Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is almost here, 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 341,928th 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.  This was my fifty-righth published book, and the last contribution (so far) to the Cthulhu mythos to come from my keyboard. I hadn't planned on writing The Seal of Yueh Lao at all, but there were too many loose ends left hanging when I'd wrapped up The Weird of Hali, and this story took shape as I considered them. It's the shortest of my tentacle novels, a quiet little coming-of-age story with Asenath Merrill, the oldest daughter of the central character of The Weird of Hali, as its protagonist, and a tangled web of events borrowed from H.P. Lovecraft and Robert W. Chambers for its mainspring. All in all, it worked surprisingly well. If you're interested, you can get a copy here if you're in the US and here elsewhere.

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

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

With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

Peaceful resolution of a neighbourly conflict

[open_space]

I would like to thank Jupiter, great god of benevolence and peaceful justice for helping me so swiftly in what I asked for. And for being kind to my building manager, I don't know what you did, but I think you have a new devotee.

A few months back I shared an incident with my downstairs neighbor. The same day that I posted the question here, a few moments later, my building manager contacted me that he had made some advances and that I shouldn't worry about it. After initial excitement I thought, that even though it was a good sign, it probably would require more for the problem to be solved and divination confirmed.

A few days later my manger contacts me again, but this time he is crying in fits. Crazy neighbor was on a relentless rampage, having involved every single resident in the building and my building manager's boss --she wanted to get him fired and then go after me by putting everyone against us. I had already put some prayers to get guidance on this. One reassurance though, was that because she was doing such a good job of showing which of us was the mentally unstable one, she was not really getting the support she wanted. So a tempered email to management fixed that, I assume contrasting with the pages-long rant she had been furiously typing and sending to everybody. But there was still the problem of the angry wild animal in the cage living below me, fuming all the time and plotting; scheming in a maddening frenzy. I was actually scared of her. She had her whole apartment illuminated with a hell-red ambient light that felt--every time I would walk down the street towards my building-- like a fiery portal to the netherworld of a window. As far as I remember, that has been the ambient color light ever since she moved in.

Long story short, getting back to my manager, I convinced him, lets call him Joe, firstly, to stop responding to her attacks and secondly --after perhaps 30 minutes of winding him down-- to pray to Jupiter with the intention of peaceful resolution and that I would do something about it when the time was right. I have no idea why, perhaps it was the desperation, but he trusted me and he prayed religiously everyday with a passion, I could tell later on.

Phew. So there I was, listening for guidance, divining, reading legal stuff. Ceremonial magic was too much, Jove replied through my Tarot, so I made something up that wouldn't shake things up. And then the moment came. Got ready, closed my eyes, looked for the energy Joe had been so passionately pouring and tried to call it into my space. Invoked, addressed the energies and set them free. Closed everything down and told Joe the work was done, but that prayer is still a good idea. I was not there when I did this, I was somewhere else for a few weeks.

To my delight, when I come back to my apartment building, there is no tornado inside apartment 21, I can't feel her fuming and lo and behold the ambient light is not red but light blue! And, what is that? Am I feeling harmony inside? I cackled. What? Is this my outer plane check, I wondered. So I contacted Joe, we actually crossed each other on the laundry room, and with eyes wide open he says to me, I don't know what you did but the problem just evaporated. And did you notice the blue light? Ding! Outer plane check, confirmed.

Some moments later I go to pick up my clothes, and there was someone having an issue with the washing machine. I help her out and we started talking. It was an instant connection and when we start talking and we realize who we were, I asked her. Wait, so you are the one the lives right next to crazy neighbor numero uno? Yeah... Hold on, are you the one that she has been fuming about for a year now? She says. Please let me apologize, I had such a terrible image of you, the way she painted you I thought you would be a psycho! She messaged the whole building about you. It was then when I became a little uncomfortable, because my past trauma involves people talking about me behind my back in heinous ways. I then remember that I read about defamation charges, and I was angry then, but. Sigh, I said peaceful resolution, not conflict, I had to remind myself.

Main working is done and finished. But now my part comes, I have to enliven this energy in the situation, even in the face of such frankly violent acts. It almost feels like Jupiter is saying to me, I did my part, it's your turn to fix the material aspects.

