Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's a little past midnight, 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've finished the sequence of my published books; while I decide what I want to do next, I have some memes to share.)

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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

[hippieviking]

JMG,

Every year we sit down at Imbolc as a family and draw runes to indicate how our year will progress broken down by month. We then make a unique piece of artwork and put it up in the house (and burn the last year’s piece of art). The runes actually work pretty well as an indicator of the mood/character of the month in question or some significant event in it. For the final couple of months of our current iteration the runes were merkstave and indicative of some issues. I’ve been trying to think about how to constructively deal with any issues that might arise and discussing with my wife. Being ready and willing to recognize that there is some issue that needs to be addressed and mentally prepared to deal with it is going to be better than being blindsided and I’ve been trying to meditate on what the meaning of those runes could be which has been productive. Other than that, any advice about how to deal productively with an unfortunate indication when there isn’t a choice involved?

Thanks,
HV

[ecosophia]

Since I have no idea what kind of issue you're talking about, I don't know that I can offer any advice other than "suck it up and deal," which I gather you're already doing. BTW, what's "merkstave"?

Octagon Society

[ecosophia]

Just a note for those who haven't glanced down the screen a little -- the Octagon Society lessons, the first part of one of the systems of esoteric training I received from John Gilbert, have now appeared in book form. Details are here.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know much about the early history of the Kaballah, but my understanding is that the version of the Tree of Life used in most modern esoteric traditions is only one of many versions. I'm interested in exploring other possible variations on the Tree, but I don't know where to start. Can you point me in the direction of some useful sources?

[ecosophia]

You might start by reading some of the Jewish literature. I don't know that especially well, but Aryeh Kaplan, iirc, uses one of the other versions of the Tree in his books.

Compatibility of spagyrics

[vitranc]

Hi JMG,

A question regarding spagyrics; An astrologer of Wolfgang Döbereiner's tradition has recommended I take a course of healing preparations. His prescription; and one gets the preparations from a certified apothecary.
Do you, or anyone alse have any xprience with taking perscription spagyrics preparations?
Are theycompatible with MOE, OSA and DMH?

Best regards,
V

Re: Compatibility of spagyrics

[ecosophia]

I've made and used spagyrics and so have many of the other students of Hermetic magic I know of. That I know of, they're compatible with just about any esoteric practice, including the ones you've named.

Hello!

[(Anonymous)]

First of all, I love the way your mind works. Based on what I've read, I think you're some combination of philosopher and wizard. And I am here for it.

To start, I was wondering what you think about chaos magic. I'm also curious about what you think about William S Burroughs and the cut-up method. Is it a legit form of divination?

Re: Hello!

[ecosophia]

1) Well, "philosopher" and "wizard" are both labels that Greek writers used for the Druids, so I must be doing something right. ;-)

2) I'm not really a fan of chaos magic. I read Liber Null and Psychonaut when it first came out, and I also read the Illuminatus! trilogy -- the not-always-acknowledged foundational text for a lot of chaos magic -- when that first came out; I found it all rather bland. I find a cosmos full of conscious beings independent of my will, some of them far greater than human, much more interesting than a blank slate peopled only by such symbolic constructions as I create. I also find traditional occult methods more effective than the much narrower toolkit that chaos magic uses. That said, of course, your mileage may vary.

3) Any form of divination is legitimate if it produces accurate predictions. I haven't used the cut-up technique as a divinatory method, or for that matter a literary one -- my approach to writing is rather more old-fashioned! If you get accurate results with it, though, then by all means. I do want to stress that little word "accurate;" a method of divination that fails to yield correct predictions is a waste of time.

[erikalopez]

Dear Papa,
Was there paranormal anything magic or occult involved in the creation of The United States???
Looking at all the ...well, the "omni war," against us is pretty overwhelming when you realize they're poisoning us our food water air, flooding burning up houses land.. money jobs AI...laws for us not them...

I'm starting to think we are like lobsters in a tank in a restaurant with the same chances they've got at making a run for it. Every time I get optimistic I hear about something else and if I had a job and stuff I couldn't deal with this because how do you plan??? Especially if you followed the rules. I kinda get why most plug ears and go la la la.

