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-seventh published book, a study of the utterly unfashionable approach to sexual energies in magic that Dion Fortune and her fellow occultists of the Society of the Inner Light pioneered. You can always get a lot of interest by telling people to engage in orgiastic excess, and curiously enough, you can also get a lot of interest by telling people that sex is bad and God will spank them for thinking about it. Suggest something in between these extremes and nothing like so many people want to hear about it. Be that as it may, this is a practical handbook of magical practices that use redirected, sublimated erotic energies; the participants sit several feet from each other, usually with an altar in between them, and stay fully clothed. How dowdy? Nonetheless the methods work extremely well, and I give full details. If you're interested, you can get copies here in the US and here elsewhere. 

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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)]

I recently had a very odd and detailed dream that it felt pertinent to share here. For reference, I have a long history of precognitive dreams and some telepathic dreams (a few have been extremely precise, though rather mundane in content). I’m not sure that this one was such, in terms of being telepathic, but it felt notable. Another reference point—my mother is a natural medium, and at an earlier point in her life practiced regularly. She does not do so now.

I dreamt that my mother and I were contacted by a pair of fresh, chipper, hip young “tech recruiters.” They were in their late 20s and very Silicon Valley in terms of style and vibe. They told us they were recruiting “people with spiritual talent” to come to a start-up they were running to “explore the potential of the spiritual.” They had lots of junk, empty phrases like that.

I was wary, but my mother insisted we visit. Their center was a sort of bland, modern, hotel-type building, and they showed us how many other “people with spiritual talent” were already working for them. They described the center in vague terms and assured us of lucrative payments for success, which I slowly realized meant to them something to do with contacting entities in order to obtain new types of tech. I realized they were possibly demonic entities or at least, unfriendly ones with goals contrary to the peace and health of the natural world of Earth and the humans within it. I immediately stood up and said I would have no part and needed to leave. They argued back about us leaving, and I told them I was a Christian, and that in the name of God, we would have nothing to do with them. At which point they immediately vanished and I woke up.

At first I hesitated to even share this dream as it felt so real, and like perhaps I tapped into an actual venture being pursued by certain Silicon Valley types right now, who are pro- transhumanism and a cyborg future for us all, aided by entities from other dimensions. But it seems important to share, as a kind of warning of what might be going on out there.

Thoughts, anyone?

[jenniferkobernik]

Sorry for off-topic JMG, but if you’ll allow—did anyone hear from Princess Cutekitten? Patricia Ormsby was asking about her on the main blog and I didn’t see any confirmation there that she was okay or that anyone had contacted her.

[(Anonymous)]

i have just run across this article

JMG, do you think this has anything to do with rising magical/spiritual/religious trend lately..
is this even a normal thing to do..?

Corpse of Saint Teresa goes on display for the first time in a century, just months after her body was deemed 'a miracle' because of how well preserved it is after 440 years

WARNING: **GRAPHIC CONTENT**

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14703535/Corpse-Saint-Teresa-goes-display-time-century-just-months-body-deemed-miracle-preserved-440-years.html

[denebalgedi777]

1. Not really something I've had to deal with yet, but let's say your tarot deck gets beat up and you have to discontinue use. Since the standard advice is not to let anyone use your cards or have them, what's a safe way to de-commission them?

2. Since I finished learning the full SOP this springtime, several interesting things have happened. For one thing, my old phone broke beyond my ability to repair or get data off of it. The way it happened, it seemed like an omen. I created a Geomantic shield chart asking whether there was some message from the gods or Fate here and I received:

RW - Laetitia
LW - Puella
J - Fortuna Major
(R - Cauda Draconis)

The message seems pretty clear: "Put the d****d phone down". In this same time period, I've also had much less interest in the internet generally, whereas I had the problem of getting sucked back into doom-scrolling for much of last year and the first part of this one, largely because of politics. Right now, I mostly keep up with a few sites like this one and people I know in real life, and that's about it. I think the gods are telling me there are more pressing things to do with my time than waste it on the internet. What do you think?

