Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's almost midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of jazz great and African-American occultist Sun Ra, born Herman Blount in Birmingham, AL in 1914, or conversely on the planet Saturn when time itself was young. One of the most creative jazz composers and performers of the 20th century -- which is saying something -- he was a lifelong student of occultism, with a particular focus on the lively field of African-American hermetic, Masonic, and quasi-Masonic traditions. Check out some of his music here -- that's the Sun Ra Arkestra, live at the Squat Theater. 

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)]

It appears the permaculture is going the way of EST very fast indeed. Paul Wheaton who runs the enormous permies.com and a large following also has a large number of people who have come forward saying that he runs a permaculture property such that the "volunteers" are kept in rat-infested, rotting buildings, are paid only in "fysh" which is an "alternative currency" of Mr. Wheaton's which can only be used to buy rice and beans, the volunteers are also not allowed to go to town more than twice a week and are discouraged from interacting with locals. Since Mr. Wheaton is the landlord, if people break the "lease" which are his rules by fiat, they face eviction.

Also Mr. Wheaton appears to be prone to screaming at people for ever questioning him. His presentation is as a jovial hippy, in a manner I find pretty transparently narcissistic.

This reddit post gives a good summary of the claims people make: https://www.reddit.com/r/Permaculture/comments/77nm7e/two_years_under_a_permaculture_slumlord/

this article gives more fine grained details: https://web.archive.org/web/20171203031416/https://everythingisfine.seriously.sexy/2017/06/30/superior-mt-a-discussion-about-homelessness/

What I find salient about this is I've seen many of these *exact* problems firsthand in countercultural spaces. And indeed, the more there's a focus on Permaculture, the more precisely similar the sorts of things I've seen. A guru type alpha male running the show, every system broken, impoverished people giving their lives to a cruel tyrant's dreams of saving the world, lots and lots of physical filth, and the guru's loud insistence that it's everybody's fault but his.

My question is to your mind what's going on from an occult perspective? Why do these patterns cohere so tightly? Is this a tainted sphere related to permaculture? the sequelea of the 1960's countercultures? Something else entirely?

[ecosophia]

That same pattern has been repeating itself in American alternative spirituality for a couple of centuries at least. It seems to be the default mode for how American pop-culture gurus and their followers manage a joint implosion. If it's a tainted sphere, it's far bigger than Permaculture.

Now you know why I've systematically avoided setting up any kind of Druid intentional community...

[(Anonymous)]

1) I think I might have an explanation for why TV and internet are so addictive: one of the first things which anyone using cacomagic would want to do would be get as many people to spend as much time exposed to their magic as possible. Therefore, one of the prime messages the ubiquitous cacomagic has quite plausibly should include an element of “Spend as much time watching TV/online as possible!”
This would explain the rather bizarre phenomenon of FOMO, where people feel the need to check social media every few minutes; it would explain why so many people are obsessed with TV/internet; and on a personal level, I find it very hard to get magical practices done if I’m living with people with a TV on/have home internet. My banishing rituals likely protect me from some of it, but nowhere near all of it, and so it would explain why I find my mind devising all sorts of excuses to avoid practices, particularly the banishing ritual; it would finally also explain why so many people find they feel less horny after quitting porn: the cacomagic in porn seems to serve, among other things, to increase libido to keep people hooked on it.
This raises a few questions:
a) What sources can I look into to find more information about cacomagic?
b) Should I expect my compulsive internet use to die down as I practice magic, merely as a result of reducing the impact cacomagic has? If so, this seems likely to be a very strong virtuous circle.
c) Do you think that the cacomagic flooding our society has gotten worse lately, particularly since the invention of the internet, or is it just my mind playing tricks on me?

2) I’m currently visiting my grandparents. My grandpa has very severe dementia, and spends a lot of the time asleep. In fact, quite often he seems almost comatose. A few nights ago, I saw a figure wandering my bedroom, not quite physically there, but distinctly noticeable. The figure just wandered around, as if unsure of what to do, similar to how my grandpa spends much of his time these days. I was half asleep, and a few people have said that the inner levels are more noticeable if you’re on the verge of sleep, so I suspect what was there was something on the etheric plane.

I’ve heard of people etherically projecting before, and so I’m wondering if this is my grandpa, and the reason he’s often in such a deep sleep is that his etheric body has detached and is wandering around.
a) Does this sound plausible?
b) If this is my grandpa, are the things I can do to help him get back to his physical body, or is it best to let him separate from it?

[ecosophia]

1a) I'd encourage you to start with Ioan Couliano's Eros and Magic in the Renaissance -- he doesn't use the term "cacomagic," but that's what he's talking about.