It's just that the mere concept of The United States seems miraculous to me all the sudden, if this is what people have always been like as well as 250 years ago. I know they had this wide open continent to colonize and slaves to build it, but we're like lobsters crowded in the aquarium helplessly spitting at the chef.

I don't see any way of fixing anything if we're already so far down this road of suicidal genocidal madness and SO MANY are fine with it.

Can all we do is react? Hide? That feels like being a lobster that cowers in the aquarium corner and not very "American."


The Founding Fathers seemed to deal with quaint evil compared to what's happening now. I can't believe how fragile all this was.

Can you please tell me a story of how this could work out for the BEST? I'm floating face down in the worst and need some help turning over so I can see the sky.

I read Joshua Stylman's last few substacks and saw Tucker Carlson’s interview with Darryl Cooper and even if we became a nice place to live again (freedom liberty etc) a few people have all the money and we're still lobsters and whores, so then it wouldn't couldn't be nice again.

You have to wait til there's no money or reason left to harvest us, but by then everything is strip mined.


So even though king George 3 was mad he wasn't mad like Jeffrey Dahmer and Charles Manson bill gates theil zuck bezos black rock and the rest of the pycopathic pranksters that are each like a king unto themselves.

OK 2 questions:

Was occult work involved in the making of America?

What is BEST (realistic not "make me feel happy like a scared child") case scenario for America's direction going back to your prayer about it returning to a place of the dreamer whereas it's all about rape now?

(I'm still struggling to understand the modern western mindset and lack of energy or dreams or fight. I feel like rip van winkle no lie)

Thank you

X

[ecosophia]

1) Yes. Occultism was far from the only thing involved in the creation of the US, but it was certainly part of the mix. In 1614 the Rosicrucians in Germany were already talking about how Europe was pregnant and about to give birth to something wholly new: "For Europe is with child, and will bring forth a strong child, who shall stand in need of a great godfather's gift." Thus it's hardly an accident that people affiliated with that and other esoteric movements made a beeline to the colonies as soon as settlement began, and did everything they could to make peace with the native peoples and avoid the mistakes that turned the history of Europe into such a nightmare. Did they succeed? Only in part.

2) I'll have to take some time to think about that. The challenge is that there are many ways that things could end well -- the situation is far less hopeless than living in the San Francisco area makes it look! Keep in mind that it's not just people in the US who are getting it in the neck, either -- many other countries in the world have similar problems. It's a normal condition in the decadent twilight of a civilization in decline, and conditions improve when "decline" turns into "fall" and the ruling class ends up out on their rumps, with or without their heads ending up on pikes. I'll discuss this in an upcoming post.

[erikalopez]

3rd question I've been too shy to ask:
Once when James and I were hanging out talking, his eyes suddenly got this brand new curious look like something or someone else came to the fore and was seeing me forr the first time.

It immediately unnerved me.

He didn't know what happened but even he admitted something did. He never poked at strange stuff. But i am. It only was for several seconds. I even stopped talking it was that obvious.

On my side it looked like some entity temporarily came to the fore and I caught it looking at me as if for the first time. Like a baby looking all over your face.

Do you have any ideas? I'm asking as if the answer will enable me to believe I'll see or feel or be with him again one day somehow because I'm losing my sense of enchantment or even more because of how ugly things have gotten in the world. I'm doubting everything I think and have ever thought like it's all some children's happy story about pets really being at farms for real.

Thank you for doing this, Papa.

X

[ecosophia]

I've seen that kind of thing happen before. Sometimes it's one of the many personas, the fragmentary selves that make up the surface layer of the ego, coming to the surface, but sometimes it's the higher self coming through briefly.

Ecosophia Prayer List

[tunesmyth]

At this page is the full list of all of the requests for prayer that have recently appeared at ecosophia.net and ecosophia.dreamwidth.org, as well as in the comments of the prayer list posts (printable version here, 7/14). Please feel free to add any or all of the requests to your own prayers.

