Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of George Washington Carey, another American occultist too rarely remembered today. One of the major figures in the end of homeopathy that uses the twelve biochemic cell salts, he worked out a detailed system of spiritual and physical healing using those twelve remedies, assigning them to the signs of the Zodiac. For much of the twentieth century, most of the correspondence courses offered by occult schools included lessons on the cell salts lifted with or without credit from Carey's work, and the kind of old-fashioned health food store that catered to alternative spirituality as well as alternative diets inevitably had all twelve cell salts in stock. (Longtime Seattle residents may recall the charming Mari-Don Healthways store on 45th street in Wallingford; that's where I got my first cell salts, back when I was first learning to use them.) The wheel below on the right, which can be found in various places online, is one of Carey's creations. 

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

[(Anonymous)]

Going to r/occult and, indeed, many other occult themed forums, it appears that the plurality and perhaps majority of topics are on evil magic and demonolotary. Most religious institutions and professionals -- at least in affluent regions of the United States -- behave as if the gods they ostensibly worship are mere superstition and nonsense. My questions are: 1) how long do you expect the prevailing attitudes towards the spiritual realms to remain this toxic and 2) what do you think will it take to shake folks out of this torpor?

[ecosophia]

1) This is normally what happens when popular culture is about to take a sharp turn away from magic. People start by embracing the mainstream religious attitude toward magic -- "it's all devil worship" -- and end by embracing the rest of mainstream religion, and becoming Methodists or what have you. I expect a lot of the people who are currently prattling about summoning demons, within a few years, will be testifying in church about how Jesus saved them from evil -- the way that a lot of ex-hippies did in the early 1970s, to cite the most recent example. It's a recurring pattern.

2) It's self-terminating, as noted above. Then we'll have around 36 years when occultism is off the radar screens of contemporary culture and most of the people who are involved are serious about it, followed by another round of pop-culture occultism.

[(Anonymous)]

Two questions: first, if screens in general are linked to cacaomagic as I’ve seen discussed before, would porn be an especially potent version, as it links straight to sexuality?

Second: you’ve said it’s a bad idea to mix systems before, but I remember seeing you say The Order of Essenes was an exception. Is this accurate? If so, why, and is it safe to do while working through LRM?

[ecosophia]

1) Er, cacomagic, not cacaomagic. The latter is magic that involves chocolate. ;-) That aside, quite probably, yes. It depends on whether there's intention involved -- well, other than the intention of making money on the one hand, and self-stimulation on the other...

2) The Order of Essenes doesn't teach magic; it teaches the saner end of New Thought philosophy, with some simple non-magical exercises mixed in. It's a bad idea to study more than one system of magic at a time, but you can study a system of magic at the same time as you're studying a system of philosophy, or how to play the ukelele, or what have you.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG!

You mentioned that you are not at all a fan of Michael Harner's Shamanism.

What is wrong about it, and could it be salvaged by implementing changes in the practice?

What are the differences between shamanistic journeys and scrying in the spirit vision?

Thanks!

[ecosophia]

Harner's system is basically a simplified form of scrying in the spirit vision, without a coherent symbolic system to give it meaning or anything else to keep it from descending into what Israel Regardie used to call "astral tourism." It's entertaining, no doubt, but that's all it is.

Real shamanism -- and I encourage you to read actual accounts of trad shamanic practice to get a sense of the differences -- is not something you choose, not something you control, and not something you imagine. The spirits choose you, they take you away to their realm, and you don't just imagine the flesh being ripped from your bones and your organs replaced by pieces of crystal -- you experience it. Meanwhile your family keeps watch over your comatose body and wonders whether you'll survive, because sometimes people don't. If you come back, you live forever after in both worlds at once, and that means that you face serious dangers other people don't, because the world of the spirits isn't just inhabited by friendly animal helpers, it has things in it that can and will kill you.

That's real shamanism. Do you see the differences?

haunting

[(Anonymous)]

Is it possible to have a haunted house where only one person who lives there sees anything out of the ordinary? My wife seems to see/have odd stuff happen in our house and I never see anything?

Re: haunting

[ecosophia]

People differ dramatically in their capacity to see the etheric and astral planes. Ask your wife if her mother or grandmother used to see strange things a lot -- the Second Sight, as the Celts used to call it, generally runs through the maternal bloodline.

