Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

Midnight is a little past, 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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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

habits, affirmations and gut feelings

[(Anonymous)]

Apologies this is a long one but hopefully of use to someone.
An intention for a while has been to change a couple of habits to see if doing that changes perceptual clarity regarding what seems to be happening with our society here in the UK. It’s something I’ve done at various times over the years as a sort of sanity check… a bit like fasting.

Anyway, sitting late last night and considering this, a thought came unexpectedly – “you need to do this now or fail”. Not so much a voice speaking as an announcement from somewhere and nowhere.
Kind of a surprise as in Whoa! Do what?
Since I had just been thinking about stopping drinking alcohol and smoking to check mental clarity – concluded it was about that – stopping not because I think those things are bad but in order to check perspectives. The crazy of the world just now seems like a good time to explore this. The Italians say: ‘A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine’, but I’ve been messing with that to give: ‘A mind without clarity is like a life without light’

Regardless, it was surprising and unexpected in its forcefulness and seeming seriousness.
Even though I do not know exactly what is meant, it was intense enough to properly consider the matter. My main area of interest is in esoteric arts, and concluded that the threat of failure could relate to that. Given where UK society looks to be heading, my inner practices have become more and more important as an anchor in an increasingly dysfunctional and chaotic whirlpool of a world, so failure through lack of effort would be galling!
The UK seems more like a tinder box masquerading as a house of cards all the time.

Failure in this is not an attractive option and to quote some fella called Yoda “Do or do not do; there is no try.”
And so I looked at my glass of red wine that was still 1/2 full and the rolling tobacco I was about to pick up and stopped; some consideration, and the wine went down the sink. Got some water, the tobacco pouch got put in its box and I sat wondering how this would play out.
The answer in mind was: ‘It’s up to you”

A day later and I have noticed certain triggers that might usually prompt a smoke; after catching that feeling , a surprisingly effective counter-measure has been to use a sort of affirmation set:

1. “A mind without clarity is like a life without light”
2. “I choose freedom of choice”
3. “I choose clarity through stillness”
Where:
1. is the interrupt to disrupt the trigger response – a thought stopper if you will
2. defines the choice as mine to make – not an auto response
3. not just words but a practical action that leads to a different destination to that of the trigger response

And am replacing the activity of smoking with other activities. Slightly tricky as I find that nicotine is good for focussed thought... so still experimenting with that.
I’ve done this sort of thing before and recall it was around a couple of weeks before new patterns seemed to establish and two to three months before a state of equilibrium was reached.
Like Eartha Kitt said: "I have things but things don't have me."

Anyway, maybe it’s something or maybe it’s nothing, but have been feeling a sort of build-up going on. Not particularly new as over the years things ebb and flow all the time. Read back 2000 years and it just looks like different tunes but very similar dances, and for the last 30 years I have been amazed at my ability to still be amazed at the world; but, has anyone else had any particularly strong 'gut feelings' recently?

EW

Re: habits, affirmations and gut feelings

[ecosophia]

Thank you for this. That's fascinating, not least because I've heard other stories like this -- notably, some people I know were warned off the Covid vaccine by sudden forceful inner voices saying things like "If you take that, it'll kill you." I'll be interested to hear if anyone else has had experiences like this recently.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

1) I am trying to find my ideal way of generating income since a regular job isn’t going to work for me over the long haul. I have willed myself to do it many times and it just isn’t good for me. When I was a kid and they asked what do you want to be when you grow up I never had a clue. All I’m sure of is being locked in a box with strangers all day is not ideal, so my affirmation is:

“I am a success in my ideal income generating situation”

Could I improve it?

2) I just read your post about matriarchy on the Ecosophia blog. I’ve always wondered, is there a goddess that would be like the female version of Hercules? A deity that would represent female bodybuilders/power lifters/strong women?

[ecosophia]

1) That's good, though I tend to get better results with active verbs: "I find my ideal income generating situation and thrive in it" might be one example.

I'd also encourage you to back up your affirmation with journaling or meditation -- a lot of people who set out to do this have absorbed negative programming from society and the media which leads them to sabotage themselves, so exploring your reactions to the thought of letting go of employment might be a good idea.