3. There have been other interesting synchronicities since I began the SOP, like the strange King of Cups omens I mentioned before, and another one was a chance meeting with two people I had met earlier this year who disappeared and who I'd just been thinking about 1-2 weeks before. This may be karmic culmination in part, but there's something else. It coincides with a wider "vibe shift" that someone else mentioned on this thread. There was a very clear change in energy some time this spring and I wonder if some of us are being guided away from the digital immersion society that the rest of the Western world is being seduced into, because all the odd events of late have coincided with the sudden aversion to spending so much time online.

trees and solar eclipse

[fringewood]

I thought the forum might enjoy the following:

"THE ELECTRIC FOREST--TREES RESPOND TO A SOLAR ECLIPSE: Solar eclipses aren't just for homo sapiens. Researchers have long known that birds, insects, and many other mammals pay attention when the Moon slides in front of the sun. Now we can add trees to the list.

A paper just published in the journal Royal Society Open Science reports the extraordinary reaction of an Italian mountain forest to a partial eclipse on Oct. 25, 2022. Electrical signals inside spruce trees began to pulse in unison, with older trees seeming to anticipate the eclipse before it happened.

This is unconventional research, and it may challenge what some readers think about trees. However, it is serious work conducted by experts in plant communication and published in a peer-reviewed journal of the Royal Society."

More here https://spaceweather.com/
and here https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241786

Working with venus

[little_toad]

I wanted to report on a planetary working I did recently.

It was a minor prayer/charity to Venus with the goal of helping to ease some anxieties I had around doing a group presentation. I asked if she could help by gently bringing to the forefronts of the minds of everyone involved all of the kindness and affection we shared towards one another. A sweetness bias, you could say. On a Friday, I offered her incense, prayer, and all of my conscious attention for 7 minutes. (I've been unemployed for some time now so money is reserved for the necessities)
The results: Shortly after the prayer, and continuing on for the next few days, I got a slew of unexpected messages from people reaching out to me because I'd been on their mind. The first one, which came in 20 minutes after my prayer wrapped up, was from my mother. Additionally, during this same time period I also had a series of unusually pointed dreams. You know the kinds of dreams that seem to grab you by the scruff and scream, "Hey! Pay attention!"? Yes, those ones. I'll spare the reader from the details, but from this deluge of day and night messages I certainly got a good view of how people's affections towards me and my anxious feelings are related. Oh, and the presentation went incredibly well, to boot!

But what I really found interesting is that I believe a number of these effects could be partially explained by the stone I used as my focal point/talisman: Labradorite. I chose it for fairly superficial reasons - It's a beautiful deep green that sparkles and flashes from blue to gold when held in the right light. Very Venusian, I thought. I didn't know it at the time, but it's an iridescent feldspar, similar to Moonstone, sp perhaps it also carries the moon's energies? It's certianly hard to resist drawing comparisons to moon workings when the effects involve both dreams and, well, my mother. So the effects might be described as Venus, guided by, or working along side the Moon.

And the last little detail: The day after the presentation I discovered that Labradorite I had carried with me had suddenly vanished. I remember very clearly where I placed it, and yet it was gone. I assumed Venus took it as payment for going so far above and beyond what my initial charity work had offered, and I was happy to part with it, as all beautiful green stones are hers by default anyway, are they not? Then just the other day - several weeks now after the working - the stone tumbled out of nowhere! I wasn't expecting to ever see it again so this was a real surprise.

The boundless generosity of the planets really floors me sometimes

(By the way - I needed to make an account to post this comment. The Captcha wouldn't load for me while anonymous, which meant I was unable to post. I emailed dreamwidth about this and they said "We're not sure what's going on with the server that issues those challenges. We're waiting for additional information. In the meantime, you won't be able to comment unless the journal owner switches to using one of our other available captcha provider options." Just so you know! )

AI and the sub-natural

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG

I have reached the conclusion, like many of your readers, that large language models and AI are most likely attracting the negative entities of the sub-natural plane. They seem to be hard-wired to harness and attach themselves to the 'addiction circuits' of humans, i.e. the dopamine, GABA, and adrenal release bits of the brain. I've thought before that these were the parts of humans that were hijacked during the lemurian deviation, as when they go haywire, you can easily cut off access to the Higher, inserting a false sense of what the Higher may be. I could be wrong here, but it's the conclusion I've reached from careful reflection on my own addictive tendencies, including a near fall back into addiction as a result of AI stuff. It was a terrifying look into a void.