1b) Good question. It depends on whether there's anything else tying you to the electronic teat.

1c) No, I think you're quite correct. I see it as an increasingly frantic attempt to hold things together by incantation, not unlike the frantic rituals performed by Mayan priest-kings to try to keep their society from falling apart while not changing any of the things that were causing their society to fall apart.

2) almost certainly it's astral projection rather than etheric projection. Very often, when people have the chance to die of natural causes, they'll become less and less attached to the physical body, and things like you saw are the natural consequence. You don't have to do anything, and in fact it's a good sign -- the more he separates from his body now, the easier his death will be and the more likely it is that he'll have a smooth transition through the Second Death as well.

[(Anonymous)]

What are the risks associated with mixing the SoP and LRP?

[ecosophia]

You'll make less than half as much progress with each as you'd make by learning and mastering one, and then learning and mastering the other. Unity of focus is essential to effective magic, and this is one place where that's especially true.

Initiation

[(Anonymous)]

Goats and Roses

I have some questions about initiation. How would you define it? In ordinary language, I take it to mean an experience that changes you such that your society now sees you differently (such as getting married, or becoming a parent, etc.) What is the occult meaning of initiation?

In the occult sense of initiation, what are the effects on all the subtle bodies?

What did you mean when you said that you intended the WOH books to be an initiation?

And as always, sincere appreciation for this ongoing conversation, and your unwavering generosity in creating this space on the two blogs.

Re: Initiation

[ecosophia]

Okay, first, the term "initiation" -- like most words in most languages -- has a lot of competing uses. The social usage you mention is one of those meanings, and it has nothing to do with the occult uses of the term. Adding to the confusion, there are several different uses of the term in occult circles, which also conflict with each other!

So let's take a moment to untangle a couple of them using superscripts, a la Count Korzybski. We can start with initiation^1, which means going through a ceremony that's either conferred by a magical lodge or done by you yourself, the point of which is to bring you into contact with certain subtle energies. Which energies? That depends on the ritual. Different lodges and different systems of self-initiation use very different approaches to the broad project of waking up the subtle perceptions latent in the individual. What effect do those energies have on the subtle bodies? Again, it varies from one system of initiation to another.

Initiation^2 is the effect that's meant to be produced by initiation^1. It doesn't always happen -- every magical lodge has the experience of "failure to initiate," in which the candidate goes through the ritual and nothing happens. You can get the effects of initiation^2 without going through a ritual; ritual's just one of the more effective ways of doing the job. Another way of doing it is through fiction. Dion Fortune wrote her novels with that intention; I wrote The Weird of Hali in the same spirit. Read the novels, and if they strike a chord with you and you find that somehow you're looking at the world in a different way, you've been initiated^2.

The effects of that initiation^2, by the way, are entirely on the astral body. Certain symbolic patterns in what trad occult literature calls the Sphere of Sensation (alternatively, the aura) are lit up and help to shape thought and feeling in ways that make magical and mystical practices both a little easier. It's a modest and rather basic initiation, but useful.

Gosling Magic and a sort of psychic sharing

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
My Toulouse goose abandoned a nest of 20 eggs about two weeks ago. She has done this before at another farm so I was expecting it and had the incubator up and running.

The goslings started to wake me up twice a night to turn their eggs to make them more comfortable. This happens every time I incubate goose eggs. I wake in the night feeling compelled to turn my eggs. I didn't tell our daughter who is staying with us. She took care of the eggs while I was away for a couple of days and I asked her if the goslings had woken her in the night. She said, "They never let me sleep more than three hours." This is pretty impressive magic for fetal birds inside the shell.

Another thing of interest was a sort of accidental sharing. One of the women I sing with in choir is a very pure person and likes to sing Saint Patrick's lorica.

She was on a business trip in England and I was working on the farm when about 830 in the morning, I started to hear (in my mind's ear) only her voice singing Saint Patrick's lorica. It went on and on and I was starting to feel a little frustrated and began singing it to Apollo. After morning chores, I emailed her and asked if she had been singing the lorica at that time and she had been singing it at exactly that time. Not sure why she was singing it at me but she knows I am not a Christian.

I think this must be similar to what Dion Fortune was talking about in her book on psychic attack except this woman got an angelic sort of being on the line instead of demonic. What do you make of it?
Maxine

Re: Gosling Magic and a sort of psychic sharing

[ecosophia]

1) It's not the fetal geese that are doing it. Each animal species has an oversoul or guardian spirit, which is responsible for everything we call "instinct," but also functions more or less as a guardian angel. Such a being can certainly influence someone who's psychically sensitive.

