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 that point will not get an answer, and in fact will just be deleted.  If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 267,446th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.2 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. As I mentioned last week, once I found a publisher willing to bring out my fiction, a lot of it found its way into print in a hurry, so we're going to be in tentacle territory for a while now.  This was my fifty-third published book, and we're back in The Weird of Hali. This book had the longest and most roundabout genesis of all my tentacle novels. I'd originally planned for the sixth book in the sequence to be set in Greenland, and I wrote six drafts of that novel before realizing that there was too much story to fit into the limits I'd defined for the Weird. So I set the Greenland story aside -- it appeared later, much amended and with different characters, as A Voyage to Hyperborea -- and wrote this one, drawing heavily on the handful of stories Lovecraft set in New York City.

Justin Martense, the central figure in The Weird of Hali: Chorazin, became the viewpoint character in this story, and gave me the chance to explore a heroic fantasy with a very unheroic main character; I later did the same thing to an even greater extent with Toby Gilman, the main character of A Voyage to Hyperborea, who's even more of a dweeb than Justin but rises to the challenges before him in his inimitably awkward way. If you're wondering why I put dorky characters into these two books, why, it's the same reason I made an utterly unheroic sixty-year-old college professor coping with terminal cancer the main character of The Weird of Hali: Dreamlands; I'm bored to tears by the specially special protagonists -- and did I mention that they're special? -- who infest so much fiction these days, and wanted to explore the much more interesting (to me) situation of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations. If that turns your crank, why, you can get a copy here if you're in the US and here 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.

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

Comments

Architecture

[degringolade]

In the past, you have about the effects of architecture in the public space. I kinda agreed with you at the time, but it went to the back of my "ponderings" for a while as I had other things to think about.

But two things came to the fore lately and I thought that I would get your take on the relationship of public architecture to the zeitgeist of our current world. When I go to see my adult children on the other side of the Columbia River, I take public transportation (Orange/Yellow Max) through downtown Portland.

During the last set of tantrums affectionately referred to as "mostly Peaceful Demonstrations", I noticed a couple of things, the first is that the modern buildings got more attention from the protesters than the original buildings. The City Hall, the original federal buildings, and the old courthouses were pretty much left alone. The more modern buildings got much more attention in terms of vandalism.

Then my sister sent me this little X post (she is hooked on the system, where I see it more as a problem than a solution, but even that is a 50:50 deal)

https://x.com/i/status/1858158430219108731

So my question to you is: Buildings, even modern architecture, is pretty long lived. If brutalism and the garbage spewed out by I.M. Pei are contributors to the problem, what can be done to change that. These buildings are going to be around for a while

Re: Architecture

[(Anonymous)]

I’m interested to hear JMG’s response here.

I will chime in to say Tucker Carlson is right on. Studies have shown that people behave badly in and around modern architecture. When strangers are asked for help to find a lost set of keys, for instance, they are more likely to refuse in a modernist environment.

Tarot/Geomancy/Yi Jing via ChatGTP

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

What's your take on the divination capabilities of AI? Are these programs real alternatives, or just more elaborate versions of ELIZA?

Thanks for your help, and for providing this forum!

Re: Tarot/Geomancy/Yi Jing via ChatGTP

[(Anonymous)]

I am also curious of the answer.

I also investigated this so my two cents, especially on Tarot:

We discussed some of this before and I think it depends on the training if the training was skewed to eliminate some things it may be an incomplete system. Incomplete divinatory systems are not working. So you need to give enough spread to verify that the system works. Is just like counting that all your cards are in the deck.

I remember someone took the task to give many spreads on ChagtGPT in Tarot and it gave predominately Devil and Tower, I think ChatGPT might also predict its model's future more than anything...

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what WOG, DIY or DRHM mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this as always.

[linden_matryoshka]

Happy Monday JMG,
In the Qabalistic Cross, the blue sphere on the opposite side of Gebura is Gedula. However, on the Tree of Life, the blue sphere on the opposite side of Gebura is Chesed. How come?
Thank you for Magic Mondays,
Inna

[ecosophia]

Because Chesed and Geburah each have alternate names in the Hebrew sources. Chesed is also called Gedulah and Geburah is also called Pachad.

Election Predictions

[tunesmyth]

This is not really a question, so much as a data point.

I follow a few astrologers on X, and there were various predictions regarding the outcome of the election that were more or less what were to be expected given the respective biases of the parties involved-- by which I mean that I didn't see any liberals predicting a Trump win, nor conservatives predicting a Kamala win.