If I missed anybody, or if you would like to add a prayer request for yourself or anyone who has given you consent (or for whom a relevant person holds power of consent) to the list, please feel free to leave a comment below.

* * *
This week I would like to bring special attention to the following prayer requests, selected from the fuller list.

May Marko's newborn son Noah be blessed with good health, and may his partner Viktoria swiftly make a full recovery from childbirth and c-section.

May Brother Kornhoer's son Travis's fistula heal, may his body have the strength to fight off infections, may his kidneys strengthen, and may his empty nose syndrome abate, so that he may have a full and healthy life ahead of him.

May Princess Cutekitten, who is sick of being sick, be healed of her ailments.

May Jack H.'s father John continue to heal from his ailments, including alcohol dependency and breathing difficulties, as much as Providence allows, to be able to enjoy more time together with his loved ones.

May Audrey's friend's daughter Katie, who died in a tragic accident June 2nd, orphaning her two children, be blessed and aided in her soul's onward journey; and may her family be comforted.

May Kevin’s sister Cynthia be cured of the hallucinations and delusions that have afflicted her, and freed from emotional distress. May she be safely healed of the physical condition that has provoked her emotions; and may she be healed of the spiritual condition that brings her to be so unsettled by it. May she come to feel calm and secure in her physical body, regardless of its level of health.

May Pierre and Julie conceive a healthy baby together. May the conception, pregnancy, birth, and recovery all be healthy and smooth for baby and for Julie.

May SLClaire's honorary daughter Beth, who is undergoing dialysis for kidney disease, be blessed, and may her kidneys be restored to full functioning.

May 1Wanderer's partner Cathy, who has bravely fought against cancer to the stage of remission, now be relieved of the unpleasant and painful side-effects from the follow-up hormonal treatment, together with the stress that this imposes on both parties; may she quickly be able to resume a normal life, and the cancer not return.

May Kallianeira's partner Patrick, who passed away on May 7th, be blessed and aided in his soul's onward journey. And may Kallianeira be soothed and strengthened to successfully cope in the face of this sudden loss.

May Linda from the Quest Bookshop of the Theosophical Society, who has developed a turbo cancer, be blessed and have a speedy and full recovery from cancer.

May Corey Benton, whose throat tumor has grown around an artery and won't be treated surgically, and who is now able to be at home from the hospital, be healed of throat cancer.
(Healing work is also welcome. Note: Healing Hands should be fine, but if offering energy work which could potentially conflict with another, please first leave a note in comments or write to randomactsofkarmasc to double check that it's safe)

May David Spangler (the esoteric teacher), who has been responding well to chemotherapy for his bladder cancer, be blessed, healed, and filled with positive energy such that he makes a full recovery.

May Giulia (Julia) in the Eastern suburbs of Cleveland Ohio be quickly healed of recurring seizures and paralysis of her left side and other neurological problems associated with a cyst on the right side of her brain and with surgery and drugs to treat it, if providence would have it, and if not, may her soul move on from this world and find peace with a minimum of further suffering for her and her family and friends.

May Liz and her baby be blessed and healthy during pregnancy, and may her husband Jay (sdi) have the grace and good humor to support his family even through times of stress and ill health.

May Debra Roberts, who has just been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, be blessed and healed to the extent that providence allows. Healing work is also welcome.

May Jack H's father John, whose aortic dissection is considered inoperable and likely fatal by his current doctors, be healed, and make a physical recovery to the full extent that providence allows, and be able to enjoy more time together with his loved ones.

May Frank R. Hartman, who lost his house in the Altadena fire, and all who have been affected by the larger conflagration be blessed and healed.

May Open Space's friend's mother
Judith be blessed and healed for a complete recovery from cancer.

* * *
Guidelines for how long prayer requests stay on the list, how to word requests, how to be added to the weekly email list, how to improve the chances of your prayer being answered, and several other common questions and issues, are to be found at the Ecosophia Prayer List FAQ.

