Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's a little past midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of the man who called himself Martinez de Pasqually -- and if that sounds evasive, yes, he was. He showed up in French occult circles around 1754, and set about initiating students into a remarkable system of Christian occult philosophy and magical practice. The order he founded, the Elus Coens ("Chosen Priests"), fell apart after his death in 1774, but his teachings were preserved by many of his students, including Louis-Claude de St.-Martin and Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, and ended up playing a central role in the rise of Martinism more than a century later. 

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!***

***Let's try this again. THIS MAGIC MONDAY IS NOW CLOSED TO NEW QUESTIONS. Please save anything requiring a response from me for next week; I do have to set aside some time for writing, you know...***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

On a polytheist message board I frequent a person has recently came on and claimed to be a Wiccan devotee of Lucifer. The person claimed that Lucifer helped him in a time of need. I found the whole thing...creepy. But maybe I'm being closed-minded -- I tend towards the worship of celestial deities over the chthonic, personally.

That said, I feel strongly that people can worship Chthonic deities in a good way with no hint of demonolatary whatsoever. Indeed, the person I mentioned claims that Lucifer is chthonic.

Still, it somehow doesn't pass my sniff test. Do you JMG think that someone can worship Lucifer and worship a deity? Or do you think that there will always be a demon on the other end?

[ecosophia]

I remember the days when Wiccans would angrily dismiss any suggestion that they worshiped Lucifer -- they were insistent that the being in question belonged to Christian mythology, and they didn't have anything to do with him for the same reason that Christians don't worship Shiva or Thor. Now demonolatry is all over the pop-Wiccan scene.

If someone worships Lucifer, the being they worship is -- well, Lucifer. He doesn't become nice just because somebody claims he is. It's quite traditional, in fact, for certain people to worship Lucifer; the usual term for them is "devil worshipers," and it's a good idea to back well away from them...

[(Anonymous)]

I have a fairly busy sixth house, which seems to relate a lot to illnesses. Since these are merely probabilities, I want to reduce my chance of getting a major illness. As such, I plan to put a bit of work into getting healthy to avoid the worst outcomes. Since the energies flow downwards, I think my physical self won’t be healthy unless the higher levels are as well, so I’m trying to figure out a plan to work on the health for all levels of my being.
Starting at the top, I have no idea how to work on the spiritual. I’m not even sure if I’ve ever experienced it at all, so I’m not sure if it makes sense to try to work on it. I’ve also seen that human beings stop at the mental sheath, and so I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to work on health this high up.
The mental body seems simple: a habit of discursive meditation would feed it and strengthen it, and otherwise I can’t think of anything else which it needs.
The astral body will benefit from a banishing ritual, and I can exercise it through scrying. I may be off the mark here, but I suspect that deep sleep is rest for the astral body, and dreaming serves a purpose as well: so getting plenty of sleep is a must.
The etheric body has a few needs as well: sleep, again; actual food and plastic food-like substances; water (given water picks up etheric energies, I’d imagine pure water would be healthy for the etheric body); deep breathing; time outside soaking energies; and exercise.
On the physical level, sleep (again), plenty of food, water, breathing, and exercise
Therefore, I figure that the following practices will help with my health, at all levels: meditation, scrying, making sure to get plenty of sleep, a banishing ritual, scrying weekly, the breathing and drinking exercies from the Order of Essenes course, making real food, playing an instrument to exercise my etheric body, at least fifteen minutes outside a week, and some training in karate to get a good physical work out.
How do these practices sound for maintaining and improving health?
Are there other practices which you think I missed which would help with health?

[ecosophia]

Okay, to begin with, you can't start from the top, since humans haven't yet developed the necessary subtle bodies to operate on those planes. The mental plane is as high as you can go, since you're developing a mental body at this phase of your evolution; you can orient it toward the spiritual levels by meditation and prayer, which is useful.