So, thank you for encouraging me in getting Jupiter involved in this! He... I mean, I don't know, for a few moments there I felt like a gigantic something-something that would redefine the meaning of benevolence entered the situation and set it straight with such an ease. What a relief! The odd thing is that I felt that I was nudged into doing things in a way that I wouldn't, sometimes by making me forget, or sending and saying things at the right time! Almost as if I said, and I kinda did, hi, please take control of this, we are screwing it up. It is just that I didn't know I would feel it in such a personal level, but it makes sense since I was involved, and I called him.

Am I correct in thinking that even though the magic landed and did its job, I need to handle this other aspect of it with the same intent? For a moment I thought of writing all down in a piece of toilet paper, and use it for its intended use but then it occurred to me that that might make energy flow in the other direction. Meaning, now that it has been diffused and I get to see what she did, that in order to keep the magic anchored, I need to move also in the same direction in that regard with her to keep feeding the momentum from now on?

Re: Peaceful resolution of a neighbourly conflict

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted to hear that things are moving in the right direction. What you need to do now is keep doing more of it. Follow-through is as important in magic as it is in golf. ;-) Keep on invoking Jupiter and keep on manifesting benevolence and justice in your actions, and the whole thing will clear up.

Re: Peaceful resolution of a neighbourly conflict

[open_space]

I like that analogy! Alright, I'll keep at it until the ball is inside the green.

I hadn't considered that I was doing that, but reading my text again it seems I am! This is fun, its hard, but its fun.

Re: Peaceful resolution of a neighbourly conflict

[homeopathic_meditations]

Glad to hear this issue is on its way to resolution. My blessings to you and yours!

Re: Peaceful resolution of a neighbourly conflict

[open_space]

So glad to hear from you!

Thank you and likewise, may you and yours be blessed!

(If I am honest, I was going to let her run into a wall by herself, I tend to not have a problem with that and she was already running in that direction but on a closer look, it might've even been a close call. I was not measuring at all the things she was doing on the back, so I am glad some other things started to grab my attention and say, mmm you better look into this and get your implements ready. So far it has been an amazing learning experience in magic, and of course, it is fantastic to not have to worry about her)

more occult history

[xcalibur_djs]

First of all, Merry Christmas! The real kind, not commercialmas. I see this holiday as a celebration of birth, renewal and new life, which is the one definition which unites the Christian meaning (the birth of Jesus) with the Pagan meaning (winter solstice, the return of light and lengthening of days).

Anyway, to veer off onto a random topic:

I was reading about Kemet, particularly the scripts it used, and encountered something strange -
https://www.britannica.com/topic/hieratic-script
- the hieroglyph in the right-hand illustration, second from bottom, to the left. Why does that resemble a modern electronic device? And why is it that the oldest hieroglyph best resembles electronics, and then it veers off and mutates, as if they gradually forgot what it originally represented? I don't buy the official explanation for one second, how does that even resemble a scribe's outfit, honestly.
You've written before on occult history and ancient technologies, and the pathetic attempts of rationalists to deny this stuff. I read up on the Baghdad Battery, and watching them do logical pirouettes trying to explain away why a sealed "scroll" would disintegrate (as opposed to insulating paper soaked in acid) was pretty funny, honestly. And then there's the lack of smoke residue in the pyramids, the aluminum belt buckle, and so on.

So my question is, what sort of ancient tech did that hieroglyph represent? I'd assume it was something Atlantean depicted there, but I'm not certain. Was there a particularly strong connection between Ancient Egypt and Atlantis, or some other vanished civilization from the before times?

Re: more occult history

[ecosophia]

1) We simply don't know what it was. It does look like something electronic, though, doesn't it?

2) There's been a claim for quite a while now in occult circles that Egypt was an Atlantean colony that managed to hang on when the rest of the Atlantean world went splat. If, as I suspect, "Atlantis" is a folk memory of advanced human civilizations in the late Ice Age, this may be true.

Re: more occult history

[xcalibur_djs]

I see, thanks! And that makes sense, and would help explain why they had such a deep history, with Upper & Lower Egypt uniting in 3100 bc, indicating a fair amount of complexity even before that.

Also, if both Egyptians and Celts are descendants of Atlantis, would that have anything to do with the noted similarities between Hebrew and Gaelic? I wonder...

