Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of the inimitable Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, co-founder and moving spirit of the Theosophical Society, who played a larger role than any other individual in kickstarting the modern revival of occultism in the English-speaking world, and who was also about half the reason you've heard of a place called Atlantis (and very nearly the entire reason you've heard of a place called Lemuria). 

Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. Any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer, though it may be Tuesday sometime before I get to them all. If you're in a hurry, or suspect you may be the 712,254th person to ask a question, please check out the very rough version 1.0 of The Magic Monday FAQ here.

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 the button below to access my online tip jar.

With that said, have at it! 

***This Magic Monday is now closed to new questions. See you next week!***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

1) I still keep getting a weird feeling whenever I do anything occult and it works. Am I correct to view this as a result of the environment I grew up in and needing to unlearn the material world I grew up in?

2) I have an astrology question: last week, someone asked about a stellium square another stellium, and you said squares can be an immense source of creative power if the sides can be balanced. Do you have advice on how to get that balance?

3) One pattern I'm noticing a lot is that people don't seem to be aware of how much time they waste online and watching TV. Is this a result of the glamour, or is it something else?

4) I've been slowly gaining past life memories for a while, and I now have a fairly good understanding of who I was two lives, three lives, and five lives back, although my life right before is blurry save for a handful of incidents, I only remember how four back died and nothing else about that life. I'm now getting glimpses of a life during Roman times.

I suspect that I wouldn't spend more than thousand years out of incarnation and then come back in the 1700s and have this many lives in quick succession, so this raises a few questions:

4a) What determines how easy it is to remember particular past lives?

4b) How common is it to have crystal clear memories of certain lives, but then hardly anything from others?

4c) Is there any way to accelerate the recovery of memories of a particular lifetime? I feel like four back is rather important, although since I know next to nothing of that life, it's hard to tell.

[ecosophia]

1) Yep. Your culture has bombarded you since you were born with propaganda insisting that this stuff doesn't exist and that you're wrong and bad if you experience it, and that takes time and experience to outgrow.

2) Depends on the stelliums, and also on the personal factor. The one piece of advice that seems generally useful is to recognize that both factors in the square deserve a place in your life.

3) Good question. I suspect it's mostly the glamour, but I don't know for sure.

4a) It depends on what you're ready to remember.

4b) Very common.

4c) Let the memories surface when they're ready to surface. It's hard but important to trust the process.

[(Anonymous)]

Two questions: the first is how do you go about communicating with the higher self? From what I understand it's me, but at the same time it's not quite me as I usually think of it. Would prayer to my higher self be advisable, or is there a different way to relate to it?

Second: you provided a working to call down all karma on oneself. I have a massive problem in I run away from things. This has been true of several lives now, and I want to fix this. Calling down all my karma seems like a drastic step, so is there a safer way to go about this? It seems to be beyond my capacity to handle it through merely making different decisions, and so I suspect I need a magical solution of some kind.

If it helps, I am working my way through the Dolmen Arches course (currently on Grade II)

[ecosophia]

1) Most of any serious system of magical spirituality is aimed at opening up the connection between your lower self -- the personality you think of as "yourself" -- and your higher self -- the enduring spiritual reality of which your lower self is a temporary projection. (In the cosmology of the Dolmen Arch, these are called the hunan and the elaeth respectively. Bringing the two into contact with one another is far from easy; prayer is one traditional way to go about it, and the regular practice of magic and meditation will also move in that direction, but don't expect instant results (and if you get what look like instant results, be very careful, because the hunan is very good at tricking itself.)

2) In case I didn't make it clear at the time, I do not recommend that anybody do that working! If you want to change the way you relate to the world, the first thing you need to do is clear your enaid (the body of life-energy or nwyfre) of the various kinds of crud that get stuck to it, and to strengthen your will. Daily practice of the Sphere of Protection will do both. As that works, you'll find opportunities to begin to sort through why you run away from things. Meditation is useful here, and so is journaling (as covered in the Magic Monday FAQ). You need to understand a pattern like that before you can outgrow it.

[(Anonymous)]

If you don't think Pluto is an astrological planet, which one rules Scorpio?

