister Cynthia, and their elderly mother Dianne have a positive change in their fortunes which allows them to find affordable housing and a better life.

May Tyler's partner Monika and newborn baby Isabella both be blessed with good health.

May The Dilettante Polymath's eye heal and vision return quickly and permanantly, and may both his retinas stay attached.

May Giulia (Julia) in the Eastern suburbs of Cleveland Ohio be healed of recurring seizures and paralysis of her left side and other neurological problems associated with a cyst on the right side of her brain and with surgery to treat it.

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

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.

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Mr Greer,

I recently realised the extent of the disconnect between my mind and my body. I believe this is due to past traumas and years of being in survival mode. I finally have the time and space to try and address this.
I was wondering what practices or exercises you could recommend to assist in this regard, to restore the ‘unity’ between body and mind?

Thanking you for your advice as always.

[ecosophia]

I'd encourage you to start by getting regular massage. This does an enormous amount to clear away the somatic burden of past traumas. Beyond that, it really depends on what appeals to you; there are dozens of different bodywork modalities out there -- ranging from traditional Asian disciplines such as yoga and tai chi to very recent creations -- and most of them work well at handling this sort of thing.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning and thank you for hosting this.

Does working with Yesod and/or the Moon tend to help a person be more connected with and grounded in their body? That’s something I’ve struggled with for years on end, despite frequent exercise and effort to improve posture and gait. I find it especially challenging to circulate energy through the body.

[ecosophia]

That will help, but you also have to work with Malkuth, which symbolizes the material body. You mention that you've been struggling with this; one thing that may help is to stop struggling -- that simply increases the burden of stress -- and work more on relaxation and taking it easy, so your body can resolve its challenges in its own way.

[(Anonymous)]

Morning John,
Not a question today, just a quick post to say how much I enjoyed your new novel Hall of the Homeless Gods. A fine page turner if ever there was. I’m hoping there will be further adventures for the characters as they seem to have plenty more to offer and the future world you’ve created would provide plenty of scope for plots.
Kind regards
Averagejoe

[ecosophia]

Thank you. You're by no means the only person who's suggested that; I originally planned on it being a one-off, but I'm considering a second Jerry Shimizu story at this point.

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what AS, DAM or OCD mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia.

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

Thanks for astrology help with choosing a weapon material and about spiritualy charging a weapon

[foursidedcircle]

About a year ago, I asked JMG on this forum about the spiritual implications of the choice between an aluminum alloy or steel frame gun. JMG advised me to ask people to cast my chart and see what is more favorable in my case, and two kind souls were willing to help - a_friend and weilong and I'd like to thank them for taking the time and effort, and well as JMG for making this suggestion in the first place. Both agreed aluminum is slightly more favorable, and I ended up factoring this into my decision. To those interested, I just bought my first gun, with an aluminum alloy body and I am very happy with both the way the material feels near my body and the vibe I get when shooting with it (gun enthusiasts know - there is a subjective element of chemistry involved).

My question for JMG and anyone else willing to chime in is: how would one go about "charging" my gun with positive vibes? Any advice offered will be appreciated.

In case JMG takes interest as I know he often does - I do not know how to do any magic, I was wondering more in line if the lay person could still do anything to start a good relationship with this weapon I hope will accompany me in the decades to come.

Re: Thanks for astrology help with choosing a weapon material and about spiritualy charging a weapon

[ecosophia]

If you don't have any magical training, my advice on charging it -- which presupposes magic -- won't help you. Quite possibly someone else will have a suggestion.

Languages and Sight-Reading Music

[moser99]

Hi John Michael,

I have a theory that I am researching. Do people who are good at learning languages tend to be also good at sight-reading music?

I have noticed the two skills seem to go together. I thought I'd ask here because you seem to be very good at picking up new languages. Do you ever try to read music in standard notation, not "tab" where what's written indicates where to put your fingers? Is it easy for you to read music?