However I was quite intrigued to hear from my Japanese wife, who does not read English and follows various alternative spirituality accounts on Japanese X and YouTube, that in every single case that she saw, the predictions of the various diviners/mediums/astrologers etc were that Trump would win-- and further that the in general were rooting for Trump, seeing Trump as a harbinger of great change, changes that were positive in nature. She said she didn't see a single Kamala supporter in there.

Now obviously there is likely some bias in what the algorithms show her, based on her interests. My wife is not particularly interested in American politics but I could see that happening. Still, in my case, I was seeing predictions on both sides of the equation (though admittedly more for Trump). Perhaps, being somewhat removed from all of the intense passions surrounding the election outcome, Japanese spiritual prognosticators were more accurate in general?

Re: Election Predictions

[ecosophia]

First, I think that this suggests a much higher level of divinatory skill among Japanese practitioners. That wouldn't surprise me at all -- the US astrological and divinatory scene is still heavily burdened with remnants of the "well, what do you want it to mean?" attitude that was so common a couple of decades ago.

Second, there's something about Trump that strikes me as very appealing to the Japanese mind. He's got the same sort of energy as Gojira and Mobile Suit Gundam. I note this image, which got splashed around by pro-Trump weeaboos right after the election:

Modern Order of Essenes Healings

[kylec]

I'm offering healing hands in the MOE tradition to all who wish to sign up. Just reply here or PM me to get on the list for this week. Thanks to those who signed up last week, your sessions have been performed.

Re: Modern Order of Essenes Healings

[linden_matryoshka]

Hi Kyle,
I would like to sign up.
Inna

Hubris, Atis, Nemesis, and Tisis?

[earthworm_uk]

An image from 2022 from a November 2024 midwesterndoctor post is quite startling ( https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/i-would-like-to-take-this-day-to-c7e ):

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbfd9f76e-4910-4c9c-8dc5-a6cf84ea27e0_1280x961.jpeg

If, psychologically and from an occult perspective a large proportion of people have become what they were supposed to be fighting against, what do you reckon the chances are a society can walk back from such stuff?
I saw you writing about the idea that the changer could be working things.

From the 'all is connected' idea, maybe the humans of the the West are so out of balance (after 500yrs of robber barons, piracy and devilish activities of our set of human beasts) that it is getting dissolved to free up the rest of the world to have a go? The decadence of a society that has culturally lost connection with the divine and raised a transhuman image of itself up instead...
Hubris, Atis, Nemesis, and Tisis?
https://www.greecehighdefinition.com/blog/hubris-atis-nemesis-tisis-ancient-greece

Re: Hubris, Atis, Nemesis, and Tisis?

[ecosophia]

That's a harrowing graph, but it reflects my experience as an observer. To my mind it's one symptom of the collapse of the consensus of corporate liberalism -- as Toynbee points out, a failed elite that loses the ability to inspire emulation generally settles for trying to force conformity. Collapse follows promptly.

That said, the old Greek analysis works just as well, and it's also certainly true that the West is losing its temporary hold on global power and the rest of the world is rising in response.

An aside

[degringolade]

I suppose why I asked my earlier question in this venue is that I am thinking that the way that temples are constructed has to do with the occult.

Re: An aside

[ecosophia]

Architecture causes changes in consciousness in accordance with will, so you're not wrong. Ugly architecture produces ugly thoughts and behavior, beautiful architecture produces the opposite.

[not_gandalf]

An interesting weekend. I went to see the movie "Conclave" which was pretty enjoyable. However, as might be expected, it was as much a pro-Catholic Church movie as Top Gun was a pro-US Airforce movie. But another big title movie that was being promoted that evening was the new "Bonhoeffer" movie. Couldn't tell much about the slant of that movie from the trailer, but clearly the main character is a famous modern Christian figure. And then at home I noticed a ton of advertising for a series by Martin Scorsese about the lives of four Christian saints. It's interesting to me to see this swell (or wave maybe?) of Christian entertainment coming along. Is this noticeable to anyone else?

[ecosophia]

I stay far enough away from the corporate media that I'd missed it. Thanks for the heads up!

Choosing Affirmations

[(Anonymous)]

Hello,

I was recently pointed toward your post on affirmations, and have spent a few days trying out a few options. Just wanted to get your take on whether these would make effective choices.