[ecosophia]

Look in any book on astrology published before the 1960s and you'll find that Mars rules Scorpio. It represents the cold and crafty aspect of Mars, as Aries represents the hot and hasty aspect.

'Celtic' Astrology

[eremon]

Having just finished reading your post on Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson and your move to more current astrology forms, I am recalling your mention of Helena Paterson's Celtic lunar astrology some time ago. You had said that for a modern system it gave tolerably usable results. Given some time for other forms and the benefit of reflection, how would you compare her books to western astrology now?

I'm thinking of taking up a new discipline...

Re: 'Celtic' Astrology

[ecosophia]

As a system of natal astrology, Paterson's system is workable but lacks a great many of the possibilities that have been developed over the last three thousand years or so of astrological work, and as far as I know it hasn't even been tried for other branches of astrology -- say, mundane or electional astrology. I've never felt any particular interest in returning to it -- not since getting a good solid grounding in classical astrology, and then moving to the "early modern" astrology of Llewellyn George and Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson, which suits me extremely well.

SOP variations and their significance

[(Anonymous)]

John,

Thanks for offering this opportunity for questions. Since I've gone even a little bit beyond reading your books and blog posts, I've been swarmed with them. For now, just a few closely related ones:

1) I've seen several ways to do the Sphere of Protection by now, with two of them on the AODA website at different times. Are they all effective? AODA's old version from early 2018 says, "You're free to read these instructions and use your own symbols. You're free to alter these instructions to suit your own purposes. Ritual is individual because Magick is individual. Ritual is universal because a lot of people use the same symbols. You get to decide how you want to do your own rituals." This and other similar statements give me a sense of great flexibility, but I suspect that at least part of ritual has to be consistent across practitioners for it to be a distinct, working ritual (doesn't it?). So in a sense, I'm wondering, where are the limits, the parts of the ritual that can't be altered without diminished or ill effect? Does the DMH, which I intend to find, go into that degree of under-the-hood detail?

a) Is the sphere of light in the current AODA version functionally the same as circulating the light?

b) AODA's old explanation suggested that Earth was associated with physical circumstances like one's health or finances, while now its description doesn't mention these but talks about steadfastness and staying the course. Is one or both or neither of these accurate? How flexible are elemental associations here?

c) Unrelated to "how not to break the ritual," I've been looking into the Irish deities lately--with whom is air typically associated in that pantheon?

Re: SOP variations and their significance

[ecosophia]

1) The Sphere of Protection is a very flexible ritual. The things to leave intact are the basic patterns -- invoking four powers in the Elemental Cross, tracing the distinctive emblems in the seven directions and invoking and banishing as instructed, and so on. The Druid Magic Handbook doesn't go into great detail about the underlying logic, but you can follow the instructions and figure out what can be varied and what can't.

a) I'm not a great fan of the "sphere of light;" it seems less effective to me. Still, your mileage may vary.

b) I'm also not a great fan of the purely psychological interpretation of the elements. They also have specific applications to your life, as health and finances.

c) William Butler Yeats, who was kind of an expert along these lines, assigned Brigid to air, Lugh to fire, Danu to water, and the Dagda to earth in his rituals for his Celtic magical order, The Castle of Heroes. If you can find suitable deities for Spirit Above and Spirit Below, that might be a good starting place.

Void of course

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Our family is having a debate. Is a prayer the same as a spell? Argument for says that you are using your will in order to manifest an action of some sort. Argument against says that you are asking for intercession by your favoured deity, not direct manifestation of your own will. We need a referee!

Leading on from this is the Moon's "void of course". Will prayers be answered if they are said during a void of course? Are we correct in assuming that void of courses affect workings?

Zed

Re: Void of course

[ecosophia]

1) Prayers aren't spells. In a prayer, you say, "Thy will be done," and in a spell, you say, "My will be done." Not the same thing!

(Now it's only fair to say that people muck up the distinction. A lot of people who think they're praying spend their time telling God what to do, which is not what prayer is supposed to be about. Prayer is about communing with a deity, not handing over a list of goodies to Santa Claus.)