Second, it's been my experience that the worst thing you can do for your health is stress out about it and spend lots of time trying to control it. Worrying less is one of the best things you can do for health; it also helps to work on listening to your bodies (on all levels) and encouraging them to tell you what they need, rather than deciding that you're going to do this and that and the other for (or to) them.

Third, the sixth house also has a lot to do with employment -- both being an employee and having employees -- adn with pets and small animals. What's the sign on the cusp of your sixth, and how and where is the planet that rules that sign placed in your chart? That will tell you how those various planets in your sixth tend to express themselves.

Subtle Bodies and DMT

[(Anonymous)]

What do you think about intentionally increasing lung synthesis of Di-Methyl-Tryptamine? Could the Wim Hof Method, Kundalini Yoga, or Color Breathing be inadvertently doing this?

Re: Subtle Bodies and DMT

[ecosophia]

None of the breathing exercises I've practiced give me hallucinations, so I tend to doubt it.

More generally, it's a common bad habit of contemporary thought to try to force esoteric practices into a biochemical straitjacket. Occultists call that "confounding the planes" -- basically mixing up one level of reality with another. Instead of worrying about the biochemistry involved, why not take up one of those practices and see where it gets you?

[(Anonymous)]

I recently went bowling for the first time in years, and had what seems to have been a past life memory. I'm intrigued by it, but don't want to risk issues. However, it seems the bowling itself triggered it, so would there be an issue with going bowling more, and seeing if anything else pops up?

I also like bowling anyway, although this seems to be fairly new....

[ecosophia]

By all means keep bowling. If the memory emerged spontaneously, you're ready for it, and if more memories surface the next time you go bowling, you'll be ready for those, too. It's only trying to force the memories to surface that can be problematic.

[(Anonymous)]

You’re groggy? Normally I’d figure that’s how a person gets after a long day of shoggoth-ing, but given the weather out east , watch for heat exhaustion, and if you feel too badly, take action. We like our Archdruid and wish to keep him around a while.

I believe your weather is supposed to cool down; west of you we’re already back to a normal summer night.

[ecosophia]

Oh, I'm fine. I'm well hydrated and he heat and humidity are both fading now, thus the mild grogginess -- I don't sleep well in really hot weather, thus get drowsy easily and sleep really hard when it cools off. Thanks for your concern, though!

Several questions (saved up)

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG – I’m on Pacific time right now and my adjustment period has caused me to miss a few Magic Monday deadlines. So I’ve had to write this in advance, especially because last week I drew the Hierophant on Monday. Clearly I’m supposed to get on this.

(1) Currently, I’m doing the SOP for my patron goddess Astarte followed by the lesser banishing ritual using the Greek pantheon we discussed – Aion (E) – Iris (S) – Eros (W) – Gaia (N). Then I do Middle Pillar with mostly the same gods in the same order, but replacing the Irish goddess Aine for Eros because that energy needed to be female according to your instructions. Then end with SOP, meditation, divination.

(a) I know I’m mixing pantheons a little, but in my research for a female replacement in the Middle Pillar, Aine spoke to me the most so I felt I had to go with that.

(b) Also, in my imagination / mind’s eye they have taken on characteristics that are different from their mytho-history. I don’t want to take that too far and veer into pretend-land.

(c) I started banishing in March 2018 and added the middle pillar in November 2019. I feel ready to begin an invoking ceremony such as the one you’ve been detailing in recent MMs. Or am I doing enough invoking with the Middle Pillar? If I did add it, here’s my best guess at an order – SOP – LBOP – Middle – Invoke – SOP?

(2) What’s your opinion of the other-than-material planes of instruments? Instruments have the power to gather and also absorb emotions. How much of that is from musicians who tend to gather also and how much is from the instruments? I think instruments have a lot of independence on one of those planes – etheric? More than one? All machines do, of course. I’d also be interested in anything that’s been written about this if it exists.

