Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is upon us 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 seventy-fifth published book, the sequel to The Witch of Criswell and thus the second Ariel Moravec occult mystery.  Once again, it's eighteen-year-old Ariel and her adept grandfather on the case, investigating the theft of a rare magical book and a trail of clues that might lead to a pirate treasure hidden somewhere in the odd old East Coast port town of Adocentyn. Ariel and Dr. Bernard Moravec aren't the only ones on the trail, though, and the others will stop at nothing to get there first...

In case you can't tell, yes, I'm having enormous fun with these. You can get a copy here if you're in the United States and here 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 next week!***

Comments

Seventy-five published books!

[(Anonymous)]

Somewhat off topic I guess, but many congratulations on having 75 (or more!) published books!

Re: numerology question

[ecosophia]

It's quite possible that this century is going to see a lot more of this...

Re: Seventy-five published books!

[ecosophia]

Thank you. It's involved a lot of hard work, but it sucks less than any other job I've ever had. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

I understand clearly, on an intuitive level, the qualities that make a plant Solar, Lunar, Jovial, Venusian, and even to some extent those plants ruled by Mars and Mercury. I struggle to identify plants that are Saturnian, and why they are so. Do you have any go-to examples of strongly Saturnian plants or trees that are also fairly common in New England?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

Horsetail and nettle are two saturnine plants found in New England. Highbush cranberry, Viburnum opulum, is another -- it's a medicinal, the source of crampbark. Comfrey is an import but very well established in New England, and belongs to Saturn; juniper is native and is very strongly saturnine. That's just what I could find in a fast glance. As for why a plant is saturnine, that's sometimes best read from its medical profile, sometimes from its habit (low-lying plants with deep strong roots tend to be saturnine), and sometimes I have no idea!

Enchanting planetary talismans

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John Michael Greer,

I want to make a planetary talisman and trace the appropriate invoking heptagram in the process. Would I trace the banishing heptagram at the end of the enchanting ceremony, or is that counter productive? Would tracing the banishing sign return the energies to their proper place and mark the end of the work, or would it remove the energies I had invoked from the enchanted talisman? Would a regular closing of the grove suffice after crafting the talisman?

For example:

1 - Open grove
2 - SOP
3 - Invoking heptagram
4 - Enchant talisman
5 - ?Banishing heptagram?
6 - Close grove

Thank you,
JML

Re: Meeting dead people in dreams

[athaia]

The books by Robert Moss might be something you'd find useful for this.

[(Anonymous)]

I will start singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" because I like liberty over military adventurism.

Patrick

[(Anonymous)]

I am a complete novice, perhaps working wasn't the correct word to use. If there is something simple that I would be able to do I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction.

[isaac_hill]

Not JMG, but this is something that I've lately been thinking a lot about, as I work on a Zodiac garden. When reading esoteric herbalists from Culpeper to Popham, it's clear that planetary correspondences are not always very clear. But to add to JMG's list, Solomon's seal is one that is almost always connected to Saturn, as well as Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum),Aconite, and Mullein. Herbs that lubricate joints and bones (moisten Saturn's extreme dryness), plants that like darkness and shade (like Hellebore, Solomon's Seal), plants that are poisonous - joints/bones, poison, darkness - these are some of the signatures.

[denebalgedi777]

1. Related to past life karma:

a. How do you differentiate between relationships that are holdovers from past lives versus ones you have made anew in this one? It seems to me that some should be new each life, whilst others involve unfinished business so to speak. The only thing I've noticed so far is that often the past life ones seem to happen as if by fate, with odd chance meetings or synchronicities or other improbable events intervening to make them happen.

I also note that there seem to be degrees of this as well, for example, there might be people you knew in a past life that were of lesser importance but they are mildly interwoven into the backdrop of your life, as well as those that develop into close relationships.

b. As I understand it, leaving incarnation involves wrapping up worldly ties to a certain extent and concluding karma that you have with others still in incarnation. Would this necessarily require social isolation? It seems like this did happen for some who left incarnation, especially in the Piscean Age, but it seems like the character of the Aquarian Age might call for a different sort of prophet and saint who is more public in character.

2. There's a very weird matter I've decided to seek your counsel on. I'm trying to wrap up formatting and publication of my book after receiving a positive divination to the effect that I should do it from Kimberly Steele. Well, I decided on a pseudonym for now (desiring to keep private life private) and I asked the tarot if this was a good idea - the result was King of Cups upright, which I took to mean yes. Well, here's where things got weird. A couple of days later, yesterday, I was driving home and I stopped in a public park for a break - I don't usually visit it but it was on the route I was taking - and in the restroom stall someone had left the King of Cups upright! I have never seen tarot left in public anywhere before. Then, this morning, as part of my daily three card divination, the first card I drew for "me" was the King of Cups upright. Having this symbol repeat in triplicate seems to be a strong message. What do you think?

Re: Great series.

