Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of the other contender for the title of Japan's Merlin, Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon denomination of esoteric Buddhism. As a young man he embraced Buddhism and engaged in ascetic practices in the mountains, then had a vision in which a spirit told him to seek the Mahavairocana Sutra. When he got it he found that much of it was written in cryptic language and symbolism, and so he traveled to China to find a master to interpret it for him. After many adventures he was initiated by Huiguo, an esoteric Buddhist master, and returned to Japan brimfull of secret teachings. Miracles, magic, and politics duly followed -- yeah, it would make a great fantasy novel. According to Shingon belief he is still alive, having withdrawn into a state of suspended animation to await the coming of Miroku, the Buddha of the Future. 

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 I'm going to have somewhat limited email access tomorrow and it may be Tuesday or even Wednesday 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 -- and yes, that means you. See you next week!***

***Ahem.  If you posted a new question after midnight Eastern time, it's been deleted. Please post again next week between midnight Sunday and midnight Monday, Eastern time.***

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

1) I live a horribly empty, yet abundant in material terms, middle class lifestyle, and every attempt I've made to try to change it has flopped. I've realized part of it is that whenever I do it, I try to change too much at once, and so I want to start make smaller shifts. I'm drawn to Druidry, and so plan to use the holy days as the basis for this. Would starting with spirituality (i.e. SOP and meditation for now) be a good start, or are there things I might need to take care of first?

2) I've been mulling over the recent Trudeau in blackface media explosion, and one of the things which strikes me is that the narrative, of this incident 18 years ago showing us his true nature, only makes sense if people assume he is incapable of change. This assumption that nothing can change seems to show up an awful lot in modern thinking, and when I attempt to press it, I hit an off switch in people's minds, which suggests to me there's something here. I'd never noticed it applied to people before, but it makes sense it would be: it's applied to nearly everything else.

What strikes me is that this explains an otherwise odd phenomenon: the the baffling way so many people, even those who see the problems we face, refuse to do anything about it. It's not a matter of not wanting to, or even of weighing the pros and cons and deciding that they like living this way: it's people literally thinking they're incapable of change.

Does this line of thinking make sense?

3) I've seen the discussion of cacomagic flooding the US here, and realized this might explain something: if the country is flooded with magic aimed to keep people locked in self-defeating behavioural patterns, it follows lots of people should fall into such patterns. We have a word for people locked in such patterns: crazy. Thus, it may be the case that the rest of the world views Americans as somewhat nuts because it's actually true: maybe not always at the individual level, but collectively.

Does this line of thinking make sense?

4) I've been looking into atheist demonolatry, and struck by how insane it is: if they're right no spiritual reality exists, all they're doing is alienating potential allies; while if they're wrong they've put themselves in horrid danger. What seems to make sense of it is if they genuinely hate the Christian god so much that it blinds them. Do you know where such powerful hatred might be coming from?

[ecosophia]

1) Choose one thing to do, and set aside everything else for now. I'd recommend the Sphere of Protection. Start work on it, and keep going. Once you've established that as a daily practice, you can go on, but until you pass through the gate of Doing One Thing you won't be able to get anywhere. Give it a try!

2) Yes, that makes sense. The insistence that people can't change is rooted in exactly the experience you mentioned in your first question: you hate your life and yet your attempts to do something else have gone nowhere -- at least so far.

3) I see no lies there. ;-)

4) If the Christian god exists, then the atheists have a great deal of egg on their faces. That can motivate a lot of hatred.

[(Anonymous)]

In your post on "the flight to the fringes and what waits there," you mention that the Radical Left's turn towards evil magic and demonolatry will have spiritual consequences, but don't outline what that might look like.

Living in an area with a lot of "hate has no home here" signs I worry:

1) What will the probably spiritual consequence of all the Magical Resistance blundering, the apparently hundreds of housewives on youtube teaching goetic evocation, the atheists joining the Temple of Satan likely be?

2) How much can folks ameliorate the blowback; how much could a mage or mystic or church mitigate the collective karma generated by this cacomagia?

[ecosophia]

1) The exact nature of the blowback is very difficult to predict in advance. I'd expect madness, suicide, addiction, disease, and possibly natural disasters as well to play roles, but the shape of the process is anyone's guess.