How about everybody else?

Oh, I almost forgot, is magic involved in either of these skills?

Moserian

Re: Languages and Sight-Reading Music

[ecosophia]

Yes, I found it very easy to learn to read standard musical notation, though I also use tablature for mountain dulcimer.

[booklover1973]

JMG, since you have announced that a new version of the book "Merlin's Wheel" will appear next year, I would like to ask which changes and additions did you made to the new edition?

[ecosophia]

The manuscript is still in process. Do you have any suggestions for the new edition?

Morris dancing - esoteric side?

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning, JMG, and thank you for all of your work online.

I've recently joined a Morris group. A rural working class tradition hundreds of years old featuring music, masks and dancing - there's got to be an esoteric side somewhere. Could you point me towards any books or online references that document this?

Re: Morris dancing - esoteric side?

[ecosophia]

Ah, but it didn't start out rural working class. Morris dancing was practiced at court in the reign of Henry VIII. As for the esoteric side, heh heh heh -- have you by any chance read my book The Ceremony of the Grail, or the earlier book on which it was partly based, Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance? She argues that Morris dancing and Yorkshire sword dancing are quite literally survivals of the ancient Mysteries. Might be worth a look!

[(Anonymous)]

I recently had a weird experience while watching a documentary about the Titanic: the entire thing felt weirdly familiar; and then when it reached the part about it sinking, I suddenly had a flash of memory: the kind of calm that comes from knowing that your life is over, as I heard a noise, stopped swimming to watch a large ship suddenly tilt and then plunge into the ice cold water I was swimming in. I knew in that moment that it would drag me down with it, but I guess I had gotten far enough away that it did not, because the next part of the memory was shock and then sheer joy that I might yet live. I'm not sure if it was the Titanic, because there were many other ships similar to it that sank into the ocean over the years; but it was unusually vivid and felt pretty much like a memory.

What are the options for figuring out if something is a genuine past life memory or not?

[ecosophia]

Write it down, including every detail, and then put the account away someplace safe. If one memory comes through, others will follow, and will gradually form a coherent image of a life. The one infallible sign that you're dealing with confabulation (aka "making stuff up") rather than real memories is that anything that makes you think you were someone Very Special in a previous life is confabulation. 99.9999% of all souls in incarnation lead ordinary lives.

Will Parker's Four Branches of the Mabinogi

[cs2]

Will Parker's Four Branches of the Mabinogi is actually still in print and is being sold directly by the author at this link: https://www.mabinogi.net/bookshop.html

I paid £48 ($66.80 for me) on paypal. You can also pay via credit/debit. The next day the author emailed me to confirm that my paypal address is where he should ship it. I ordered it September 23 and received it October 9, so it made good time.

The book is currently only available in the US & UK. Otherwise he says to check the resale book market. He might be coordinating with printers in the two countries and thus it's only available there.

For those outside the US-UK: if you can't find a copy and want one, I'd encourage you to lean on this community and see if there is an Ecosophian willing to receive your book and coordinate payment so they can ship it to you.

Anyone interested in studying the Four Branches should really consider this incredible book. Thanks.

Re: Will Parker's Four Branches of the Mabinogi

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted to hear this!

Witches and the Presidental election

[(Anonymous)]

I see that a coven is actively trying to defeat DJT, any thoughts?

https://archive.ph/YjHLS

Re: Witches and the Presidental election

[ecosophia]

Given the typical competence of such efforts, I think a Trump victory has just become more likely.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I am having an unusual experience in the night. I am on DA grade 4 since May and have been doing the awakening the palm centers exercise daily. Sometimes when I sleep on my side my hands end up in the same position as during the exercise and over some time I end up with my arms feeling charged with energy.

Is there concern with this? Should I do anything with this energy? Do anything to make sure it doesn’t leak out?