2) See my previous comment about psychic sensitivity!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm getting married in a few months. I'm excited about it, but there's a small problem: my soon-to-be-in-laws know I believe in reincarnation, and as my fiance and I are writing our vows, they have made their displeasure with the "till death do us part" line known. Simply put, they view it as offensive that I won't vow to love my fiance for eternity.

I don't want to make a vow I can't keep, and I know for sure that future incarnations will have different goals, objectives, and interests. Further, my last lifetime didn't really love anyone other than herself! Given that I have little control over my future personalities, nor my fiances' future personalities, the likelihood is very high in at least a few lifetimes we would not get along. Further, there's the issue of the fact I won't know I made such a vow, and I see it as problematic to make a vow I know I won't remember in the future.

I suppose my question is: am I overthinking this?

[ecosophia]

No, you're not overthinking it at all. Do not make any vow binding yourself beyond a single life, and if your in-laws don't like it, tell them to butt out. You could mess up several future lives -- yours and your fiance's -- by letting them pressure you into such a vow.

Response to Tolkienguy from last week

[(Anonymous)]

Hey JMG, hope you’re well. I saw that quite a few of us sent the link to you article engaging with Rod Dreher, so I’m hoping he may discuss some of the issues you raised.

I’m commenting in response to tolkienguy from last week (I wanted to before but comments were closed). He raised a concern about his time within Eastern Orthodoxy and said that one of the things that was most bothersome to him was the emphasis on going to heaven, with a disembodied existence, as our ultimate end. Of course, this seemingly suggests that the physical and earthly is somehow wrong or, at least, suboptimal.

I find the comment surprising if only because the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions (additionally, Anglicans and Lutherans, to include the Protestants) place a much greater liturgical emphasis on embodied practices (communion every week, baptismal fonts with water to anoint yourself when coming and going, remembering you are covered by baptismal grace, incense, among so many other more complex liturgical rituals, all of which actually demonstrate the concept of a redeemed physical world—which is to say, physical realities as they were always intended).

While it is certainly true there is great misunderstanding, mainly due to lack of poor teaching combined with assumed cultural assumptions that are widespread (but ultimately unbiblical), the church has always proclaimed that the future of the world is one in which the whole earth itself will be wholly and completely restored from the taint of destructive sin and the damage done by humanity, and we humans will be raised from the dead, reunited with the very earthly bodies we were born with. From Renaissance times on, however, the emphasis was placed on going to heaven, which, according to every church tradition still connected in any real way to historic orthodoxy, is actually considered only an intermediate state—a temporary experience of disembodied life that will end when our salvation is complete. And that salvation isn’t complete until we’re back in bodies, human and fully physical as God always intended. In truth, the whole notion of a dichotomy between the spiritual and physical is thoroughly unbiblical and out of step from the whole thrust of scriptures, from Genesis all the way through Revelation.

I can’t seem to find it now, but I believe Gregory Nazianzus speaks powerfully in his oration on the incarnation about how Christ sanctifies the water in his baptism, gives wood it’s eternal purpose in the cross, wheat it’s sacred place in the bread that signifies Christ’s body, the fruit of the vine it’s glory as wine within the cup, etc etc. It’s a picture of a world that was subject to frustration on account of sin becoming fully alive again with sacred purpose. I would argue that, rightly understood, every Christian, regardless of tradition, must realize that the world itself, our bodies, and the physical realities aren’t an afterthought, but plan a. Sadly, however, our churches all too often fail to provide a compelling vision of the future we confess to believe in, but so easily forget. Even worse, because of the misunderstanding being so widespread, so many have come to imagine that caring for the world, being concerned with how things are today (whether ecologically or in terms of justice) seems silly. After all, God’s just gonna destroy the world in the end, right? If only dispensationalism—that brand new doctrinal poison that pretends to be the ancient truth—hadn’t been so uncritically embraced. Theologically it’s bankrupt and the negative implications are breathtaking.

Anyway, sorry if that was quite long. I just spend a great deal of time trying to help my students see the beautiful vision that the church confesses and that the Bible teaches—a good word, with people created “very good,” and a God that will stop at nothing to see all things made new.

Blessings to you,
David

Re: Response to Tolkienguy from last week

[ecosophia]

C.S. Lewis had a very concise comment about that same point: "God likes matter. After all, He invented it."

The Magic of Clorox

[(Anonymous)]

I was cleaning the house the other day and I was feeling very lazy, so I did a lot of my work with disposable Clorox wipes. (Yes, I know.)