2) Very little. You can distance yourself from it by magical and/or spiritual means, but the karma is what it is and it's going to run its course.

Spell to get desirable neighbors

[(Anonymous)]

Our dear next door neighbors will be moving within a year or so for family reasons. While we will remain friends and see them regularly, we will miss our daily interactions. We hope that they will be replaced by someone we will also grow fond of. Ours is an older neighborhood of little houses close together with small yards, so getting along well is a really bonus. My wish is that we can attract new neighbors with whom we can become close friends. Is there a spell (or other occultic thing) for such a situation? Would that be a spell for our property, i.e. the yard or house, the neighborhood, or ourselves? Thanks in advance.

Re: Spell to get desirable neighbors

[ecosophia]

Do you have any kind of background in magical practice?

Teaching Spirit of the Book

[(Anonymous)]

I’ve read that it’s common for magical books to contain a “teaching spirit of the book,” also referred to as the crossroads spirit or the “familiar of the text.” Is this the case with your books? If so, how would a person go about contacting and working with these spirits?

Thanks!
-Colter

Re: Teaching Spirit of the Book

[ecosophia]

Every book has its own spirit, which is another way of saying that every book embodies a state of consciousness. If you're already familiar with the art of working with spirits, you know how to go about working with a book-spirit; if not, don't worry about it. When you read the book, your spirit and the book-spirit commune with each other.

[(Anonymous)]

I need some help with geomancy on a very delicate subject.

Before we got together, my fiance had a long, secret relationship with a married man.

Now, this kind of thing ordinarily doesn't concern me. Obviously I don't think it was right-- and neither does she. But the details of my partners' previous relationships has never bothered me very much. I've been with a lot of women, and in my younger days I was not very faithful myself. It's not just that it would be hypocritical for past relationships or sexual experiences to bother me, which it would, it's that I personally, genuinely don't care.

For some reason though, this one does bother me. Moreover, the bother comes in waves-- and during these waves it's very intense, and it feels like a strong pressure near my solar plexus. I sometimes seem to see a dark or reddish energy pushing its way in. I feel intensely jealous, and intensely insecure. I find myself chain smoking cigarettes to calm myself-- when before this, I hadn't smoked in many years and had no intention of doing so again. And it's gone on like this for quite a long time-- in the past even when I have felt jealous, I've gotten over it pretty quickly.

So I started to wonder if something more than just my own insecurity might be involved. Actually she suggested it-- She said she was worried that negative energy was coming at us from outside the relationship. 

So I did some geomancy on the subject, trying to figure out if he is, either intentionally or unintentionally, working hostile magic. She has described him as both very sensitive and very manipulative, and his mother is an energetic healer from a traditional culture; this suggests a natural psychism, possibly not wholly conscious.

I first asked, "Is at least some of the emotional pain I feel around this issue due to [Her Ex]'s influence?" I assumed that this is a 12th house question.

The resulting chart is quite complicated.

In the first house we have Populus, which springs to the 2nd house, the 8th house, and the 9th house. In the 12th house we have Albus, which springs, rather alarmingly, to both the 5th house and the 7th house. 

So for modes of perfection we have a mutation between the 7th house and the 8th house, and also sextiles between the 12th and 2nd and between the 7th and 9th, and a trine between the 5th and the 9th. 

I'm taking this as a "Yes," with the following commentaries:

1. I am described as extremely sensitive and receptive (Populus= Moon in Cancer. Cancer is my rising sign and I am a natural empath.)
2. Something about my magical and religious work (8th and 9th) houses open me to outside influences and relate to this question.
3. He is probably still obsessed with her (Albus in 12 and 7), views me as a rival or enemy (Albus in 7). Albus in 5 also suggests that he spends time staring at her or me on social media. 
4. Albus in 5 is also deeply concerning, as she is currently pregnant with my child.
5. I am certain that she has had no contact with him over any kind in a year. 

So, my questions...

1. Do you agree with my interpretation of the main chart?
2. Do you see anything else I'm missing?
3. What can I do about it?