The Moon being void of course affects only magical workings that depend on astrological forces. You can do elemental magic just fine when the Moon is void, and you can also do spiritual magic under the same conditions -- that is to say, calling on deities, angels, etc. Prayer is unaffected by astrological conditions -- that's why so many traditions recommend it as a basic practice; you can do it at any time.)

Casual Prenatal Yoga?

[(Anonymous)]

A variation on the children-and-magic theme from your faq.

Can yoga be done "casually"- ie, for physical exercise only, apart from its spiritual aspects?
If not, are children (born or unborn) put in any particular sort of risk if a mom attempts "casual" yoga with them?

I ask because of the growing presence of prenatal and "mommy and me" yoga (ie, classes where toddlers and moms are meant to both participate together). I notice it being offered in settings that are clearly meant for "casual" involvement: for instance, as part of a package of no-commitment, drop-in classes, or in online tutorials, or in free outdoor yoga-in-the-park group.

Thank you again for this platform and your insights!

Re: Casual Prenatal Yoga?

[ecosophia]

Most yoga practiced in America today is nothing more than physical exercise, with at most a little light (as in featherweight) meditation or a bit of work on deep breathing. It's no more spiritual than jumping jacks and toe touches -- just more fashionable than these. That being the case, it should be fine for children, born or unborn.

Meditation is very good for pregnant women and mothers with young children, by the way, because it decreases the amount of fatigue toxins in the blood and breast milk, and also strengthens and cleanses the mother's energy body, which then has beneficial effects on the infant's energy body via resonance. Again, it's ***only*** ceremonial magic that's contraindicated.

[lunarapprentice]

Hello JMG, I’m continuing with you book, The Art and Practice of Geomancy (APG). Before proceeding with my question, I want to relate how delighted I was with your response to my enquiry last week with respect to a geomantic take on the novel The last Unicorn. I have started taking your advice and am meditating upon geomantic interpretations of the characters. I have begun with The Unicorn herself, and appreciate a remarkable concordance with the figure Populus, so much so that I wonder if you were consciously thinking of The Unicorn when you were writing your section on Populus. I look forward to repeating this process with the other characters/figures, and wonder if the others will have such strong concordance ( I anticipate Schmendric and Puer will prove very strong).

I’m also delighted to hear that The Last Unicorn is worthy of deep reading. In my hopelessly clueless youth, I didn’t really know how to read novels. I basically approached the plot as if the author were analogous to a chess master setting up the board, then the end or climax of the novel was ‘checkmate’, and that was the nugget. It’s really only been in the last 10 years or so that I have realized that’s tantamount to not reading the novel at all, and it has only been in the last 2 years that I have finally begun to genuinely read a novel. I’ve been working mainly with Steppenwolf and The Last Unicorn (easy reads for you, as you've mentioned), and find it similar to diving into a tropical lagoon, going in for a bit to explore a small section, diving back in and exploring an adjacent section, starting to notice how one section connects to another, and also noticing little things on subsequent visits that escaped me on the first one or two visits. I’m reading the Last Unicorn for the fourth time now per your geomantic mediation suggestion, and am noticing and perceiving more than I ever have. I have just been trying to decide whether the Butterfly at the beginning could even be regarded even as a character, it seemed so elusive, remote and insubstantial, yet it reminded me of something that I couldn’t quite place. Then this afternoon it hit me: The Butterfly is an oracle. Perhaps also the Cat in Haggard’s castle. Oracles really are helpful; the Unicorn was about to give up and turn around when the Butterfly came…

Anyway, my main question for tonight might seem trivial, but my Aspergish mind won’t let go of it, so please be patient: My question regards your suggestions (in APG) for themes of geomantic mediation. You suggest combining figures and meditating on the result, starting with the combination of Puer with itself, which is Populus. Now, combining any figure with itself will generate Populus. I can’t see how this procedure can yield any unique insights, so why bother? It's analogous to multiplying any number, x, by zero, and getting zero; that doesn’t tell you anything about x. Am I missing something?

[ecosophia]

Sure. Why does Puer joined to itself generate Populus? By "why" I don't mean the mathematical process, but the symbolism. Here you have the Puer energy, vital, unstable, expansive, rowdy. It encounters itself -- and you get the very different energy of Populus. How does that work? What situations in daily life echo that pattern?

