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 sixty-first published book and my third anthology of short pieces, including all my best essays from my post-Hermetic period (the Hermetic essays were released earlier in my 2019 book The City of Hermes). It's probably the best one-volume introduction to the whole range of my ideas and interests, for anyone who wants to risk plunging down that N-dimensional rabbit hole.  It also includes my most widely cited essay, "How Civilizations Fall: A Theory of Catabolic Collapse." On the off chance you're interested, copies can be purchased here if you're in the United States 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.

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

New Version of the Orphic Hymn to Saturn is now live on Bandcamp!

[kimberlysteele]

Please enjoy!

https://queeniemusic.bandcamp.com/track/orphic-hymn-to-saturn-new-version

Re: New Version of the Orphic Hymn to Saturn is now live on Bandcamp!

[ecosophia]

Lovely. Thank you for this; Saturn doesn't get enough respect.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[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 Sub's Wife's upcoming major surgery on Wednesday 1/15 go smoothly and successfully, and may she recover with ease back to full health.

May David/Trubrujah's 5 year old nephew Jayce, who is back home after chemotherapy for his leukemia, be healed quickly and fully, and may he, and mother Amanda, and their family find be aided with physical, mental, and emotional strength while they deal with this new life altering situation. (good news update!)

May Mindwind's dad Clem, who in the midst of a struggle back to normal after a head injury has been told he shows signs of congestive heart failure, be blessed, healed, and encouraged.

May Corey Benton, who is currently in hospital and whose throat tumor has grown around an artery and won't be treated surgically, be healed of throat cancer. He is not doing well, and consents to any kind of distance healing offered. [Note: Healing Hands should be fine, but if offering energy work which could potentially conflict with another, please first leave a note in comments or write to randomactsofkarmasc to double check that it's safe] (1/7)

May Christian's cervical spine surgery on 1/14 be successful, and may he heal completely and with speed; and may the bad feelings and headaches plaguing him be lifted.

May Viktoria have a safe and healthy pregnancy, and may the baby be born safe, healthy and blessed. May Marko have the strength, wisdom and balance to face the challenges set before him. (picture)

May Open Space's friend's mother
Judith be blessed and healed for a complete recovery from cancer.

May Linda from the Quest Bookshop of the Theosophical Society, who has developed a turbo cancer, be blessed with a successful surgery under a steady hand when she goes into the operating room in mid January, and with well-being and a speedy recovery.

May Bill Rice (Will1000) in southern California, who suffered a painful back injury, be blessed and healed, and may he quickly recover full health and movement.

May Peter Van Erp's friend Kate Bowden's husband Russ Hobson and his family be enveloped with love as he follows his path forward with the glioblastoma (brain cancer) which has afflicted him.

May Daedalus/ARS receive guidance and finish his kundalini awakening, and overcome the neurological and qi and blood circulation problems that have kept him largely immobilised for several years; may the path toward achieving his life's work be cleared of obstacles.

May baby Gigi, continue to gain weight and strength, and continue to heal from a possible medication overdose which her mother Elena received during pregnancy, and may Elena be blessed and healed from the continuing random tremors which ensued; may Gigi's big brother Francis continue to be in excellent health and be blessed.

May Jennifer, whose pregnancy has entered its third trimester, have a safe and healthy pregnancy, may the delivery go smoothly, and may her baby be born healthy and blessed.

May Scotlyn's friend Fiona, who has been in hospital since early October with what is a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, be blessed and healed, and encouraged in ways that help her to maintain a positive mental and spiritual outlook.

May Peter Evans in California, who has been diagnosed with colon cancer, be completely healed with ease, and make a rapid and total recovery.

May Jennifer and Josiah, their daughter Joanna, and their unborn daughter be protected from all harmful and malicious influences, and may any connection to malign entities or hostile thought forms or projections be broken and their influence banished.

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.

* * *
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.

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

MOE Master attunement; blessing offer

[milkyway1]

Good evening, or good morning (whichever comes first :D ),

And thanks a lot for hosting MM again.