Thanks!
Matt

[ecosophia]

If your subjective mind thinks you need this, don't worry about it, just let it happen. As you proceed with the palm center work, any temporary imbalances will be smoothed out.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

In a few recent posts you have mentioned that you used magic to change your life, and then you went in a different direction with your esoteric studies/practices.

Q1. If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to get your life the way you wanted?

Q2. Did you have a lot of things that you wanted to change?

Q3. How difficult/unsatisfactory were your circumstances?

These are personal questions, so I hope I'm not being too forward by asking you.

Thanks in advance. Take care.

[ecosophia]

1) It took me about twenty years to finish the process, though I succeeded in making important positive changes within seven years.

2) Almost everything about my life needed changing. The one thing I had was a fairly happy marriage, and even that needed work on my part.

3) I was a depressed, socially clueless autist, flat broke and scraping by on a succession of minimum wage jobs, hauling a heavy burden of old trauma and a lot of bad habits and mistaken judgments that had to be shed. Oh, and I knew practically nothing about magic when I started, and good books on the subject were much rarer than they are today. I'd say my circumstances weren't exactly a bed of roses. ;-)

[linden_matryoshka]

Good Morning , JMG
Thank you for holding this space. I don't know what would I do without it. I stumbled upon all things occult a few years ago - my very first tarot class was cancelled because of the pandemic. Since then I am the Watcher at the Threshold. Every time I get to serious study something bad happens that absorbs my attention. Chris Warnock's horoscope says, "adversity on the spiritual path". I'm going through my second Saturn return. Saturn is in my 6th house squaring Jupiter and in a tight conjunction with Venus. Got pummeled with health issues, one after another. The last being the skin cancer - have a surgery in a few hours. Last week you mentioned that Israel Regardie referred to Golden Dawn magic as the art of horoscope repair, so I spent time working on the first chapter of Learning Ritual Magic . Hope to continue. Any advice would be welcomed . Any blessings and good energy my way regarding the surgery would be deeply appreciated.
Inna (pronounced EE-na)

[ecosophia]

You and you alone can overcome the habit of letting yourself get distracted when you start work on an occult path. This is the first great test of the student, and you must pass it in order to accomplish anything in magic. Positive energy en route for the skin cancer!

[(Anonymous)]

I saved this article to share for magic Monday:

Survey Released from Catholic Church on the Belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/survey-released-catholic-church-belief-real-presence-jesus/

I thought it would be a good data point.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, Mr.Greer and Magic Monday community!

I'm looking for help identifying an idiosyncratic system of occult training I briefly worked with in my early teens. I found it in a book my late father used to own (can't find it now). I didn't get far into it, but from what I remember, practices for the lowest grade involved:
1) an exercise involving moving energy from top of the head to the base of the spine through the left side of the body on the in-breath, and back to the top through the right side on the out-breath;
2) an exercise involving moving energy from upper chakras to the lower chakras on the outside of the body and back through the spine, creating a kind of energy onion around solar plexus. The way this exercise was described in the book, this was supposed to function as a banishing ritual;
3) an exercise involving creating a kind of etheric feeler and using it to determine texture and temperature of an object;
4) I'm not sure about this last bit, but I think meditating on a large crystal of salt was involved.
The book in question was named something along the lines of "The Complete Course in Magic" and was coauthored by two people, whose names I can't remember. Perhaps someone is familiar with it, or at least the tradition it was coming from.

[ecosophia]

I'm not familiar with this at all. Hmm! Anyone else?

MOE Healing Hands

[kylec]

I'm offering healing hands in the Modern Order of Essenes tradition to anyone who needs a physical or emotional boost. All you have to do to is reply here or PM me with your request. While I do ask that people sign up again each week, there is no limit to the number of times you can rejoin the list, so if you've been here before, please let me know if you would like another round. Thanks!

Re: MOE Healing Hands

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Kylec,
I would like to sign up for your healing. How do I go about it?
Inna

...