2) Athena! She's a tough, strong, savvy warrior goddess, always portrayed wearing a bronze helmet and breastplate (heavy!) and carrying a shield and spear (also heavy!).

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, current only to 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
J Guadalupe Villarruel Zúñiga, father of CRPatiño's friend Jair, who suffers from terminal kidney and liver damage, respond favorably to treatment and be cared for at home. May he also remain in as good health as possible, beat doctors' prognosis, and enjoy with his wife and children plenty of love, good times and a future full of blessings.

May 12 year old Sebastian Greco of Rhode Island, who recently suffered a head injury, make a prompt and complete recovery with no lasting problems.

May MindWinds' father Clem be healed of his spinal, blood and cardio infections and returned to good health and wholeness; and may he and his family keep up a robust sense of humor and joy in each others' continued company.

May Marko's newborn son Noah, who has been in the hospital for a cold, and Noah's mother Viktoria, who is recovering from her c-section, both be blessed with good health, strength, endurance, and protection, and may they swiftly they make a full recovery.

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.

[the_arcane_archivist]

Hello John,

So there are these "cycles":

- the 7 years cycle(to test a demon pact, from the "demonic hypothesis"), I wonder if it has a larger scope and meaning...
- the 9 years cycle (from year numerology)
- 12, 60 year cycle in chinese astrology, they seem to work, at least the 12 years cycle which I was able to observe...

What other notable cycles are out there? I noticed there seem to be something around 35 years...

Thank you,
Keep up the good work,
Ed

[ecosophia]

Well, there are astrological cycles -- Mars has a 2.2 year cycle, which is how long the average intentional community lasts and how long young converts to fundamentalist Christianity typically stay with the church; Jupiter has a 12 year cycle, which shows up all through economic affairs; Saturn has a 28-year cycle, and Saturn returns (the points when Saturn reaches the place it was in your birth chart) are consistently rough going.

The old Druids apparently had a 6 year cycle. A 19 year cycle tracks the relationship of the Moon to the Sun. And then, of course, there's the 2160 year cycle of an astrological age and the 25,960 year cycle of the whole sequence of ages...

[anonymoose_canadian]

a) Last week, there was a discussion of Scott Adams, affirmations, and cancer; someone noted that it made sense for certain affirmations being mishandled as a way to get free stuff from the universe to be a cause of cancer. I think it might be more general: cancer seems to be an occupational hazard of the mage. Some of this likely has clear environmental causes (ex: it would not surprise me if it turns out that certain forms of incense increase the risk of lung cancer), but it also makes an uncomfortable amount of sense in another way: every time anyone uses magic to fight the currents of the universe (which a lot of magic involves, given how hard it is for human beings to unify our wills with divine will), we are establishing a pattern of rejecting order and seeking what benefits us instead of accepting the needs and desires of the universe as a whole.

This pattern would also affect each of our cells, and this could easily explain why so many occultists seem to have died of the disease. Even in cases where the outcome is good from a human perspective, if the magic fights against what the universe would do otherwise, it would establish the pattern of seeking what is best for a subset of the cosmos; in the microcosm, that would be cells rejecting the needs of the body....

b) I'd like to add one point to the topic of addictions as discussed last week: the need being met is not always strictly emotional. A few years ago I broke a long standing addiction to fast food by adding sufficient salt to my food, because what was happening was my body was craving salt and getting it from the most convenient source. Once I decided to ignore the health warnings about too much salt, and just start using it, all interest in fast food vanished pretty much instantly.

c) I'd like to make sure I understand the principles behind karma. Rather than using abstractions, I'd like to use a concrete example: I've gone to the other side of the country to visit my grandma each year for most of my life; when I go visit I usually help her with a bunch of things, ranging from cooking for her to fixing furniture and replacing damaged household appliances. I usually fly despite the environmental impact, given that the state of inter-city transit in Canada is atrocious, but I do check to see if it would be viable to take trains/buses. Sometimes I get lucky, but usually it is not possible for me to take such a trip.