If there are any among you who might wish to join me in a bit of astrological timing, I pray each week for the health of all those with health problems on the list on the astrological hour of the Sun on Sundays, bearing in mind the Sun's rulerships of heart, brain, and vital energies. If this appeals to you, I invite you to join me.

Re: Ecosophia Prayer List

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this as always.

[(Anonymous)]

A speculative one (but not a new one, I imagine) : I was thinking about the relationship between karma and shadow projection. I can see that when triggered by seemingly innocuous behavior of another person, it could be past deeds/attitudes that bleed into the present to teach a lesson (there's worse ways to receive lessons, granted). Are there other possible mecanisms to account for this dynamic ? Non-karmic sources to shadow projection ?

Thanks

~Thibault

[ecosophia]

The heart of shadow projection is that you see in others what you refuse to see in yourself. Not all your current choices are a function of karma! So if there's something about yourself that's a matter of present choices but it's not something about which you're willing to be honest with yourself, it gets projected. ]

Consider a person who ends up having the hots for his neighbor's wife. There's nothing karmic about it -- he just finds her attractive, and instead of being honest with himself and saying "Sure, she's hot, but she's married and so am I so no dice," he pretends to himself that he's not attracted to her at all. (We'll say it's because of religious qualms -- that's common enough.) What will he do? Well, he may project his desires on her, and convince himself that she's making eyes at him but he's too virtuous to act on it; or he may project his desires onto his neighbor, and end up convincing himself that his neighbor is after his wife; or he may project them onto his own wife, and suspect her of adultery; or he may do more than one of these. Karma doesn't make any of this happen -- though such things generate a lot of toxic karma!

[(Anonymous)]

Hey John, a couple of questions, pertaining death:

What's the occultism view of alzheimer desease and dementia?

If someone is bedridden, and kept alive through medicine (I had a grandma like this, bedridden, incapable of recognising anyone or speaking due to dementia, fed by nasal tube, and kept alive through meds. She's passed on now) what would the karmic consequences be of withholding the meds and allowing her to move on?

Is there anything we can do on this plan to help those who've passed on in their passing? My background is Catholic, the tools we have are basically to celebrate mass in the persons name, to pray for them, and to keep their gravestone well cared for with flowers.

And lastly, do you think there's any connection between the complete disregard for ancestors of western society, and the anxiety/poor mental health epidemic among young people? That those restless souls are somehow affecting the young ones?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) Those are physical diseases affecting the brain, which is the interface that allows the soul to interact with the material body and, through it, the material world. The soul's fine -- it just can't function through the body.

2) If somebody is trying to die, it's needless cruelty to force them to keep living. Of course it's best to do everything possible to treat someone who has a chance of recovery, but if that's not going to happen, it's far more merciful to let a natural death happen than to keep the soul trapped in an artificially animated corpse.

3) Those are perfectly good ways of benefiting the soul in its transition. Prayer, in particular, is important.

4) That's an interesting speculation. I have to say, though, that young people have no shortage of other reasons to be anxious and mentally stressed!

[(Anonymous)]

Hello dear Archdruid,

I've been reading you for many years, although with many gaps (my free time does not abound).

Could you comment on the Occult dimensions of the climate change/peak oil/worldwide convulsions you so often write about? I have been unable to piece these together on my own, and don't remember having ever read you on the connection between these two main areas of your writings.

(Sorry if my English is unclear: I mean to ask about the connection between Occultism on one hand, and the end of the age of progress on the other).

In case this would be too long of an answer, allow me to request a full post about this on your main blog :-)

Unless of course you already wrote that and I missed it...

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

It's quite simple. Civilizations have a life cycle; they are born, they grow, they mature, they age, and they die. That's true of all living things in the material world. We happen to be living at a time when the first known global civilization is sliding toward death. That's simply one of the realities that frame all our lives.

Does that have anything in particular to do with occultism? No. I write on both subjects because (a) I'm an occultist, and (b) I'm alive at this time in history, and I'm interested in where things are heading.

[randomactsofkarmasc]

Does the solar wind interact with our etheric or astral bodies? If yes, are there common reactions to increased solar wind, or does that tend to differ between people?

