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 1.3 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-sixth published book -- I've passed over The King in Orange, which was pulled out of order by the eldritch attraction of Inauguration Day and appeared in January -- and the beginning of my most ambitious publishing project to date: a complete system of occult training, original although based on the material I studied with John Gilbert, which fills roughly the same role as the correspondence courses offered by old-fashioned occult schools but is published for everyone to read.

I stress the word "occult" here. Occultism and magic are not the same thing, though they're related to each other and can be compatible. Magic uses ritual as its primary tool, and has power as its theme and goal; occultism uses meditation as its primary tool, and has wisdom as its theme and goal. (Both contrast with mysticism, which -- in its western forms, at least -- uses prayer as its primary tool, and has love as its theme and goal.) The Way of the Golden Section and its sequels teach very little in the way of ritual and even less in the way of magic. They focus on meditation, divination, sacred geometry, and certain other standard occult practices, and their goal is to achieve wisdom, revelation, and enlightenment. This book -- which requires The Sacred Geometry Oracle for some of its work -- is the first step on that path. Interested? You can get copies here if you're in the United States and here elsewhere. (I recommend the hardback edition, btw:  it's sturdy, and will stand up to the hard use you'll give it.)

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

[(Anonymous)]

I have a book recommendation for everyone:

The Occult Sylvia Plath by Julia Gordon-Bramer, published by Inner Traditions:

https://a.co/d/ftQ2FtP

It is a scholarly biography focused on Plath’s occult and esoteric pursuits, which were significant during her short life. Gordon-Bramer exhaustively notes sources for every single claim, and clearly spent years in the various Plath and Ted Hughes archives. She highlights many, many occult references (with solid sources from the archive) that were deliberately left out of the record by other biographers and scholars and the editors of Plath’s letters.

For all of this, it is well worth purchasing and reading, even if your interest in Plath is minimal.

Overall, the information paints a tragic picture of a depressive personality
(Plath) with perhaps natural psychic inclinations, raised in a home where there was interest in European esotericism (Plath’s mother wrote a dissertation on alchemy), and who met a reckless occultist and womanizer (Ted Hughes) who involved her in grubby pursuits like conjuring spirits with ouija boards for financial information, and less grubby but ultimately destructive pathways involving astrology, Tarot, and more serious ceremonial magic. It seems Ted Hughes was training in Franz Bardon’s system.

The book really takes off in the second half, after Plath met and married Ted Hughes. He was clearly the real, serious occultist, and the more interesting figure overall (though he was also odious). The book more correctly should have been titled “The Occult Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes,” as it focuses extensively on him in the final chapters. Hughes was a very serious natal astrologer, and also studied ceremonial magic, most likely Bardon’s system (as mentioned) but possibly Golden Dawn to some extent. He clearly attracted tragedy—his first wife (Plath) committed suicide, and a mistress (who instigated the end of his marriage with Plath) later murdered their child and killed herself. Another later girlfriend, who was a practicing witch, cursed him and burned down his house. Dark.

Interestingly, Hughes later had close links to the British royal family, mainly Charles, who shared his interests in occultism and astrology. Hughes was close enough to them that they commissioned astrological-themed poetry from him, and he socialized with the family, reading Prince William and Prince Harry bedtime stories. Charles arranged special permission for a memorial marker where Hughes’ ashes were scattered in a remote area of Dartmoor National Park, an 8 mile hike in from any roads.

I found this long article detailing Hughes’ astrological interests expressed in a poem about one of the royals: https://ann.skea.com/Zodiacpoem.htm

And this, noting his closeness to the royal family and that Charles considered Hughes his “spiritual advisor”: https://www.thetimes.com/article/charles-has-poet-s-corner-at-highgrove-n9sqjz8bk

Charles also built a “shrine” to Hughes in one of his homes after the poet’s death.

I know there’s been speculation over the years on how much the royal family uses astrologers…this is an important clue. I would wager Charles, at least, most certainly pursued astrology.

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this. I find Plath's poetry unappealing, to put it mildly, but I'll consider reading the book.

[(Anonymous)]

I know there’s been speculation over the years on how much the royal family uses astrologers…this is an important clue. I would wager Charles, at least, most certainly pursued astrology.

Interesting--I know absolutely nothing about astrology, but my understanding is that he chose an extraordinarily terrible coronation date, astrologically speaking. I took that to mean that he clearly didn't use (or listen to) astrologers. To riff of of Galbraith, maybe he chose to listen to his economists instead...

[(Anonymous)]

I thought "The Bell Jar" was much superior to "Catcher in the Rye" although similarly themed. The Gordon-Bramer book you mentioned does sound interesting. Maybe I can get the local library to buy it.