1. To MOE practitioners:

I'm offering a Master attunement at two different time slots this upcoming Sunday (19th). Note that I will only perform the attunement at one or both of these times if at least one person RSVPs by Saturday:

https://thehiddenthings.com/moe-master-attunement-2025-01

2. And to everybody, I'll again perform a formal blessing this Wednesday for the people who signs up:

https://thehiddenthings.com/categories/weekly-blessings

I'm grateful to all the participants, as they give me a chance to practice.

JMG, my blessings to you, too, if you'll have them, and I hope you'll have a good week ahead of you,

Milkyway

Astrological dance

[vitranc]

Hi JMG,
There is talk on the webs of a strange behaviour of the two planets Saturn and Neptune. Not only are they to have a conjunction, but they cross into Aries sign together, have a conjunction, then they both become retrograde and go back to Pisces sign, and then cross a second time for another conjunction.
A nice jig.
Do you have any thoughts on Saturn-Neptune conjunctions?

Best regards,
V

Re: Astrological dance

[ecosophia]

All the outer planet conjunctions are a big deal. It's not a surprise that these two are doing a retrograde dance together -- that's normal, given the relationship between the Earth's orbit (which generates retrogrades) and the much greater orbits of the outer planets -- but the fact that they're conjunct the first time at 0° Aries is a huge deal.

0° Aries is the beginning of the zodiac, the reset button on all the greater and lesser cycles of time. Any outer planet conjunction within the first four degrees of Aries punches that button. Jupiter and Saturn conjoin there every 960 years or so, and that's the beginning of one of the great cycles of history -- the last one was in 1604, so we have another five or six centuries to wait until it happens again. As for a Saturn-Neptune conjunction at dead-on 0° Aries...that hasn't happened before in recorded history. The closest match I can find is a conjunction at 2° Aries in 593 BC, which marked the birth of philosophy and scriptural religions, the transformation of literacy from the prerogative of a small class of scribes to something that many people learned, the invention of democracy, and a cascade of other changes all through human society and culture.

That makes sense. Saturn represents the ground rules, the basic framework of hard limits and proven structures on which society rests. Neptune represents the deep mind, the realm of dreams, visions, and the collective unconscious, and it has a dissolving and transforming effect. So we can expect significant shifts in those basic ground rules after the conjunction in 2026. That doesn't mean utopia is about to arrive, and it doesn't even mean those changes will be fast -- Saturn and Neptune are both very slow-moving planets -- but changes there will be.

Colors, John Gilbert

[realmscryer]

Good evening,

My wife is getting ready to paint the bedroom/office where I do most my meditation and practices. Any colors in particular one might prefer from an occult perspective for such a space?

Regarding John Gilbert. I keep going back to the two books of his you edited and published. Learning the frameworks and methods he used for teaching tarot has been very helpful in learning astrology. Next up alchemy which feels more likely to hold my interest than astrology is doing.

Mysticism and alchemy with a sprinkle of magic. Not sure where all this is heading. Getting there though is a lot of fun. And so much to meditate upon!

Thank you JMG and John Gilbert.

--
Eric

Re: Colors, John Gilbert

[ecosophia]

Quiet, muted colors that you find pleasant are always a good choice for meditation. In terms of magical work, something not too intrusive is a good idea, since you'll be visualizing colors around yourself. Glad to hear you're finding John's work useful!

Mea Culpa!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I asked for Saturn's help to clear a lot of negative Karma regarding multiple things, one of which was relationships.

It seems to have worked, but I then screwed up badly--basically, a person I wanted a relationship with and whom I haven't spoken to in over a year actually called and asked me to meet her, and only after I declined (and pissed her off in doing so) did I realize that I rejected what quite literally may have been a gift from the gods.


Aside from accepting the fact that I am likely an evolutionary dead end, is there something I can do to atone to Saturn for this? I read your response a few weeks ago about sticking a $20 bill into an envelope on a Saturday, but this time around we are talking about making amends for a relationship, not for giving away money.

Thank you for any insights

Re: Mea Culpa!

[ecosophia]

Nah, you don't need to atone. Saturn is teaching you. One of his great lessons is forethought, the habit of thinking through things before you do them, and one of his main tools for teaching his lessons is pain. You're not an evolutionary dead end, or he wouldn't be bothering with you -- but the sooner you learn to think before you act, the less it's going to hurt.