[lunarapprentice]

At what point is it appropriate to begin performing geomantic magic; i.e. make and consecrate geomantic gamahes or talismans? It seems almost as cookbook as natural magic.

[ecosophia]

As soon as you've meditated your way through the figures and know them and their symbolism tolerably well, you can do geomantic magic.

[m_hodgson]

Hello JMG,

A question about what where the spirit/soul goes just after death. I'm curious because, in recent years, a number of elderly friends have died, as they do. Something I've noticed is that three of them seemed to kind of send a signal for a few days after they died. These three were all vocally non-religious, non-spiritual people, even the one who told me of an experience that seemed obviously clairvoyant. What came to me, very strongly, is that, when I thought about these people in those few days after they died, I heard them laughing. It was the laughter of someone who is surprised and delighted. Is this wishful thinking on my part? Am I imagining it, or is there something else happening? Thank you for your thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

Dion Fortune's Through the Gates is interesting.

[(Anonymous)]

When someone starts doing magic seriously, some bad things often happen as a karmic 'clearing of the decks'. But it's much less serious than what happens after the karma clear ritual. Since it isn't all of it, what sort of things are usually cleared when beginning magic?

Are there any books that go into the complexities of how karma works?

[ecosophia]

The karmic culmination you get when you start any serious spiritual practice -- not just magic -- clears away whatever's at the top of the stack, so to speak. Sometimes it's whatever you would have had to face sometime soon anyway, sometimes it's whatever would interfere most with your initial practices.

I don't know of anything in print like that, but it would be helpful to have such a book!

[booklover1973]

JMG, I seem to have expressed my question from last week in a misunderstandable way. I had in mind what happend between incarnations for animals much less complex than humans, say, jellyfishes or slugs. I meant such things as the duration between incarnations and the kind of things which Dion Fortune mentioned in "Through the Gates of Death". Thanks in advance!

[ecosophia]

The answer's the same: they go through the same process we do, just in a way fitting their somewhat simpler state of consciousness. The delay between lives is also usually shorter, in the same proportion that their lives are shorter.

polytheist middle pillar ritual

[(Anonymous)]

I'm certainly willing to try-it-and-see, but what would be your opinion of using Arthurian names rather than god names? Thanks!

Re: polytheist middle pillar ritual

[ecosophia]

I don't recommend it. Partly, one of the reasons you're using divine names is that you're calling on actual, living spiritual powers, not archetypes or people who lived a long time ago and are dimly remembered in legend -- but there's another factor...

The Arthurian legends are a story of failure. What gives them their pathos is the vision of something truly great that nearly succeeded in coming into manifestation, and then unraveled catastrophically. Embody those images and you embody that failure. That's why every attempt to use the core Arthurian myth as the basis for a system of initiation has ended up going to bits after a certain period -- it's hardwired in the imagery and legendry.

[(Anonymous)]

Last week you advised a querent to meditate on their question after feeling better. Should daily practice (middle pillar/attention/meditation/divination) be suspended during sickness? Are there chronic conditions like heart disease or diabetes that preclude developing a practice?

[ecosophia]

What you should or shouldn't do when sick depends on personal factors. I can do my basic practices through most kinds of illness, but when I've got a stomach bug that involves nausea, I do basic protective workings and that's all -- anything else is a waste of time. Each mage figures out what he or she can or can't do.

The basic practices are safe for just about everyone. If you have chronic heart disease, it's a bad idea to get into the more intensive ends of ceremonial magic, as those can put strain on the heart.

embodiment

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG

I have observed a certain part of the Neopagan scene where a priestess ‘embodies’ the Goddess. I went to 2 of them and I’m not sure that the Goddess is really able to ‘take over’ during an embodiment. I think it might be the charisma (or lack of it) of the individual that is being expressed.

Was this done in ancient times and is it safe? I think for immature priestesses in particular, there could be a real risk of inflation, ie, thinking that they are goddesses outside the embodiment.
I know you think that the current fad for Wicca will die down. How long has it got? I presume old fashioned Druidry and occultism will continue in their own fringe way…

Thanks.