As I mentioned in last Tuesday's open post, I've been struggling with grief and resentment about ruptured relationships during covid, as well as anxiety about future recurrences of mass formation and my competence to take care of my own needs in such a scenario.

For a general affirmation, 'The deep peace of deep faith brings me courage and strength whenever I need them'.

For a specific affirmation: 'Grace and light and loving-kindness fill me and flow into all my relationships'.

I also tried out the Bible verse 'I can do all things through Him who strengthens me' (Philipians 4:13), as it speaks directly to both faith in a higher power and a sense of one's own competence. It was interesting to feel right away the established egregore around that one, but although more concise it had less of the vivid imagery that I wanted. I could use it as well, but you recommended sticking with only two at a time.

Thank you,

Dylan

Re: Choosing Affirmations

[ecosophia]

Your affirmations are well formulated, so by all means go with them. I'd suggest using the Bible verse as something to use a little less formally; repeat it now and again when you need to focus your mind on the positive.

New Version of Orphic Hymn to Poseidon now free on Bandcamp

[kimberlysteele]

I just published my comp/arrangement of the Orphic Hymn to Poseidon, it's free on Bandcamp! This one is rather interesting IMO because I believe I wrote it in a past incarnation as a singing sailor from Portugal. Please enjoy.

https://queeniemusic.bandcamp.com/track/orphic-hymn-to-poseidon-sea-shanty

Re: New Version of Orphic Hymn to Poseidon now free on Bandcamp

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this!

[(Anonymous)]

Thought I'd share a strange dream of my own here. Strange especially since it included a specific date and time that reads as a birth chart.

[i]I am in a video game reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto, where I drive a car through a city, passerbys walking on the streets. A lot of advertising in the city features anthropomorphic animals. I drive off a boardwalk into the water of a harbor below and am suddenly a dog. I swim away from a bunch of animals surrounding me like a swarm wanting to attack me in the water. At some point I'm back on land and back in human form. I see my younger brother sitting with a group of people at an outdoor park table. Near me, I use my "transform things" power - which I used earlier to become a dog, apparently - to make a nearby police officer act like an arrogant pimp, and make a nearby young fraternity college student act like a police officer prepared to arrest the actual officer. My brother walks over to a cliff edge and points out to me how it ends abruptly over the edge - all one can see is mist far below. A pair of runners runs off the cliff and straight ahead, running through the air mysteriously. I don't follow them. Suddenly a crowd congregates near me and my brother, cheering and hollering. The outdoor space we were in slowly morphs into an indoor space with everyone still inside, and I see a panel on the wall that has two dates and times on it."

I only had enough time in the dream before it ended to remember and write down the first date: October 30, 2020, at 10 AM. I tried putting this date into AstroSeek's natal chart calculator to see what a chart at that date looks like. All I'll say RE this date is my personal birth chart has far better aspects and planetary positions than this one.

https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/calculate-birth-chart-horoscope-online/?input_natal=1&send_calculation=1&narozeni_den=30&narozeni_mesic=10&narozeni_rok=2020&narozeni_hodina=10&narozeni_minuta=00&narozeni_sekunda=00&narozeni_city=Los+Angeles%2C+USA%2C+California&narozeni_mesto_hidden=Los+Angeles&narozeni_stat_hidden=US&narozeni_podstat_kratky_hidden=CA&narozeni_sirka_stupne=34&narozeni_sirka_minuty=3&narozeni_sirka_smer=0&narozeni_delka_stupne=118&narozeni_delka_minuty=15&narozeni_delka_smer=1&narozeni_timezone_form=auto&narozeni_timezone_dst_form=auto&house_system=placidus&hid_fortune=1&hid_fortune_check=on&hid_vertex=1&hid_vertex_check=on&hid_chiron=1&hid_chiron_check=on&hid_lilith=1&hid_lilith_check=on&hid_uzel=1&hid_uzel_check=on&tolerance=1&aya=&tolerance_paral=1.2#tabs_redraw

I got the sense after the dream to study the chart. I haven't divinated on what the date/time means, nor have I yet extensively journaled and meditated on the dream to understand the meaning. Part of me is concerned - at best, I believe it identifies flaws I should work on in the short-term.

I do wish I had enough time in the dream to remember and write down whatever the second date on the panel said.

[ecosophia]

Hmm! It's a very striking chart, with that T-square dominating. I wonder what significance the date has; I glanced over headlines and didn't find anything especially noteworthy.

[(Anonymous)]

Good day!