So from this, I become the kind of person who is more flexible about certain moral judgments (good and bad depending on the context); who spends time and effort to help elderly relatives (good); who is willing to engage in environmentally damaging activities (bad); who puts an effort into checking if other options are available before committing to a course of action (good); and who considers the trade offs in actions (good); who is willing to accept the humiliation and discomforts of air travel (bad), when in the pursuit of a clearly defined goal (good).

The seemingly simple action of visiting my grandmother looks like it carries decidedly mixed karma: some of the consequences seem quite positive, others quite negative. If every human decision needs to be weighed like this, then knowing the full karmic consequences of any action seems like it becomes very difficult, and possibly impossible: this took me quite a bit of thought, and I'm still pretty sure I'm missing things.

Do you think I am on the right track for understanding the way karma is understood by the occult traditions of the Western World?

[ecosophia]

1) That's uncomfortably plausible!

2) That makes a great deal of sense. The demonization of salt by the medical industry has caused a lot of problems; it really makes me wonder sometimes, because it's an old folk tradition that people who practice evil magic can't stand salt in their food...

3) Yes, that's pretty much correct. You'll have a hard time finding any action that doesn't have mixed karma like that; since the point of incarnation is to gain experience -- this world is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to use the Biblical metaphor, and we chose to eat the fruit -- that's hardwired into our existence.

Misadventures with ghost cats

[(Anonymous)]

Hey JMG,

I have an update, of sorts, on the "ghost cat" situation I asked about last week.

It didn't appear again, though of course it's only been a week. I had to get rid of the vinegar dish after two days—turns out that acetic acid fumes are quite good at driving me away, too. The smell was alright but my eyes started hurting. At any rate, it seems like the sage had a much bigger effect. During Tuesday's GSF morning exercise, I could properly feel (what I assume to be) the One Life's flow through me whereas before, I'd started wondering whether I was accomplishing anything other than treating my neighbours to a vision of me standing in front of my bedroom window, staring outside in my pyjamas. Sadly, this has since faded quite a bit, though it's still better than before. I also felt a lot more refreshed waking up that morning than I have in a good few years.

Christophe's comment that the entity might not be malevolent but simply trying to get my attention, a sentiment echoed by comments on a different forum, intrigued me, so I consulted the SGO, something that I probably should've done earlier. This was my first non-daily divination (I'm new to all of this), so I second guessed myself a lot, but I settled on myself, the entity, my bedroom, and the entity's intention as the four factors I asked about. In order, I got: Cube reversed, Square & Diagonal reversed, Tetrahedron reversed, and Progression of Roots. My take on this is that I've fallen into a rut (definitely true) and that the entity arrived as a consequence of that, to help me change. The room's role in this seems to be just a general store of negative, disruptive energy, as evidenced by how well the cleansing worked.

Further comments on that other forum suggested I might try summoning the entity to get it to explain itself and I decided to call it into a scrying mirror. I tried to prepare the space with the Opening and Closing of the SoP (I haven't gotten all that far with the GSF work so far, though I'm trying to keep at it) but really struggled with visualising the cleansed sphere. I probably should've aborted the experiment right then but went ahead anyways. I can share a detailed report if you or anybody else thinks I should but, in the interest of brevity, here's a summary:

I saw quite a few images in the mirror but they kept switching so quickly I could make very few out. There were several animals, other beings, and objects without any (apparent) rhyme or reason. The mirror seemed to expand and start to take over my entire field of vision but whenever it got close, I had to blink which reset it to a normal mirror shape. This was frustrating but, at the same time, I occasionally had the idea that I could endanger myself this way. The mirror itself very occasionally looked like a cat or, at other times, a bug.

Verbally, I was stuck at asking the entity to show itself and telling it that I couldn't make out whatever it was trying to tell me. Mentally, a few questions directed at it popped into my head and I'm not entirely certain they originated with me. The answers were very confusing and contradictory. The entity identified itself as several species of animal as well as archangels Uriel and Michael. I don't think either of these claims were truthful but have no way of being sure.

I twice heard a meow and once steps whose location I couldn't quite make out.

I had the impression that I could've seen more if the mirror had been bigger or if I could just let it grow big enough.