(3) If you make your life as an artist, does that make the Moon a positive card in your deck or a warning? I tend to interpret it still as a warning, yet the experiences it’s predicted have been not bad. For example, on one of my trips I drew the Moon. I was supposed to go to Nashville from LA for a show, and I ran out of courage and energy in Austin. Also my friend lived there with her two lady friends and we had a blast for three days and I wrote a song about it. But I missed my Nashville gig and that was disappointing to my inner manager. So it’s not exactly a success card, is it?

Re: Several questions (saved up)

[ecosophia]

1) Okay, let me make sure I'm following you. By SoP do you mean the Circle of Presence ritual that begins and ends the LBRP? Or do you mean the Sphere of Protection, the ritual I've been teaching in recent Dreamwidth posts? They're emphatically not the same...

2) I know a lot of musicians experience their instruments as having extensive inner dimensions, but I don't believe I've ever seen anything written about that.

3) A tarot card doesn't have a single simple meaning -- especially not that one! Reflect on what the Moon card has predicted in your own life, and over time you'll be able to figure out what it means to you -- and that's what matters.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

it has not happened to me (yet? as far as I know...), but how would a ritual magician handle a magical attack that is targeting him?
I am working with the Druid Magic Handbook which says little on the topic.

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

Daily banishings do most of the heavy lifting there -- if you do your SoP daily, most magical attacks will bounce right off you. You can also use other protective rituals, as well as amulets that apply natural magic.

There's also a trick that comes after some years of daily meditation -- you learn how to "lean into" an attack, as though you were leaning into the wind. I don't know of another way to describe it, and I've never been able to teach it to anyone; if you've done a lot of meditation you pick it up instinctively. It's quite effective, though; you're basically nullifying the state of consciousness inherent into the attack by taking on a state of consciousness that balances it out.

[(Anonymous)]

You keep advising not to do anything with the awareness which comes out of the daily recollection, but if there's one habit which stands out as being particularly problematic, is journaling to get to the root cause a good idea, or is it still best to ignore it and let things happen at their own pace?

[ecosophia]

The point is not to get into a war with yourself by trying to force a change you're not yet ready to make. Journaling is fine, since the point there is to bring things into consciousness so that the change can happen naturally.

Confounding the Watcher

[(Anonymous)]

A few weeks back on the blog I asked you about my recent experiences with astrology. I'd started working on peoples' natal charts, and had a good deal of success, with great reviews from everyone I worked with. But I'd had a strange experience where, all of a sudden, astrology started to give me an unpleasant and cold feeling, and I'd backed away from it completely.

You said that it sounded like the Watcher at the Threshold. I was surprised, because I've never had the Watcher take that form-- he's turned up as boredom, fear, and the desire to explore a different system (which is why I have intermediate-level training in half a dozen martial arts and a black belt in nothing) but never like this. Nevertheless, I decided to take your advice and get back to doing charts. You won't be surprised to hear that the unpleasant feeling is gone, and I like astrology again.

So the main purpose of this post is to say Thank you!

Also I was wondering-- like I said, the Watcher takes many forms for me, and whenever I think I've got him nailed down, he changes shape and gets me from another direction. One of the results of this is that my life is littered with half-finished projects-- from novels to martial arts to partly-learned music to magical studies. I've changed career paths 3 or 4 times and had half a dozen serious relationships. I didn't really realize until I sat down and thought about it just how many things I haven't completed. I was wondering if you had any advice on breaking this pattern. Is it better to go back and finish things? Or is it better to find new things and stick to them? Or something else? And are there other shapes the Watcher takes that I might look forward to?

Re: Confounding the Watcher

[ecosophia]

1) You're welcome.

2) Why not cast a horary chart, if you know how to do those, or some other form of divination to settle what you should try next? As for the Watcher's next form, that's anybody's guess; it depends on subtle details of your psychology.

Memorizing a Ritual

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I was wondering about the need to memorize the words of a ritual vs reading the words of the ritual while doing it. My gut feeling is that it would be best to memorize, but it's a once-off dedication/initiation ritual and quite long and I don't have enough faith in my memorization skills. Does it make a big difference?