To which Sphere is Holy Guardian Angel/Genius attributed? Is it Chesed (or Daath?), the highest point attainable by a created being, or is Tiphareth, HGA being the synthesis of Bright and Dark Angels of Chesed and Geburah? If I'm not mistaken, in the Hermetic Order of Golden Dawn establishing contact with one's HGA was part of the Adeptus Minor work, a grade dedicated (at least, in theory) to mastering the energies of Tiphareth, which implies latter attribution.

[ecosophia]

The teachings I received identify it with Daath. It's invoked in the Adeptus Minor grade because Tiphareth is the sphere at the bottom end of the 13th path, which is the only path that contacts Daath.

Never say his name thing

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Jmg

Was just curious about your take on the '#never say his name' thing going round on social media in the light of the recent discussions on here around America politics and magic?

Re: Never say his name thing

[ecosophia]

This is the first I've heard of it. Can you tell me more about it?

[(Anonymous)]

here is rachel levine of HHS doing some kind of ritual..

https://nitter.poast.org/Theblackfemini3/status/1857913336643686863#m

[ecosophia]

It's a basic pop-culture Wicca Lite ritual celebrating the equinox. That sort of thing is very fashionable in some parts of the corporate liberal scene.

Questions about The Sacred Geometry Oracle

[fragilecity]

Practicing with you deck and book about The Sacred Geometry Oracle I feel that is very insightful with plans, relations, imbalances and energies. But I also have the impression that It lacks some of the ample meanings of other decks like the tarot (for example of the deep interpretation of a major arcana). Should I meditate with the deeper meaning of each card/figure or maybe they have some other meaning related to their number or their triad? Or maybe is explained with more detail in your other two books (Way of the Golden Section and Occult Philosphy Workbook? Thanks.

Re: Questions about The Sacred Geometry Oracle

[ecosophia]

The other books don't really focus on the divinatory aspects of the deck. My take is that it simply hasn't been used long enough, by enough people, to develop the kind of rich network of meaning that older oracles have. Meditation might help.

Trump Buddha

[boccaccio]

Hello JMG
I don't understand the Trump Buddha phenomenon. Apparently people are praying to it to make things great again. But if the prayer is answered, who does the answering? I cannot imagine that it is Donald himself, he is busy building an administration. So what force, if any, is behind it?
Thanks for the opportunity to ask questions.

Re: Trump Buddha

[ecosophia]

I don't happen to know the theology behind it, but it's very popular all over east and south Asia. Anyone else?

[(Anonymous)]

JMG, i dont know whether or not you would put this through, but I have to say, this guy manages somehow to take these meltdowns and add some sort of good energy to them

he takes viral meltdowns, and they are quite something.. and plays heavy metal riffs to accompany them.
somehow it transforms it.. at least, to me..
maybe it helps clear up the grungy atmosphere a bit..?
its a 2 min clip and i know you dont do vids but i would like to see if anyone else thinks it might actually be helping?

https://nitter.poast.org/kieron_rowe/status/1858485928055930977#m

[ecosophia]

Interesting. Heavy metal riffs as banishing rituals?

Thoughts on Pluto

[athaia]

I hadn't really thought about Pluto while walking my dogs, but those walks have a way of popping ideas into my head 😁 and so it happened that one of those ideas struck me as a possible way of reconciling your observation of the "Pluto effect" (things under this planet-oid starting with a bang and ending with not much to show for), and my conviction that this doesn't mean that Pluto itself will stop having any effects on us, just because he's been demoted from planet status.

The thing that is most symbolic of Pluto is radioactivity - after all, two years after he was discovered, humans split the atom, and fifteen years after Pluto's discovery, they dropped the first atomic bomb (I think that was when Oppenheimer invoked Shiva). And it seems to me that radioactivity is a very good model for how Pluto operates.

Radioactivity, according to Wikipedia, is the result of radioactive decay — a process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. The decaying nucleus produces daughter nuclei with a different number of protons or neutrons from the parent nucleus, and this is called nuclear transmutation. When the number of protons changes, an atom of a different chemical element is created. This element can also be unstable and therefore create more daughter elements, until the whole decay chain ends in a stable, i.e. radioactively inert element.