Locality in Astrology

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve been gradually working through my natal chart, however, I’m a little unclear regarding just how much the ascendant and house changes from current location should color horoscope interpretation. Is it something you ignore entirely? Or do you need to filter everything in your chart through the place you lived at any given time? For instance, in my natal chart, I’m a rising cancer with Venus in Accidental Detriment in the first house (it’s in Leo, so it takes its dignity from Aries which rules the first house right?), Mercury and Mars (in accidental detriment) in the second house, the Sun in the third house, Saturn and Uranus (both in accidental detriment) in the fifth house, Neptune (in accidental detriment) in the sixth house, and nothing within 12 degrees of any of my angles. Where I live now, my ascendant has moved to Leo, my first house is occupied by Mercury and a Mars that’s in accidental dignity, the Sun’s moved to the second house, Saturn’s moved to the fourth house (still in accidental detriment), Neptune’s moved to the fifth house, the moon’s moved to the ninth house, and Venus has moved to a place of accidental exaltation in the twelfth house (which move the Moon, Mars, Neptune, and Venus out of detriment). Meanwhile, Venus is within one degree from my ascendant, and Jupiter is one degree from my descendent. Do I need to look at each of those (and the other two charts for the two places I’ve lived between now and then) as completely separate horoscopes for each of those periods of my life? Or do the changes affect my natal chart in more subtle ways (for instance, when looking at my ruling planet placement, would that be the tenth house as in my natal chart, the 9th house based on the moon’s movement when I relocated, a combination of the two, or the second house since my ruling planet is now the sun)? In Llewellyn George’s chapter on relocation, he starts out by saying that the Natal Chart is the Natal Chart no matter what, but then in his example, he lists some pretty significant changes that come from the shifts in house placement (for instance, a move of planets from the fourth to fifth house changing interests in the areas of life ruled by those planets from family to recreation), which would imply that locality does affect the horoscope in ways that need to be taken into account but he doesn’t go into much more detail than that in terms of how to balance nativity and locality when putting together a horoscope.

-Eric Singletary

Re: Locality in Astrology

[ecosophia]

Okay, your birth chart is your birth chart and remains the same wherever you go. The changes you get from locality are overlaid on the basic pattern of the birth chart. I'd encourage you to cast relocation charts for each place you've lived, and then look back over what was different about your life in each of those places; that'll give you a good sense of how this works.

Reading astrological charts is a knack, and the only way to develop it is by looking at lots of astrological charts!

[(Anonymous)]

I pitched the autism is a result of souls that hadn’t let go of a previous life trying to express too complex mental functions last week, and have a follow up thought I’d like to hear input on.

First, the traditional time a soul takes to shed their old identity seems to be about 30 years in a few different cultures. This looks remarkably like a Saturn Return, so I think it might be that. If so, this implies that the dead continue to respond to astrological forces.

Taking it a step further, it might be possible that these charts would remain active if a soul is reincarnated early. If this is the case, these charts should be detectable, and further whatever their frequency in the general public, if autism is caused by a soul reincarnating early, every autistic should have such a ghostly chart.

I’m curious if you’ve ever come across evidence of this, and if not if you can think of ways for me to go looking for it. I’m picking up astrology, but for now I’m an imterested amateur. If this is something to shelve for now, that’s okay with me too.

[ecosophia]

Hmm! That seems at least possible, but I don't have any ideas on how best to test it. If you could find out the person's previous birth chart that would help, but it's very rare that that kind of details is available, even when past life memories are pretty clear. I have no idea what any of my previous birth dates were, for example.

Magic affecting the material world

[(Anonymous)]

JMG

I’ve seen you post the Dion Fortune definition of magic many times and also explain (in your Monsters book I think?) that magic is not meant to affect the physical/material realm and you need science and engineering for that.

I also seem to vaguely recall that you said somewhere else that magic can have material effects in some rare and highly specific circumstances.

Can magic ever have a direct physical or
Material effect?

Re: Magic affecting the material world

[ecosophia]

Good question. The most straightforward answer is "we just don't know." So little of the old strong lore survives intact that we have only the most sketchy ideas about what is possible at the upper end of magical practice. I will say that in more than forty years of magical practice I've never seen anyone cause a direct physical or material effect, and I've never managed the trick myself.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

several unrelated questions:
- does the protective circle of the LBRP stay centered on the point in the room it was performed in or is it centered on me and moves with me through the day?
- I followed the hypnagogia threat but after the cut off time for comments. I never realized it is a common occurrence with others as well. It doesn't happen every night but often enough and images are stunning, unknown and terrifying. Is there a way to deal with the scary parts to be able to stay with it longer and study the rest? Usually I shake myself back up to wakefulness if it gets bad.
I also often get creative ideas just before falling asleep or randomly waking up around 2-4 am. I presume it is part of the same phenomenon. It's not really coming from me, if I don't write it down it's lost forever.
- reincarnation and immigration. Do souls stay connected to a locality or can they follow a dear human who migrates to another country?