However, I don't think the LLMs are in their original sense evil, for instance, if they are used in their originally designed sense to assist in software engineering, to interpret and test code, they work quite well without those same void tendencies. But it's a narrow use case, and I remain pretty alert that might get hijacked too.

IAO

[(Anonymous)]

I sometimes see references to chanting/vibrating IAO in Western esoteric contexts. Could you please explain what this IAO is all about?

Thanks.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi,


Q1. Agrippa and Levi talk a lot about imagination and will being important in magic. What do they mean specifically by "will"? Is it the same as willpower, or something different? What about imagination? Is it the same as just forming mental images?


Q2. How can we increase the potency of our imagination and will?


Thanks in advance.

Eclipses and Leader Inaugurations

[(Anonymous)]

JMG, I was having a conversation about astrology with family a few minutes ago (regarding India’s new aggressive stance – as per Vedic astrology the nation just entered its 7-year Mars mahadasha – and Mars rules the 7th and 12th houses and is placed in the 3rd house in India’s birth chart) and we moved onto the topic of how PM Modi always chooses astrologically auspicious times to initiate important matters. I contrasted that with Western leaders – especially former British PM Rishi Sunak who got sworn in during a solar eclipse. And then I realized that Canada’s current PM (Mark Carney aka Marx Carnage) was sworn in just hours after our most recent lunar eclipse (March 14, 2025). I’d like to know from a Western astrology perspective, what can be generally predicted when a nation’s leader is sworn in during or around a solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. My gut feeling is that a solar eclipse is far more ominous than a lunar eclipse (hence I had assumed that Sunak would be drummed out of office pretty quickly but am hesitant to predict the same for Carney even though I wish it sooooo badly!) but I am not 100% certain. Curious amateur astrologers are eager to know!

Ron M

Rose Cross across the Gates of Death

[davidincminor]

JMG, a family member will soon be passing out of incarnation. I will be praying for her as she makes the transition. But I have a couple of questions from a spiritual perspective:

1) How long after death should one continue to pray? Is there a good way to know when they have moved on far enough that the prayers have reached a point of diminishing, or negative, returns? (Negative returns in the sense that the attention they get from our material plane may distract them from necessary work on the subtle planes.)

2) Would doing a Rose-Cross ritual for her once she's passed be helpful? I have an LRM-level knowledge of GD magic, plus I've done the R+C many times, Opening/Closing a few times, and the Hexagram Ritual a couple times (though it's been a while, as in a few years). So I'm wondering if the R+C would be helpful or not. If so, would doing it daily for a week or so after her passing seem like the right amount?

She is no longer mentally capable of articulating a decision on wether or not she would consent to having magic done on her behalf, though I think she would be OK with it. I could get consent from her husband, her legal guardian, if that makes a difference.


Thank you, as always, for giving us your time and wisdom.

A few questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hello good sir, I have a few questions for you on this fine day.

1) My first question pertains to the Age of Aquarius, and the archetype of Aquarius. You have said that Aquarius is the sign of individuality and intelligence, and represented by the planet Uranus. I have been meditating on the opposition between Aquarius and Leo. To me, the Leo archetype expresses individuality most clearly, with the Sun as the representation of the self. I imagine that individuality in Leo is based on the vigorous expression of internal feeling, passion and inspiration, whereas Aquarius is based on cold, detached intelligence. Furthermore, I wonder if Aquarius does not also pertain to something like intelligent collective coordination.

If Pisces represents something like the dissolution of the individual in a collective religiosity, then perhaps the transition to Aquarius entails a 'breaking up' of this collective into individual components. Still, these individual components are intelligently coordinating, consciously or unconsciously, to give rise to a greater whole. This appears to be how intelligence operates in nature, e.g. in ecosystems, and is aligned with scientific notions of complex systems and 'emergence', which seem distinctly Aquarian to me.

I cannot shake the feeling that we might be due for something like 'internet religion', which may not align with sensibilities about technological collapse. I imagine that new magical systems could grow their egregores very quickly, coordinated through the internet with a much larger amount of people. Aquarius creates collectives through the exchange of information between individuals that are otherwise physically separated, relating to each other through a technological interface, and acting in their own local contexts. Which is basically what we do on forums like this. In contrast, Leo might represent individualism in the more extreme way, to the point of solipsism when taken too far.