Thank you.

[ecosophia]

That's a fascinating question about which, as far as I know, nobody's ever done any research at all. Have you noticed a pattern?

Love and Swords

[earthworm_uk]

You mentioned somewhere recently a Samurai(?) aphorism that went something along the lines of "Sometimes unconditional love is best shown with the edge of a sword' or some variation thereof.
I've found
"Love everyone but never sell your sword" (Coelho)
and
Watsuki Nobuhiro: ‘You can always die. It's living that takes real courage.
...but have had no luck remembering exactly what/where you said or finding anything similar.

I'm interested because some of the visual imagery I've had has involved activating the upper areas and that has burst into a column of light that is, in some ways, like a sword.
In the same way people mistake compassion as being something soft and fluffy, questions around the concept of 'love' have been making for interesting contemplation... like the fierce love of a lioness defending her cubs from a vagrant male lion looking to kill them... love can manifest in many ways and heaven help anyone who ends up on the receiving end of its manifestation as a blade (or claw!) cutting through to reveal truth.

The interesting thing in thinking about this is that love seems to have no need of emotion to be attached to it - intense in stillness it is similar to the mindstate in martial practice and I can't help thinking that if we were to be living in a 2D piece of paper world, if someone in 3D pushed a pencil through the paper we'd only see a very limited aspect of something that is much more than the limited aspect seen in 2D. The word love seems like that... more than we might think or imagine.

Anyway, do you by any chance remember the origin of the quote you mentioned or was it something you came up with yourself?

Thank you.

Re: Love and Swords

[ecosophia]

I came up with that turn of phrase myself, though it's based on things I read years ago when I was learning about Zen and the martial arts.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

Do you ever have lucid dreams or dreams that you really remember well? My dreams are pretty vivid, and sometimes lucid, so much so its like visiting a completely different world almost every night. It feels so much better than waking life and the imagery/colors are much more vibrant. Similar to what people describe in near death experiences. What plane are dreams usually on? The thing is, I would rather be there than waking life by a large margin. I started wondering why it felt and looked so much better than waking life and wondered how I could make day-life more like it. The contrast between the two is so much that instead of trying to escape mundane reality I wanted to bring the dream sense toward everyday activities. Also, how hard is it to go from lucid dreaming to a total out of body experience? I look forward to your comments thank you.

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, I remember my dreams vividly fairly often. I've had a few lucid dreams, but not many.

2) Dreams are by definition astral plane phenomena. They differ because the astral plane has many different levels or regions.

3) The talent for out-of-body experience varies from person to person. If you want to develop it, there are many good methods out there; one with which I've had some experience is given in W.E. Butler's book Apprenticed to Magic.

Baby steps in natural magic and cleaning up my aura.

[jflylynn]

Hello Mr Greer
Sorry for the double barreled question.
Firstly I recently got your handbook on natural magic and am having a great time with reading it. After my first reading I was left a little confused with magical timing and a lot confused with the zodiac so a recommendation on a starter astrology text would be greatly appreciated.

Secondly I’ve been growing increasingly concerned that through what amounts to spiritual self abuse I have built up a lot of nastiness in my aura? Astral form? Atheric body? And that this has been affecting both my own personality and people around me.
How does one go about cleaning their aura? Is it a simple as bath in cold water with salt and vinegar? Do I need to start downing hissop on the new moon? Should I seek out a priest or even a ritual magician? I’m really lost with where to start on this.

Re: Baby steps in natural magic and cleaning up my aura.

[ecosophia]

1) We had a lively discussion on a Magic Monday a while back about exactly this issue, and the consensus was that the best introductory book on astrology is Parkers' Astrology by Julia and Derek Parker. It's meant for complete beginners and will give you a good sense of what's what.