Thanks a lot for MMs!

[ecosophia]

1) A little of both. Your aura is affected by the ritual, and so is the energy of the space where it's done.

2) Good question -- I don't happen to know. Does anyone else have suggestions?

3) Some souls stay connected with a locality, others don't. I had never been to the Puget Sound area of Washington State before I was reborn there.

DMH questions

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. I'm about 3 months in with the set of exercises in the DMH. When I say aloud the words in the vocal component of the SOP, should I be visualizing at the same time as saying the words? I have been saying the words with as much intention as I can muster, and right afterwards doing the visualization/imaginational component. Is this correct?

2. Does doing the SOP and meditation have any effect on one's perceptions of color? I went for a walk today and noticed a certain vibrancy in the strong blue of a nearby windswept lake, and it seemed just somehow a bit more vibrant than normal. I have noticed this in other situations as well this past week, this is the example I remember most clearly.

3. I just wanted to share an experience I had the other day later during the same walk which I referenced above. I've been noticing when doing the daily concentration exercises as a precursor to discursive meditation that afterwards everything around me feels quiet, including my mind, and a great sense of mental calm, to the point where I become more observant of things and sounds around me.

Well, on that walk I started to feel the same sense of calm, which was a welcome respite from the normal mental chatter that I often have when walking. I started to notice a lot more of my surroundings, views I hadn't seen, details of the spring buds on trees, combinations of birdcalls, patterns in rocks, and so on. No drugs involved, but the experience started to feel similar to some experiences with drugs decades ago.

I felt at the same time as having this sense of calm an increasing amount of physical energy, and I went to a place by the sea where thankfully there was no one else around. There was some mental chatter here and there but the sense of inner calm was profound. I was at that moment having an incredible day, so I went to the top of a rise overlooking the ocean, and thanked all the Druid gods I have encountered thus far in the SOP I have been doing, and suddenly remembered that I could do a receptive air working, which I didn't remember exactly how to do so I just did yellow color breathing. This sense of inner calm at the same time as being physically energetic grew strong enough that I could feel my neck hairs tingling. Everything was so clear, my footsteps were full of intention, almost silent, and felt natural (unlike my often tight gait). All of this faded as I returned home slowly but it was a profound experience which I am grateful for. Do you think this experience is an effect of the basic DMH exercises I have been doing?

4. For the third time in the past two weeks (for the second day in a row) while I was shuffling the Ogham cards and asking the question 'what do I most need to know about the coming day' I had a premonition of one of the cards which would pop up, and sure enough, that popped up in the reading. It's a similar sensation to when I have an idea or suddenly understanding a concept - a kind of blooming in the mind. It's a little spooky, what is happening with that? This morning was particularly accurate, I 'knew' as I was shuffling the Ogham cards that reversed Fearn would come up, and it did.

5. I know that the summer solstice and Alban Heruin is coming up, I will be travelling and camping with other people then, and I'm wondering if there's anything appropriate to do or say to mark the occasion?

Thanks again!

Re: DMH questions

[ecosophia]

1) Try it both ways and see which gets you the better results.

2) I haven't heard anyone mention that effect before, but it's possible.

3) Yes. That's a common kind of spiritual experience among Druids, and one of the points of doing the work is that it makes such experiences more frequent.

4) Good. That kind of awareness is what daily divination is meant to produce.

5) For now, just set aside a little time to acknowledge the day. As you go further, you'll learn appropriate ritual tools you can use to celebrate the four festivals.

Mixing systems

[ola_p]

Hi JMG and thanks for this forum.

I'm currently working with geomancy, using your book and wonder if using the SOP togeather with this magical system woyld be a good idea?

Also a children question... learning magic before puberty is a nono acgording to faq. Would learning SOP before puberty also be a bad idea? I'm thinking that some of the problems that comes with puberty could in fact have an spiritual origin and so it would be a good idea... however, being new at this I feel I must ask.

Kind regards
Ola

Re: Mixing systems

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, the SoP is very flexible and can be used with almost any symbolic system.