I guess I don't have a specific question, other than that I am curious about your (and anyone elses) thoughts/reflection on this.



2) My second question pertains to the ritual invocation of energies, specifically in the Golden Dawn system. Do I understand correctly that invocation (e.g. in the Hexagram ritual) really only serves the purpose of 'using' the energy in another ritual operation, e.g. making a talisman? Or would regular invocations also 'invite' the energy into the life more generally? For example: I have a weak mercury in my natal chart, and could use more mercurial energy. Would performing a regular invocation ritual of Mercury provide more balance to Mercurial capacities? Or is this really only possible by making a talisman, or establishing a devotional relationship with the deity? Is this even a wise thing to do if my natal mercury is weak?



3) My third question pertains to a recent experience I've had. I am coming out of my first Saturn return in Pisces and a few years of associated tough karmic labour. I feel as if I have reached a local/temporary 'karmic neutral', with greater freedom and agency towards the future. My magical practice has recently deepened as a result, and I set a conscious intention that I am open to contact with spirits or deities, without contacting any specific one. A few days layer, the archetype of 'Saturn' emerged very suddenly and distinctly in my awareness. I could not discern any associated 'message', just that it appeared as if I was somehow making contact with the archetype/deity, or as if contact was an available option.

It appeared to me more positive than negative or heavy. Saturn being Saturn, however, I am hesitant to reciprocate the contact, for fear that he might give me more laborious work to do, which I was hoping to be done with for a while. I wonder: if I choose to work with Saturn, would I have some degree of control over this Saturnian influence - i.e. channeling discipline and forethought into a purpose of my own choosing, rather than being presented with further ordeals, trials and tests that I was not asking for. What would be the right way to go about this, and would he be displeased if I do not reciprocate the contact?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Your book choice this week is a weird synchronicity, as for the last two weeks, I've meant to send you a question regarding the following:

I have an ex-girlfriend who I broke up with over 10 years ago, but realised far too late that I loved her, and still do. For various reasons, it's virtually impossible I will ever be with her, or even meet her ever again. My question is not about how to get back together with her, but how to use the energy of missing her for some kind of magic. Can you suggest anything, or any resources of where to even look for what the applications might be?

I've also realised how mean I was to her on various occasions. Again, it's unlikely I will ever see or talk to her again, and whilst I technically could email her, it doesn't feel like a good idea. Is there any way, magically, I could make amends?

Thanks.

Road opening sign

[(Anonymous)]

Hello. Need your knowledge from picatrix, astrology, experience or whichever serves best.

My magickal friends and I were wondering which zodiacal sign has to do with the traditional power of 'Road opening'.

My answer is Aries coming from traditional astrology. Yours could be different.

One friend quoted Virgo due to its power of 'initiation' in Liber 777, also a sign of Mercury - the planet of road opening. Another picked Capricorn due to the sign's relentless pursuit of success.

Finally, one chose Aries as well as road opening requires opportunity, not ideation (Sagittarius) or rumination.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been using the discursive meditation technique in lrm and pow for about 5 years. I always sit in silence but was wondering if sitting while a metronome ticks in the background at 40 bpm would help or hinder.

Thanks

Polarity spirituality

[(Anonymous)]

Not really a question, but more sharing in regards to your book. I belonged to a small group of Christian mystics that practiced something very similar to polarity practice or (I guess? Tantra?). It was their interpretation of the Christian communion / sharing of light presence between ourselves and deities. (If you think of the Christian communion, The “bread” was massive space for energy to flow and “sins/karma” to be released, the blood was the energy to wash it away.) It was the most powerful energetic technique I’ve encountered, connecting with polarity in that way. I left the practice for personal reasons, but sometimes wonder if I squandered a rare gift. I’ve never encountered public practices close to it, except for Amma the hugging Saint from India.

Blessings and thanks!

