Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is breathing down our necks 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 is my sixth-third published book, and you'll have a little trouble finding it right now, because its former publisher let it go out of print last year. The upsides are, first, that this gave me the chance to revise, expand, and improve it considerably; second, that I was able to give it the title I originally assigned it, Merlin's Wheel -- did you know that authors have no control over the titles and cover art of their books? -- and third, that I had it placed with a second publisher less than 24 hours after the old one let go of it.

The book -- well, it's a sequel of sorts to my earlier book The Celtic Golden Dawn, providing a set of eight seasonal ceremonies inspired by ancient mystery rites, celebrating the legendary life of Merlin around the cycle of the year as a system of spiritual self-initiation. The new version has been expanded so that it can also be practiced within the ritual system of the Golden Section Fellowship and its related traditions, including the Dolmen Arch system and the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose. It'll be out later this year, and I'll make an announcement here and on my blog once it's available for preorder.

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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 further comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

Donald Michael Kraig

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Mr. Greer, would you recommend ‘Modern Magick’ by Mr. Kraig for very new beginners? I’ve heard it’s really the place to start with by a lot of occultist, including Damien Echols, who claims your book ‘Learning Ritual Magick’ is foundational in GD work.

MARS vs VENUS as goals for space travel

[(Anonymous)]

I read recently that you thought the Moon landings brough a lot of lunar energy to the Earth.
In the unlikely event that we actually send people to Mars, what kind of effect could we expect?

Maybe send should send people to Venus instead? (LOL in know it is too hot and there is too much acid in the air and that it would be very unpleasant for the people going there)

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what WON, CGD or UB mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia. There's also a list of JMG's books.

I wonder what happens if a book goes out of print and the previous publisher doesn't "let it go".

Re: Odd Goings On

[(Anonymous)]

Not the OP. Why would thanks drive it away?

Re: Odd Goings On

[ecosophia]

Nobody knows, but that's a traditional rule all through European fairy lore -- never thank them. It invariably offends them.

Re: Lesser Polarity Magic

[ecosophia]

Yes, you've got a fine polarity working going on. Remember that most of magic is simply taking something that works in everyday life, and doing it systematically! As long as the two of you avoid getting romantic, you should be fine -- the polarity between the two of you will keep on rising from the material and etheric planes to the astral plane, where it radiates out and charges the workspace with what, back in the day, we called "good vibes."

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

Mental Plane

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

Thanks for your clarification last week that thoughts are of the astral plane. That unlocked a lot. In my meditations this last week on the Cosmic Doctrine and your own writings, I have developed this rough understanding of how the planes relate. I'm going to relate it to a personal goal of mine, which is developing greater clarity in my writing. My question: is this close enough to be reasonably functional, or is there anything you’d say is worth adjusting? - Tony C.

- Abstract mental (above the veil) - the Platonic Idea (so to speak) of clarity in writing.

- Concrete mental (above the veil) - the Platonic Idea of a clearly written short essay.

- Astral - Hod - My particular thoughts about what form clear writing should take including specific instances that spring to mind. These thoughts, if meditated on, can give intuitions of the form, structure and limitations of clear writing - a reflection of its Geburah aspect.

- Astral - Netzach - My particular identification of how clear writing should feel to the writer and reader. Through this, I can get intuitions of the power of clear writing, its reason for being, and the ways in which it drives to manifest - a reflection of its Chesed aspect.

- By synthesizing these in meditation, including studying the etheric sense that clear writing creates and physical manifestations of it (Yesod and Malkuth) and then attempting to recreate these, I should be able to cause “impactation” (in Dion Fortune’s sense) of the idea, and then if successful, allow its physical manifestation to sublimate into a deepened understanding of it.

Re: Lesser Polarity Magic

[(Anonymous)]

Not the OP, but I suddenly wonder about something from somewhere I worked before. Two of the people working there were very clearly into each other, but one of them was well over a decade older than the other. I think it made them uncomfortable, so they never acted on it; but if both of them were present, then everything went absurdly well for everyone around them. This effect was reliable enough our manager intentionally made sure the two of them had as many shifts together as possible; and when a new manager took over and decided that was a bad idea, everything quite quickly fell apart.

