Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of George Adamski, the most successful of the contactees of the 1950s. The whole contactee phenomenon is largely ignored or dismissed in modern UFO circles, but I'm increasingly seeing it as one of the keys to the whole phenomenon, because it wasn't a spontaneous creation by any means.

Adamski, like most of the other major figures in 1950s contacteedom, was a significant figure in the occult community of his time; back before UFOs were a thing, he headed a magical lodge in the Los Angeles area called the Royal Order of Tibet, ran a religious organization called Universal Progressive Christianity, and was a frequent guest on occult-themed radio programs, the internet podcasts of the day. Orthon, the blond-haired alien from Venus he claimed to have met in the California desert one sunny day in 1952, obligingly passed on a great deal of the same sort of occult teaching Adamski had been sharing with his students for years beforehand -- an interesting detail that was also true of all the first-generation contactees. There's an interesting story waiting to be told about how this played a huge role in launching the New Age movement and getting simplified versions of many of those occult teachings into very wide circulation among the general public...

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 143,916th 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

water as a source of souls

[(Anonymous)]

I have encountered many references over the years to the belief that souls to be born come from water sources to reach the womb. Either the sea or lakes. This belief is found across Eurasia, but can also be found in other places. There is a parallel belief that those souls of the recently dead have to go through or cross water to get to the otherworld. Often living people that take this journey also have to cross water, like Herakles, Odysseus, or Bran. This is a commonly known motif from mythology.

I see it as indicating the perception that water is liminal, a type of boundary, and connected to all life. We spend 9 months developing immersed in fluid. When I read about the Druid idea of souls developing and the stages involved, I thought there might be a connection. Is there some reason for this belief in occult or magical terms?

Re: water as a source of souls

[ecosophia]

Traditional occult lore explains this very widespread tradition as a symbolic reflection of an important truth. Symbolically, in a great many myths and legends, the material plane (which includes the etheric realm) is represented by earth, the astral plane by water, the mental plane by air, and the spiritual planes by fire. So to say that souls come into incarnation via the water, and depart from incarnation the same way, is to express symbolically the idea that souls descend into matter and ascend from it again via the astral plane -- as, in occult teaching, they do.

This presupposes, of course, that the old mythologies have an inner meaning as well as their obvious one. That's a very widespread belief in ancient and modern times alike, though, and I'm inclined to think that it's correct.

Egyptian Rebirth as Animals

[(Anonymous)]

Ancient Egyptians believed they would reincarnate as animals by default, something which by our current understanding is not true; humans reincarnate as humans.

Here is a speculation: I don't want to say the Egyptians were wrong, given their extensive magic technology; but I also don't want to say we are wrong. What if both are right... and something in their old practices for second death delaying caused this?

Re: Egyptian Rebirth as Animals

[ecosophia]

Okay, I'm a little confused here. First, what's your source for the idea that the ancient Egyptians believed that humans reincarnate as animals by default? I'm not familiar with that idea from the ancient Egyptian literature I've read; for example, that's not what The Book of the Dead says. Second, whose "current understanding" do you have in mind when you say that humans reincarnate as humans? In modern Druid teaching, for example, rebirth in an animal form is seen as a real possibility.

[(Anonymous)]

Is there a reason why so many people seem to want to quit porn but are unable to do so? Is it an ordinary addiction, or do you think there might be something else going on here?

[ecosophia]

I'm not at all certain. A great many people seem to be stuck in a very wide range of unproductive habits these days, though!

book purchase

[(Anonymous)]

Could you include your preferred locations for the purchasing of your books in the faq? In particular I am interested in where to purchase the Druidry Group from.

Re: book purchase

[ecosophia]

I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I recommend purchasing the books in question via the publishers:

The Druidry Handbook
The Druid Magic Handbook
The three AODA publications (The Druid Grove Handbook, The Druid Revival Reader and The Gnostic Celtic Church.

On-line Tarot Yes or No readings.

[(Anonymous)]

Assuming that the website’s algorithm is correctly representing the spread of Tarot cards, do you believe that online Tarot yes or no readings are valid? Such as https://www.astrology.com/tarot/yes-no.html. If not, why? Thanks.