Book publications

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe a strange or obvious questions about your books:

1) When the overs change from one edition to the next, what is the reason/who initiates it? And do you have any say and/or final say in how the covers appear?

2) Is there any chance that your books would ever be packaged into sets (based on theme) for purchase instead of individually? Or does that require a certain volume of sales, or would it otherwise hurt your existing sales?

Re: Book publications

[ecosophia]

1) Authors have no control over the cover and other packaging issues; tolerably often they don't even have any input, and even when they do, it's often useful for them to keep their mouths shut and save their energy for more productive arguments. My books have appeared tolerably often with covers I dislike.

2) That's an intriguing idea; I don't know of it being done in recent times, however. Is there a particular set you'd like to suggest?

[executedbygandhi]

Hello JMG,
you sometimes write that this or that person has a lot of work to do in the interim. Could you explain in more detail what this work looks like in the period between two incarnations?
Thank you very much!

[ecosophia]

Sure. Once the dying process is finished -- the shedding of the material and etheric bodies -- the soul has to process its experience from the incarnation that's just ended. That's done on the astral plane, and it can be heaven, hell, or anything in between, depending on how the incarnation has been spent. The soul basically relives its life experience, except that it can't hide from its memories or lie to itself about what it did -- it sees everything exactly as it was, complete with all the effects of every action as those cascaded outward to affect other people. This isn't a matter of reward or punishment -- the soul needs to absorb the lessons from the life just ended in order to grow -- but it can definitely feel like one or the other!

That's the main work a soul does between life. The more awake the soul has become, the more capable it has become of reflective self-knowledge and clarity, the more it can interact with other souls on the inner planes and, under some conditions, with the incarnate as well. As clarity and self-knowledge increase from life to life (and death to death), the soul can also start taking a more active role in its own learning processes, and can start to help shape its future lives. But the basic process remains the same as long as we continue to reincarnate.

[thinking_turtle]

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

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings all!

Does anyone have a suggestion for a book to start with for modern Heathenry?

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

I'll have to leave this one to the Heathens among us. Anybody?

[hearthculture]

Good Morning JMG and Commentariat,

I've been thinking on your essay a few weeks back commenting on alchemy as presented by Levi in chapter 19 of Doctrine and Ritual; particularly focused on flows in two directions and the Doctrine of Hermes in which the visible and invisible are in proportion. This called to mind something that I've noticed happen in two pursuits of mine - soccer and guitar playing. After some significant time doing both in adolescence, I got older and they turned into sporadic hobbies, but I continued having breakthroughs in both as long as I just practiced a bit and kept them in mind. In each there came a point where other people (often younger) noted my skill and asked how to get better, it seemed funny at the time because I certainly didn't feel skilled enough. In both cases what I settled on was that along the way I gained the ability to simultaneously play and observe myself playing. Even though I didn't know many songs nor had crazy solo skills, I could listen to my guitar and adapt the dynamics of playing to my intent, I could move the ball and adapt my body to the situation. The ability to intend and perceive in equal measure with both responsive to the other waxes and wanes, but it's changed both pursuits for me. (I believe this is likely tied to the modern psychological study of flow states.) A key to this is focus on the task, as with each pursuit there was also a period of time where the actions could be done without much thought, but the reapplication of focus once past that point eventually unlocked this new state. This also seems to be related to the three rays. When learning something new, there is the Light of wonder and exploration, practicing is the action/reaction state of powerful flux, eventually there is an action-focused perception-reaction state which paradoxically ends up being a place of focused yet still flowing harmony.