Re: embodiment--Wiccan weighing in

[ritaer]

Generally speaking, the ideal for the 'embodiment' aka "Drawing Down the Moon" portion of the Wiccan ritual is a light mediumship in which the Goddess may 'glamorize' the priestess to some degree and may speak through her with some general or specific message about the meaning of the season, problems ahead, the magical working being done, etc. In some covens the priestess is prepared to recite a general goddess speech, such as Doreen Valiente's "Charge of the Goddess" if no inspiration is forthcoming. Or she may speak some general words of welcome, celebration, uplift. Some covens, particularly in initiatory traditions such as Gardnarian teach specific techniques to bring on the trance. Much depends on the ability of the priestess to open herself to the goddess. Of course it is possible for coveners to respond to the personal charisma of the priestess, but recall that a special gift from God was the original meaning of charisma and its current use to mean merely a strong personality is a downgrade. In any case, the embodiment ends when the Circle is over. Some rituals contain specific wording asking the Goddess to step back out so that her priestess can eat and drink with the coven as one of them. No one is supposed to go through their normal day thinking that they are manifesting the goddess. If this happens, we all start edging away.

In some traditions the God is drawn down at particular Sabbats--this is related to the cycle of solar holidays. The same conditions apply.

I got involved in Wicca over 40 years ago. I am an elder in a Central Valley (of California) British tradition and also in a Gardnarian lineage. Also have experience in an eclectic California group. I have heard of priestesses who were manipulative, using 'messages from the goddess' to get their way, but it doesn't usually last long and the increased communication between groups has made it more difficult for abusive leaders of any group to hang onto students. It is hard to pretend to be the only Witch in town when a Google search will prove you wrong.

Hope this illuminates the question.

Rita

Uranus in Taurus

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I hope you & Sarah are doing well in Providence this week.

My question is: what effects will the move of Uranus into Taurus that happened last May have on society while it remains in that sign?

Thanks!

Justin Patrick Moore

Re: Uranus in Taurus

[ecosophia]

That approach to astrology -- trying to draw general conclusions from the movement of planets into signs -- is popular these days but in my experience it doesn't produce useful data. You need to see how it relates to the rest of the heavens, preferably in relation to some birth chart or foundation chart, or it doesn't really tell you anything.

Compare it to the US foundation chart (the Sibly ascendant chart is the one I use), and the major factor is a sextile with the foundation chart's Venus in the 7th house of relationships. Uranus' present position is in the foundation chart's 5th. The 5th is the house of sexuality, the 7th of open relationship and open enmity; my guess is that this aspect indicates the way that transgender issues have become so widely discussed in the US since that aspect first formed.

Consent in Geomancy

[(Anonymous)]

When Christopher Catton says a figure means this or that (usually something poor or bad), "unless the _____ house do consent", is he referring to them sharing the same identical figure, or is he meaning rather that the figures have to share a common aspect or thread (eg., Carcer and Tristitia, or something like that)? Thank you!

Re: Consent in Geomancy

[ecosophia]

I always took that to mean either the same figure, or a figure ruled by the same planet.

[(Anonymous)]

Last night my mom saw an owl trying to enter our house around midnight. Given owls's dread symbolism I cast a geomantic chart to see if there is anything to worry about. This is the chart I got:

1. Carcer
2. Puer
3. Fortuna Major
4. Fortuna Minor
5. Puer
6. Acquisitio
7. Albus
8. Cauda Draconis
9. Rubeus
10. Via
11. Laetitia
12. Fortuna Minor
RW: Puella
J: Via
LW: Rubeus

Following the points of Via brought me to the fourth house with Fortuna Minor, which passes into the 12th house. this could this indicate nasty energy being sent towards my house, father or livestock. Also Rubeus is the LW which is less than comforting.

Interpreted as a house chart I'm signified by Carcer, which is fitting since my parents are stupidly frightened by natural magic and so in a certain sense "my hands are tied" in helping them. The only perfection I see as being particularly relevant is the trine between Fortuna Minor in the 4th and 12th houses, which does indicate something going on, although it doesn't seem clear. Altogether it doesn't seem that there is much of a focus, and maybe the owl was just an owl. Rubeus in the LW may just be a reminder that in a certain sense pain, suffering and death are certain to happen, eventually.