As an addendum, the other day I was reading the first of your Weird of Hali books (and greatly enjoying it, btw) and I came across the part where Owen discovers that he is under psychic attack. He goes to Laura, who tells him not to fight it, but to hold it as an object of awareness, so that he does not confuse the feelings with himself as the subject of his awareness. Weirdly enough, when I read this, I was experiencing one of these waves of insecurity, and I picked up the book to distract myself. Is this useful advice for a situation like this? I also noticed that she told him to eat to keep his strength up.

Thanks in advance.

[ecosophia]

This sounds like a pretty classic example of magical attack, and your interpretation seems accurate to me. Fortunately, yes, there's a lot you can do about it. Yes, the material in The Weird of Hali is relevant -- a lot of things are in those books for good reason! An amulet is also very useful, and fortunately you don't need to encounter a Great Old One to make that happen; visit the Magic Monday FAQ and you'll find instructions for making a good protective amulet that will have similar effects to those Owen described. The hoodoo protective bath described in the FAQ is another good resource, and if you're willing to engage in regular ritual practice, the Sphere of Protection ritual covered in previous posts on this journal will protect you if done daily.

There are other things you can do. If your fiance has a photo of her former lover, or anything with his signature on it, that can be put into a bottle with the hottest red pepper you can find and thrown into a river that flows away from the place where the two of you live; go back home by a different route than the one you took to the river. That's a classic way to break a connection with someone you no longer want to interact with.

[(Anonymous)]

I had romantic feelings for someone who was a close friend appear out of nowhere a few years ago. We were both in relationships at the time, and so I spent a while wrestling with it, before deciding to end my relationship (it wasn't fair to her that I go through the motions when I had these feelings for someone else). When said close friend asked why I broke up, I explained it to her.

Her response was baffling: she lost it. She bolted out of there, and spent close to a year ignoring me, and telling everyone how horrible I was. She then came back and wanted to talk and try to salvage things, but I decided I didn't want anything to do with her. She recently got in touch again, demanding to know what I'd done, since she knew I was into the occult, and assumed the fact that every single person she's been able to date since then has been similar to me was some form of curse.

What I found interesting here is I realized when she confronted me she's the one person I genuinely hate, and put it together: she probably cast a love spell on me and is stuck with the blowback.

1) Does this sound like the results of a love-spell gone wrong?

2) I keep getting results indicating I can't use a cut and clear spell on her. This is annoying, but I suspect another option to get her out of my life is to help her move on. Do you know ways to do that, or are we stuck with this?

[ecosophia]

1) Very much so.

2) There may be karma involved -- that can interfere with cut-and-clear workings. Have you considered using divination to figure out what other options you might have?

[(Anonymous)]

A while back, I discussed a magical attack with you, and you suggested eating more meat to ground me. I noticed I was doing that naturally, and that it seemed related.

This connects to something else I noticed: I'm not a vegetarian, but I tend to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and find eating too much meat bothers my stomach, except when traveling through the US. I need to eat a lot of it in the US, and this has me thinking through the cacomagic discussion, and linking it to my prior experience.

Do you think the way that so many Americans eat what most of the people I know find excessive amounts of meat might be related to the flood of cacomagic in the country?

[ecosophia]

Well, yes, among other things. Astral conditions here in the US are generally pretty awful.

[causticus]

Good evening JMG,

1. I'm not sure if this has been asked here before, but do you happen to know of any occult teachings about what the afterlife experience might be like for materialists, or least people who don't believe that anything happens to their consciousness after death?

2. Last week I asked you about my afflicted natal Mars, and you recommend doing planetary charity, and used wolf sanctuaries as an example of a Mars-affiliated charity. As an animal-lover I love the sound of that and am wondering what other animals are there associated with Mars, especially ones I could donate in some way to the welfare of? Otherwise what would be other examples of viable Mars charities? I want to get this exactly right, as I'm guessing I shouldn't do anything flaky or half-baked in the name of Mars! Thank you so much for this recommendation btw. Last week I immediately looked up and researched this practice and found the work of Christopher Warnock (who owns the website renaissance astrology).

3. As we shift out of the axial age, do you think spirituality might again shift to the "mystery school" (or fraternal lodge) model? That seemed to be the way that many prophetic and salvific cults first arose and grew into big world religions in the first place and phased out natural religions. It would be funny if they contracted back into that form as all this axial hysteria finally started to die down.