This got me thinking that spiritual work and magic are akin to sports as much as anything and helped me understand your emphasis on practice. I believe that there is a cultural habit (or even an egregore) around spirituality currently that others it, and I've often fallen into mentalizing the work and thinking there's something I will read and understand, or that I will happen upon an outside force, and it will change everything. I can see where our stories have reinforced that with the prevalence of Joseph Campbell's Hero Journey influencing me to study up and wait for gandalf/obi-wan. Those magic moments have occasionally happened, and I can see where it is beneficial to openly seek and welcome those moments; annnnd I'm coming to understand that the practices become portals of openness that allow those experiences and the practices themselves can become part of an alchemical awakening (almost any practice I suppose if done long enough with intent, perception, and focus.) I can see that discursive meditation is almost a direct practicing of perceiving and intending at the thought level building the "flow state" capability within me like finger picking guitar chords built it outside me; and that the sole act of years of a daily SOP has begun shifting my ability to perceive shifts in subtle planes and energies thereby changing my performance of the SOP. Anyway, this has been gently and quietly blowing my mind. I appreciate your work and how many tools and works you've made available.

1. Does the above resonate with your experience? I find it humorous to think of you as a Michael Jordan of magic, churning out playbooks and coaching guides each year, rather than a sagely academic guiding others through stuffy stacks of ... though perhaps that image is closer to the truth.

Two additional questions:

2a. In my understanding, the SOP is specific in what it invokes and banishes, whereas the Lesser Pentagram rituals are less specific. This, along with my experiences, suggests to me that the SOP primarily works on the individual with attendant effects on the space, and the Pentagram rituals work primarily on the space, with effects on the individual who is in casting within that space. Does that conflict with your understanding?

2b. Hypothetically, could the invoking and banishing phases in the Celtic Golden Dawn Ovate temple could be in separate locations or times. For example there if there is a space that I want more energy to flow through as I do mundane work, but also want cleansed at the end of the day; could a temple be opened in the morning and the primary magical work completed, but then close out the temple but delay the banishing for a few hours?

3. Your Polarity Magic book mentions that a practice comes partly from a Universal Gnostic Church communion ritual. I've read the Gnostic Celtic Church communion, but I've been searching and I haven't found the UGC ceremony anywhere in the documents and articles you've published. Am I missing something? Or, is that a piece that is revealed at a later stage, or self-created?

Thank you as always for this space and your counsel.

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, very much so! I like to compare learning magic to learning how to play a musical instrument or learning a martial art, and the points you've made here are among the reasons why.

2a) It's an interesting interpretation and worth exploring further.

2b) I'd encourage you to experiment with that.

3) It hasn't been published yet. Very little of the UGC material has seen print so far.

John Cowper Powys

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Archdruid! Thank you once again for the opportunity for all of us to talk together and especially for what you say...

Question: have you encountered the work of the English novelist John Cowper Powys? I have recently started reading his very long book A Glastonbury Romance and I have been astonished and delighted by his sheer skill as a writer (there are many passages of wonderful beauty describing the natural environment), by the seriousness with which he handles the Grail legends and a good deal of other mythological material, and by an narrative voice that accepts the existence of non-human consciousness in the most straightforward way.

Best wishes to everyone!

Re: John Cowper Powys

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. His portrayal of Merlin in Porius is to my mind the best in all of fiction.

[jenniferkobernik]

Any thoughts on what planet rules permaculture? I can see it being Venus, Saturn, or maybe even Mercury, but curious if anyone’s come to a conclusion about this and what you think. Thanks!

[ecosophia]

Oh, Saturn, certainly. Annuals and biennials are ruled by Venus, but Saturn rules perennial plants, and he's also the ruler of the harvest and of agriculture as distinct from gardening. For that matter, Permaculture's focus on patient observation and on reshaping the ground with swales and the like are very Saturnian.

The Story of Lot's Wife

[earthworm_uk]

An interpretation of the story of Lot's Wife that the commentariat might find interesting.

Re:
"The soul bound towards the eternal goal -- as it is called, the top of the mountains -- then proceeded towards the mountains. And before they reached the top of the mountains there was the cave, which is called heaven (in metaphysics, "capacity;" in Sanskrit, Akasha) which has the power of holding the soul from going to the top and using the soul for some purpose. And the soul which was bound for the eternal goal remained, so intoxicated by the ecstasy that it received from the plane of joy and the plane of wisdom.

'the cave' strikes me as referring to the astral hereafter rather than heaven per se, where, depending on what we've been up to, we experience 'heaven' or the 'other place', as some refer to it.
The idea that we create our own afterlife seems amusing, sobering and a reason for optimism all at the same time.