My basic questions are two:
1) do you think I'm interpreting this chart correctly?
2) are my basic methods sound?

Many, many thanks!

[ecosophia]

Since it's a yes/no question, it's best to interpret a chart like this using the modes of perfection, which give you a crisp and definite answer in such cases. Omens belong to the ninth house of divination, so your figure is Carcer; your parents are the fourth house, so Fortuna Minor; and the owl is Rubeus. No mode of perfection connects Rubeus and Carcer, or Rubeus and Fortuna Minor, so the answer is "Sometimes an owl is just an owl."

Rubeus can, after all, just mean "something scary."

Owls, by the way, have a positive side as well. They're a traditional emblem of wisdom, and of course they also catch rats!

“Spiritual Path” of Geomantic Figures

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, JMG, I’ve been waiting for you to bring up Madam Blavatsky (the “elephant in the room” of western occultism, at least in my eyes) for MM. The wait is over!

I have a long-standing question based on your book The Art and Practice of Geomancy. For years I have been intrigued by the brief mention you make early in Chapter 5 about the sequence of figures telling “a story of spiritual maturation and unfoldment” that “provides the central framework for a geomantic way of initiation”. So far I have not conducted meditations to pursue this way of initiation – though that may change in the near future.

My question has to do with the origins of your statement: is it from the Golden Dawn tradition? Also, since there are different “systems” of arranging the figures among the Western geomancers of old (though I am very partial towards the arrangement you have provided in APoG), do you think that the order of Puer, Amissio, etc., is the only possible framework for such initiation?

Thanks so much for shedding so much light on geomancy over the decades!

Ron M

Re: “Spiritual Path” of Geomantic Figures

[ecosophia]

It's not from the Golden Dawn tradition, no. It's something that emerged out of my own meditations on the geomantic figures; if my attempt to launch a school of geomancy had gone anywhere, I would have made it the centerpiece of an advanced course, but no such luck -- the basic course got zero interest, so I turned it into the book The Art and Practice of Geomancy and left it at that. No doubt other sequences could be used, but that was the one that spoke to me at the time.

Weather magic

[(Anonymous)]

What is your view regarding the practice of weather magic? Is this something to be avoided generally? If not, do you have sources you would recommend?
Thank you for MM!!

Re: Weather magic

[ecosophia]

I don't recommend it. Nature knows what kind of weather your locality needs, and you don't.

Yoga Bath Nwyfre Salt

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
One hatha yoga teacher told me I should wait at least 30 minutes to have a bath after the practice or I would lose much of its benefits.

We know water absorbs nwyfre and can be used to purify our bodies.
Would it be correct to say that water robs us from bad energies as well as good ones?
Does salt also behave in the same way, that is, taking away both bad and good vibes?

Thank you.

Re: Yoga Bath Nwyfre Salt

[ecosophia]

Yes, salt and water both take away energy that isn't part of your energy body, whether that energy is beneficial or otherwise. So bathe immediately when you've contacted noxious energy and wait a while when you've contacted positive energy!

[(Anonymous)]

John--

Three questions, if I may:

1) Re Madame Blavatsky, what order would you recommend for tackling her works and/or those related to her teachings?

2) How would you distinguish between Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge? (Chokmah, Binah, Daath?)

3) If Daath is the shadow cast upon the Great Abyss by the sephiroth of the supernal triad (Kether-Consciousness, Chokmah-Force, Binah-Form), which I picture as an inverted tetrahedron, what is at the apex of the mirror (upright) tetrahedron providing the light by which that shadow is generated? (This would seem to me to be the location of the Demiurge/First Principle which was generated by the Unmanifest, before it broke into the three elements?)

[ecosophia]

1) Pick up Geoffrey Barborka's The Divine Plan or some other basic intro to Theosophical ideas, and start with that so you have some idea of what you're getting into when you tackle The Secret Doctrine!