Re: On-line Tarot Yes or No readings.

[ecosophia]

I've never tried them -- why not just shuffle a deck and deal a card yourself, and then look up the meaning if you haven't finished learning the cards yet?

Neo-Platonism

[candace_k]

Hi JMG

I read your essay in “Ascendant”. I have started reading the books you recommended at the end. I did read the book (or more accurately tried to read the book by Shaw, the academic bent was difficult for me.) While searching for the books on the list, I came across another book, “Living Theurgy” by Kupperman. I was wondering if you had encountered it and if you had any thoughts on his take on the practice of theurgy. Or hopefully, if you are going to be discussing that more on your other blog.

Thank you again for the new explanation of the SoP!

Sincerely,
Candace

Re: Neo-Platonism

[ecosophia]

I haven't read Kupperman's book -- anyone else? I'll consider doing some talk about theurgy on the blog.

Sphere of Protection in German

[bendithfawr]

Picking up from last week, I'd like to offer my current version of the Sphere of Protection (the DMH version) in German. Since I'm currently only up to the first gate, this is what I'm presenting here:

Beim Himmel über mir,
bei der Erde unter mir,
beim Feuer zu meiner Rechten,
beim Wasser zu meiner Linken:
Mögen die Mächte der Natur, mich und die Meinen segnen und beschützen, jetzt und für immer.

Beim Maifalken im Morgenwind rufe ich die Luft, ihre Götter, ihre Geister und ihre Kräfte.
Ich bitte die Luft um ihren Segen.
Ich danke der Luft für ihre Gaben.
Und mit Hilfe der Luft banne ich in und um mir alle ihre unbalancierten Erscheinungsformen.
Ich verbanne sie weit weg von mir.

It rolls of the tongue for me but I can't vouch for it's efficacy since I'm just starting out. Would love to get some feedback!

On a related note, I'd love to get in touch with other practitioners or simply those interested in discussing the topics that our gracious host introduces here and on the other blog. If you're based in or around Berlin (where I live) or Freiburg (where I'll be moving to soon) and feel the same, do contact me: my username here at mailbox.org!

Re: Sphere of Protection in German

[(Anonymous)]

A fluid and lyrical translation! Only the "unbalancierten" in the second to last line is one of those funny and to my ears somewhat clumsy "new german" words that always seem somehow forced to me. Maybe "unausgewogenen" might suit your otherwise elegant wording better...

Will v. algorithm

[(Anonymous)]

A friend sent me a link to an article repeating the too oft told story of a somewhat directionless single white male turning to a popular video streaming service and getting sucked down an alt-right rabbit hole. This particular individual realized what had happened, changed political agendas, and is participating in a left-leaning counter action. I do not wish to discuss politics either way but instead want to make an observation and ask a question.

Reading the article it stuck me that what we are seeing is a change in consciousness brought about through the act -- not of a will -- but of an algorithm. In this case it is the algorithm that suggests the next video to watch. Now, yes, there are very human and all-too-profit oriented wills behind the programming of the algorithm but its action on an individual viewer takes place in private without public review.

The article also discussed the allure that the subject felt and the empowerment he drew from watching strongly opinionated material trending all the way through to hate speech. Again I do not want to discuss the specific material but admit the lure that knowledge has, particularly when presented as "occult." There is seduction in feelings of membership, shared culture, secret knowledge that the subject felt and that drew him further down into nastier material.

As a long time reader I doubt I have to explain this to you. Instead I would like to ask about the will versus algorithm distinction. Will is what I least understand in your (Dion Fortune's) definition of magic. What does the intermediation of an algorithm mean? You have always cautioned about the power of magic; I particularly like the jam sandwich analogy you wrote years ago. I have this image of the Silicon Valley "masters of technology" dripping in raspberry jam from the unsupervised actions of the algorithms they turn loose in pursuit of profit.