2) The first thing you have to do in order to clean your aura is stop doing the things that make it unclean. It will tend to heal by itself over time. Given that, there are ways you can help the process along. The purifying and protective bath given in the Magic Monday FAQ will help; try doing it weekly:

https://www.ecosophia.net/blogs-and-essays/the-magic-monday-faq/

If you're serious, though, a daily banishing ritual is essential. These days, due to our society's pigheaded ignorance of basic spiritual hygiene, we live in squalor and filth on all the nonmaterial planes, and a banishing ritual is the shower that washes off the crud. The Sphere of Protection works well for most people:

https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/tag/sphere+of+protection

[erikalopez]

Whoever suggested George p hansen's "the trickster and the paranormal," thank you. I can't tell if I've been dabbling in chaos magic all of my life by accident, but I feel like I was born a natural trickster and this book makes me feel not alone scary or as weird as I thought I must be.

I see why I do what I do even as I could never help it or even hide.

And he talks about charisma as a paranormal power! My father, also a total dime store leo, also had charisma. My mom, too. My sister is anti charisma but I've got it and am keeping it under wraps best I can right now. Trying to figure out how to use it for fun. Like next year at adocentyn.

But no one's jumping on 3-day adocentyn so it may just be Papa, Peter, and me having beers and I'm good with whatever happens because i'll be game. I love intimacy of tiny groups and free time.

I love that paranormal happens during chaos and instability and all my life I've surfed on instability as a tool because things happen magic happens in the chaos and even terror.

X

[ecosophia]

Erika, don't worry about next year. I've already heard from several people who are making preparations. It'll work out!

Reality Reflecting Stories

[sirustalcelion]

Good Morning JMG,

I have been meditating lately on a topic brought up a couple weeks ago, that in creating a work of fiction we run the risk of manifesting elements of that fiction into reality. It reminded me of an anecdote I read about Stephen King, who wrote a character who was wheelchair bound for his Dark Tower series and then found himself in a wheelchair for a while.

Now, I write comics, which take a lot more work per story beat than novels - an exchange between characters that takes a minute to write can easily take 8 hours or more to draw. It seems logical to me that any effect one might get from concentrating while writing a scene would have a stronger effect from doing comics. I doubt this effect would apply as much to corporate-led team efforts like superhero comics, although I note the history of superhero comic publishers often resembles the same nonsensical unending tragicomic farce with big personalities that they put in their products. In solo comic productions, I would say there is a very strong correlation between the creator and the products, at least as strong a resemblance as that between people and their pets. I don't know how you would separate the influence of the work on the author from that of the author on the work.

If there was a prophetic type of influence, wouldn't it be just as likely to be glimpsing nonlinear time as to be manifesting the event through intention?

Since my comics are generally fantastical, lighthearted and warm, I wouldn't be concerned with any manifesting or prophetic influence. However, I have written some tragedy into the story as well, because a story about a bunch of people who like each other and where nothing goes wrong is not very interesting.

In my comic, a family that is slightly similar to mine has lost a child from diabetes that was untreatable due to postindustrial collapse, an element I added with the advice of the Ecosophia commentariat. It is so far only a backstory element and the parts where it will get to be addressed more directly instead of light allusions have yet to be fully composed. However, since adding that in, we have had a child develop pre-diabetes and last week we had a sudden miscarriage (prayers welcome).

I would hate to think that my quest to produce a good story was having deleterious effects on my family's health. If it is, any advice on avoiding negative real-world effects while still writing good stories would be welcome.

Re: Reality Reflecting Stories

[erikalopez]

I was hanging out with Ron Turner of last gasp publications a few years ago showing him a stack of old comics from 70s, 80s, and he showed how in one early comic Robert crumb had aline kominsky as a character before he even knew she existed. The spelling of her name was off by one letter.

I was delightfully surprised but not shocked because I'm riddled with enough of my own magical moments why I believe in the radical and seemingly magical power of art and manifesting ourselves as well as events.

Hypothesis

[boccaderlupo]

Thank you for hosting this space and the generosity of your time, as always.

Would this be a reasonable conjecture: Any systems that are incongruous on the astral will cause dissonance on the etheric, and consequently on the material?

If true, the corollary, then, might be that if points of harmony between systems can be found on the astral, then aspects of resonance will become evident on the etheric and material.