2) Knowledge is separate from the knower and the known; you have four things in the act of knowledge: the knower, the known, the act of knowing, and the knowledge gained. (Relate this to the Tetragrammaton.) Understanding has only three things: the person who understands, the thing that is understood, and the act of understanding -- there's no separate "understandage" gained outside of the act of understanding. Finally, wisdom has only two elements; the wise person and the wisdom. You don't "wise" something; it's something you are, not something you do. So 4, then 3, then 2 -- I'll let you relate those to the Tree of Life all by yourself. ;-)

3) Are you sure the geometrical model you're using is relevant? The First Principle is Kether, not some uber-Kether above Kether. Above Kether you find only the three veils of the Unmanifest, Ain (Nothing), Ain Soph (Limitless), and Ain Soph Aur (Limitless Light), which are not any kind of apex but the vague mumblings we use to try to talk about the inexpressible.

[(Anonymous)]

Inspired by the above questions concerning the Higher Self:

For the past decade becoming more spiritually aligned has been my primary focus. Recently my birthday came, and I invoked my Guardian Genius with a candle, incense, hymn, and libations. My Guardian Genius revealed herself as, in part, a recurring dream character who looks nothing like me. She explained that I'm her terrestrial counterpart and she is celestial, that I can know her presence by a certain bright, bubbly, sweetly aromatic feeling that sometimes enters into my awareness. She also made the point that my patron deity has facilitated greater access between us through time spent in prayer. My entire life seemed reframed and I sobbed as I cleaned my room later that evening. Best birthday present ever!

My basic question JMG is does this account have the ring of verisimilitude? While occurring it felt like it all happened quite fast and clean, but then again, I've been working steadily towards this for many years. I wish to avoid deluding myself and so ask for a bit of perspective. Also, please accept a heartfelt thanks for publishing your various spiritual practices, which have so greatly helped me on my path!

[ecosophia]

See where the experience leads you and what follows from it. That's the proof of the pudding!

[(Anonymous)]

No question, but wanted to share a few TSW moments.

I am the one that posted a geomancy question about a job, wherein the Judge, RW and LW were all Populus. The situation has turned out that, in fact, I won't be taking the position in question. (which is how JMG interpreted the chart).

The unforeseen event was that I decided to do planetary workings to Jupiter. I did this each Thursday for about three weeks, and I would follow up each working by applying to another job. I received so many requests for interviews in the following days, that I am turning down opportunities!

Populus's symbolism of an aggregate was appropriate, but in a rather more fortunate way I would have guessed! Also, once I corrected the other charts, I had about a 90% success rate predicting which applications would result in an interview.

So thanks to the host and the community here. This has been rewarding, fascinating, and pretty fun!

[syfen]

Archdruid,

No question today. Just wanted to say thank you for your guidance so far, I've started to make serious leaps in my practice recently.

Regards,

Syfen

[(Anonymous)]

JMG-

Thanks for hosting these Q&As they're very helpful.

I'm coming up on a year of daily practice of LBRP, meditation and divination in the GD tradition. I've been reflecting on what's changed in my life in that time (a lot!), but one thing that jumped out at me is that I've gotten sick significantly less than the rest of my family in the same time. We have three kids under 8, so no shortage of illness coming in the door. And I haven't always escaped getting sick, but I even when I ended up sick it never lasted as long and tended to take longer to set it.

I realize there could be a ton of other factors involved (for instance I use cell salts more than anyone else in my family, along with other herbs) or just pure lucky coincidence.

But I was wondering if this is a known side effect of ritual work?

It seems logical to me that clearing the various subtle bodies would positively affect malkuth as well, but I have not run across anything directly addressing this in terms of preventing physical illness what I've read thus far.

[isabelcooper]

That's also been the case for me--I've gone from getting a cold every 6-8 weeks and having it last about seven days to the current situation, in which my plague (likely picked up as a result of being around two separate sick friends *and* spending the weekend at a con) is responding very well to hot and sour soup and extra sleep, and I don't expect it to linger more than a day or two.

Granted, I did switch to a job where I'm not commuting as often, but I do take the subway a couple times a week, took extended bus trips over the winter, and so forth.