So, going by the above, I’d say that any process, event, or thing associated with Plutonian energy or under Pluto’s influence will have the following characteristics:

- it will have been unstable in nature from the start (though that quality will typically be invisible to an observer — some hidden weakness);
- it will radiate energy and seem to be very creative, since under its influence, many new phenomena (“elements”) will suddenly emerge;
- whatever had come under this influence initially will be transmuted (which will often, in the human and social spheres, look exactly like decay, corruption, perversion, or sickness) beyond recognition;
- and most importantly it’s a self-terminating process that will stop when there is no instability left that can be corrupted. At the end of that decay chain, nothing of the original thing will be left.

Now, nuclear decay as well as nuclear fission (where a nuclus splits into two) releases a lot of energy, which is used for example in nuclear power plants, but also in nuclear weapons. So that’s the payoff of associating with Plutonian energy — the incredible power burst that fueled the totalitarian mass phenomena (Faschism, Stalinism) in the 30s when Pluto was discovered. The price is the above mentioned ruination of the one channeling that power, and the eternal poisoning left in its wake.

Since human nature and thus, all human endeavors, have weakness aka sinfulness — the potential for corruption — baked into them, Pluto will unfailingly find this hidden instability under the sign he transits. He’ll hone in to that weakness and start the decay chain, and he’ll whip up obsessions of such titanic strength that nobody can escape their grip. Only when everything that can be corrupted, has been corrupted — when every weakness has been devoured until what’s left has been “transmuted” (perverted) beyond recognition — will that process stop. It has literally run out of fuel, and we collectively rub our eyes and wonder how we could ever buy into that madness and be swept up in its frenzy. That's the point where we realize that for all the sound and fury, there isn't really much to show for, and that all those promises of unlimited power and total transformation into something superhuman were indeed empty.

So yes, whatever great new idea Pluto has fuelled will eventually fizzle out without delivering on its promise; that is the very nature of Pluto, if I’m correct about my nuclear decay model. I just don't think that Pluto will turn this MO on itself, and fizzle out accordingly.

What I find worse than the “much ado about nothing” effect is the irreversible corruption and decay of the things he touches in that process, and how the aftereffects are very similar to nuclear waste: a poisoning of those ideas that Pluto championed, for a very long time. Nobody in the West will ever associate the swastika with anything other than the Nazis, to cite the most obvious example. Maybe there is a way to harness or “vibe harmoniously” with Pluto’s energy, but I don’t see it.

In fact, I don’t think humans are or will ever be fit to deal with the energies of the transpersonal planets; and I wonder if looking out with our telescopes beyond the orbit of Saturn wasn’t an act of transgression that we’re going to pay for until our civilization has turned to dust, and our descendants have lost the knowledge of the existence of those planets. Some things should not become known to humans, and Saturn may well have been the line that shouldn’t have been crossed.

Anyway, that's my take on it. I'm curious what you - as well as the commentariat - think about it. You once mentioned that you began having doubts about Pluto when he transited some points in your chart, and none of the expected effects happened. Going by my theory, maybe those points didn't have any weaknesses to exploit (to start the decay chain). Not saying that you don't have weak points that could be corrupted - every human has them - but maybe these specific ones weren't it, and given how slowly Pluto moves, maybe he won't reach any of those weak points within your lifetime.

Re: Thoughts on Pluto

[ecosophia]

Interesting. That's certainly a way to look at it, and one I'll reflect on -- yes, and use as a theme for meditation! ;-) -- in the days ahead.

Ghostfear and Cursefear with Kids?!

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG and all,
My kid (5+ year old) is very afraid of curses and ghost and me -having browsed through our Hosts Monster-book etc. find it difficult to say wholeheartedly: Nay my Child fear not, there are no things as ghosts and curses.
What do parents here tell their kids? And what do you do? Especially since our kid is in the difficulty, that it hears from other kids the canned version and sometimes thinks his peers as trusworthy as its mother in things like these. On top of which there still are Christmas…whatsists…cobolds/Trolls enacted by the parents of these kids that are mildly annoying (glueing shoes to the ceiling…) I e.g tell the kid that the vinegar under our bed protects and that it can ask Jesus (the kid is baptized) for protection, whilst listening to His answer, But ist does not seem to alleviate the fear.

jmg; I‘m wondering if the fear of curses and ghost might have something to do with his past live(s), how could I go about finding indication if that is so?

Re: Ghostfear and Cursefear with Kids?!

[ecosophia]

1) Fear isn't necessarily a bad experience, and a focus on ghosts and curses may be how your child is dealing with something else from a past life. Comfort your child as best you can and let him grow through this stage.

2) I don't recommend trying to find out the details. Let those surface naturally, if they ever surface at all.