Axé

Re: Hypothesis

[ecosophia]

That's an interesting and perhaps fruitful hypothesis, but I don't believe it's been tested. How would you go about trying to test it?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,
Hope you’re having a good start to the week!

I read a post today on Magic Monday about spagyrics. How can I learn this art?
Do you have any recommended reading, please?
Thank you in advance!

[ecosophia]

That's an easy one. I recommend these books:

The Path of Alchemy by Mark Stavish
The Alchemist's Handbook by Frater Albertus
Spagyrics by Manfred Junius

And this very detailed correspondence course, which is available for free download under the terms of the author's will:

http://www.portaelucis.fr/GB/html/publications/alchimie.htm

Nature of the Gods

[(Anonymous)]

Something I was musing on late last night: occultists have a lot of disagreements about the nature of the Gods, whether They are real, or archetypes, or metaphors for nature, or what have you. Is it perhaps that these are differing perceptions of the divine from different planes? The Gods, who dwell on the spiritual plane would (by my guess) be natural phenomena on the material plane ("Zeus is raining"), archetypes on the astral, and Virtues/Powers on the mental. Am I onto something...and is that something painfully obvious to the more experienced? :-D

Re: Nature of the Gods

[ecosophia]

The most important thing to keep in mind about the gods is that we can't know much about them. We're in the position of dust mites in Mozart's wig speculating about his thoughts and his music! So, yes, it's quite possible that the people who have these different notions about the gods are drawing the raw material for those notions from different planes -- but anything more certain is utterly beyond us.

[anonymoose_canadian]

You said earlier that I might be breaking new ground with looking at interactions between endurance exercise and occult practices. I have reviewed my notes and found three things that are worth sharing thus far. For context, I am going for runs 4-5 times a week, with a maximum distance of about 5 miles; and my spiritual path is that of the Hermetic Golden Dawn.

a) There is a definite link between the subtle energies of the solar plexus and the notorious side stitch, the sharp pain right below the ribs that sometimes happens while running. If I work on my solar plexus centre too soon before a run, I will reliably get a side stitch; the reverse has also happened a couple times, but seems much less common. I'm not sure if this is because it is actually harder to induce a side stitch that way, or the fact at the very least there will be a shower breaking up a run with anything after it, but I have no interest in running the necessary experiments to determine the answer.

This is also the second time I've taken up running; and the first time I got a lot of side stitches. This time, while my legs were very unhappy to start, I almost never got one. I think it is worth considering the possibility that the spiritual exercises I did to strengthen my solar plexus in the years between when I took up running the first time and when I started the second time might be why there is such a large difference between these two experiences of learning to run.

b) There are some definite, but subtle, consequences of running on the subtle bodies. The big one I've noticed is that my stronger legs are better able to handle the circulation of energy done during the middle pillar (in the form described in Circles of Power); the effect is subtle enough that I did not notice it at the time, but reviewing my notes I found that the circulation of energy improved significantly at the same time I was feeling like I was getting back into shape again.

c) I've noticed that the planet ruling the day seems to provide a subtle boost for some things related to the planet. The two most useful for running seem to be Mars and Saturn. Mars likes when people go all out, and so I've noticed a subtle but significant improvement since I shifted towards doing my most intense speed training on Tuesdays. Saturn meanwhile makes it slightly easier to both run slower (and thus avoid burning out), and towards endurance itself; and so Saturday works slightly better for the long run than any other day.

The effects on any individual run of aligning my training schedules with the planets is small, but over the course of a couple months it has added up to a noticeable improvement in my training.

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this! These are very useful data points.

Frank Herbert

[earthworm_uk]

After Frank Herbert came up last week I got to drifting idly wondering about Herbert's background.
Taking the idea that 'mankind' is derived from 'manas' (mind) in Sanskrit, and mind is thought, and we are not our minds in the same way we are not our bodies, and a thinker to perceive the thoughts is hidden and the mind is just a tool of the thinker... then perhaps it is not completely unreasonable to adjust Frank Herbert a little: The Thnker must Awaken... but then again, Herbert's 'The Sleeper Must Awaken' is likely more accurate and more poetic.