No question as such, just to say I am very much enjoying contemplating the various metaphors and to thank you and the other posters for making this place what it is.

Here's a link:
http://www.hazrat-inayat-khan.org/php/views.php?h1=43&h2=3&h3=28

Re: The Story of Lot's Wife

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this!

Modern Order of Essenes Healings

[kylec]

If you requested healing hands last week, those sessions have been fulfilled and if you have any feedback--positive, negative, neutral--feel free to share it here or via private message.

To sign up for healing hands again, or for the first time, please reply to this thread with your name and request or PM it to me and I will add you to the list. Thanks!

Re: Modern Order of Essenes Healings

[(Anonymous)]

Hi there!

I could use some central nervous system healing.

Thanks!
Matt

Dreams

[threerays]

Dear JMG,

I wanted to thank you for your CGD practice and books. In particular, the big book & the litany have become daily staples and have changed my life in many ways, in the short time I’ve embraced them. Celebrating Merlin’s wheel has been something I look forward to all year round. These have been deep gifts for my soul.

Onto my question - dreams! I went from not dreaming at all, before the CGD, to dreaming almost nonstop every night. I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. Some of the dreams would make fantastic science fiction books! They are so detailed and vivid. Any feedback on this? I assume it’s due to drudging up the murky waters of the subconscious?

Many thanks!
Jon

Re: Dreams

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome! I'm glad you find them useful.

As for dreams, you're awakening your ability to perceive the astral plane. That's what dreaming is, you know: the normal process of perceiving the astral plane in sleep. Dreams are always a mix of personal and transpersonal material, because the aura (the outer layer of the astral body) is like a screen on which two movie projectors are projecting at once -- one that's from your subconscious, and one that's from the big wide world out there.

Have you considered keeping a dream journal, and writing your dreams down first thing in the morning? It's an interesting habit, and can teach you various things about yourself.

[rhydlyd]

For your entertainment: When I put the work into my studies, I catch “lucky” breaks – like being able to switch to a work schedule more congenial to The Dolmen Arch (getting up at four just wasn’t fun). I suppose that’s normal for you and the commentariat, but I’m still in my surprised by everything phase. Dragging it out for a couple extra months seems to have helped, too. Right now, I plan to finish TDA on my own, then do it again through the AODA program.
And seriously: I asked my staves if there was a supernatural cause and effect at work in the LA wildfire disaster. I was thinking past, but my staves said Ioho, upright. TDH says, “consequences of present actions,” so I’m wondering if the stave points to the aphasiac response of California’s government and the possibility of some kind of unstoppable tail-chase. The other thing that comes to mind is the deafness of the California government as business-as-usual overrides calls for disaster response. I’ve seen a few concussions and their effects, including a fellow’s ears stopped up by a sudden outflow of black wax; so, I wonder if said government is suffering from the supernatural (or maybe psychological) “Nah, I’m fine” response to a blow to the head while barreling right towards a fatal case of secondary impact syndrome. I’d welcome some guidance on my interpretation if you and the commentariat feel inclined.
Rhydlyd

[ecosophia]

Hmm! That makes sense. It's very common, though, for a decadent aristocracy to lose any ability to respond to changing conditions, and our bureaucratic-managerial class fits the definition of a decadent aristocracy to the last dotted i and crossed t.

Aspects of People

[kylec]

It occurred to me that I come into and separate from other people who pass through my life in various aspects, and that it might be helpful to figure out what those aspects would mean in terms of human relationships. A sort of chart of my relations at a given moment, if you will. But I'm no astrologer and don't know the difference between a trine and sextile well enough, for example, and haven't a clue about an inconjunct or a semi- or sesqui-whatever.

Some of them seem obvious. For example, if I am square or opposite a person it means we are causing each other friction, grief, obstacles. Conjunct would probably mean that I am in the same boat with someone, whether I like them or not, and for that time we move together and either benefit or harm one another according to our natures, but whatever happens to a degree happens to both of us until we separate.

Can you give me an example of what a trine or sextile would look like in human relations, and any other aspects that occur to you off the top of your head?