Does it sound like they also created an unintentional polarity working?

Re: Affirmation for worst-case thinking

[ecosophia]

Yes, I'm quite familiar with that sort of thinking -- it's a common habit. It's infectious, in an odd way -- notice how all three of the "affirmations" you've given here are actually negations! (Yes, even the first; it's phrased positively but expresses a negation, i.e., not large, not significant.)

The affirmation I'd suggest for your friend is "the best can also happen." Warn her that that's probably going to stir up all kinds of bad memories from childhood, which she should journal about; when she remembers disappointments and miseries, or simply finds herself getting angry or depressed after reciting the affirmation, she can write out what she's feeling. Suggest that she just let it flow onto the page, being careful not to censor or edit anything; that's a good way to release the bitter emotions from those experiences and free up the emotional energy locked in them.

Affirmations can't overcome that kind of knotted emotions from the past, but they can stir them up, so that journaling (and conscious reflection generally) can release them. It's a useful pairing of tools.

[ecosophia]

1) That depends on how far along you are in the process of spiritual development. In your early lives, the processing is purely a matter of going over what happened. Later on, as you become more conscious and reflective, understanding begins to dawn, and that brings in the legacies of other lives. Eventually you can survey all your lives -- but at that point, you generally don't need to reincarnate again.

2) It's not the use of Latin so much as a magically effective liturgy. The old liturgies, up to and including the Tridentine mass established at the Council of Trent in 1570, had a great deal of power to them; Dion Fortune called the Mass the most widely practiced ritual of white magic in the world, and she wasn't exaggerating. The Novus Ordo mass put in place in 1969, by contrast, is magically inert, having been designed by Modernist liturgical theorists who knew nothing about the deeper side of ritual and were trying to turn it into a "community meal" rather than anything more serious. That's why sensitive people have noticed all along that where the Novus Ordo mass is celebrated, the church feels like an appliance that's been unplugged, where a church in which one of the older liturgies is celebrated feels like an appliance that's plugged in and running.

Re: It just keeps coming

[ecosophia]

You need to figure out what's causing this, and whether you're doing anything to foster it. I recommend daily journaling on themes like "bad luck" and "do I want this to happen?"

Re: Golden Section Fellowship

[ecosophia]

The books in the core sequence are as follows:

The Sacred Geometry Oracle

The Way of the Golden Section
The Way of the Four Elements
The Way of the Secret Temple (not yet published; out this year)

The Occult Philosophy Workbook
The Earth Mysteries Workbook
The Life Force Workbook (not yet published; probably out in 2026)

In addition, I plan on a series of four books on the quadrivium, which are not part of the core sequence in the GSF but which will be very useful resources for students of the system. Their tentative titles are:

A Book of Sacred Number
A Book of Sacred Harmonics
A Book of Sacred Geometry
A Book of Sacred Ecology

I haven't started writing these yet so I don't have a publication date lined up!

I'd originally considered having a book on astrology in that sequence, but for various reasons decided that sacred ecology was a better way to talk about integrating the mathematical side of the sacred into daily life.

[ecosophia]

I took that feedback into account in writing the chapter on adapting things to other systems. I think you'll find the new version quite workable.

Re: Egregores

[ecosophia]

An egregor is an artificial personality created by any group of people caught up in a common set of emotional experiences. Think of the way that every place you've worked and every group you've belonged to has its own "personality," in a certain sense; that's its egregor.

[ecosophia]

Yes. I think there may be more to it than that, but you've certainly sketched out an important part of the problem.

MOE Healing

[kylec]

Happy to report that all who requested healing hands last week have been serviced and the list is open once again. If you want another round, or would like to try it for the first time, all you have to do is reply here or via PM with your name and request. Thanks!

Re: An interesting effect of an amulet

[ecosophia]

Fascinating! I wonder how much of the anxiety was either (a) a matter of etheric forms he was generating himself through worrying and intensely visualizing the things that made him anxious, or (b) the less pleasant possibility that someone was deliberately sending nasty energies at him.