I also ask how traditional occult systems handle its seductive nature and the exploitation to which that can lead. Is it prevented through the teacher/student relationship? A good Zen teacher, for instance, is meant to offer continual and individual review of a student and would be immediately aware if one was "going astray." Is it that feedback cycle that prevents radicalization? Algorithms run at scale and are monitored, but their individual human effects go unsupervised. Is it this lack of feedback that leads to trouble? Are there lessons to be learned from solo occultists getting into trouble? (Beyond Mickey Mouse doing the dishes, of course!)

There is much more I would like to ask, but do not want to monopolize this channel. Please indicate if there is a more appropriate venue (Ecosophia comments?) perhaps one giving you an editorial input before sharing.

Re: Will v. algorithm

[(Anonymous)]

May I ask, have you considered that the algorithm may be subject to will, either from alt-right mages, who have an obvious stake in the matter, or possibly from spiritual beings that range all the way the demonic to divine?

An algorithm directs the flow of information, but it seems to me that they would have many points in which the will of other beings could act on them. Certainly the whole "Elsagate" fiasco got me thinking along these lines, as there seemed to me to be a rather obvious sinister consciousness directing things toward specific nefarious ends, rather than just some computer code. Just because humans create something doesn't mean that they are in control of their creation.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a few questions this week:

1. Is there a term in AODA style druidry (or, for that matter, traditional occultism) to describe the web of subtle interconnections between all things?

2. I think it came up in some Magic Monday that animals have collective guardian spirits for species, while humans have individual ones. Would this mean that plants have guardian spirits for species, but trees have individual ones like humans? Or would trees also have one for the species? (can one communicate with, say, Cedars, or only with specific individuals?)

3. I have found a group I enjoy singing with, but the songs are very Christian and I am not. Since I take religion and my words seriously, I feel weird about singing such songs--a shame, because I love the music.

Is there some way to magically cancel out the words I say/to intend to not mean what I say, for a number of hours? (My background is the DMH; I'm working through the tool enchanting section.)

Many thanks, JMG, for all the patient answers you give us!

~Bewilderness

[(Anonymous)]

As a singer who's been in comparable situations, I'd put it this way: when you sing that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose, you don't mean that you really believe that either, and nobody would assume you did. You don't normally do anything differently when you sing songs that are about things that are true (yes, the wheels on the bus really do go round and round) vs things that aren't. Songs might contain sentiments the singer believes and wishes to affirm - e.g. maybe you really do "believe the children are our future" - but the only place where that's taken for granted is at religious ceremonies. Otherwise it's just someone else's phrase that you're quoting.

Dreams

[(Anonymous)]

I know you don't do dream analysis, but I wonder if you have any comments.

As I may have mentioned, I used to hang out with people in the Daoist spirit medium scene, and was interested in learning about their world. That ended when one of them, who served a powerful and scary god warned me that the god had learned I was asking questions, and was taking notice - which might have consequences I wouldn't welcome, including being pressed into his service *as my friend had been.

That led me to the understanding that the gods in the Chinese tradition are not *my* gods, and that was the start of my drift towards Druidry. Lately, I seem to have been forming a connection with Gwyn ap Nudd in particular.

Last night I had an unusually realistic and disturbing dream. It seemed that I was hanging out with young, heavily tattooed members of the Tiandihui, that blurry area where shamanistic religion and organised crime overlap. It seemed at first that they were helping me to achieve some goal, but soon became clear that they weren't - they were blocking me, in league with three western men. Eventually, they physically held me down, and seemed to be preparing me for some rite - only to say, after poking and prodding me, "There's too much monkey here", at which point they left.

Now, I've always had an affection for Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and my apartment here in Beijing has a lot of his memorabilia gleaned from local flea markets.

I'm still trying to make sense of it, but it feels as if I've narrowly escaped a spiritual kidnap attempt. I still feel Gwyn's presence, so I think he's still on the scene. I feel like I owe thanks to Sun Wukong, but not that he's demanding anything more.

So... well, that was just weird. Does that kind of thing happen? It's going to be some time before I get home to my divination tools, so.... I dunno. Do you have any advice?

Thanks,

Bogatyr

Re: Dreams

[ecosophia]

Yes, that kind of thing definitely happens. Burn some incense to the Monkey King, thank him for his protective influence and ask him to help keep away from the god you don't want to serve. Then invoke Gwyn and keep up your banishing rituals!