Re: Aspects of People

[ecosophia]

Sure. A trine is harmonious -- the two of you just naturally get along easily and like each other's company. A sextile is helpful -- the two of you assist each other and find that working together benefits both of you. An inconjunct is frustrating -- nothing ever quite works well, without ever quite failing completely. Semisquares and sesquisquares are like weak squares -- a little friction, a little annoyance, a little opposition. I've never found the other minor aspects to be effective enough to have a characterization.

Art egregores?

[(Anonymous)]

Can a work of art, a piece of music have an egregore? I'm thinking, in particular, of Brahms's "German Requiem."

Re: Art egregores?

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. Anything that stirs human emotions becomes the center of an egregor.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG and commentariat,

Are you familiar with Stephen Jenkinson, a retired Canadian palliative care practitioner who is traveling about speaking about death and how our culture is 1) death-phobic and 2) bereft of elders. His claim is age doesn't confer elderhood automatically, rather it's a learned skill presumably from other elders.

The experience that he commonly saw on people's deathbed was a terrorizing fear of ceasing to exist. He reports that many people at their end had to be drugged up to a point of half-consciousness to escape that all-consuming dread.

One of Jenkinson's issues with current popular thought is the pervasive theme of limitlessness. If I understand him correctly, he chafes at the idea that we continue on after death, that it's a transition. I think I get what he's going at, but esoteric philosophy teaches that some part of us does indeed carry on beyond incarnation.

I'm curious what your thoughts are on this as you (JMG) used to worked with elderly people. I'd also like to hear from others what they think of this one aspect of Jenkinson's observations.

[ecosophia]

No, I'm not familiar with him. I'm a little baffled by the paradox you've laid out here -- he insists people shouldn't be terrified of ceasing to exist, and yet he gets irritable if it's suggested that we don't cease to exist!

In my experience with elderly people, a recognition of the reality of life after death is a very important factor in mental and emotional health. It's not just a cure for the terror of nonexistence, it also helps encourage the old to explore their memories and make sense of their lives, and it gives them a framework to deal with the paranormal experiences that so often occur to the dying. Since there's plenty of evidence for an afterlife, too, it's only reasonable to encourage people to take it into account.

Thank you

[(Anonymous)]

Just wanted to post a thank you here and to pass on to others the encouragement you gave me two weeks ago regarding my Octagon Society journaling.

After weeks of avoiding it, I finally plunged into the next lesson and finished it. The first session was like popping a cork- as soon as I sat down to write, the memory I didn't know I needed to work on came right to the surface, and I wrote and cried simultaneously for twenty minutes without interruption. And I felt better afterwards.

I would liken the experience to being seven years old and standing on the edge of the swimming pool. It can take so much willpower just to make that little jump. The first big splash is indeed going to take your breath away. But as soon as you're in and moving around, you start to feel better right away.

Every little success builds confidence and momentum. It's worth celebrating and I wanted to share that thought here for anyone who needs it.

Re: Thank you

[ecosophia]

You're welcome and thank you! I'm delighted to hear this.

[(Anonymous)]

1. I feel extremely cold in Winter. Is there a practice that can warm me up and keep me from oversleeping from the cold?

2. Conversely, is there a practice to counter extreme Summer heat?

[ecosophia]

I've heard of some here and there but never explored that end of energy work. Anyone else?

Follow-up on Saint-Germain

[(Anonymous)]

In my search for sources that inspired a modicum of confidence, I found a couple of webpages on David Pratt’s website dedicated to Theosophy (https://www.davidpratt.info/st-germain1.htm).

He cites a 1988 book by Jean Overton Fuller, The Comte de Saint Germain: Last scion of the House of Rákóczy. Fuller also wrote well-researched historical works on espionage in addition to biographies of Blavatsky, Krishnamurti, and one Victor Neuberg who was for eight years closely associated with Aleister Crowley. I found her book riveting. She treats the Count’s musical and chemical work in depth and sifts through the welter of sources, dismissing most of them for what seem to be solid reasons while noting how some of the legends probably originated.