A theory on silk

[(Anonymous)]

No question this week, but I do have a theory to throw out to everyone. Since there has been a bit of pondering on why silk and linen shield magical implements from losing their enchantment it got me to musing. I don't have a view on linen, but here is my theory on why silk works for shielding. Silkworms eat mulberry leaves almost exclusively and mulberry has magical energies of protection, at least in everything I can read. Then the silkworms make their cocoon which is made into the silk fabric, and in my opinion since cocoons are meant to be protective and shielding for the worm and since their diet is almost entirely a plant that has magically protective qualities these combine to bring that energy into the silk. No way to really test it or prove it, but thought I would share that with everyone and see what y'all thought. As always thanks for hosting this forum JMG! Oh, and if I don't respond I apologize, I do not have internet at my house so have only sporadic access. Hope everyone is having a good start to the week.

JD

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
As always thank you for your time.
1. Are you going to write anymore Ariel Moravia novels?
2. Are you going to edit anymore of John Gilbert’s works?

Thank you for your time!

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for hosting this space.

I’m working on the meditations on the magical images of the Tree of Life, and I’ve found that the images in my mind’s eye seem to form almost on their own—I of course start from the description of the magical image and it’s always consistent with that, but the details have a way of forming themselves, in some cases differently from my expectations, if that makes sense. Is this normal in your experience?

Also—I’m working on the image of the path of Tau now—is it important to wait until later to try pathworking and in this stage just focus on imagining the doorway? I don’t want to rush anything, but it also seems like much of the meaning of the path is behind the door, so to speak.

Gods as Divine Processes

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG, as I’ve continued to work with the Middle Pillar I’ve found myself focusing on the names of God and seeking to understand them better. I’ve enjoyed your exposition in Paths of Wisdom of the individual Hebrew letters and how they spell out different aspects of the process of divine action in the created world. Are there any books (yours or others) which you’d recommend for exploring this aspect of the gods further?

Alchemical tinctures

[(Anonymous)]

Do you have any recommendations on using Spagyrics to aid in spiritual work? Let's say I craft a mugwort spagyric to help with insights during meditation and prayer. A few drops in water, and saying a prayer before consumption? Should it only be used sparingly, or can one use it say, once a week for Holy Shabbat prayers? Or would you recommend sticking with something less potent like a tea or tincture. Any brief guidance you could share would be lovely, thank you sir and many blessings to you

Affirmations and Ageless Wisdom

[hedgerow]

Good evening JMG and all.

1. In my day job, I help people overcome addiction. I've personally worked with your affirmation instructions with great success — spending a year on one affirmation, then over two years on another, both with strong results. When working with addictions like alcohol, cocaine, or compulsive pornography use, is there a reliable structure for affirmations that avoids negative phrasing? For example, Addictive Voice Recognition Technique uses: “I will never drink again, and I will never change my mind.” I’ve considered: “I overcome all temptations to drink alcohol.” Do you think this kind of structure is effective?

2. I recently attended public lectures in Glastonbury on Ageless Wisdom and Esoteric Psychology, which I found aligned in some ways with your Occult Philosophy Workbook. The speaker was very critical of "occultism," including tarot and divination, yet recited The Great Invocation (written by Alice Bailey, I believe) and explored the Seven Rays — material I recognise as Theosophical, and thus part of the Western occult tradition. Is such an aversion to the term "occultism" common in these circles, or does this seem more idiosyncratic to that group?

[(Anonymous)]

A few MM's ago you wrote that:

"The goal of Golden Dawn practice is to achieve adeptship. An adept is a human being who, through spiritual and magical practice, has brought his ordinary conscious self into full alignment with his higher self and the guardian angel set to guide him, and has enormous (but still finite) powers of healing and blessing."

I wanted to ask, does it work? If I were to dedicate say 20+ years of my life to serious Golden Dawn practice am I likely to meet my guardian angel?

I joined a temple about 6 months ago and I'm due to take my Zealator intitation soon. However, I feel like the fool stepping into the great unknown. The secrecy clause means I don't know what to expect (nobody really talks about the expeience) and I'm feeling afraid. I'm not interested in money, or power or status - I'm ready to finish material incarnation for good.

[(Anonymous)]

Is it okay to advance your magic practice when you are sick? I think my sickness might be karma related for not forwarding my magic practice and just cruising on the results that I got already.