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 sixtieth published book, the second volume of the sprawling study course in Druidical occultism I assembled from fragments, scraps, and a lot of William Walker Atkinson's more obscure writings, as chronicled in the intro to last week's Magic Monday. The Lesser Mysteries comprise four grades, the Greater Mysteries three more, finishing up with the grade of Gwyddon Rhydd or Free Loremaster, which brings with it the right to teach the system. There's a modest but significant number of Free Loremasters running around these days, and some of them do in fact teach; most students of the Dolmen Arch, however, simply learn it from the two books. One way or another, if you're interested, you can find copies for sale here in the US and at your favorite online or brick-and-mortar bookseller 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 all next week!***

Comments

[kylec]

Last night I moved into a new apartment, and today less than 24 hours later, I was burglarized. Despite it being a very safe area (residents say they can never remember any thefts happening here in all their years), a thief came in through the window and made off with over $5,000 worth of cash, a gun, backpacks, etc. The dagger was that one of the backpacks, my one and only travel bag for the past 15 years or so with much sentimental value, also contained nearly all of my Druidical paraphernalia.

I am wondering if there is anything I can do magically to recover the Druid stuff, at least. I’ll let the cash, the backpacks, and the gun go. I am in the Druid grade of the CGD, but the kicker is I now can’t open a temple. I lost all of my altar supplies, even the tablecloth, a consecrated wand and sickle, the raw material egg for my serpent’s egg, all of my incense, a bracelet I’d made for use during Merlin’s Wheel, my tarot deck, and a bunch of other things. Literally all I have left is my geomantic wands and the rosary to Ceridwen that I made. Based on the first go round, it would take me months to reacquire and consecrate all this stuff, so I’m pretty dejected, and trying hard not to take this as an omen that the Druid Grade is not meant for me. It feels like such an unusual thing to happen. The apartment is way in the back of a complex with one entry, in a small town, where there is no foot traffic, so it seems like it was a targeted attack by someone watching me moving stuff in.

Of course I’ve filed a police report and there is security footage from a neighbor’s camera of a young woman in her 20’s or early 30’s walking out my patio with an armload of my stuff, but the neighbors don’t recognize her. It doesn’t look good for recovering my things without some kind of divine intervention. Any suggestions? I can still cast a shield chart to find out any further information I might need.

[ecosophia]

Good heavens. First of all, my profound condolences. Second, start with prayer; you might also do something on the material plane, such as offering a reward for the return of the Druid gear. That said, divination would also be very wise.

[kylec]

I just did a divination asking if I would ever recover any of the gear. With colled as right witness, carchar as left, and bendith fawr as judge, it looks like the answer is no, and it will be a great amount of work and expense to remake it all. The rest of the chart was full of nasty triplicities, too.

Since I hate to be a Debbie Downer, I'll also share one synchronicity that occurred. While I was on the phone telling my ex-wife what happened, I noticed a tiny piece of paper protruding from under the blinds on the windowsill where the thief entered. I'd opened and closed these blinds even since they left and didn't notice it. It turned out to be a scrap, torn on all four sides like some magic works, with a quote by Jack Kornfield about how spiritual practice is all about learning to let go. My ex recognized it as probably having come from a new age shop where she bought some obsidian stone. Somehow it must have gotten shuffled into my stuff when I moved, and perhaps fallen right back out of that stuff as the thief exited the window, because there is no other material way for it to have ended up there. That does leave plenty of non-material interventions, of course.

[guillem66]

Kylec, i'm very sorry for what you have lost. I had intruders into my property, too, and i know how awful the feeling is. I do hope that better happenings come your way soon.

Guillem.

[kylec]

Thank you, Guillem.

[(Anonymous)]

A Debbie Downer? In what possible way? Your soul is so deeply satisfied with your spiritual growth that it is letting you know that you’re ready to move beyond any crutches you once needed. Now that you’ve learned how to run free, what can crutches do for you but get in your way?

That theft sounded right disappointing up until you discovered that your soul even left a guidepost for you on the windowsill. Given the peculiarly limiting English convention that we only refer to the sill of doorways as thresholds, I’d say your soul has sent you a very powerful message:

Someone watching your behavior noticed your abundance of riches and transgressed a threshold to try to take them from you. That watcher may not have had any idea that she was actually doing your soul’s bidding, but your soul has made quite certain that you would know. You’ve reached the point in your spiritual practice where learning to let go of cherished artifacts is the key to unlocking magical thresholds you hadn’t realized you were ready to cross. That same key will also allow you to relock those magical thresholds to any malign influences wanting to trespass.

You appear to have gotten the resistant watchers within you scared enough to try to steal away your gifts in order to stop your spiritual growth. Foolish watchers, why can’t they ever figure out that their attacks always leave us stronger? Where will you be able to explore now that you no longer need to bring so many crutches with you?

