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-eighth published book and nineteenth novel, a stand-alone (so far) tale set in 2095 or so. You could call it cli-fi (the current cute label for climate change fiction) if you like, or deindustrial SF; I'd call it a deindustrial noir Shinto science fiction spy thriller with Gnostic overtones. Jerry Shimizu, the two-fisted, gun-toting, half-Japanese tough guy who narrates the story, and the world in which he lives are interesting enough, at least to me, that he may get a sequel...but we'll see.  If you're interested, you can get copies here in the US 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

[kylec]

1. I realized that when I consecrated my sickle, it was sitting on the altar during the closing of the temple which includes banishing. This made me think maybe I messed up an need to reconsecrate it since it wasn't in a linen bag or box. But I saw the instructions specifically said to close the temple, then after that it says place the sickle in a box. So the ceremony seems to suggest that putting it in a lined item should be done after the banishing to close.

Do I need to re-consecrate?

2. I'm thinking of starting a small patio herb garden in pots to grow herbs useful in natural magic. I'd like to pick a few that are very commonly useful, and can't just be easily purchased when needed. I have no interest in love magic, but a range of things like healing, protection, blessing, personal transformation, etc. would be good to cover.

What five or seven herbs would you recommend as generally good to have?

For starters, I'm considering angelica and cinquefoil. For the latter, I can't seem to find the exact species listed in your Encyclopedia of Natural Magic, but fruticosa seems common. Does that species work the same?

[milkyway1]

Not JMG (and not pretending to be him... ;-) ), but if I may add my practical two cents: Some plants won't work well in pots, Angelica included. Angelicas can grow to a surprisingly large size, and usually have long taproots. They wouldn't be happy in a pot.

Milkyway

[ecosophia]

1) That sickle is going to be used over and over again in banishing rituals, so it's hardly going to spoil anything to banish over it!

2) I wouldn't recommend any set of herbs as "generally good to have" since it all depends on your local climate and soil, and on what kinds of natural magic interest you most. Ads for cinquefoil, as far as I know all species have the same magical properties.

[kylec]

Thanks. Looking into it, angelica also prefers a colder climate, and as Milkyway said, has a long root so that's out. I will look for my local varieties of cinquefoil.

[deansmith]

Hey Kyle,

FWIW, since I’m working in the same system as you I thought I’d chime in.

In my work in the CGD system, anything consecrated with the energies of the ToL (as in the working tools formulas) or spiritual presences “above” the elemental doesn’t seem to be affected by banishing in my workings. Anything that I’ve consecrated elementally, be it by the formula of consecration, or conjuring an elemental spirit, does seem to get weakened a bit (but not necessarily completely) by banishing.

Also, linen not only protects, it also amplifies over time the energies already consecrated into an item (which makes it great for ritual robes as well) from my experience and experiments.

Hope that helps,
/|\ Dean

[kylec]

Thank you, Dean. I did put it in linen as soon as the consecration was done. That makes sense about the energies above the elemental not being affected. I will put anything done elementally in linen or silk prior to closing a temple.