After about subjective twenty to thirty minutes, I realised I wouldn't get any further and, on a very reckless whim, blew out the candle I was using for lighting in the hopes of seeing a little more in a dark room. The steps came back, this time probably in the hallway, and I got rather scared, fearing for my life. A license to depart and run to the lightswitch later, I felt reasonably safe again. I then discovered that the endeavour had actually taken me about an hour and that there were some blood (?) stains on my couch and one of its cushions. While I had started out kneeling on the cushion, I'd quickly discarded it and didn't have any open wounds on my legs anyways, though admittedly a few old ones. I had been nowhere near the couch.

In the following night, I had a bit of a nightmare: I decided to summon the entity again to find out more. This led to a lot of fire (possibly hellfire, though I can't say my vision of the afterlife ordinarily includes fire and brimstone).

A couple of hypotheses:

A) I was really dealing with the being I'd tried to call up. Given that I explictly asked for it to show itself, this seems like what should've happened. But as the divination and its own statements confirmed that it's not malicious, I really don't understand the outcome. Possibly some form of tough love? Or maybe it really is just very ambivalent.

B) I was dealing with a different entity. Perhaps I've driven the entity out by cleansing the room and something else noticed an opportunity to fuck with me. I'm unsure whether it was properly malicious as I don't think I was actually harmed.

C) I was dealing with several entities, possibly including the one I was trying to talk to. That would explain the quickly shifting images and the contradictory responses. It also explains why the footsteps seemed to come from outside the room while the mirror images obviously were inside.

My questions are these:

1) Which of the three hypotheses, if any, seems the most likely?

2) Did I make any obvious mistakes? I can supply a more detailed report too if that'd be helpful.

3) I'd still like to know more about this entity. Do you think it wise to pursue this?

4) Scary dreams notwithstanding, I'm not too concerned about trying the mirror again, provided I know what to do differently. Would you recommend other methods of inquiry instead or in addition to that?

5) I'm struggling with the SoP. Specifically, I can't make the sphere "grow", I can just picture successively bigger spheres. Is that a problem?

—David P.

Re: Misadventures with ghost cats

[ecosophia]

1) Since I wasn't there and didn't see it, I'm not qualified to say. It could have been any of these.

2) Well, given that you attempted a rather advanced magical practice at a time when you're very new to all this, I think you did tolerably well.

3) No, not at this point.

4) Keep working at it, and go on to the summoning of the elements as soon as you've been doing the O&C for a week or two.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, JMG. Are acupuncture treatments compatible with daily SOP practice? Are they compatible with the Judson exercise?

[ecosophia]

As far as I know, yes, in both cases.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, I had a couple questions. First, thinking back on social scenes of occult dabblers I've known, one common quality I recall is that they were plagued with petty drama. Social gatherings tended to feature warnings like "don't let A see you talking to B since they're super mad at each other." It felt like disputes always blew up into something bigger than they needed to be and people couldn't act rationally to resolve them. Notably, these groups' practices did not include banishing or cleansing rituals. Is this kind of fraught energy a common symptom of lacking purification protocols?

Second, what do you think of the karmic inheritance of people who have outsized talents and opportunities but at the same time are faced with many personal challenges like ill health, psychological trauma, addiction, etc.? It feels like many of the most capable people I've known have also had chronic issues complicating their lives. Do you think the need to work through this kind of karma can be the collateral effect on a soul that's evolving to a higher state?

Thanks for these posts.

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, and it's also unfortunately true that since our society derides and condemns occultism, most occultists are on the social fringes anyway and so tend to be more emotionally immature than their more normal neighbors. (I don't except myself from this -- it took me years and a lot of hard work to outgrow a range of childish habits.)

2) Outsized talents typically come from hard work in previous lives. If they have a lot of bad karma built up, they have to clear that away in order to make use of their talents.

[thinking_turtle]

To share, for those who wonder what CoP, IR, or LBRP mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecopsophia.

And here's an overview of the eighty-three books our host has published so far.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this as always.

[brendhelm]

I recently found out about some major changes at work, and asked a couple of geomancy questions regarding it:

1. "How will these changes affect me?"

RW - Caput Drac.
LW - Cauda Drac.
J - Carcer

Carcer is normally a negative figure except where stability and security is desired, and in this case stability and security is desired. Would I be right in interpreting this finding as "things will stay mostly the same"?