Deified dead and pomo magic

[(Anonymous)]

1) If an exceptionally accomplished dead person is deified (Chinese mythology for one is full of them), or at least frequently thought of with reverence by many people over a long time (Alexander the Great comes to mind), what kind of effect that has on their soul? Does this create a new entity that can be called upon, or perhaps alter an existing deity? If it does something, how does this fit together with rebirth? The existence of ancestor worship hints of some part of human soul staying out there while the rest passes on, but I don't really know.

2) Not a question, but a thought on postmodern magic. It seems that even if different energies/deities/whatever were nothing but human-created symbols, it's still a bad idea to think you can make them mean whatever you want. The human mind is a much larger thing than its everyday consciousness, and a single mind is nothing compared to the weight of centuries embodied within the culture. In magic, you want as much of your mind as possible to focus on precisely the same thing, and that's not as simple as one might think.

Assume a witch does a working that uses Mars as a symbol of proud feminine and compassionate inclusivity. Her everyday self uses it so, but in what's usually called subconscious, it's going to conflict with culture-defined ideas of what Mars symbolizes, linguistic connections like Mars/martial, the link between color red and aggression, impressions from past lives etc. If her concentration is strong, the working might fizzle out as its contradictions fight it out in her head, but more likely than not, it will just veer off in a direction she didn't expect. Less obviously, by assuming that the elements of working can mean whatever you like, you sort of give the different parts of your subconscious a permission to freely interpret them too, and since this leads to lots of different interpretations of working's intent and the employed symbolism, the unity of focus will suffer. By contrast, if you work with an established system that you believe cannot be changed willy-nilly, as it relies on objective facts, your sub-minds are more likely to stay on the same page.

Comments? I know that for you this is just a bunch of words leading to a place from which one should start anyway, since the things we invoke mostly aren't our creations, but if this was more hit than miss, perhaps the argument is of some occasional utility.

Re: Deified dead and pomo magic

[candace_k]

Well building on that question. If a symbol becomes corrupted in its use say the Swastika. I know that it still means what it used to mean among to the people of India, but what about for westerners. Like the Finns? Would you advise them to change the symbol on the flag or try to reclaim the old meaning?

Just a curiosity since I don't do that type of magic.

Sincerely,
Candace

LBRP

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, JMG,
After practicing the LBRP daily for a couple of weeks I'm noticing a sense of brightness around me. It feels like my eyes are working better or something; not visual acuity really as my eyesight is quite good for being in my mid-40s, but just an unmistakable brightness right around me, and in my practice space.

In a nutshell, I like it. I like it a lot. I look forward to doing it every morning, and can't really sit still over coffee with my wife until I've done it. Can't believe it took me so long to try it out.

But I have a few questions.

1) As a side effect of this practice I notice that, in relating to friends in person, I seem to have lost some of my punch. Like they're not hearing what I'm saying, or like it isn't really making sense, and they're just humoring me. Could I be experiencing some sort of...elemental imbalance or something? It's like I'm short on fire, and that's very confusing, especially considering my Leo-Leo-Scorpio-Leo natal position!

2) Just out of curiosity, does anyone else wiggle and splash their giant toes in the nearest ocean when standing on the basketball-sized Earth in the Cabalistic Cross? I can't seem to help myself...

3) Can I add in the Middle Pillar right away, or should I just practice the LBRP for a while longer?

4) Should I consider adding the Rose Cross Ritual to maybe help bring back my missing fire? (If that's what it is.)

5) Just to clarify, when I do the LBRP am I just protecting myself and the space inside my pentagram circle? Or does it have a longer reach? I realize I'm a noob and probably not generating much force at this point.

Thank you so much for your time, Archdruid.
Tripp

Re: LBRP

[violetcabra]

Dear Tripp,

if I may;

in my personal experience the more spiritual work the more friends have drifted away. In fact I've lost nearly all of my friends since taking up practice.

Why is this? Well one aspect is that this is "the way of the lonely ones," viz. spiritual practice marks one as an outsider.