Thanks,
Dan

Re: Memorizing a Ritual

[ecosophia]

The more effort you put into preparation for a ritual, the more potent the ritual will be. Make yourself memorize it and the results will be proportionate to the effort that takes.

[causticus]

Greetings JMG,

1. Is there a magical explanation for head coverings are very often worn while a practitioner performs certain religious rituals/functions? Are there certain kinds of magical workings where a head covering is either required or optimal?

2. Same question as above, but what about regarding the color(s) of the clothing one wear's while performing rituals? Does that have a meaningful effect on the working being performed?

3. How far must one travel away from an urban area to start encountering nature spirits? Would a large park in a suburban or semi-rural area be a sufficient space to host them? And, do you happen know which spirits are common to woodland areas in the Great Lakes region and/or Northeast US?

4. Are there deities (besides the Hebrew god) you know of who are especially picky/particular about which other deities are invoked alongside them during the same working? In your experience, what are definite no-no's?


BTW, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answers all these questions each week!

[ecosophia]

1) I'm pretty sure there are issues related to the light sensitivity of pineal gland at work here. It's interesting that so many religions that value celibacy (e.g., Christianity and Buddhism) have shaving the head as a standard practice for celibate men, while religions that don't (e.g., Judaism and Taoism) inevitably have male religious professionals cover the crown of the head. In terms of magic, though, if a ritual requires anything along these lines it'll gell you.

2) Yes, in that it helps you build a focus on the energy represented by the color.

3) Depends on the area and the spirits. As for types, I don't think anybody's done a good taxonomy of the local nature spirits; you would pretty much have to develop your own clairvoyant abilities, use divination to find a suitable place, and see what shows up.

4) If two deities have a reputation in mythology for getting in fights, don't invoke them together. There are a lot of such conflicts in myth -- another good reason to make sure you know your mythology.

Tarot divination

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I have an important decision coming up where I think there are three main options open to me. Although I am still fairly new to tarot, I would like to do a divination to see what it can tell me. Is it better to do a "general" divination i.e. "What should I do in relation to X" or to do three specific divinations for each of options i.e. "Would it be good for me to do A/B/C?"

Thanks,
Simon

Re: Tarot divination

[ecosophia]

If you're new to it, do three specific divinations. It'll be much clearer.

Material for a magical knife

[sea_spray]

Hi JMG

Regarding knives which will not dissipate the magical properties of herbs they are used to harvest. Is it only a problem for knives which are predominantly steel? So if a bronze alloy has a few percent iron will that work for maintaining the magical properties of herbs it is used to harvest?

Thanks

Re: Material for a magical knife

[ecosophia]

That should be fine. With a very few exceptions, most alloys are magically inert.

Light and Magic Lanterns

[(Anonymous)]

Does light as such have magical efficacy? If you pass it through a transparently colored surface to produce colored illumination, can that have a magical effect?

My idea is to create a lantern or lamp enclosed in a translucent shade decorated with such colors, in a design I have long contemplated. The lantern, or segments thereof, might be astrological talismans, or they might not. It would please me if the images or colors so cast were to produce some benefic influence; but who can say if that is the case?

If I recall correctly, Cornelius Agrippa says in his book on natural magic that the light produced by the flame of a candle or the like does indeed possess magical attributes. What about electric lights? Are some forms of illumination magically superior to others?

Re: Light and Magic Lanterns

[ecosophia]

1) Eliphas Levi included a lantern with colored shades in his magical toolkit, though I don't know of anyone who's done it since his time. Colored light was also used by 19th century Rosicrucians for healing and magic, so you might as well experiment.

2) Some forms of illumination are indeed magically better than others. Why do you think mages use candles so consistently? Light from flame strengthens magic, light from the blue end of the electric-light spectrum can interfere with it.