Realizing that geomancy isn't necessarily suited to answering open-ended questions like "how," I asked a follow-up question "Will I personally benefit from these changes?"

RW - Amissio
LW - Acquisitio
J - Via

Judge as Via makes sense - this is a change, and the "future" LW as Acquisitio seems promising. Is there something I'm missing.

[ecosophia]

I'd put a little more nuance into it. The first tells you that the changes will come (Caput Drac) and go (Cauda Drac) without affecting you (Carcer). The second says that you will suffer some short term disadvantages (Amissio) but further changes (Via) will bring you benefits (Acquisitio).

Prayer, Queens and Druids

[(Anonymous)]

(1) You have mentioned at https://www.ecosophia.net/the-flight-from-thinking/ an elderly woman's prayer and meditation routine:

"One of the most spiritual people I’ve ever met, an elderly woman I knew many years ago, read a chapter of the Bible every morning, meditated on it, and prayed. That was her practice, and it took her places I hope I’ll be able to reach someday."

I remember you discussing her precise methodology somewhere but I can't find it. Could you point me in the right direction? Did she also do a banishing ritual?

(2) Apparently Queen Elizabeth II was a druid https://royalwatcherblog.com/2017/08/06/princess-elizabeths-bard-initiation/ after being initiated by one Archdruid Cryws Williams of the Mystic Circle of Bards. Is that an organization you have dealt with before? It seems that druidry had percolated to the upper reaches of society which makes the following Guardian story strange:

(3) https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/dec/27/druids-college-religion-lifestyle
Here, some lads are claiming to have invented druidry in the 60s as some prank. I had thought the modern druids had formed in the 19th century? I guess these kids did not do their research?

Re: Prayer, Queens and Druids

[ecosophia]

1) I should probably put that into the FAQ page sometime! Here's how it goes.

First, when you first wake up, before doing anything else besides using the bathroom, read one chapter of the Bible every day. (Rules for choosing the chapter are below.) Second, think about what you just read. Third, pray about it, ending with the Lord's Prayer. That's it. Do this every single day, first thing in the morning

As for choosing chapters, don't start with Genesis -- even if you get through the "Begats," as the woman in question used to say, your good intentions will get lost in the Wilderness with the Israelites somewhere in the second half of Exodus and never be seen again. Start with the Gospel of John. When you've finished it, go on to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in that order; then Acts, the epistles, and Revelation, followed by the Psalms. Repeat this three times (this will take you several years) until you have the habit of daily Bible reading well established. Then read Genesis and the first half of Exodus, then jump to the last chapter of Deuteronomy and go through the rest of the Old Testament, then the New Testament. Repeat this three times. Then you'll have gotten good enough at extracting insight from Bible texts that you can tackle the three and a half books -- 2nd half of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy -- that are mostly laws.

2) The organization to which she was admitted is the ritual side of the Welsh National Eisteddfod (Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru), which you can read about here. The short form is that it's a competition for Welsh poets dating to the Middle Ages, but enriched in the early 19th century with Druid Revival trappings to provide local color. It's very establishment; other initiates include past Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

3) Tsk, tsk -- if you read the article more closely you'll find that they're talking about American Druids, not British ones. As usual for the Grauniad, they're wrong -- the first Druid organization in the US, the Society of Ancient Druids, was founded in 1798 -- but the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA), the order they talk about, does exist; in fact, I'm a Third Order initiate of it.

[(Anonymous)]

i just wanted to share this video clip, in light of the article last week here that i posted saying aliens may be coming.
This is of dr malone, talking about a briefing rfkjr had:

Dr. Robert Malone says RFK Jr. received a classified briefing on UFOs, UAPs, and whether they could be interdimensional beings or time travelers.

Malone claims a federal investigator told him "alien encounters" are ramping up—and confirms they’re real.

https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1951423143475585474#m

2 min video clip at link

[ecosophia]

It fascinates me that people who are convinced that the government isn't telling the truth about UFOs are so often sure that this or that government leak is telling the truth about UFOs. My reaction to this news is simply to wonder what the government is trying to hide behind a saucer-shaped smoke screen this time.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

On the night of 7/31 and morning of 8/1 I had a dream that I think symbolizes a release or dissolution of astral patterns/tension. In the dream, I was standing on a beach looking at at the water where a large gothic looking space ship was hovering. The ship then violently exploded for about a minute straight and the dream ended.