Well, the work was finished, and I wanted to attend to my daily meditations. I'm currently unable to practice ceremonial magic, and I've felt the current of sacramental Christianity pulling on me very strongly, so that currently consists of lighting a candle and incense, praying the Our Father, 3 Hail Mary's and Glory Be, and some time spent in prayer and meditation with various saints.

So I sat down and began to pray-- but the smell of the Clorox wipes was still in the room and-- rather more unpleasantly-- on my hand. The result was that, while I repeated the intended words, I never entered into a meditative state of consciousness. There was a time when I would describe this as mere distraction, and if I was a different sort of Christian (i.e., the orthodox kind) I would insist that the prayers had their intended result regardless of my state of mind. But I think there's something else going on.

For many years I've found that, when I make contact with divine things, I'll be moved emotionally and begin to cry. This particularly occurs with Jesus and Mary, certain other saints, and some of the Celtic deities. Exactly one time I felt the tears begin to come, and then something block them. I was reading in a coffee shop, and sitting next to me was an extremely unpleasant individual, who seemed to radiate a black cloud of negative energy. I did the LBRP mentally around my table, and the man left-- pausing for a glare at me-- and took his energy with him. This experience with the Clorox smell felt exactly like that-- I felt the presence of a saint whose energy I know well begin to coalesce in the room; I felt the tears begin to come; and then the smell of the Clorox cut through it like a burning knife, leaving only irritated distraction behind. Only, unlike in the case of the man in the coffee shop, there was nothing I could do about it.

I've always been sensitive to chemical smells-- I can't even walk past a laundromat-- which might lead to the question of why I had these things at all. Leaving that aside for right now though, the point I want to make is that I can imagine any of the sort of chemical cleaners which are ubiquitous in modern life having the same sort of effect. If I'm understanding it correctly, the effect is occurring on the etheric level, and it's similar to vinegar, but much, much harsher. This leads me to wonder if part of the spiritual deadness of modern life is due to the deliberate saturation of the environment in substances which prevent spirits-- particularly, perhaps, good spirits-- from manifesting, or, alternatively, prevent the astral body from making contact with the higher levels of reality.

What do you think?

Re: The Magic of Clorox

[ecosophia]

I think you've just discovered an unfortunate kind of natural magic, and yes, it's probably messing people up spiritually all over the industrial world. Of course you now also know how to avoid that effect!

How to forestall unwanted interruptions while I work?

[(Anonymous)]

The good news is I now have a contract with a reputable publisher to author a book on a subject dear to my heart. I'm very pleased about this.

Here's the awkward bit: my elderly mother, with whom I live, cannot seem to refrain from interrupting me whenever I try to get down to work. No sooner do I sit down at the drawing board than she knocks on my studio door. Will I show her how to send an email? Will I help her find an important address online? We're out of groceries, someone absolutely must go get them right now. Oh Dear the car has broken down, please go deal with the mechanic. Her business is always urgent, it always must be dealt with right now, and of course a good son is always prepared to drop whatever he is doing in service to more pressing matters.

I know she wants me to succeed. I don't believe she's trying consciously to sabotage me. But unconsciously? That's another story.

Of course I will do the obvious thing and set a regular schedule and follow it, and act as though I assume it will be respected. But I'm afraid that almost certainly won't be enough. I'd rather not play hardball and start locking my studio door while I work; that is liable to generate turbulence I'd prefer to avoid. Is there some harmless magic I could do to protect the peace of my working hours?

Re: How to forestall unwanted interruptions while I work?

[dfr1973]

Not magic, but mundane: schedule a time either prior to your work call or after, and that scheduled time will be for her. If she can't think of something to have you do, then you can just sit and chat with her. She may settle down once she realizes this doesn't mean work will crowd her out.

Esoteric texts online

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
Just wondering what your take is on this:
https://mymodernmet.com/ritman-library-dan-brown/?fbclid=IwAR3NrGiXTPrOUftL5xM8az7l-sAKpVYbMMIFebOFmInTl_MwzOjjrrW4U6o

Recently finished the latest in the Haliverse, and looking forward to a shoggoth foxtrot in the near future. Keep up the great work!

Re: Esoteric texts online

[ecosophia]

Thank you! The Ritman Library rocks -- I'd love to have the chance to visit there someday -- and I think rather better of Dan Brown, knowing that he's helped them out.

Rising Dragons Questions

[(Anonymous)]

I have two questions regarding the Rising Dragons exercise in your Druid Magic handbook; one thematic and one practical.