4. To you knowledge, are the Greek and Roman gods the same beings? Specifically the ones with direct correspondences. For the ones who are, could their alternate times be used interchangeably in rituals? (ex. Diana/Artemis). Also, do these gods and goddesses mind being invoked as proxies for virtues and cosmic principles?

[ecosophia]

1) In the vast majority of cases, what you think about the afterlife has zero effect on what afterlife you get. The universe is under no obligation to cater to our notions! A materialist who dies goes through the same experiences as other people, but without the advantage of help from gods or spirits, and with no way of making sense of what's happening.

2) Raptors and other birds of prey correspond to Mars; so do horses, poisonous snakes, spiders, and scorpions. Also dogs, if they're working, hunting, or fighting dogs -- a charity that finds homes for greyhounds or that rehabilitates dogs bred for dogfights would be excellent choices.

3) That's a very good question, but we'll have to wait to see the answer!

4) The Greeks and Romans apparently thought they were, so it's probably safe to treat them as the same beings under different names. As far as invoking deities as proxies for virtues and principles, well, depends on how you do it. They're persons and should be treated as such, but they will certainly bestow virtues on those who pray to them, and some are associated with cosmic principles.

[(Anonymous)]

Assuming the planes in Hermetic tradition, where are will and consciousness stored?

I think it can't be in the spiritual plane, because they are mutable, differentiation.

You said they start in the material plane, from simple matter, and that only slowly the self "climbs", through several deaths and rebirths, acquiring structures in the "higher" planes.

[ecosophia]

"Stored" in what sense? They don't go on shelves, you know. ;-)

Will and consciousness are the two basic qualities of the self, and they exist and function at all levels. As soon as your soul drew itself together out of the raw material of soul-stuff and became able to take on a body, you had a very simple will and a very limited consciousness, which enabled you to exist as a single-celled organism. Life after life, you developed a more complex will and a more enlarged consciousness. At first you were only aware of the material plane; then you became aware of higher planes, a little at a time. Now you're a human being; you have a will and consciousness that have reached the point where you can will to will and be conscious of being conscious; you are aware of the material plane (through your senses), the astral plane (through your imagination), and a little of the mental plane (through your intellect), and you can also act on all of these. As you move beyond the human level your will and consciousness will unfold further, but they're always with you -- in a real sense, they are you.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey hey JMG,

Two questions today.

1) For times of limited space and privacy do you have any advice about adapting one's practices? I had a tai chi instructor once who showed us 'prison tai chi' for practicing in a 2' by 2' space. And, I'm visiting some family and friends in a space that is not mine. Any advice for meditations that get interrupted? And, for working in a very small space (think bathroom) where one can't walk more than a step or two, point with arm unbent, etc?

2) On a related note, any advice on how not to talk about one's practice when it gets noticed? I've had very little trouble with this, but I want to keep it to myself and I don't want to lie. For context, a relative saw me reading your Art and Practice of Geomancy book and marking up some paper with a bunch of little symbols made of dots and asked me about it. I said it was roughly equivalent to a western version of the I Ching (which I feel is somewhat accurate) and went over well. But, I imagine that I will have trouble with the 'remain silent' part with people that know me well. A lot of my friends can tell when I avoid talking about something and sometimes clamming up only increases their curiosity.

Thanks,
Tim

PS I'm really enjoying The Art and Practice of Geomancy. Thanks for writing it and thanks for recommending it. OK, three questions, right now I am working on getting good at it. I'm practicing and trying to develop my intuition before I start trusting it and acting on it. Any suggestions about how long before I start to rely on it?

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, Tim, if I may butt in here, one of the reasons I didn't start down the Path earlier is because I have two young children and we lived in a tiny cabin with no privacy. I found the SoP I was attempting at the time very difficult, and meditation too pointless to even bother with. After moving into a bigger house recently all that has changed and my practice is zooming. But my younger child still interrupts me occasionally, and when I'm literally standing in another world at that moment, it's pretty frustrating.

So I asked my Animal Oracle for a guide and mentor to help me through these moments. I got the Owl, who corresponds to the Hermit in the Tarot deck, and represents detachment, wisdom, change. It all fit pretty well with my needs actually. And now when I get interrupted the Owl is sitting there on whichever shoulder is closest to the unwelcome open door blocking my view and steering me gently back to my happy place.