To make things more interesting, my brother, on the same night, dreamt of what he said was "the world ending". He said it was basically a violent storm over the whole world with colorful lightning. My brother told me his dream and the date before I made a peep about mine (I had mine written down with a date) so I know no one is fabricating anything.

I think we picked up on some kind of collective astral event. Did you pick up on anything of the sort? Did any of you in the commentariat?

Luke Z

[ecosophia]

Hmm! I didn't have any dream or premonition of that kind. Anyone else?

Mental state during ritual

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning, JMG. I hope you're doing well.

I had a question concerning mental states and ceremonial magic.

I've this notion that my headspace during ritual should be nominally different than my mundane day-to-day headspace. As such, during ritual I try to keep my mind uncluttered, focused, and tranquil, reminding myself to act (or to try to act) as an unobstructed channel for the descent of higher powers. However, beyond this I am unsure what state to cultivate in my mind.

Should a budding magician try to cultivate a hyper-lucid, energized, self-aware state during ritual? Or a more drowsy, 'alpha-brainwave', liminal headspace so that I can lose myself in ritual and let my subconscious do the work? Or something entirely different perhaps?

Apologies if the question doesn't make sense. I've been experimenting with different approaches and keeping notes in my journal; so far I haven't noticed a personal preference and I haven't yet gained the inner perception needed to know how these states affect the working of the rituals.

As always, thank you for your time and for hosting MM.

Re: Mental state during ritual

[ecosophia]

"Uncluttered, focused, and tranquil" is a good state to be in. Don't push beyond that -- you want to be able to perceive what the ritual itself does to your consciousness, and simple calm clarity will help with that.

Prayer / Affirmation

[(Anonymous)]

I was looking up some hoodoo stuff regarding using the psalms. I saw this prayer and wondered what your take on it was as a kind of affirmation prayer. I was thinking of using it, but remember some discussion about certain types of affirmation causing blowback. What's your take on this one?:

The Divine works through me bringing all my plans and purposes to completion. Whatever I start, I bring to a successful conclusion. My aim in life is to give wonderful service, and all those whom I contact are blessed by what I have to offer. All my work comes to full fruition in divine order. Thank you Creator for all my wonderful blessings.

Re: Prayer / Affirmation

[ecosophia]

That's a classic, and very skillfully designed. Notice that it focuses on giving as well as receiving, and places the whole process in the hands of the Divine rather than trying to impose the speaker's ego on the world process. I wouldn't expect it to generate any blowback.

Ritual Shoegaze Music: Loneliness of the Hollow Earth Explorer

[(Anonymous)]

To Share:

Here is an album review I wrote for the Arrowounds record "Loneliness of the Hollow Earth Explorer" where I touch on the mysteries in the landscape and history of Southern Ohio and Kentucky. It might be of interest to those who share the taste for ambient and shoegaze styles of music, along with an interest in exploring the underworld:

https://igloomag.com/reviews/arrowounds-the-loneliness-of-the-hollow-earth-explorer-vol-1-lost-tribe-sound

JPM

Re: Ritual Shoegaze Music: Loneliness of the Hollow Earth Explorer

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this -- and from the home town of Etidorhpa, no less! (I had to look up "shoegaze," though -- never heard of it before.)

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday,

JMG - in some podcasts you’ve mentioned that ceremonial magic is a powerful path that can work very well - or go horribly wrong…

As a practitioner of CM, I’d like to think the former applies to me. I was hoping you could elaborate a bit:

1) what does CM going horribly wrong look like?

2) any tips to avoid some of the common (or less common) pitfalls?



Thank you !