This may be especially true now given the prevalent bad vibes. As your aura brightens it will scare away a lot of people. As you related last week, not everyone who is in your circles comes with good intent and banishing rituals do a very good job of chasing those sorts of people away. Also people can be freaked by a bright aura, which the LBRP creates.

As you work with deities they begin to "rub off" on you just as you and your wife may "rub off" on each other. This has many practical benefits, of course, but as your energy shifts with time spent in practice this will inevitably change you in ways that people find acutely discomfiting. By repeatedly invoking a deity that means, ipso facto, that you are in a relationship with that deity, and one in which you will change and become more infused with the energies of that deity.

This is important and sacred work, but unless people are "on the bus," there will likely be a tendency for losing touch and contact with folks who, no matter how kind, sincere and big-hearted, simply aren't on a compatible path.

You may also come to reevaluate relationships from the new bright light that has come into your life and grow to feel differently. Certainly I found that to be the case after about a year of practice.

For whatever it's worth, you certainly have my encouragement and I'm delighted to hear that you are getting such good results so rapidly. That said, TSW indeed, and sometimes in ways that can be extremely painful.

Qabalistic Cross

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Archdruid,
I'm studying LRM and I have a couple of questions about how to perform the Qabalistic Cross correctly.

1) Can I visualize in the third person? I find visualizing myself in a "mental screen" while I perform the ritual easier than visualizing the Earth beneath my feet, the beam of light descending upon me and so on in the first person.
2) Is it okay to give some material attribute to each step? For example, make the ve-Geburah sphere inflamed (to aid visualization of the red color), the ve-Gedulah sphere enveloped in ice (for blue), and the beam of light as a LED strip.

Thanks for your help and for Magic Mondays!

Re: Qabalistic Cross

[ecosophia]

1) No, if you do that you'll be missing most of the effect. You need to do it in the first person to benefit from it. Yes, I know that can be harder, but it's worth the additinal effort.

2) Try it as given for a few months first.

SoP and planets

[(Anonymous)]

As always, many thanks for the forum! Do you think the SoP would be compatible to perform with Orphic planetary hymns? Something worth experimenting with?

Cheers!

Re: SoP and planets

[ecosophia]

I think that would work very well! Purify yourself and the space around you in the name of a suitable set of Hellenic gods and goddesses, and then invoke one of same with an Orphic hymn -- that would a good basic theurgic working for daily practice.

Follow Up on a Divination Question from Last Year

[gbejm]

Not a question, but one part follow up and one part shameless plug if that's okay...


Last year, I asked you whether astrological aspects had equivalents in sortilege-based divination systems and you challenged me to explore the concept (https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/18347.html?thread=663211#cmt663211). I didn't end up getting anywhere on that front. I did, however, stumble onto a systematic way to generate "astrology-like" charts -- where each position has zero, one, or multiple symbols -- using sortilege systems. I posted a detailed paper on the method to Dreamwidth (https://gbejm.dreamwidth.org/274.html).

And thank you for the nudge, even though what I ended up with wasn't what I initially expected to find.

Re: Follow Up on a Divination Question from Last Year

[ecosophia]

Excellent! I'm delighted to hear it.

[(Anonymous)]

Given the discussion of different body centers that came up in the comments on your SOP post, I was wondering if you had any book recommendations for a good general introduction to the various centers and their lore that would be compatible with the CGD.

Thanks again for Magic Monday!

[ecosophia]

The only book on the subject that I know of that covers it even approximately is Israel Regardie's little book The Art of True Healing, and it's very basic. Someday someone will have to do a lot of research and write a better book on that.

UFOs and the Occult

[(Anonymous)]

Not really a question, JMG, but a comment. Adamski a major figure in the occult???? This whole UFO thing just gets weirder and weirder! I always thought that Jacques Vallee (who, I believe, is a Rosicrucian)’s books on UFOs were the best – but with your whole “occult dimension” of the modern UFO phenomenon coming out with your revised UFO book, it looks like you are in line to make the most significant contribution to the field since Vallee. Of course, the ‘nuts and bolts’ UFO devotees will be able to tolerate it – but I doubt you will lose much sleep over that…

Your comment on the UFO phenomenon being deliberately created by 20th century occultists has me intrigued. The major question that comes to my mind is 'why'? (I can think of several possible answers) I suppose that I will have to buy your book to get the detailed answer!

