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

[(Anonymous)]

Things are looking up a bit (finally!) and I’d like to thank everyone for their prayers.

—Princess Cutekitten

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted to hear this, Your Kittenship.

Paedrig's Pentacles

[(Anonymous)]

Hello. I will try and be brief. So, recently, my talisman disappeared. No idea how I lost it - I swear it was right in my wallet. I accepted its loss and moved on, trying to take your earlier advice to stop pushing so hard and let the work I had already done keep working.

So, my fortune didnt decline, only changed. The main focus of my talisman to Jupiter had been acquiring wealth and legal victory, both of which had come into my life while I posessed it and meditated upon jovian energy. Once it was lost, a long lost love came back into my life - and it seems I' now destined to spend money rather than gain it for the time being.

My question is simple. Should I craft another talisman? Or let this all play out? I am only concerned because I have a major court battle in a few weeks. Should I simply accept this change of fate, maybe hoping I'll find it again? It has come back to me before.

Your amswers are always appreciated at this late hour.

Re: Paedrig's Pentacles

[ecosophia]

In your place, I'd let it play out. There are clearly forces at work in your life; trust that, and try to roll with the waves.

[industrialchemy]

Hi JMG,

I ran across something interesting in my Lullian Art research that I was hoping you might know about.

Elemental theory was a major part of Llull's work, especially the earlier versions of the Art. In addition to the standard scheme of air=hot, moist; fire=hot, dry; etc., Llull also had the idea of proper and appropriated traits.

So air has moisture as its proper trait but it appropriated heat from fire; water properly cold and appropriates moisture from air; and so on.

My question is, have you run across this scheme of proper and appropriated traits of the elements? If so, are you aware of any sources that are earlier than Llull (second half of 13th century, roughly)? And also are there any more recent traditions that use it?

Sorry for running up to the wire on this one. I appreciate any information you can provide!

[ecosophia]

Yes, I've encountered it before in medieval and Renaissance sources. If I recall correctly, it's ancient -- you'll want to check Galen and Avicenna, the two main sources from which the European Middle Ages drew their elemental theory.