[ecosophia]

1) Ceremonial magic is like a race car with a powerful engine -- the number of ways it can go wrong is limited only by the number of objects along the road the driver can slam into at high speed. Still, there are two broad categories of failure, one caused by too much ego, the other by too little.

a) The ego-excessive form happens when the practitioner is motivated by pride and tries to go too far too fast, and attempts to achieve the consciousness of the Higher Self without getting his ego housebroken first. What happens in this case is that the ego gets projected and then overinflated to a spectacular degree. Uncontrolled rage fits in the face of disagreement and corrupt, exploitive behavior directed at followers and students are common side effects. This is what Zen masters have in mind when they say that someone who gains sudden, complete enlightenment is like an arrow shot straight into Hell.

b) The ego-deficient form form happens when the practitioner is motivated by greed and becomes dependent on spirits for magical benefits. What happens in this case is that the ego breaks up into fragmentary personae; the practitioner's state of consciousness gradually sinks to the level of the spirits they summon; their minds and personalities become rigid and oddly mechanical, their ethics (if they ever had any) go gurgling down the drain, and they typically end up being drawn into substance abuse, sadomasochistic excesses, and any other debasement the spirits toying with them happen to favor. These are the spiritual leaders who get busted for molesting children or petty crime or what have you.

2) That's easy enough. The first requirement is to make daily meditation an invariable part of your spiritual practices, and not the kind that silences the mind, either. You need your mind clear and active to follow the Path effectively; this is why I recommend discursive meditation as an essential part of occult training. The second requirement is to make the conjuration of spirits an occasional practice at most, and to avoid evil spirits -- angel magic and work with intelligences is much more productive. The third, and most difficult for most people nowadays, is to make genuine prayer part of your life. Notice that I don't specify which deity or deities to invoke, and I'm not expecting or encouraging you to get into the groveling "Oh, I'm such a miserable lump of snot before Thee" sort of spiritual masochism that's fashionable in some faiths and some circles. Approach the Divine as you would approach a much older and wiser friend; talk; and then listen.

Modern Order of Essenes Healing Hands

[kylec]

If you'd like to sign up for healing hands this week, please reply here or PM me with your name and request. If you don' know what healing hands are, let me know and I'll do my best to explain. If you requested help last week, those sessions were fulfilled and you can always jump back on any time you like. I do require that people re-request each week, rather than standing orders.

Thanks!

Re: Modern Order of Essenes Healing Hands

[(Anonymous)]

I would like healing hands for my teeth and my teeth gums

Many thanks!

DENIS

Tucker Carlson and Alexander Dugin on Western civilization being demonically possessed.

[(Anonymous)]

So Tucker Carlson (haven't watched, just heard he's commented) and Alexander Dugin (here: https://news-pravda.com/usa/2025/08/04/1566553.html) think that Western civilization is demonically possessed. As an inmate of Western civilization, that is ... interesting. Any thoughts?
Rufty

Re: Tucker Carlson and Alexander Dugin on Western civilization being demonically possessed.

[ecosophia]

I'd want to know if either of them knows the first thing about demonic possession and can identify the classic signs in Western civilization. My guess is that they've both fallen into the trap of blaming on demons what can far more reasonably be attributed to the moral and intellectual disintegration normal in a decadent, failing society: what Giambattista Vico back in the day called "the barbarism of reflection," in which the collective mind is overwhelmed by abstractions divorced from reality.

[lukedodson]

Hi JMG,

Two people I know and respect of the Christian persuasion have reported getting 'butterflies in the stomach' when hearing me talk about my polytheism and occult practices, and one of them even reported sleep paralysis and nightmares while listening to me talk about it on a podcast. As far as I can tell, my worship of gods other than Christ and daily SoP practice is perfectly sound and wholesome - I stay away from drugs and demonolatry, and keep my magic and prayers focused on blessing, healing, and strengthening. So what on earth could be going on here?

On a not-entirely-unrelated but more positive note spurred on by a world-building project, are there any resources that people could recommend that could help to illustrate how the history of Europe up to the early modern period might have looked had Europe either a) not Christianised or b) Christianised in a more gentle manner that accommodated polytheism to a greater degree?

Many thanks,
Luke

[ecosophia]

1) I wonder how many Roman Pagans back in the day suffered from "butterflies in the stomach" and the rest of it when they heard someone talking about converting to Christianity!

2) Hmm! I don't know off hand of any, but it's an intriguing project.

Desire

[kylec]

In the Cosmic Doctrine, Dion fortune says that the path beyond a material existence requires the elimination of desire, then fear, then a death/resurrection.