She offers a persuasive explanation of his enigmatic forays into diplomacy and proposes an ingenious hypothesis connecting his enigmatic birth with his involvement, technically as a Russian General, in the Orlov brothers’ campaign against the Ottoman Empire in 1769-70.

As you said, he does not appear to have played any role in the occult societies of his time. Moreover, he did not claim to possess supranormal powers or miraculous longevity, and was neither a Freemason nor a Christian. He may have had an inclination to mysticism inspired by the Law of Nature and Nature’s God. On balance, I think the evidence Fuller marshals suggests that his beliefs and motivations were honorable and fundamentally secular, but — perhaps because she was influenced by Theosophy, which exalted him as one of the great Masters — she plays up the mysticism. To this end she accepts as authentic an unfinished sonnet published about a decade after the Count’s death.

CURIEUX scrutateur de la nature entière,
J’ai connu du grand tout le principe et la fin.
J’ai vu l’or en puissance au fond de sa minière,
J’ai saisi sa matière et surpris son levain.

J’expliquai par quel art l’âme aux flancs d’une mère,
Fait sa maison, l’emporte, et comment un pépin

Mis contre un grain de blé, sous l’humide poussière,

L’un plante et l’autre cep, sont le pain et le vin. 

Rien n’était, Dieu voulut, rien devint quelque chose,

J’en doutais, je cherchai sur quoi l’univers pose,

Rien gardait l’équilibre et servait de soutien.

Enfin, avec le poids de l’éloge et du blâme,
Je pesai l’éternel, il appela mon âme,

Je mourus, j’adorai, je ne savais plus rien. 

Pratt links to a good translation (https://poetryintranslation.wordpress.com/category/mysticism/rose-croix/):


but it does not include alternate endings in the (apparently unfinished) original.

Je pésais dieu lui-même, il appela mon ȃme,
Le cadavre tomba, j’adorai, tout en bien.

or

Je pésais l’éternel, il appela mon ȃme,
Le cadavre tomba, je ne savais plus rien.

and as a final line

Je redeviens dieu même et je m’en doutais bien.

These lines prompt Fuller’s most outré speculations at the end of her book; it must be admitted that they would account for the way the Count recalled parts of the elder Racoczy’s life as if he had lived them himself.

Pratt also cites a work issued in 2004 by a cultural society in the town of Saint-Germain’s death, Wer war ‘Graf Saint-Germain’? Eine historisch-kritische Bestandsaufnahme. I found the three essays contained in it terribly disappointing: the tone throughout is one of sarcastic debunking, treating Saint-Germain as a mere con artist.

These readings have left me with a sense of wonderment at the powers of projection which (starting during his life and gathering momentum later) have made of this man either a crook or a quasi-divine wizard, instead of the gifted, lonely, and ambitious idealist that he probably was.

Gray Hat

Re: Follow-up on Saint-Germain

[ecosophia]

Hmm! I'll have to read Fuller's book at some point.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd be interested to know what the "black oobleck" people are sensing these days.

-Bofur

[(Anonymous)]

To me, it feels like I am behind a thick window.

SDPM

[(Anonymous)]

Last week, I asked about if it was safe to wear one of the protective red bags close to constantly, and have been doing so since. I've noticed a few odd effects; among them it seems to have drastically reduced my sensitivity to EM fields; it is a bad idea to wear on a run because it causes side stitches (which has interesting implications); and my sleep has dramatically improved, at least on then nights where it remains in place.

a) Do you have any suggestions on how to keep a red amulet bag in place while sleeping? I find that sometimes it will fall off when I move, and end up somewhere other than on my chest; and the nights that has happened my sleep is much less restful.

b) Is it safe to wear the bag during the exercises from LRM, and during prayers? I'm planning to start doing more religious and magical practices, and am wondering which exercises, if any, might work best without the protective red bag.

[ecosophia]

1) Make a larger one and stick it under your pillow, inside the pillowcase. That's the best option I know of.

2) Nothing in LRM will be inconvenienced by it, and prayer works on a plane high above the etheric plane, where the red bag amulet does its work. If you go on to Circles of Power, and work with the elemental and planetary invocations in that book, you'll want to remove the amulet while doing those.