[(Anonymous)]

I am reaching a part of my kundalini awakening where a lot of my old desires are losing motivational stimulus. Not feeling any physiological lust when I look at very attractive women, and even drinking alcohol isn't having the same effect anymore (my body eventually does get drunk but the emotional tension relief that previously made alcohol so enjoyable is going away).

Kinda worried I won't have much to do if this keeps going this way...(on the other hand I feel quite zen, psycho-emotional fluctuations have reduced dramatically).

Re: ...

[ecosophia]

That's quite normal. Let the process complete itself: you'll find that other, more useful motivations emerge to replace the old biological set.

[(Anonymous)]

1. I have a very bad unconscious and subconscious habit of avoiding potential relationships. Divination and just the series of events I walk into lead me to potential partners, but as soon as I get a hint that this partner will involve some necessary misfortune I must endure, my mind creates an excuse to not go forward with dating the person. At worst, I break off any contact with them. I may be vaguely aware of my behavior in the moment but so far the fearful part of me has always conjured some irrational concern or false self-confidence that convinces myself to not go forward with even just *being* with the other person in a friend or acquaintance manner, with no immediate need to push events to any conclusion. This habit has plagued me the last few months and seems to stem from deep fears about hurtful events I’ve experienced from relationships in some distant past. As I am in my first Saturn Return, I feel an intense internal pressure to defeat this habit of mine and imagine negative outcomes if I can’t overcome it - “I will never have a partner in this life,” “I will never integrate my shadow,” etc.

This is a case where it feels like the only solution is to identify my thoughts and where they’re leading instantly in the moment, and then do that one series of actions which all of my previous actions do *not* match. So far my fears still win. Do you have any recommendations for what I can do to help overcome myself?

Currently I’m trying to focus on building my self-confidence by rooting myself in my workplace and town, but it’ll take a long time for me to lay deep roots and build my trust in myself, and I feel like Saturn Returns aren’t when you are allowed that sort of time to slowly rebuild your confidence.

[ecosophia]

You need to figure out why you do this, and in particular what you gain by doing this. In most people who have self-defeating habits like this, it's a reaction to unresolved trauma in childhood, and those feelings need to be brought back into consciousness, experienced again, and resolved. The Octagon Society exercises are helpful for this.

That said, a Saturn return is a good time to identify the problem but it's not especially a good time to work on solving them. Wait until Saturn is well past his place in your natal chart, and until then, just accept that this is going to take a lot of work.

[sdi]

Good afternoon, JMG, and thanks as ever for hosting this forum.

I have been studying/contemplating the myths of Isis, Osiris, and Horus pretty intensely for the last few months, and in so doing I've become curious about the Ancient Egyptian conception of the individual. They famously refer to its various parts, like the ka, ba, sah, ren, khet, etc., but it's become pretty clear to me that most of the texts I've seen on the topic have no clue what they're talking about. Do you know of any texts that coherently discuss what each of these parts are in philosophical or occult terms?

(In case it matters, I'm neck-deep in Greek philosophical tradition from Hesiod to Proclus, and am especially familiar with the Neoplatonic conception of the individual (e.g. the idea and the luminous/pneumatic/shell-like vehicles, etc.).)

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

I'm sorry to say this is outside my areas of expertise. Anyone who wants to make sense of another culture's concept of human identity had better start out being fluent in its language and familiar with its literature and its religious/philosophical traditions, and I can't claim any of these qualifications when it comes to ancient Egypt. Nor can I vouch for any of the few works I've seen that discuss the various parts, phases, or aspects of the ancient Egyptian self. Anyone else?

Red Bag Amulet

[brenainn]

I've been wearing the red bag amulet that you recommend on the MM Q&A. In times past, I have also used a silver pendant necklace charged in moonlight as a protective amulet. Would wearing both these amulets at the same time be good, bad, or neutral?

Re: Red Bag Amulet

[ecosophia]

The red bag amulet will tend to drain the charge from the silver amulet, so it would be better to wear one or the other.