Every rock, stick, and leaf offers a potent portal to divinity. They can be consecrated as and where needed, and then left on the forest floor as a blessing for all who will pass by. Perhaps your soul is trying to let you know that you’ve already reached the point where remaking your lost gear needs little work or expense, as the tools you need are already within you.

- Christophe

[kylec]

Wow thank you this was very helpful to hear.

[jenniferkobernik]

That’s horrible! I’m so sorry to hear it. My house was broken into once, and it was a creepy feeling to know that someone had potentially been watching me and had gone through all my private stuff. And losing consecrated items would be very disheartening for me. FWIW, I think that the more will that goes into acquiring and consecrating an item, the more magical power it has, so the next ones will at least benefit from the strength of will needed to do it all over again! I know the expense is probably the least of it, but if you message me here on dw or shoot me an email at jenniferkobernik at gmail etc with your PayPal (or mailing address if you prefer a check), I’d be delighted to send some cash your way to help replace what can be bought.

[open_space]

I am very sorry to hear this happened to you, despite the fact that it does seem to have a message to reflect on. I think it is perfectly fine, even healthy, to be a little down from all this!

You didn't ask me, but if I may, it seems to be possible to open temples in a fully internal way if it helps you continue your practices. I can't get them to feel as strong yet, and at least for me it is harder to stir the emotions without the paraphernalia, but some mental preparation in the devotional direction beforehand, incense and a chair seems to be doing something for me.

If it helps at all, I grew up used to crime and a little red thread prayed over as you tie it on your belongings will take away a great deal of the "glow" of your personal items that thieves seem so good at detecting.

[kylec]

That's very helpful. I may try that approach if I need to open a temple before I'm able to get a new circle and cross, candles, etc.

The red thread is also a fine idea. When I get my new gear I will find a more secure place for it and tie a rope's worth of protection. If anyone else has similar tips for protecting a particular belonging, please let me know.

[open_space]

I am glad it was helpful, for what is worth, red cotton yarn is the traditional approach.

[linden_matryoshka]

Hello kylec,
I'm sorry for your losses. On Frugal Fridays you asked what to plant on your patio. Well, according to our gracious host's Encyclopedia of Natural Magic, "caraway was held to have the power to prevent all kinds of theft... Traditional lore claims that objects containing caraway seed could not be stolen, and that the growing plant would prevent thieved from making their escape". Caraway is easy to grow from the seeds. It looks like something you might want to try to grow on your patio given your situation.
Best of luck!
Inna

[jprussell]

How very unpleasant! As someone still smarting over a favorite backpack stolen with a favorite jacket in it (but I had fortuitously taken out the laptop the thief was no doubt after), I can sympathize to a degree, but that was only out of a rental car, not my new home! I doubt it's much consolation to imagine the thief's dismay at finding a bunch of sticks and cards rather than easy-to-sell electronics, but maybe some grim amusement will lighten the load somewhat.

I won't pile on with "there's likely a lesson in all this," as it sounds like you're already reflecting on that, and even if true, right after isn't the best time for such thoughts (and even if true, it still sucks!). The only thing I'd say along those lines that I haven't seen you or others say is that there might be a message in what was left - something like "focus on this stuff and what it means."

Other than divination, which you've already done, and prayer, like JMG suggested, I'm afraid I'm short on practical magic suggestions.

On a mundane practical note, and not to add worries to your plate, but did you happen to have a record of the gun's serial number? You might want to make sure that gets reported to the cops in the police report in case it gets used in a crime or something, since you'll be the last owner of record, and might get some unwelcome questions in that case.

At any rate, again, my condolences, and good luck continuing through this disappointment,
Jeff

[kylec]

Well I'm no Ariel Moravec but I plastered the neighbor's security footage of her around town (digitally) and got two separate positive IDs and confirmed it visually myself through online photos, so the deputies now have her name, and it looks like her dad and baby daddy may also have been accomplices in moving the goods. So I think the gods were looking out for me, and perhaps those friendly house spirits/wild corner spirits.

I have a little wood carving of a temple called a Thai spirit house, guarded by two jade foo dogs, looking over the living room, and had invited friendly and helpful spirits who are ok with banishing rituals to take up residence. I also put a Thai statue and overturned jug in the only corner of my patio with dirt and weeds instead of concrete, designated it the wild corner, and invited friendly nature spirits to dwell there, too, prior to this crime.

I just noticed that the Thai statue and jug appear in the corner of one of the photos of the perpetrator looking on scoldingly. Maybe they didn't love the violation any more than those foo dogs did.

[(Anonymous)]

This does raise the question of whether, if you recover (e.g.) the implements after all, the divination would then refer to a timeline which had been abrogated merely as a courtesy to you, such that you should still learn to do without (e.g.) the ceremonial implements, in order to stabilize the present timeline where you still learn the lessons that the other one would have been meant to convey.

[open_space]

It is also possible that the divination is tapping into believes, frustrations, etc. That is why divination is best done by somebody else when you are too close to it, if you want your own astral patterns to be avoided.