[(Anonymous)]

I've found myself quite entranced recently by a beautiful devotional song to Freya, which you can listen to here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7emL16Ccayw&list=RD7emL16Ccayw&start_radio=1

By reflecting on it I've noticed a certain similarity to the Heathen LBRP - namely the presence of the elements and directions. My annotation in []. Do you think this is a coincidence or by design?

Lyrics

There came a Lady fae the West
Who left not one cold man here
She smelled of trees and ocean breeze
The Lady of the Vanir

She kissed the pollen on the rose
She kissed the golden corn ear
She kissed the seed within the womb
The Lady of the Vanir

She went forth from the towers of Light
She felt no sorrow nor fear
She went to seek the heart of the night
The Lady of the Vanir

She found the cavern dark and deep
All filled with gold and jewels dear
She found the small men at their work
The Lady of the Vanir

She put her arm about the East [ East, Air ]
And found a thought so light and clear
She breathed forth song and melody
The Lady of the Vanir

She put her tongue about the South [ South, Fire ]
And in her breast a flame did sear
She shouted forth her battle-cry
The Lady of the Vanir

She put her leg about West [ West, Water ]
And felt her Mother's breast near
She gave her heart to all the world
The Lady of the Vanir

She put her womb about the North [ North, Earth ]
And felt the Star of Night appear
She bore it forth into the Light
The Lady of the Vanir

As she went forth, her white neck shone
With the jewels of ice and fire
And in her path the flowers they grew
For the Lady of the Vanir

Some make things grow and others know
And some are fair and full of cheer
But there's not a sweeter, wilder love
Then the Lady of the Vanir

[ecosophia]

If the song comes from Neopagan sources, the composer doubtless picked up the direction correspondences from there -- those were borrowed into Neopaganism from ceremonial magic back in Gerald Gardner's time.

Tree of Light SOP

[(Anonymous)]

Good evening sir and thank you for the richness you provide here,

I am working through your Druid Magic Handbook and am approaching the time to begin working with the Tree of Light. I was hit with a question regarding the advanced forms of the ritual as compared to the more basic form where only the seven invocations and four banishings are done.

Once the Tree of Light form is learned, could you foresee any circumstance in which one would revert back to the more basic form (short term or long term) and what kind of effect would that have on a person and their practice? The only reason I could think of (other than saving time) would be if learning a new system of magic later on that worked with different energy centers than the Three Cauldrons.

Re: Tree of Light SOP

[ecosophia]

You can always go back to just doing the SoP, and in fact some people find it best to do the cauldrons, dragons, and tree once or twice a week, and the plain SoP the rest of the time. It depends on what you're trying to do and what your subtle bodies can handle.

[booklover1973]

In the Druid Magic Handbook, there is mentioned a cauldron as an utensil. Does it need to have a lid? Are there other necessary properties which it should have?

[ecosophia]

Mine is a plain cast iron cauldron 5" across with three legs and no lid. I know other people whose cauldrons are very different. No, it doesn't need a lid, and so long as it more or less fits the basic definition of a cauldron, it ought to work fine.

[(Anonymous)]

Estimated Archdruid, I have a few questions about AISA style practice.

I’m working through the Druid Magic Handbook and have spent a lot of time at the “Changing Myself” exercise. Now, I just adapt the SoP to all the subjects that matter to me, and repeat it 7 or more times for major issues. Seems to work well. Am I doing this right? Would it be useful to do the SoP twice a day (before and after work in psychiatry) or rather a daily hoodoo bath afterwards?

I can’t figure out a useful and ethical application for the “Changing the World” exercise. Can I skip it?

Most of my discursive meditations are walking meditations, like in The Druidry Handbook. I walk the same familiar path each time, but of course I’m less concentrated than in sitting meditation. I guess that’s a problem?

Thank you for your precious advice!

[ecosophia]

1) Okay, first of all, I'm guessing that AISA is a typo for AODA; if not, please advise!

2) That should be fine. I don't recommend doing the SoP twice a day -- do a hoodoo bath instead.

3) Of course you can skip it.