Really looking forward to the publishing of your revise UFO book!

Ron M

Re: UFOs and the Occult

[history_monk]

"Why" is my question, too. If this is addressed in the revised book, you've made a sale here.

[(Anonymous)]

If you have a low level parasitic entity, would doing the SoP daily clear it?

Is it ok to ask the tarot fairly trivial questions? I am doing daily readings. I asked if I should go to a bar one night and the cards that came up were the Fool, Death, and the 2 of Wands. Were the cards fooling with me or were they a valid answer?

Could someone choose to reincarnate as a bird say, for the experience of it or do you go back to animal form only as a punishment?

[(Anonymous)]

Great segue to a question I wanted ask.

Have you, JMG, or anyone else here, ever had your Oracle make fun of you? I did once last summer. Went like this:

I got all serious about my card draw, laying out the cloth, lighting a white candle and waving it over the cloth for purification, and setting it off the cloth to the right/east. Then I drew my card. From the Druid Animal Oracle I drew the Hare.

Reading through the Carr-Gomm's material on the Hare I discovered that it was associated with dawn (which it was at the time), brightness (from the candle and oncoming dawn), white (the color of my candle), and the East (where I had set my candle...)

I had a good laugh at myself and put the oracle away for the day.
Tripp

George Adamski

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

The occult dimensions of the UFO phenomenon is fascinating. Given what you said about Adamski. Was he consciously inventing stories about Orthon in order to popularise certain occult teachings?

Karim

Re: George Adamski

[ecosophia]

That's a very good question to which I haven't yet found the answer. It might have been that; equally, his encounter with Orthon may have been a visionary experience which he rewrote as a physical experience, for any of a variety of reasons.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been pondering on how working with the Elementals might support other activities to mitigate climate change, but that hasn't been part of my practices in the past. Do you have any suggetions or cautions?

[ecosophia]

Meditate on it and do divinations to find out if the elementals want to help. They may not. Some of what's going on with the climate may be their attempts to slap humanity silly for its maltreatment of the elemental kingdoms...

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. I often feel a little light-headed when doing rhythmic breathing, is that something to worry about?

2. With the SOP, do you have any advice how to increase the strength and clarity of the visualization / imagination component? I try to introduce the other senses (feeling of wind against the skin during First Gate, etc) but often the visualizations are weak. If the imagination is like a muscle, how does one best train it?

As always, thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) You may be overdoing it, either by breathing too slow or breathing too deeply. Relax a bit, speed up the rhythm to something closer to normal, and see if that takes care of it.

2) The only way I know of to exercise the imagination is to use it. If you've got ten minutes of free time daily, use that to build up images as vividly as you can -- not magical images, just mental pictures you decide to create. Bring all the senses into the image, and make everything as solid as you can. That will work those mental muscles!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Thanks as always for Magic Mondays.

I've read here several times the jar method of breaking ties with people in your life, and I was wondering if there's a similar method to help break ties with a place. The property I live on is carved out of what once was my grandparent's farm -- an idyllic place to grow up on -- but the land around our two acres was divided up and sold off after my grandmother's passing in 2001. Ever since, I have walked the boundaries, either along our property lines or on the roads (it's inescapable) with a great amount of loss and bitterness in my heart. It has all slowly changed under new ownership -- two new family homes, and just this spring a new owner began tearing up the back field where we used to fly kites and pick berries. I trespassed to "check things out" a week ago, and I was glad I had taken photos and video last year, because it's not going to remain the back field much longer.

It seems a terrible weight to carry for so long, and I regularly have nightmares about going back on the land and discovering shopping malls or various other intrusions on the overwhelmingly natural world I grew up in. Thankfully, due to local zoning laws, it will only ever be houses, but it's still development, always right in front of my eyes, always out of my control.