First, I have been puzzling over the nature of the Rising Dragon currents for a while now and feel like I am still confused in regard to their own nature and their relation to the Solar and Telluric Currents. As I currently understand them, the Solar Current is Active and the Telluric Current is Receptive. When they combine they create the Lunar Current which is Creative. But the dragon currents also arise in the presence of the Solar and Telluric Currents, but they are not the Lunar Current? You mentioned in the book that they strengthen and stabilize the three Cauldrons, and that Vortigern’s fortress could not be built while they remained untamed within the underground cavern. This has led me to meditate on the dragons as representations of concepts such as “Order and Chaos” (which can’t be built upon while they are in an unbalanced state) or “Openness and Focus” (which Phillip Carr-Gomm has described as key to creative and business success). Am I even close to being on the right track here? I plan to meditate more on the Dragons, but I am concerned I may be barking up the wholly wrong tree.

Second is a practical question of posture in the rising dragons ritual. It is written that one should “Clasp your hand over your cauldron of the earth…..elbows a little out and rounded”. When clasping, should it be done as in traditional prayer posture (like rubbing hands for warmth”, or interlocked fingers, or some other way?

Re: Rising Dragons Questions

[ecosophia]

1) The dragon currents are two modalities of nwyfre (life energy) that move through the surface of the ground. The red dragon current follows ridgelines and high ground, the white dragon current follows streambeds and low ground, and where they come together, certain kinds of earth magic can be done. The dragon currents are not the lunar current -- they're secondary aspects of the telluric current, influenced by the solar current; having them present in balance makes it much easier to create the lunar current.

It's fine to meditate on them in terms of various abstract concepts, but the currents are not abstract concepts. They're energies, and very tangible energies at that. Spend some time on a hilltop when the wind is blowing and you can learn to feel the red dragon; spend some time in a river valley when the rain is falling and you can learn to feel the white dragon.

2) I do it by clasping my left thumb between my right thumb and fingers, and resting the fingers of my left hand on top of the fingers of my right.

Geomancy-re: What I don't know that I don't know

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,
I was meditating on "What do I need to know that I don't know that I don't know?" ie., the blind spots problem. Decided to do a geomantic reading on this question;
"What do I _need_ to know that I don't know that I don't know?"

Mothers:
1 Conjunctio
2 Via
3 Fortuna Major
4 Rubeus

Daughters:-
5 Rubeus
6 Puer
7 Cauda Draconis
8 Conjunctio

Nieces:
9 Carcer
10 Caput Draconis
11 Carcer
12 Laetitia

Witness 1 - Cauda Draconis
Judge - Via
Witness 2 Tristitia

In the house chart, Querent is 1 of course, but would the Quesited be in 11? I thought it might be 11 as 'I don't want to tell you my question' seemed closest to me to 'tell me what I don't know that I don't know.'

The cardines of the house chart seem to be telling me that an upcoming business contract will lead to conflict--
1 - Conjunctio --Possibly the contract
10 - Caput Draconis--A new beginning
7 - Cauda Draconis--An ending
4 - Rubeus -- Drama/Guile/Conflict.

So in such a case, would it be better to think of the Quesited as house 7 using the cardines as a guide?

I will probably do a couple more readings on this one with related questions.

Re: Geomancy-re: What I don't know that I don't know

[ecosophia]

Nah, I'd take it as the eleventh house, and what it looks to me like it's saying is that you're stuck in a rut and don't realize it -- you're not actually going anywhere, even though you think you are. Take the cardines as what happens if you grasp this. Conjunctio, you realize that you're stuck; Caput Drac, you start trying to do something new; Cauda Drac, the old situation dissolves around you, and Rubeus, lands you in the tangled mess you've been half- or less than half-consciously trying to avoid by staying in the rut.

[(Anonymous)]

Last week you answered:

“Daoist internal alchemy works with the densest levels of the etheric realm -- the chemical ethers, as they're called in Western occult works. You have to save your semen and your sexual energy to do that kind of work. Western magic, when it deals with the etheric realm at all, usually works with the higher ethers -- the light ether and the reflecting ether -- and those don't have the same connection to sexuality, so it's not an issue for us.”

Can you explain those kinds of ether?
What does this difference in practices mean in terms of goals and effects?

[ecosophia]

Sure. There are seven sub-planes in the physical plane -- the solid plane, the liquid plane, and the gaseous plane -- and then the four ethers beyond those. The chemical ether is the level of etheric energy that governs chemical reactions among material substances; the life ether is the life force in living things; the light ether is the level that governs electromagnetic energy; and the reflecting ether is the level that provides an anchor for consciousness on the physical plane.