2) I don't recommend it. The energy channels used in magic are the same ones involved in sexuality, and you don't want to be messing with them while the sexual energies are in their first highly unstable condition during puberty. Natural magic -- herbs, stones, etc. -- is very well suited to the needs of children and teens, and I highly recommend teaching them that and some kind of divination method (tarot, geomancy, or the like) but even basic ceremonial magic such as the SoP should be left until after their sexuality has stabilized (and if at all possible until they've lost their virginity, if that's going to happen).

so many questions

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG!

I have a bunch of questions that came up this week:

1) Will The Dolmen Arch books build on the symbolic system of the ogham fews?

2) Would you categorize praying a rosary as meditation or as prayer? Do you think it's a beneficial practice?

3) In your book on monsters you warn about residual spirits of drowned persons in bodies of water.
Is there a source where one could find more information on this topic?

3a) Also, could there be a connection to the smiley face murder theory? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley_face_murder_theory

4) Is there a structured way to contact nature spirits in a druidic context, à la shinto, or is it a
light-some-incense-next-to-a-tree-and-see-if-something-happens situation?

5) What's the difference between the planetary spirits in your geomancy book and demons?

6) What do you think about the efficacy of catholic sacramentals, e.g. holy water, st.benedict-medals, scapulars...?

That's a lot of questions, I'm very grateful for the chance to ask you all this. Thank you!

Re: so many questions

[ecosophia]

1) No, the Ogham hadn't been revived as an oracle yet when the original course was written.

2) It's right on the borderline, and yes, it's an immensely beneficial practice. If you're a Catholic I would strongly encourage you to pray the rosary daily.

3) I got that information from various books of folklore, in bits and scraps. As for the "smiley face" drownings, I have no idea.

4) The toolkit of ritual methods covered in The Druid Magic Handbook can be used for that among other purposes.

5) Planetary spirits are blind forces but they're not malicious. Demons are malicious.

6) They're good standard magical items and, if used with faith in appropriate ways, will doubtless have very good results.

Return to African witchcraft

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG, not sure what you will make of this:

"Young black women are leaving Christianity and embracing African witchcraft"

https://www.keepthefaith.co.uk/2019/05/27/young-black-women-are-leaving-christianity-and-embracing-african-witchcraft

Apparently there is a revival happening in Yoruba-derived religions amongst African-American millennials. An interesting quote: one interviewee "went on to differentiate between African witchcraft and “New Age ****,” like the witches who gather to hex President Donald Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh".

Bogatyr

Re: Return to African witchcraft

[ecosophia]

It makes perfect sense to me. On the one hand, Christianity is a fading force in North America, largely because the major churches have capitulated to modernism and stopped doing anything significant to encourage clergy and laity alike to have any kind of meaningful relationship with God -- it's all either follow-the-rules moral preaching or feel-good psychobabble, with a side order of amateur activism. On the other hand, I've long been convinced that the African-diaspora religions have a bright future in the New World, and people of African origin are the obvious first adopters for those.

Awareness, et al.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning, and thanks as always for this forum. I have a couple of questions I'd like some feedback on. First, I have a regular practice of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, the Ritual of the Rose Cross, and the Middle Pillar ritual. Think this is plenty for the foreseeable future... anyway, there seems to be plenty of solar energy there; I was wondering if you had suggestions to add lunar and teluric energy as well-or do these balance well enough. Also, I walk a half-mile to work each day and while I don't fiddle with my phone or use earbuds, and generally try to be alert to what's going on around me, I've noticed people can walk right up on me and I won't know they're there. Suggestions as how to be more aware?

Re: Awareness, et al.

[ecosophia]

1) Stick with those practices for now. The Golden Dawn is a solar path -- there are solar paths, telluric paths, and lunar paths (the ones that focus on uniting the two currents), and you can have a balanced spiritual life with any of them. In the GD path, the Middle Pillar is the main balancing practice in the early phases of the work, since it links with the earth center between the feet and brings energy up from there.

2) Well, is something else in your mind while you walk?

Tarot for young adults

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

My eldest daughter (who just turned 18) has expressed on several occasions the wish to learn tarot.
I study LRM and geomancy (nobody at home knows that yet!)
Any idea of how I can help her out?

Thanks!

Re: Tarot for young adults

[ecosophia]

Find out which deck she wants, and get her a copy. If you can find a copy of Eden Gray's classic little book Mastering the Tarot, that would also be useful. You become a tarot reader by doing lots of readings, so the sooner she starts, the better!

I consider divination and natural magic as two forms of occult practice that are entirely suitable for young people, for what it's worth.

Terence McKenna & DMT

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings all

What are your views of

(1) Terence Mckenna's visionary experiences?