Pluto Leaving Capricorn

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG
Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of talk on social media about Pluto ending a 16 year cycle in Capricorn on November 20th. They are saying that this is primarily affecting the cardinal signs, with what they describe as an intense karmic cycle. I was wondering what your opinion of this was, and if you had any thoughts or advice about it.
Thanks!

Re: Pluto Leaving Capricorn

[ecosophia]

My opinion is that Pluto is pretty much a spent force at this point. My book The Twilight of Pluto argues that Pluto functioned as a planet from 1930 to 2006 but is fading out now, and by 2036 will be a negligible influence in most contexts.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

1) If someone wanted to start Franz Bardon's system at some point, when the proper commitment could be made, is there a daily protection ritual that would be a good pre-cursor before starting the work?

2) What is it specifically about eclipse energy (leaning towards lunar) that makes it a bad time to do magic? I know you don't do natal astrology, but I thought if its a bad idea to do work magic during an eclipse, or some say begin anything significant, I've wondered what this means when a life begins at a point like this. Vedic astrology sometimes indicates a mistake was made in a past life and this is a drastic correction, like moving away from the LHP in a previous incarnation...it doesn't seem to be a good omen in older writings. I mention this to you in the context of making a serious misstep in a past life, running from it, and facing it. You have talked about your past lives in this context if I'm recalling what you've written correctly. Are people who are on an obviously magical path more susceptible to these kind of errors? Fifty year old men selling courses that have a lot of get-your-way/revenge magic seems so ridiculous and short sighted now, but maybe not at one time. Your writings and comments on the difference between sorcery and true magic is especially helpful to people who need make this shift.

3) I'm thinking about coming over to your side and not watching videos at all anymore. Can you talk about why you are staunch on this choice? Does it have to do with not opening one's imagination to the images and sounds of video? You mentioned going to see Star Wars a bunch of times. Why isn't writing just squiggles on a piece of paper? Its so easy to reduce things like, but I think here its warranted, I just want to understand your perspective better...its already helped me immensely.

[ecosophia]

1) No, not really. You might consider Georg Lomer's Seven Hermetic Letters as a source of preliminary exercises.

2) You'll have to talk to a natal astrologer about that.

3) I simply find watching little colored blobs jerking around on a glass screen one of the most boring of all human activities.

Gods walking among humans...

[(Anonymous)]

Odd question inspired by even odder circumstances-
if a person came around randomly who was: blind in one eye, seemed to be able to be seen but not well known, had many tattoos including a large raven on the back of one calf and a large wolf on the other calf, was of an indiscriminate age but seemed "weathered", and is possibly "dating" a young blonde woman who is a first generation Russian American who works in the local food scene as a cheese maker, and lastly you just had a kind of prickly feeling when first (and subsequently seeing) this person, how would y'all handle this ?

Just as an aside, I have been greeting any raven or two that I see as Hoogin and Moonin (sp?) for a couple of years now as a way to show respectful awareness of the Allfather.

Any thoughts or insight from our host or commentariat is most welcome!

Kind regards to all,
Phosphorescent Wimpy Mermaid
Aka Courtinthenorth

Re: Gods walking among humans...

[ecosophia]

I'd be respectful of the guy.

Q

[(Anonymous)]

Wanted to ask about the bad energies of Washington DC. Could you share more why this is the case?

Also, someone else or perhaps you, had mentioned that the levant/ME area where the current issues are on going has noxious energy too. What's the reason for that?


P.S. Not sure if you want me to post this on the blog but just a correction on the voting patterns of this election. Final count was 76 million to 73 million (California was far from finished counting when you'd made the comment about the 20 missing votes).

Re: Q

[ecosophia]

1) Swamps are generally places of stagnant energy, and that's what the site of DC was.

2) My comment was simply that so much mass murder has taken there over the last four thousand years or so that it's certain to have a difficult vibe.

Red Bag Amulet And Other Protective Magic

[brenainn]

I am wondering what other protective magic you might recommend and that would not conflict with the red bag amulet? I've been putting salt inside my shoes, performing the Hoodoo bath, and doing a simple daily banishing ritual. I can't shake the feeling that some bad mojo (along with some good energies as well) is incoming. Most of my experience with magic is with natural magic, plus sacramental magic like that taught by Agostino Taumaturgo.

Re: Red Bag Amulet And Other Protective Magic

[ecosophia]

You can combine most hoodoo protective methods with the red bag, if needed.