[kylec]

I'm reading your book on polarity magic and have a success to recommend. I tried the solo method for redirecting energies of sexual arousal up to the solar plexus and found it worked exactly as described and was easy to do on the first try. This maybe due to previous experience with healing hands, central ray, etc but I think anyone could learn it.

While I have nothing against, ahem, directing them to the physical plane now and then, it really is useful to be able to sublimate those energies when they're bothersome. I recommend the method in the book to all who need something like that in their toolkit. Soon I'll work them upto higher energy centers once I have the solar plexus down.

Other than helping awaken those centers, is it advisable to use these solo energies for basic works like blessing and healing? Or is the unpolarized energy too unbalanced?

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,
Some time in the past couple months you mentioned a good introductory astrology text besides Parker's Astrology - it was something like "Understanding Your Natal Chart." There are several books with similar titles. Would you mind refreshing my memory? Thanks
P.S., ordering a copy of "Astrology of Nations" in the near future as well.

Re: An interesting effect of an amulet

[earthworm_uk]

I'm not sure - both are distinct possibilities; but for the second option it may not be deliberate but an example of someone doing something with a natural ability rather than malefic intent (though that cannot be ruled out - think energy vampire).
e.g. sharing a house with someone in their late 70s who is able to throw tantrums the way they did as a toddler, but with a personality that has cultivated that activity over 70 yrs and refined it to an art form; and that the constant refrain after the storm has blown over is that the person doing it has no memory of what the said or did.
Complex.

Mainly it was shocking to see the instant effect of the amulet after it was put on. It was an emergency first aid sort of thing.

Re: An interesting effect of an amulet

[baconrolypoly]

To interject here, the person in question is my twin and, knowing him as I do, I reckon he's generating most of his panic himself. Saying that, his housemate is certainly being extremely trying at the moment and he is very sensitive to any drama in his life.

Interesting idea to think that a red bag amulet can have an impact on something that a person has generated themselves. For what it's worth, I cut out and sewed the bag, added twin-support to it, the salt and then earthworm put in the bent nail.

[kylec]

Forgot to ask my other polarizing question. You mentioned to avoid virgin goddesses in polarity work. In the Welsh Celtic pantheon that means Olwen, but I remember hearing that Elen may also be a version of Olwen. And Sul was called Sulis Minerva. Minerva is mentioned as one to avoid. I also assume old women like Ceridwen may not polarize as well.

Is there a goddess that would be well-suited to those works? I am not planning to do godform work, just asking for a better grasp of polarity in the Welsh pantheon.

Re: Golden Section Fellowship

[(Anonymous)]

Sitting in front of me is a book called Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology by Miranda Lundy, Jason Martineau, and Others, between 2001 and 2010, published by Bloomsbury. It is an acceptable collection of information, I really enjoy the picture descriptions, but many of the subjects could be described much further. Anyway, this is just a note should you have been unaware of this collection.
Consciousness Aggregate

Dolmen Arch index and geomancy query

[(Anonymous)]

JMG, I have something to offer if you’re interested. As part of my Grade 7 review of the Dolmen Arch, I compiled an index and an annotated table of contents. There’s just so much material in the course, and it can be hard to find particular topics. So I did this for my own use first, and thought I might as well share it if others would find it useful. I have the hardcover edition, so if the paperback has different page numbers, that would limit its usefulness. But anyway, if you’d like to see it I’d be happy to send you a copy. I’m sure it leaves something to be desired, since I did it by looking at the hardcopy (i.e., no search function). I’ve been a copyeditor for many years, but this is my first attempt at an index.

A quick question on geomancy, as I've been studying your book on it. You don't mention flipping a coin to generate the mothers, but it seems like a natural tool for that. I tried flipping one coin and also designating a set of 4 different coins, one for each element, and then throwing them all at once to generate one figure. I did a few readings that way, but it's too soon to know what the outcome of the situations will be. Is there any reason not to use coins this way?