Daoist internal alchemy focuses, first, on achieving longevity, and second, on creating one of several different kinds of artificial subtle bodies the soul can inhabit long after physical death, so as to step out of the wheel of incarnation, either for a while (to facilitate spiritual practice) or permanently. Qi, the life force, is the life ether, and qing, seed, is the chemical ether; those are the ethers you use to prolong life and then create the subtle body of an immortal.

Western internal alchemy doesn't seek longevity and doesn't try to build a manufactured subtle body. It focuses on completing the natural process of transcending the human level as quickly as possible, and for this reason, when it works with ethers at all, it's usually the reflecting ether or the light ether (though some kinds of magical healing work with the life ether). The alchemy of metals and minerals works with the chemical ether, but much of that is a lost art now.

[(Anonymous)]

My question for today is: It is clear to me where the differences between the Greek, the Norse and the Indian pantheon lie. But it is not clear to me what the difference between the Irish and the Welsh gods are.

Secondly, the Druid Revival tradition seems to have followed for a long time an more or less Anglican theology, whose main source are the writings of Iolo Morganwg; the current polytheist framework seems to be quite young; at most, it began at the end of the nineteenth century. Therefore I would like to know if I'm right that Druidism as currently practiced hasn't had a long enough tradition behind it to produce much in the way of theology and thoughts about it's religious framework. But then, I assume questions about gods have a markedly lesser importance in Druidry than in other religions in contrast to actual Druidic practice and lifeways. Am I right?

Booklover

[ecosophia]

1) If you don't get the differences between Irish and Welsh pantheons, you probably haven't studied their myths closely enough. I suggest the Book of Invasions and the Mabinogion for starters.

2) No, there was some degree of polytheism quite early on, by the early 19th century at latest, and probably at least partly inspired by Thomas Taylor's very influential works on Pagan Greek mysticism. As for theology, though, that's almost entirely an affectation of the prophetic religions that came in with the Axial Age. If you're in the middle of a love affair, you're probably more interested in spending time with your beloved than in studying textbooks of reproductive anatomy; that's also by and large the Druid attitude toward gods and goddesses.

Props

[(Anonymous)]

More of a shout-out than a question.

My family and I had the absolute pleasure of spending yesterday afternoon touring the Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta. Truly wonderful exhibit of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian relics, including an exquisite bust of Tiberius Caesar and one of only 5 Old Kingdom mummies on display in the world. Got some interesting feedback in his presence...

Awesome bookshop too. The kind of place you can get lost in, despite its small size, and end up spending hundreds of dollars on unusual religious titles. I asked the shopkeeper if he had "God is Red," and he hesitated for about a second, then said "Vine Deloria! Good book. Important book. No, sorry, I don't have that one. Probably should."

Then I asked if he had "Blood of the Earth, by John Michael Greer." Again no, but maybe it planted a seed, especially when the one book I limited myself to purchasing was your beautiful "The Occult Book."

He said that the latter (TOB) was on his short list to read (and with any luck just got bumped up a notch). But for my part I am loving this book. This is great foundational info I wish I'd gotten much sooner. This title and "Monsters" make a great intro pair to your work, and occultism generally.

This outing was a gift to our son Oliver for his 9th birthday, and he absolutely ate it up. All 4 of us are looking forward to a 2nd visit, this time without a dosent so we can spend more time with certain pieces. And of course the bookshop!

Big shout out for the Carlos Museum at Emory and our gracious host here at Magic Monday!

Tripp

Re: Props

[ecosophia]

Oh my. That sounds like a very interesting place to visit.

Confidence

[(Anonymous)]

So, recently, I've realized that most of my problems are due to a lack of confidence. Are there any exercises that help build confidence?

Re: Confidence

[ecosophia]

First of all, you have to figure out the sources of your lack of confidence; until you grapple with those, you'll just be putting new wallpaper over a crumbling wall. The method of journaling discussed in the Magic Monday FAQ is a good way to approach that. Take your time, let the dialogue with yourself go through its changes, and remember that the simple process of facing the experiences at the root of your feelings will weaken the feelings.

When you're done with that and have a good idea of where your lack of confidence is coming from, post again on a Magic Monday and I'll teach you the next step.

[booklover1973]

JMG, a while ago in the Archdruid Report you wrote about changing religious sensibilities; away from escape from the world and seeking salvation of the soul to embracing a more positive attitude towards the world and the life therein. Do you, or others, have any information about changing religious sensibilities in Europe? (Religious sensibilities are not the same thing as religions; they are the common characteristics of religions of a certain broad historical epoch.)