(2) Are there any links between DMT experiences and ceremonial magic?

Many thanks
Karim

Re: Terence McKenna & DMT

[ecosophia]

1) I think the phrase "drug-soaked ravings" sums them up pretty well.

2) Not that I know of. Every few decades, somebody announces that this or that drug will really, truly give you spiritual experiences without the bother of spiritual practice; DMT was one of the drugs thus popularized. After a few years, it becomes clear that no, you're just hallucinating.

Homeopathy

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Would you consider homeopathy a form of natural magic or is it something else entirely? If not, do you consider it to work through magical or entirely natural means?

Thank you!

Re: Homeopathy

[ecosophia]

I tend to agree with the great homeopathic physician and theorist James Tyler Kent that the active factor in homeopathy is nonphysical -- what he called "simple substance" and occultists tend to call etheric substance. It's a very tightly focused, idiosyncratic, and effective form of natural magic for healing.

[(Anonymous)]

I know I've seen this question before but it wasnt in your FAQ. When temporarily very sick, like with the strep I've got right now, is it better to take a day off from ritual practice, or go ahead and rally and get it done? I want to do it so I'll probably just do it, although I'm late already, but I'll have your answer handy next time it comes up.

Thanks!
Tripp

[ecosophia]

Try it both ways and see which one works best for you. I practice straight through most illnesses, but your mileage may vary.

In the meantime, best wishes for a prompt recovery!

Astrological Timing for Beginners

[(Anonymous)]

Hello,

I have a question about how beginners can track astrological timing. There was a conversation on one of the MM where perhaps you and Tripp (?) were comparing notes on how you keep a chalkboard or list of moon phase, signs, transits, etc. I’m a visual person so a daily chart makes a lot of sense to me.

I have been attempting to garden by the moon as noted in ENM this summer and find myself logging on a lot to find moon phases. I tried the Farmer’s Almanac but it’s not detailed enough as they only give the moon sign that represents the majority of the day (not doing hourly). I am currently looking at https://www.lunarium.co.uk (no affiliation) as easy to use.

I also would like to start working with Astrology (I have my birthchart and the old George A-Z book) but am not sure what Step 1 would be to move that from a report and analysis to something I can use in daily life.

Questions:
1- Do you know of a print version (an ephemeris?) that I can purchase so I don’t have to go online everyday. I’ve looked at the big book website with the jungle name to see but I don’t know if those are ones you would recommend.

2 – What should beginners track on a daily basis? “A Beginner’s Template to Daily Astrological Timing” is what I’m trying to reverse engineer from all these comments but not sure I’m on the right path? Moon phase and sign. Transits (which ones)? Something else? A gardener might have a different template than someone looking at astrology for daily use but maybe not?

3 – Should I keep a journal of this? It seems like a lot of data to track and I’m not sure where to start with it.

Thank you very much for MM.

AL

PS – I did all my seed starts, transplants, plantings in Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces or Taurus this season. My garden has marginal soil which I have been improving for 3 years but the difference between this year and last with how easily plants take off has been noticeable…certainly, there’s a little more compost and we’ve had a little more rain but the plants are doing disproportionately better. TSW?

Re: Astrological Timing for Beginners

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, and in fact that's what I use. The Rosicrucian Ephemeris is the one I use, and I order it annually from the American Federation of Astrologers online bookstore.

2) It's best to get into it a step at a time. Start by tracking the Moon through her phases and signs. Then pay attention to which house of your natal chart the Moon is in -- Llewellyn George devotes several pages to this. Then start paying attention when any of the planets makes a major aspect (conjunction, sextile, square, trine, or opposition) to one of your natal planets. Then start tracking the aspects the Moon makes -- it'll go through around a sign each day, so there tend to be a lot of those.

3) I use a spiral notebook for the purpose. It's a lot easier when you write it all down.

Geomancy vs. Ogham

[bendithfawr]

JMG,

I'm working through the Druid Magic Handbook and tried getting into divination using the Ogham. Unfortunately, I keep struggling with it. The meanings of the fews don't seem to resonate well with me currently. I just don't recognize anything in the daily readings.

Frustrated, I asked the oracle an admittedly poorly worded question: Should I rather concentrate on Geomancy instead of learning Ogham? The answer was:

LW: Acquisitio
RW: Populus
J: Acquisitio

I'm reading that as a "yes" but I'm unsure what to acquire. More knowledge with Geomancy? Or is it a simple yes/no answer since I asked as such?