It's easy to see how if you don't desire anything, fear falls away. But to truly eliminate desire would involve eliminating even basic survival desires like to eat or drink or move anywhere at all. Maybe such a commitment would indeed lead one to finish one's incarnation rather quickly, but as I see it, eliminating desire in totality isn't practical.

Even if we do eliminate it, presumably we have to take some kind of action in the next stage of living, which is driven by desire. I guess my question is: does the elimination of desire refer to each subplane? For example, I can eliminate certain low desires, those that are blaring in my face and distracting me, so that desires on higher planes can have their say. If I stop desiring heroin and fame, for example, I can hear the desire to be a loving person involved in loving relationships. It seems more a matter of attuning to higher desires (which would in turn produce higher-level fears that those desires aren't met).

Even the Solar Logos must have desires on the spiritual plane, which are effectively choices to do one thing as opposed to another.

Is that what she is getting at? The problem with my subplane theory is that it mostly deals with the astral and etheric desires rising up, because we still can't eliminate the physical instinctual desire to breathe, drink, etc. without leaving the material plane, which is providing us with essential learning experiences. Maybe a desire doesn't exist at a physical level, then, and it only comes in when we feel certain discomforts at the physical level?

Re: Desire

[ecosophia]

That was a common notion in Theosophy, borrowed from Western misunderstandings of Buddhism. It's a bad idea. As Plato pointed out, desire needs to be educated, not eradicated; all our desires, he argued, are ultimately part of the force that leads us toward the knowledge of the One, and as we recognize this, harmful desires dissolve and helpful desires are born.

Tickling at the base of the skull

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
It is about one year and a half that I practice with the DMH.

Recently is manifesting occasionaly a sort of tickling at the base of my skull, but nothing that causes discomfort, on the contrary is somehow pleasant.

Has it got some meaning in your opinion in connection with the magic practice?

Many thanks

DENIS

Re: Tickling at the base of the skull

[ecosophia]

The joint between the atlas vertebra and the skull tends to collect a lot of tension and a lot of energy blockage, and gently releasing that is a subtle but important effect of some kinds of occult training (including the system you're following). Let it happen at its own pace, and you'll find various benefits.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,


Q1. If we use the Kabbalistic Tree of Life as our 'map' of spiritual development, is there any way to locate where we currently are in terms of our progress?


Phrased differently, are there any ways to gauge what we have done in previous lives and what we now need to do to advance on the Path?



I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for your help.

[ecosophia]

1) If you have a material body, you're in Malkuth. Yes, it really is that simple.

2) Don't worry about what you've done or left undone in previous lives. You have been born into this life in the best possible situation for you to confront the challenges and learning experiences you most need to deal with right now. Deal with those, and pursue whatever system of spiritual practice appeals most to you, and you'll make good progress in this life and be ready to go on to better things.

[booklover1973]

Currently, I don't have a question; but I would like to point out the works of Charles Obert. There is "Introduction to Traditional Natal Astrology", which is an introduction to traditional astrology for those who know already something about astrology. There are a few other woks by hims, among them "The Classical Seven Planets", which is a collection of classical texts about the astrological planets, with commentary by Charles Obert.

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this!

[(Anonymous)]

Do you think stereotyping becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy? Like, by expecting all persons of a certain background or appearance to behave a certain way, is one manifesting the law of attraction to draw people into one's life that fit the expectation? (Or is it selection bias?)

Once I started noticing patterns, I couldn't stop and now it seems I can successfully pre-judge the vast majority of people I encounter... but our society's prejudice against prejudice makes me feel like I'm doing something very wrong.

Either I've started drawing people to me who fit the patterns I've noticed, it's all selection bias, or people are just not that complicated, and most of them do behave according to a handful of basic types within the bounds of their culture. Which do you think is most likely?

And if it is the first option, where I'm accidentally attracting such people, how can I stop?

[ecosophia]

You can predict the behavior of most people in most situations if you know something about the internal relationships of baboon troops. That is to say, most people do behave in predictable ways, following whatever rules they've been fed by their society -- and that was just as true when those rules were oral traditions as it is now when they're passed on by mass media.