4) That's fine. Don't worry about it.

Talking with the Archetypes

[emmanuelg]

In a dream about a year ago, I found myself travelling along a path through woods. There was a gorge spanned by a narrow wooden bridge. In the centre of the bridge there was a young woman kneeling sideways. A man with his head hidden entirely by a broad-brimmed black hat, clothed entirely in black, was hanging by his armpits off the side of the bridge. The young woman was holding his arms on the bridge, and that kept him from falling into the gorge. He seemed unconscious, perhaps dead. The young woman was wearing an ankle-length, blue and white traditional peasant dress with a small wimple covering her bright red hair. She looked up at me suddenly with piercing blue eyes, and we stared at each other in silence for several minutes--until I woke up.

To me, this has the look and feel of an encounter with archetypes. How could I go back to the bridge? I would like to go back there and ask her/them questions.

Any comments on the possible significance of the figures and the setting would be welcome!

Re: Talking with the Archetypes

[ecosophia]

Have you considered doing a pathworking? You'll find the instructions in The Druid Magic Handbook, or for that matter in either of my geomancy books or my Coelbren book.

Becoming the change you want to see

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I've been been thinking about how to make a really potent magical working with the broad intention of inspiring people to restore the health of the earth. I've accepted that for maximum bang I would necessarily need to be living that intention and walking that talk. What other magical techniques could support that and turn me into a walking talisman of restoration? I've got middling experience in natural magic, and training in Western ceremonial magic is ongoing. What about visualisations or approaching various deities for help? Should I just throw anything and everything I've got into it?

I want people around me to feel that it would be really a good idea go and pick up some rubbish in a local park, or drop some wasteful habit and plant some trees - the catch is that it's only acceptable to me if they do it because they're inspired to, not out of fear or guilt.

Thank you for making yourself available for Magic Monday!

Re: Becoming the change you want to see

[ecosophia]

Have you done serious divination, meditation, and prayer to determine whether this is the right thing for you to do? That's the essential first step, because something like this is not something to do lightly, and if it's a mistake -- if this isn't what you should be doing with this life -- you can quite possibly mess yourself over for lifetimes to come.

Polytheism and monotheism

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

As a polytheist,

(1) would you say that monotheists have been short-changed or misguided in believing that there is only one god?

(2) If so, would that not be unethical of a god (among many!) to pass off as the one and only?

(3) Surely, the Supreme God ought to be quite annoyed if a lesser god would try (succesfully) to pass off at being the one and only?

(4) Or do you think that what are considered as angels and archangels in christianity for instance are gods in someonelse's polytheist religion?

Sorry if my queries are not entirely related to magic!

Many thanks anyway!

Re: Polytheism and monotheism

[ecosophia]

Okay, to answer this it's going to be necessary to get into a little history of religions. Very broadly speaking, there are two categories of religions, which we can call natural religions and prophetic religions. (Prophetic religions like to call this latter category "revealed religions.") A natural religion grows out of the religious experience of a people over time. A prophetic religion is invented by an individual (the prophet) who rejects the religious experience of his people and insists that people should follow his rules instead. Natural religions are pretty much always polytheist. Prophetic religions are more often monotheist, though of course there are exceptions. Clear so far?

My take, for what it's worth, is that prophetic religions are always contaminated by the ego of the prophet, who says in effect, "My religious experience is better than your religious experience, and my god is better than your god." Monotheism is the extreme expression of that ego trip: "There's only one god and he's mine, mine, mine!" It's one of the distinctive features of prophetic religions that they insist that a scripture written by the prophet or his disciples takes precedence over everyone else's ongoing experience of deities. Thus it doesn't matter, to believers in a prophetic religion, what the god does or doesn't say; what matters is what the prophet said about the god. (And of course "Our scripture is better than your scripture" is another dimension of the ego trip.)