Do you know if Frank Herbert had any kind of occult background?

Of course, going further we then have to ask who or what is the sleeper?
I came across a great metaphor to think about on that but have mislaid the book so this is a very rough paraphrase:

Traveller says to fisherman:
"We are on the shore and I have a desire to touch the shore. I can touch the sand and I can touch the water, but where is the shore to touch?
The fisherman replies:
"You cannot touch the shore because it is a concept, an idea; just like mankind."

It gave me a good laugh!

Re: Frank Herbert

[ecosophia]

1) I've seen a lot of speculation about occultism in Herbert's work but never any firm evidence that he studied occultism himself.

2) That's a fine theme for meditation!

Modern Order of Essenes Healing Hands

[kylec]

If you're in need of a little boost this week, I'm offering healing hands in the MOE tradition to all who wish to sign up. Just leave your name and request here, or PM me. This is a distance energy healing modality that plays well with other types of healing as far as I know. The chance for me to practice is much appreciated.

Re: Modern Order of Essenes Healing Hands

[vitranc]

Yes please, I would welcome some healing and positive energy.
Thank you,
V

Sublimation and Degradation

[kylec]

I've been meditating through the Cos Doc and I'm still a bit unclear on what she says about sublimating a force up the planes by separating it into two components, and replacing that force by degrading a pair of forces into a single one. I get that broad concept just fine, but it's difficult for me to apply it without some concrete examples. I've tried coming up with examples but I'm not very satisfied with them.

1) Could you provide a few concrete examples of which two forces are degraded into one, and which one thing is sublimated into two, so that I might see how these things move and fill the gap left behind?

2) are the two forces that are bound and brought down always unpleasant things, or can they be positive? For example, I know that one can take two unsavory aspects of their personality and bind them to reduce their power. But if we are calling cosmic forces down into manifestation, it seems like to bless the land with particular circumstances that even good things might be combined, lessening their power but allowed to become particular. For example, could creative flow and stability be combined and brought down to get a garden to flourish?

Re: Sublimation and Degradation

[ecosophia]

1) Sure. Consider an addiction. Inevitably those are driven by two strong patterns of emotional force in conflict, of which one is admitted and one is not. An alcoholic, for example, might be caught between shame, self-loathing, and self-pity, which are his conscious emotions, and a secret rage at the people he's punishing through his addiction and its consequences. (Please note that this is only one of countless possible patterns; I'm in no way saying that this is what drives all alcoholics.) As long as those two are locked in conflict, the addiction stays; the struggle to fight the addiction (never, please note, to defeat it) helps hold it in place. That's the genius of the 12-step method -- by admitting one's powerlessness and handing the whole issue over to a higher power, tolerably often one side of the conflict is weakened and the whole thing starts to unravel.

2) If you bind two unpleasant forces, I guarantee you that the outcome will be unpleasant; the tiger doesn't change his stripes when he mates with another tiger! Of course good things can be combined. Consider the fusion of the solar and telluric currents -- that's a very good example of the positive dimension of the process.

Astrolabe

[guillem66]

Greetings JMG,

I would like to learn to cast Astrological carts by hand, at some point. Probably this next winter. What i wanted to know is:

Does an Astrolabe makes it easier, or it adds some interesting dimension to it, Magically speaking?

Have you ever used one? And if so, where might i buy one fit for my purposes?

Finally, i remember some time ago you mentioned that a slide rule might also be useful for doing the maths. Again, Can you provide me with a link to what you had in mind?


Thanks,

Guillem.

Re: Astrolabe

[ecosophia]

An astrolabe is only useful if you want to do without a clock and determine the exact altitude of the sun or an important star as a way to check the time. Other than that, you don't need it. Astrologers who do the work by hand normally use an ephemeris and a book of tables, which includes tables of logarithms -- a slide rule is a replacement for these latter, but I encourage you to learn the tables of logarithms first. It'll work out better that way.