[vitranc]

Ok, then it is up to future generations to keep the franchise going with fan fiction.
I am sure we can find some future eccentric minority religious order initiate to write something like The Wierd of Kellinger: A series of stories where the misunderstood characters tell the stories from their point of view. 😉

One short follow-up question...

[(Anonymous)]

If I may ask one short follow-up question, if I also wanted to do the Sphere of Protection in addition to what you suggested, where in the sequence that you suggested should I do the SoP?

Thank you,
Eugene

[jenniferkobernik]

Thank you! This is helpful .

[(Anonymous)]

I sometimes add my home to my visualizations and banishing of things when doing the sphere of protection. At times I try to extend the light across my property and while banishing I'll mention theft as one of the harmful influences "and about me". Probably not John Gilbert's intention but, at the minimum, I feel better for doing it.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you, this is extremely helpful!

[earthworm_uk]

Sorry, that was me, logged out.

Re: Etheric / astral disturbances

[charlieobert]

The traditional Catholic night hour of Compline makes a very good banishing and protection ritual. I prefer the older translations, but the modern rite keeps most of the important prayers and is workable. The centerpiece is Psalm 91 (modern numbering) which is a protection rite in itself.

I use the closing prayer to open my morning and evening ritual.

Visit we beseech the O Lord this habitation, and drive far from it all the deadly power of the enemy; let thy holy angels dwell with us to preserve us in peace; and let thy blessing be upon us always. Through Jesus etc...

Psalms 27 and 42 among others can be used as protection rituals.

Re: A query on particular accents/elocution

[jprussell]

Not necessarily occultists, but Ron Hale-Evans explicitly wrote Mind Performance Hacks as a "how to become a Mentat" guide, and I found a pdf manual years back on "How to Become a Bene Gesserit" (from my skim, it seemed mostly to be a combination of stuff claiming to be ninjitsu and practical psychology), so such efforts may be even closer still!

Jeff

Re: One short follow-up question...

[ecosophia]

At the beginning, before the reading. The SoP produces a cleansed space in which spiritual practice of all kinds works better.

Re: A query on particular accents/elocution

[ecosophia]

Good. I expect the first skirmishes of the Butlerian jihad to break out by, oh, next Wednesday, so the sooner we get Mentats and Bene Gesserit witches in training, the better.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I have.

I'm partial to the Irish nationalist movement and the reunification effort, so I won't be supporting Kimberly Steele's effort to bolster the British astral pyramid. The loyalist / unionist movement in Ulster depends on a strong British astral pyramid.

But the concept of singing patriotic songs every day to support a national astral pyramid itself is still a good idea. If I do end up singing a song it'll probably be something like "God Save Ireland" or "The Soldiers' Song" to bolster the Irish astral pyramid. The Scottish nationalists probably have their own songs that they can sing every day.

[ecosophia]

As a complete novice, your options are very limited. I recommend burning a white candle on Saturday during the hour of Saturn, and asking Saturn to keep everything safe while you're gone. Then, when you get back, if everything's fine, make three donations of a dollar amount that's some multiple of 3 to three different charities that benefit poor people or the elderly -- Saturn rules both of these, and this will be an offering to him.

[ecosophia]

John did things like that all the time. You're well within the tradition!

Re: A query on particular accents/elocution

[jprussell]

I teach public speaking and we talk a bit about this. Higher-pitched voices with more tonal variation (i.e. stereotypically feminine) tend to carry longer distances and over background noise, tend to be found more interesting, and tend to convey more warmth and friendliness, but as you've said, tend not to be taken as seriously as authoritative/powerful. Deeper voices with less tonal variation (i.e. stereotypically masculine) tend to be perceived as more authoritative/powerful, less okay to interrupt, and more reassuring that the person has things under control, but on the downside, can be heard as boring, discourages others from speaking up even if that would be helpful, and doesn't carry as far/over as much background noise.

Trying to tweak these things consciously often runs into a lot of resistance - our voices tend to be wrapped up with our self-identity (just think of how much most of us hate hearing recordings of our voice, since it doesn't sound "right"!), but I like to point out that we subconsciously change our vocal tone by context all the time. Think of how folks talk in a high-pitched voice to babies, or listen to the difference in a man's tone when he's talking to his wife or girlfriend versus his coworkers (this was especially noticeable with me when I was in the Army, when my work voice was rather deeper than my normal voice).

If anyone wants to give it a shot at home, here's what I recommend: pick a way you'd like to consciously change your voice (higher-pitched, more tonal variation, lower-pitched, whatever), then record yourself trying to change your voice in that way and exaggerate it to the point of absurdity (if, say, trying to talk lower, talk in the lowest possible tone you can). Then listen to yourself and see how you did, and repeat. The goal isn't to learn to actually talk in such an exaggerated way, but to change things obviously enough that you can tell whether you're making the intended change or not, and then it's easier to "back off" to something more natural if, say, you want to speak in a slightly lower tone to convey a little more authority. Finding specific people to imitate (like Margaret Thatcher, as you mentioned) also is an effective way to practice, and again, recordings can be helpful to figure out if you were actually doing what you were trying to do.

Cheers,
Jeff