[ecosophia]

You'd have to ask someone who lives in Europe and has a good sense of the religious currents at work there.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I always look forward to Magic Mondays! A few questions, if I may:

I've been doing the three basic exercises in the DMH for a few months now, I've been doing them daily. The most unbalanced part of the three so far has been meditation - I am still doing concentration exercises to build the ability to focus, and it's going well but slowly, I have not yet done any discursive meditation because I want to do things step by step according to the book. But this means I am not meditating on the material in the theory of magic part of the DMH, aside from re-reading and reflecting on it during walks, etc. So perhaps some of the below questions are best handled through meditation when I finally get through the concentration exercises, but maybe I could trouble you for some advice in the meantime. Thank you!

1. I'm up to the fourth gate in the SOP. For each, in the imagination component of each invocation, you've written things such as this one for air: "...feel that you have become so light and nimble that you could dance on the winds". With your warning about trying to will the elements in order to command them in mind, I have been imagining while invoking air that as I become light and nimble that a gust picks me up and I float in the winds for a minute. I'm not forcing myself to fly, rather I am 'with' the winds.

Or for fire, when as described in the DMH the log in the hot forest bursts into flames, it is not me that causes the log to burst into flames, rather it happens, and I visualize myself somehow helping it along. I guess I am confused though with doing this in such a way that I am attuning to the elements rather than forcing them. For fire, you wrote: "feel yourself become so full of flaming energy that nothing could stand against you". I have been tempted with this sentence to visualize as a result of this flaming feeling that I am causing other dry logs in the forest in my imagination to also burst into flame, but then I worry that I am trying to force that to happen. I hope this question is relatively clear!

2. In the section for the Calling of the Elements, there is a difference in the symbolism of what the elements stand for compared to the symbolism described earlier in the book in the section on the Ogham fews. Fire is described in the Third Gate as a symbol for unity whereas earlier it is described as also representing the will. My thoughts are that in each situation, whether interpreting fews or calling elements, is that I am touching on different facets of the same element - is that right?

Thanks again!

[ecosophia]

1) Relax. Imagining things happening is not the same thing as making them happen outside the imaginal levels of being.

2) Yes, there's a difference, and it's intentional. Each of the elements has many different facets, and the facet relevant to the Ogham is not necessarily relevant to the Sphere of Protection.

PS. If you're still doing concentration exercises when your SoP practice is at the fourth gate, you're almost certainly taking too long. Go on to discursive meditation, and don't worry about being perfect -- just do your best and let the practice teach you.

Initiation

[(Anonymous)]

You spoke about initiation above, and that leads to a question I’ve been wondering about based on reading through past magic Mondays. I’ve noticed that most of the older texts on occultism claim that it’s impossible to get anywhere in a magical tradition without a teacher and formal initiation into a magical lodge. And that trying to do even as simple of a ritual as the LRP or Middle Pillar without initiating into a lodge is like trying to drive a car that doesn’t have a key in the ignition at best or at worst like an autodidact trying to do heart surgery. I’ve also encountered the opinion that magical practice outside a formal lodge tradition is ethically sketchy and akin to clandestine Masonry.

Your advice has pretty consistently been the opposite, suggesting that formal initiation into a magical lodge is only advisable right now if you feel a particularly strong calling to group work, and even then you should only consider it after having self-initiated through the grades and mastered most of that tradition’s theory and practice on your own. Would you say something fundamental has changed right now to lead to this reversal?

-Eric Singletary

Re: Initiation

[ecosophia]

Most of the older texts on occultism functioned as sales brochures for magical orders; that is to say, they had something of an ulterior motive for their viewpoint. People have been practicing self-initiation into magical practice since before the Picatrix was published -- it gives a number of rituals of self-initiation, and the author copied almost everything in his book from other books long since lost. Thus the only thing that's changed is that the conversation's a little less one-sided.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG!

1) I plan on building a westernized butsudan in order to make my ancestors happy.
I would pray for them, and offer them incense and spring water. Are there any safety precautions I should be aware of?

2) Could a skilled magician walk into a haunted house, do a Sphere of Protection encompassing the whole building and chase off any resident ghosts? It's a theoretical question, I an neither a skilled magician nor do I have a haunted house to my disposal.

3) How robust and safe are a druid magician's enchanted tools (stones, wand, cauldron, crane bag)?
I don't want to announce to the public that I practice magic, so I plan to disguise them whenever possible as everyday objects or keep them hidden. What would happen for example if someone uses enchanted stones as a paperweight or a wand as an axe-handle?

4) If I build a small shrine to local nature spirits in a corner of my property, in order that they may look kindly on my family, house and garden, should I take any precautions, so that my kids or strangers can't wander too close? Like you would secure a garden-pond?

