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 not be put through.  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 eighty-first published book, the third entry in my series of occult detective novels starring eighteen-year-old Ariel Moravec and her adept grandfather Dr. Bernard Moravec. As I think I mentioned here already, I didn't intend these to be young-adult novels -- I simply wanted a protagonist who was in a good situation to begin occult training, and had plenty of entertaining problems of her own. Nonetheless I was delighted a while back to hear from a reader whose young daughter, a fan of these novels, has begun calling them "Nancy Druid stories." 

In this third installment, Ariel and her grandfather are caught up in a mystery surrounding a strange artifact from pre-Roman Italy, a bronze plaque with wolves and an inset moon of carnelian. The Heydonian Institution wants it for their collection of ancient magical items, but somebody else is after it, too -- and circumstantial evidence suggests that the somebody in question might just run on all fours and bay at the moon on certain nights. As Ariel researches the truth behind the old myth of the werewolf she hurtles toward a dangerous confrontation on the night of the full moon...

Copies? You can get them here if you're in the US and here elsewhere. Owoo! 

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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 post is now closed, and no further comments will be put through. See you next week!***

Comments

Dowsing and common courtesy

[vitranc]

Hi JMG,

1.) You mentioned a couple of weeks ago, in person, that archaeologist are probing ground with metal rods. So I am certain you know quite a bit about dowsing. Would you have any recommendations regarding good starter guides, or books? Does one treat it similar to a divination tool like an Ogham oracle, MOE pendulum, or rubbing fingers?

2.) Obviously earth energies have been on my mind as of late. What is the proper courtesy when approaching spirits of the land? Any recommendations of how to get on their good side; to befriend them?

Best regards,
V

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[ecosophia]

1) Dowsing's not one of my talents, so I don't know as much about it as all that. I do know that Christopher Bird's book The Divining Hand and Tom Graves' The Dowser's Workbook are both well recommended.

2) Find out what the local country people do to keep the spirits happy, and copy them. People who have been living on the land for generations pick up a lot of helpful lore on that subject, and it's important to listen to them because earth spirits from one area don't necessarily have the same habits as those from other places.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[vitranc]

1. O, thank you. This looks promising. I thought I’d give it a try.

2. Ah, you have just pointed my intuition to some recent happenings. I might have just the right address for this. A local solstice gathering that took place… 😏
2. b) Addendum; should a local earth spirit approach you. What would be the proper way to handle this?

Thank you.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[ecosophia]

2b) The same way you would handle interacting with any other spirit -- with courtesy and caution.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[(Anonymous)]

As JMG says, there are many ways to approach the landwights or land spirits, and it's good to 'get local'! One way of doing this that I like is to go to a place whose landwights you want to get to know, whether that's on your own property or in a park, forest, desert, or wherever, and bring with you a bowl and some water. Pour the water into the bowl, hold it below your face, and speak your wish to contact landwights of goodwill over the water, willing your message and invitation into the water. Speak three times, and after each time breathe over the water to 'set' your message, then set the bowl on the ground in a secluded spot. Invite the landwights to return their message into the water.

Sit next to the bowl for awhile, and / or go for a walk around the area, keeping your mind and your heart attuned to your surroundings. When you feel the time is right, pick up the bowl and thank the landwights. Drink about half the water and absorb whatever understanding you can from it. Then thank the landwights, breathe over the water again, and pour the remainder on the ground as an offering to them.

If you feel self-conscious about speaking aloud, it works fine to just speak silently in your mind and heart. You can use a drink other than water if you wish--an herbal tea that you make ahead of time, preferably using local herbs, is a good option, as is making honey-water with local honey. But I like plain water, especially at first. Water is a power, in and of itself, a power of the land, and it can play a useful mediating role in your interactions with the landwights.

Another consideration is that, at first, you don't know what the local landwights like and may inadvertently displease them by offering some drink that they don't approve of, for whatever reason. Offering a drink made with ingredients not native to their place might also confuse the communication between you--for example, a tea made with a powerful herb that comes from a different landwight habitat and 'speaks' to and for the landwights in that other place, not in the place you are. Water is a safer bet, at least until you get to know your local landwights better and have a clearer idea of what they like.

This is a good way to get in tune with local landwights, and once you've done this for awhile you can get a sense of specific gifts or actions they might like from you, keeping in mind that any material offerings should be biodegradable and safe for local wildlife. It's always appropriate to clean up an area as a service dedicated to the landwights, too. And I hope this goes without saying: refrain from using any distracting technology during this time: no earbuds, phone, music, whatever! Keep your mind on your surroundings and your intentions. Later, you might find out that they like certain kinds of music that you can play for them, or better yet, sing or perform yourself for them, but it takes time to find out about that.

I have an article that you might enjoy, called "Landwights and Human Ecology," on my website HeathenSoulLore.net.

Winifred Hodge Rose

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[vitranc]

Thank you so much for this!
I tried it with some water and local flowers and got as far as would be expected. Given, that I divined in advance, that it is angry with me and humans in general.

Then I used intuitive means to follow an image. Something buried, south.

I am going to be very brave now by putting myself out there:
"There is asbestos roofing buried 45° left and 5 meters out of a chestnut sapling. 3-4 meters deep."

At this point I exhausted all my divination options. And in any case this is intuition from a novice and therefore will not hold water on its own.
And as I was told by someone by the tor two weeks ago; ground penetrating radar is expensive. And to add to it, I do not have the means to dig a 4 meter hole or pay for a drilling. My next recourse is to talk to some old timers and ask if the property had asbestos roofing and if anyone remembers something and/or is willing to talk.
I'll be doing inquiries about legal, or inspector options later.

Questions:
Do I sound crazy?
Any suggestions for confirming my divination?
Any suggestions for confirming my intuition real life?

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[(Anonymous)]

Not magical advice, but practical advise from someone familiar with asbestos hazards. Burying it is the best place for it. After all, it's a mineral that came from the earth. Leave it alone.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[vitranc]

Thank you,
If this were true, I would not be going at it alone. There are certified companies, that take care of such hazards.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[ecosophia]

Ask the spirit what it wants you to do about it. Explain that you don't have the resources to dig a 4 meter hole and don't have a safe place to put the asbestos, and inquire if there's something magical you can do to help the situation.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[vitranc]

Thank you,
I’ll look around.

Re: Dowsing and common courtesy

[frittermywig]

Hi Vitranc, somehow I recently came across the website for The American Society of Dowsers-- maybe of interest to you too!