This area has undergone a lot of development in the past decades, and I always hate to see the trees coming down for more houses, but it's so much more personal with my grandparent's land because I was so intimately involved with since the moment I could sit in the grass. From planting and harvesting the massive vegetable garden, to my grandfather's "standing stones", to my favorite trees, to spending hours at the side of the pond or in the woods -- I feel like there's still a ghost of me on that land, and I'd like to get her off of it, move her into a future separate from what was and what is now beyond her control. My mother and I cherish our two acres and the home we have, and I have been putting more effort into appreciating that, but I still have the nightmares, and the feelings of dread, bitterness, and sorrow every time I pass the opening to the back field.

Curiously, on the lot right beside us is the house I lived in until I was 7, and I have a great fondness for that property but none of the grief. Granted, it hasn't changed much under its various new owners, but I have no sense of "wanting it back" as I do with my grandparent's land.

I've worked with this for so long now, I'm hoping there is some other way to let it go than by simply trying to. I always keep in mind that the trees will take it all back in the end no matter what, and that's some solace, but I still feel that personal connection, almost a responsibility of guardianship, that I'm legally prohibited from enacting.

I'm sure many others who have lived "out in the country" have experienced similar losses in these times, and I'd be open to hearing any ways of working with it, as well as any insights or perspectives that might move me forward. I'd just like to live without this constant sense of loss, and moving away isn't an option, at least not as long as my mother is still here.

Thanks as always,
Diane

[ecosophia]

I would use meditation and journaling to try to get to the roots of the issue. There may be more going on here than you realize.

The Magical Garden

[violetcabra]

Question for JMG and gardeners in general;

Let's say that you are in a real grim place with bad vibes galore. You are walking down the sidewalk and come upon a community garden that happens to be planted with hawthorn, holly, cedar, rosemary, hyssop, angelica, and every other protective and blessing herb you can think of. You speak to a kindly gardener and she says that the garden has been established for some decades

My question is, basically, in this thought experiment, how far would you expect the garden's good energies to extend? A block? Five? As far away as you could smell the aromatics? Only within the precincts of the garden itself?

A city like Portland Oregon show demonstratively that really bad vibes can be balanced with good enough greenery. My curiosity it how far this extends, how powerful it is, and how much it can balance on its own. Forgive the absurdity of the framing, but is it that a one acre space planted in protective plants balance out 7 skid row alcoholics or 2 professional level malefic magical practitioners? I'm aware it's difficult to quantify this, but it seems worthy to broach the question to get a sense of how effective the magical garden is over space.

Re: The Magical Garden

[(Anonymous)]

I can't answer your query, but I have a question for you. My kids and I sat down last Friday and made hexafoils, just like the one in your mugshot. Then we colored them, the petals anyway, with the 6 main color wheel colors, paired up across from their complimentary color. The intention was planetary correspondence and blessing. Blue for Moon, Green for Venus, etc.

My question is, is coloring them a fine thing to do or are we muddling up banishing/invocation intentions? Violet? JMG?

Many thanks!
Tripp

Fear of the Dark

[(Anonymous)]

Do you have any thoughts from an occult perspective on what could be behind a lifelong fear of the dark? I feel it especially indoors, and while it's by no means overpowering most of the time, it can be quite intense in moments. Long dark hallways are the worst. Maybe it's just an ordinary psychological phenomenon, but thought I would ask. And are there any natural magic techniques that could help? (Or maybe meditation and journaling, right?)

Re: Fear of the Dark

[ecosophia]

You may be dealing with a terror from early childhood, possibly rooted in some experience you don't remember clearly or at all. Meditation and journaling might be well worth your while.

[(Anonymous)]

Is doing the LBRP as outlined in the Celtic Golden Dawn an acceptable practice on its own as a daily banishing ritual, even if one is not actively working the Celtic Golden Dawn system?

[ecosophia]

Absolutely. After you've done the Celtic LBRP daily for a month or so, add in the Exercise of the Central Ray -- the CGD version of the Middle Pillar exercise -- and you'll have a good solid working to purify, strengthen, and balance your subtle bodies and chase off astral crud, which you can practice with very good effect for the rest of your life.