Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's almost 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 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

Salt

[(Anonymous)]

Hey JMG,

There have been several comments about salt deficiencies in the last few weeks. Two days ago, I felt a little light-headed and confused, as I sometimes do, and got the impression that I should eat something. As I'd had breakfast shortly before, I realised that it couldn't be a need for sugar and remembered the salt posts. I ate some salt crystals from my altar bowl and started looking up symptoms of salt deficiency. Most of them seem to apply, so I've decided to try snacking on salt whenever I feel any of them for a few days and seeing what happens. So far, I've had a lot less cravings for junk food.

1) Does the altar salt serve any purpose in the GSF system other than being used in the lodge opening? In other words, is it safe to eat as long as the bowl stays roughly half full?

2) There's been some discussion on why salt has gotten the reputation it nowadays has. You proposed some connection to practitioners of evil magic not being able to eat salt. I have two related but different hypothesis:

2.1) The visiting sixth plane souls might not be able to stand much salt either. If they're really as disgusted by life on earth as their various religions indicate, perhaps they have a poor relationship with Calas, i.e. salt? (I know you explicitly point out in the GSF book that Calas is alchemical salt, not table salt, but I'm operating under the assumption that the alchemists had a reason to call their salt salt).

2.2) Putting on my tinfoil hat, I'd argue that certain parts of modern life expose people to demonic influence (internet pornography comes to mind, but also social media or, nowadays, the technology that must not be named¹). If this is in some way intentional, depriving people of salt might serve to reduce their defences.

—David P.

1: Is that a rule here too? Your montly open post disclaimer seems to imply that you don't want LLMs discussed on any of your forums but unless I'm blind, you don't state that anywhere here.

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

This is not really about magic, but wouldn't it be easier (and tastier) to remedy salt definicies by, say, making a small pot of plain rice and dribbling soy sauce on it?

Re: Salt

[ecosophia]

If you don't want the calories, and need an immediate jolt, salt straight on the tongue does a lot of good.

You know, I'm suddenly remembering my tentacle novels, in which humans with Deep One ancestry all have an unusually high need for salt in their diet (due to inherited genetics that make them excrete extra salt through the skin). I'm not sure if I tapped into something, or if some of you will soon start sprouting tentacles... ;-)

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

If it's just the tentacles, I could imagine worse fates. Alas, your novels beyond the (truly excellent) Ariel Moravec ones are still on my to-read list, so I hope I haven't just agreed to something too unpleasant.

On a more serious note, if I may ask an off-topic question, should I have read Lovecraft before reading those? If not, I'll take your comment as an impulse to move them a few places upwards on the list.

—David P.

Re: Salt

[ecosophia]

Reading Lovecraft (and the other weird-tales authors who inspired me) is by no means required to make sense of my tentacle novels. There are a lot of in-jokes and sidelong references you'll miss, but I know quite a few people who never read a word of Lovecraft and still found the Weird of Hali enjoyable.

The tentacled people in my stories, btw, are by and large quite pleasant, and some of them are decidedly cute -- or at least a couple of my protagonists think so.

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

That's good to hear, I'll just have to reread them after reading Lovecraft then—its always nice to discover new references on a second pass.

I'm also happy to hear that my potential distant relations are a pleasant bunch. I'll let you know if the tentacles do sprout ;)

—David P.

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

I had to dig around online, but it turns out that the (normal) human needs the equivalent of about 1 teaspoon of salt per day.
Many Americans who eat a lot of processed food get that much and more. Your average can of Campbell's Chunky Soup or Progresso Soup will provide about 2/3 the day's needs right there.

However, if you "eat healthy" and keep processed foods to a minimum, you might go into salt deficiency. One of my personal symptoms was that certain muscles in my neck would tighten up and try to pull my neck into my torso like a turtle. The remedy is that I take a 1/4 teaspoon of straight up salt with my meals, at least breakfast and dinner, and try to get a high-salt meal (such as Progresso Lentil Soup) in every few days.

- Cicada Grove

Weird of Hali

[(Anonymous)]

I can attest to what JMG said about the Weird of Hali series. I have zero experience with Lovecraft and don't intend to read his work and I am completely smitten with the Weird of Hali series having just finished the third book in the series.

Re: Weird of Hali

[ecosophia]

Thank you! That's the kind of praise every author likes to hear.

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

I actually somewhat like the taste but yes, I am trying to integrate more salt into my diet, this is just a stop-gap solution.

—David P.

Re: Salt

[ecosophia]

1) I don't advise using the salt from the altar, as one of the things it does is absorb negative energies from the atmosphere, thus keeping your working space clear.

2) It's an interesting question to which I don't have the answer. Certainly, though, a lot of people seem to be suffering from serious salt deficiencies right now.

^1) Yes. If you look at the tags to the post, you'll find something new added.

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you! I wondered whether it had a function like that but, as the protective bags and jars you recommend have not just salt but also nails in them, figured the salt wouldn't do that on its own. Quite silly, now that I think about it—I of course know about salt circles and the like.

—David P.

Re: Salt

[(Anonymous)]

On 2) I doubt it's just a sodium issue. One thing I noticed is that when I started using sea salt instead of table salt, my health improved dramatically, essentially overnight. I'm not sure if it's nutrients from the sea salt, we need some mineral in trace amounts, or something else entirely, but it is one of the most robust health effects I've ever found.

I also note with some wry amusement that it is known that at least one mineral from sea salt is essential to human health: iodine. Rather than admit maybe we should eat sea salt rather than refined sodium chloride, the solution the medical system insisted on is getting iodine added to salt; and in some places have even made sea salt illegal unless it is also fortified with iodine, despite the fact it already includes plenty...

Re: Salt

[ecosophia]

I grant that it's not just a sodium issue, but sodium's a part of it. Too little sodium (especially with too much potassium) is just as bad for health as too much.

Re: Salt

[little_toad]

I can throw in my data points on this one, as I made a post last week about my salt discoveries.

First - a practical idea for increasing dietary sodium without offending your palette: homemade salt "pills". Buy some empty gelatin capsules and fill them up with salt. Easy to transport, no taste, and helps to keep track of daily amounts.
On the other hand, a good salted potato never fails to satisfy :)

But for the souls from the etheric plane comment, I will have to out myself here by disagreeing, as I have confidence in saying I'm not 'from here'. My proof comes from divination, dreams, and messages from trusted channelled sources all of which go years back now - and to say this right off the bat, I'm NOT confirming JMG's vision. I obviously couldn't have seen it, so can't really say anything about it. The overlap of his vision and my experiences when it comes to 'souls that are from a separate, but super-imposed etheric planet being displaced on the Earth' is both exciting and a bit baffling, haha.

Either way, etheric souls have as much of a material body as Earth souls, and I think we're discovering that we've had the wool pulled over our eyes on how to take care of these bodies. Salt, and possibly related, animal-derived fats and proteins, seem to be getting the brunt of the unfounded derision.