Re: Geomancy vs. Ogham

[ecosophia]

That's a fairly strong "yes," so I'd say go ahead and use geomancy and the geomantic figures. Your first assignment is to figure out how the geomantic figures relate to the Wheel of Life I describe in the book.

Second gate in German

[bendithfawr]

Contuining my translation from last week, I'd like to offer my version of the second gate of the Sphere of Protection as practiced in the Druid Magic Handbook:

Beim weisen Lachs im heiligen Becken und dem großen Namen Esus rufe ich das Wasser, seine Götter, seine Geister und seine Kräfte.
Ich bitte das Wasser um seinen Segen.
Ich danke dem Wasser für seine Gaben.

Und mit Hilfe des Wassers banne ich in und um mir alle seine unausgewogenen Aspekte. Ich verbanne sie weit weg von mir.

Thanks to Anna from Salzburg last week for "unausgewogenen Aspekte", that does work better than my version.

To the commenter asking about the deities last week: I just started incorporating the deities and yes, I use "im großen Namen". I still feels a bit forced now but that might just be because it's new for me. Would love to hear what other people are using!

Also, if someone has a better word than "Becken" for "pool", I'd appreciate a comment.

Re: Second gate in German

[(Anonymous)]

How about „wie der Lachs im Grund“?

[booklover1973]

Hello! I would like to know which modality of alternative health care is best for a beginner to study?

[ecosophia]

There's no one answer to that question. Read up on different modalities, and see which one appeals to you most; that's the one to start with.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Mr. Greer,

You replied to a question in last weeks MM that it was best to perform the Sphere of Protection as described in the Druid Magic Handbook if you're working with that system of magic.

I am working with that system but found that when visualizing the symbols of the Elemental Gates that if I visualized them in brightly colored light versus flame it was much easier for me to visualize and the effect was much stronger. Is this problematic for working within the DMH system?

Sincerely,
Joe

[ecosophia]

Nah, that's a sufficiently minor change that it should have no negative effect.

Karma

[(Anonymous)]

I've read your FAQ, so maybe you won't have to restate that here. I'm not sure that this is a "question" as such, but a plea for understanding. The basic idea of reincarnating to prepare to move to a higher state of existence makes a great deal of sense to me. But it seems to me to be impossible, given what human life is like, especially in this time we live in. How can one build up enough to escape this cycle? The thought of having to come back here over and over (and over) again fills me with dread, and fear approaching terror. I hate this place and want out. I can't see any hope of final escape. Maybe you could reply to this, and help in some way. Thanks.

Re: Karma

[ecosophia]

It's not a matter of "building up" enough of something. It's a matter of developing certain qualities of consciousness, and those qualities are natural to your soul and are ripening with each life. You can accelerate that process with regular spiritual practice, but the simple process of living your life will also get you there -- and pain, fear, dread, and misery are among the things that speed the ripening, because they force you to wake up and not just drift blandly and blindly along through life.

The world isn't a trap. It's an incubator -- and if the shell of the egg you're in is making you feel cramped, hatching time may be very close.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know whether or not you've read Gareth Knight's Experience of the Inner Worlds, but at the end of his first chapter he describes an exercise which begins by imagining a sphere of light around oneself. (That's not the complete exercise, which I won't describe here.) If you're familiar with the exercise, would that be an equivalent to the sphere of protection you describe, or should one also practice the S.O.P. you describe in addition? Thanks.

[ecosophia]

I'm quite familiar with it -- in fact, I recommend it to Christians who want to get involved in a magical practice that's wholly compatible with their faith. In my experience, while Knight's exercise is helpful, it's not enough by itself in the very toxic energetic environments in which most of us live. I would strongly recommend adding in the Sphere of Protection, using it in place of the simpler exercise Knight provides, and doing the other exercises in his book in space cleared by the SoP.

[(Anonymous)]

I've decided on picking up Jungian psychology as a system of occultism and I was wondering if you could recommend a book on how to practice it as such. I've read some of Jung's work but they seem to deal more with theory than with practice.

[ecosophia]

As far as I know, nobody's written that book yet! Marie-Louise von Franz, I believe, wrote a book on active imagination that passed on some of Jung's practical methods; you should also plan on learning astrology, which Jung practiced constantly -- his first step in diagnosing a new patient was casting their horoscope and interpreting it -- and which is the unstated symbolic structure underlying much of his thought. (The Ego, the Shadow, the Anima or Animus, and the Self are respectively the cusps of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses of an astrological chart, for example.) After that? You're in largely unexplored territory. What fun!