The gods of monotheist religions seem to be far more tolerant than most of their worshipers. I know a lot of people, for example, who combine reverence for Christ with reverence for other gods and goddesses, and their experience is that Christ doesn't mind this at all -- however many fits his self-proclaimed spokespersons might throw over such a thing. Thus it seems likely to me that Christ, for example, is one god out of many, who had the misfortune of having some of his followers go zooming off on an ego trip of the sort just described.

LRM beginner questions

[(Anonymous)]

I've made it to chapter three of Learning Ritual Magic and have some questions I've been meaning to ask:

1. When it's not specified in the text, does it matter if I keep my eyes open or closed during exercises and rituals?

2. When working on the first chapter I’d open before each exercise and close immediately, even if going straight on to do another exercise. Later in the book there are several examples of combined exercises where the closing only happens at the very end. As a rule of thumb, are the opening and closing gestures best associated with a session of magical work, and not necessarily with each individual exercise?

Regarding the Qabalistic Cross ritual:

3. Am I right that "ve-Geburah" and "ve-Gedulah" should be pronounced with a soft "g" sound, as in "general"? (Non-native Engilsh speaker here.)

4. When it says to stand with my feet together, does that mean that they should be touching, or just that they should not be spread widely apart?

Regarding the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram:

5. Should the Qabalistic Cross only be performed at the end, or also at the beginning of the ritual? (This may be obvious to native speakers, but I’m not sure if the word «perform» in point 1 of the instructions (page 51) is meant in the infinitive or imperative sense)

6. As for visualizing the Star of David, am I correct that the "upward-pointing triangle" to be visualized in red refers to the uppermost of the six "fields" of the star as drawn in Figure 9 of the book, whereas the "downward-pointing triangle" to be visualized in blue is constituted by the middle three fields, and that the remaining two fields, the "legs" so to speak, should not be colored?

Thanks for all your work. It's been a fascinating journey so far to engage with this stuff.

Re: LRM beginner questions

[(Anonymous)]

Anglo Hebrew speaker here, answering only question 3:

No. 'G' in Hebrew-to-English transliterations is always hard, as in 'gold'.

-Ms. Krieger

[(Anonymous)]

Dear gracious host,

What can I do on a spiritual/mental/magical level for a good outcome of an upcoming knee surgery? I’ve tried to place the date under an auspicious phase of the moon, but then buried my head in the sand, kindof...

Thank you for sharing your wisdom and experience.

[ecosophia]

Do you worship any deities? If so, ask them for their help -- that's one of the things that deities do very well. Beyond that, well, what kind of experience in magic do you have, and what if anything do you practice? There are some very robust things you can do if you have the right skills.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. After some meditation, I think I have discovered some linkages between the elements described in the DMH. I am referring to statements such as ‘water receives, resolves, unites, and dissolves’. If one inserts the first four elements into those statements, they work (water receives air, etc) if one reflects on the elements. Was this intentional, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

2. For years, and before starting the DMH, I wake up very early in the morning and to get going, I have a cup of coffee of moderate strength. Before I started the DMH, i would then practice music, now I do both the DMH practices and then music. Is coffee going to adversely affect the DMH practices, and if so, how can I tell?

Thanks as always!

[ecosophia]

1) That's the kind of thing that very often comes out of meditation. Is it useful or not? More meditation will tell you that.

2) Try it with coffee and then without, repeatedly, and see what results you get.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear John Michael Greer,

As a survivor of sexual child abuse, I wonder if have any advice for magical or other means (apart from regular therapy) to help with healing?

Some victims later become perpetrators of abuse themselves. wonder if there is some kind of entity, egregore or other astral shape of sexual abuse? Or is it just karma (if that’s even different)?

[ecosophia]

1) That's something I was fortunate enough not to experience myself, and I don't have the necessary knowledge to make a good recommendation. Anyone else?

2) There are certainly family egregores, and those could quite readily include patterns of that sort. It's certainly possible to overcome them, though. My father was physically abused as a child; he made it one of his goals, when he became an adult, not to do anything of the kind to his own children -- and he succeeded.