Discursive meditation

[(Anonymous)]

On discursive meditation and scrying in spirit vision, how does one confirm the spirits appearing to him from his own imagination?

Also, what is your opinion on dream incubation?

Re: Discursive meditation

[ecosophia]

1) That takes a great deal of practice and experience. In the meantime, treat everything as though it's a mix of your imagination and actual perceptions.

2) I haven't had good results with it but some people do.

Re: Discursive meditation

[(Anonymous)]

1. That makes sense.

I often come across spirits that look like animals or faeries that guide me along the way. They reappear on subsequent discursive meditation. My friends suggested I start with elemental earth and meet Uriel - the archangel of earth, because she's the one who will clarify gnome spirits for me, and will let me know when I am ready to move on to the other element.

Does this jive with you?

[jenniferkobernik]

I saw one or two MMs back a comment you made about repeating affirmations frequently until they lose conscious meaning, which makes sense to me as a way to reach the deeper levels of one’s being. However, I have always done the opposite—tried to infuse every word with conscious intent and active imagination. I have found it effective. Doing it this way, though, I have a hard time getting in my reps, so to speak, and tend to top out at a couple dozen repetitions daily. I’m curious if you’ve experimented with differing approaches along these lines and what you’ve found most effective.

[ecosophia]

I know people who get good results with either of these approaches, but I've always gotten better results with just repeating them until they turn into pure sound. That said, your mileage may vary!

[jenniferkobernik]

Thank you! I will give the “pure sound” method a shot and see how it compares for me.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello. I am an aging cat lady currently experiencing my second Saturn return, and it has been a difficult one with much loss and despair. Is there any advice you could provide as to how to weather this storm or any kind of magic working with Saturn?

Many Thanks.

[ecosophia]

Saturn returns are always difficult, and there's no magic that will make them any easier. The only thing I've ever found that helps is to take them seriously, accept that they'll be rough, and rely on the virtues of Saturn -- prudence, patience, forethought, self-discpline, and grim determination -- to get through the initiation they offer and come out the other side. It does get easier after a while!

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. It is truly priceless. I think I will focus on the return of the sun king/s.

Have a Happy New Year as well.

Lionel Snell ("Ramsey Dukes")

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Archdruid! A good Christmas, Yuletide, and Alban Arthuan to all!

Have you read any of the works of British occultist Lionel Snell, and if so, did you find them worthwhile? I heard him in discussion on a podcast recently and found what he said intriguing...

Thank you for answering questions all year 'round!

Re: Lionel Snell ("Ramsey Dukes")

[ecosophia]

I read SSOTBME many years ago. It didn't do much for me, but then I tend to be a traditionalist when it comes to occultism and Snell is rather the opposite.

[(Anonymous)]

Ive been listening to a lot of near death experience account lately that talk along bout a life blueprint. I was wondering, How much of one's life do you believe is 'pre-planned'?

Do we have marriages, kids, our death date etc largely already set before incarnation?

[ecosophia]

From my perspective, it really varies. Tolerably often you're going to marry someone with whom you have a lot of karma to work on, positive, negative, or both, and your family members will also be people with whom you have karmic ties. The more karma you've got to deal with, the fewer choices you have -- think of those lives that are shaped and usually ended by forces outside the control of the person; those are lives where the sole purpose is working off a lot of karma in a hurry. (They're also generally short and miserable lives with a horrible end.) The more of your problematic karma you've cleared away, the more choice you have in your life.

Orphic Hymn to Pan

[kimberlysteele]

I just published Orphic Hymn to Pan to Bandcamp! I actually incorporated the 1720 French Christmas carol Pat a Pan into the middle of the song as a bridge. It is free to download. It's the second Orphic hymn where I played my mandolin.

https://queeniemusic.bandcamp.com/track/orphic-hymn-to-pan

I will try to put it on Youtube this week and get it to the streaming services within the next month.

Re: Orphic Hymn to Pan

[ecosophia]

Glad to hear it.

Re: Orphic Hymn to Pan

[a_friend]

I want to say again thank you for your music.

Alban Arthuran and Christmas

[vitranc]

Hi JMG,
A bit late in the evening, or maybe morning as the case may be, but I wish you and the commentariat a late blessed Solstice and a merry Christmas!
Each to his own as it may apply.

And again; Best regards,
V