5) The discussion over at ecosophia.net makes me a bit nervous... in your experience, how good are Druids actually doing as far as (mental) health, overweight, personal relationships and professional success are concerned?

5) Do you make your own mead? If yes, do you have a favorite recipe?

Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

If I may butt in on your 2nd 5th question,

Ive been making mead casually for 7 years now - never more than 10 gallons a year. I've always found that simply adding water to your local raw honey and storing it in a vessel with an airlock for as long as you can stand it makes really decent mead. I don't like it nearly as much when it's racked and clarified as I do shaken with the lees, either. I want it flocked and floral...reminiscent of translucent golden hefeweizen in the glass.

And as long as you keep the airlock topped up it generally gets better with age. Some of the best mead I've ever made was in a plastic bucket with the lid not quite sealed that I forgot about for 2 years. Intoxicating. In more ways than one.

JMG, why is mead the drink of choice for Western gods? Does it have a more robust etheric and/or astral body than beer or wine? Am I way off?

Tripp

Narcs

[(Anonymous)]

I think narcissism is on the increase in society. Is that a symptom of all the cacomagic we are subjected to?

I watched a Ted talk by Dr Ramani and she says that narcs are rewarded and encouraged by our society. They make more money. Is this what happens to a civilisation in decline? What are the best ways to protect oneself from the ever present narcs, apart from avoiding them if possible? Any good rituals? I do the SoP daily.

Re: Narcs

[ecosophia]

"Narcs" used to have a different meaning when I was younger!

The best way to deal with this is to make sure that you yourself aren't wallowing in narcissism -- narcissists tend to attract each other, as being on something of the same vibratory wavelength. Regular banishing and regular meditation ought to take care of the rest.

Again with the awareness...

[(Anonymous)]

From last week, and thanks much to all who commented. Re: RM-I try to simply be aware of my surroundings. What I was wondering is how common the feeling of 'someone is watching you', which I've heard of but never experienced. An old memory resurfaced thinking about this-I had read somewhere when I was very young that if you focus on someone at the base of their skull you could get them to turn around. I remembered trying this on the school bus with zero luck. OTOH, I have sensed some pretty strong 'presences' during meditation and ritual, and I met a buddha statue that had such a strong presence that I finally had to leave the room, not because it was malevolent in any way but because I felt like I was invading his privacy...

Re: Again with the awareness...

[ecosophia]

Some people can get that effect, some people can't. It's a difference in certain modes of psychic potential.

Sun Ra

[(Anonymous)]

Good day JMG,

Very good playing by Sun Ra. Thanks.
I noticed John Gilmore on tenor saxofone.

If you haven’t done it yet perhaps you’d like to hear his playing in Pete LaRoca’s album “Turkish Women at the Bath”(1967).
One Amazon.com editorial review calls it a "lost" classic of spiritual free jazz to which I fully agree. It brings so much peace to my mind.

All the best

Re: Sun Ra

[ecosophia]

I'll definitely put that on my listen-to list.

Query for D. Bender

[(Anonymous)]

D. Bender said:
"For the benefit of people here who may be interested, I would like to offer more history on what led up to the writing of those two books and influenced their authors, and some of the effects of their publication. This is a very bare outline and I can provide more details if they are wanted."

I would like to know more about the pre-Samhain 1979 women's spirituality communities, and the impacts on those communities post-publication of the books in question. If it is not appropriate for her to share in this space, perhaps she has a webstie where she could offer more of her historical perspective?

Re: Query for D. Bender

[deborah_bender]

I just saw this question as I was too busy to read Magic Monday posts early in the week. I'll do my best to respond tomorrow, or if the window closes, at the next open subject day. That comment was in reply to JMG's historical post on the other blog, wasn't it? I'll want to reread the rest of what I wrote that you are quoting from. i do remember the book titles.

I don't have a website. I just comment on other people's blogs. :-) If it becomes awkward to have this conversation here, I can give you my email address and we can carry it on privately.

Ritual questions

[(Anonymous)]

Two questions this week. Thanks once again for this forum!

1) I realized that if I were to go to Pagan Pride and participate in any of the rituals, I would almost certainly be doing so with members of the Magical Resistance. Would this risk getting caught in their blowback? Would an ADF-type worship ritual be safe, as opposed to a Wiccan ritual with a magical element?

2) The room I perform the SoP in has a very awkwardly-positioned mirror. Is there any problem with doing the ritual in a mirror, and if so is it enough just to cover it?

Re: Ritual questions

[ecosophia]

1) I'd stay away from the rituals, not least because a lot of them will likely have at least a political subtext and may be out-and-out Trump hexes.

2) It's not a problem at all. Cover the mirror if you like.