FWIW,
Tripp

Good sleep

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG

I wrote some year ago regarding my child that I was afraid had attracted larvae during some of his lengthy hospitals visits, but also if it could be something more serious since I've noticed other strange things in the house.
I just wanted to reconnect and say that things are under control, and I've still got a cup of vinegar under his bed (without it he starts talking or rather pleading to something in his sleep) and gotten him to take the occational hoodo bath, at least after he's been ill. The good news is that we are now preparing to move out of the house so I hope things will improve even more for him after that.

Anyway, my question was about getting good sleep.
I've been looking trough the Natural magic encyclopedia about something that might help him get better sleep, and the only thing I found that mentions it directly is Amethyst. Could you give me some advice on a sleeping satchel os similar? Also what element is sleep?

Ola

Re: Good sleep

[ecosophia]

Sleep corresponds to water and the Moon, so watery herbs and stones can be used in a sleep amulet. Amethyst would be a good choice; tie a hair from your child around it, repeating nine times in a whisper, "sleep deeply, wake refreshed." Put that under his mattress.

[(Anonymous)]

What do you make of forgiveness practices like Ho’oponopono?

[ecosophia]

Hmm. I've never really looked into them, as that kind of thing isn't something that catches my interest. Can you point me to a source?

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Mr Greer,
what would be the fastest way to repair a persons compromised energy body?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

That depends entirely on the nature of the damage and also on what caused it.

Demons and their gifts

[(Anonymous)]

You said of demons last week: "They're weak on our plane, which is why they have to work in the indirect ways they do, but what motivates them is malice, rage, and hatred. The sooner you get rid of their temporary gifts, the better."

Do you think that the gateway technologies required to exploit fossil fuels could have just been very grand gifts from demons? Could that potentially make someone like James Watt the equivalent of Faust?

Tripp

Re: Demons and their gifts

[ecosophia]

A case could be made!

SOP

[shadow_rider]

I have been doing SOP for the past few weeks and, with 1 exception, have not found much difference in terms of consciousness etc. I think my visualisations are a little lacking and I will continue to work on this. Or perhaps I'm just not aware of things that are changing. The 1 exception is that sometimes before going to sleep I find myself vibrating quietly whilst lying on my bed. I've never been aware of this sensation until recently. It's not an unpleasant sensation and I wonder if it means I am developing some kind of connection with another plane? Have you any familiarity with sensations such as this and any possible meaning?

Re: SOP

[ecosophia]

Some students don't notice any change for a while; some only notice them in retrospect. The sensation of vibration usually happens when your energy body has a lot of blockages, and the working is beginning to clear them away; it's a good sign.

Sweetening spells

[(Anonymous)]

When and why are sweetening spells ethically okay?

Re: Sweetening spells

[ecosophia]

The secret of sweetening spells is that they work by making the caster sweeter to be around. It's always appropriate to change your own behavior, so ethically, they're pretty safe.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

A bunch of connected issues are coming up while working with the SOP to balance qualities within myself.

Last week you suggested dealing with self-centeredness coupled with a desire for approval by invoking Fire for confidence and a clear sense of self-worth. After going through several iterations with other elements in the working, an Ogham reading finally said to proceed, so I've been doing the SOP with this working for the past couple of days. So far, I've been presented with situations in my day to day life where I would normally respond with qualities I am trying to banish, so it looks like the working is working!

One thing that has become clear is that I don't know what a clear sense of self-worth actually looks like, I am not sure if I ever experienced it! Or perhaps I only notice periods in which there is a lack or an abundance of a sense of self-worth. A clear sense implies a realistic sense of self-worth, but I'm struggling to imagine what this must be like.

What got me a little closer was meditating on the difference between the passions and desires (will) and the emotions (between Fire and Water). I rather surprisingly never made the basic distinction that both involve feelings, but desire and passion-based feelings come from internal aspects relating to the self's will, whereas emotions are feelings which come as responses to things and events external to the self.

As you've said before, self-centeredness and a desire for approval from others are two sides of the same coin, and if I'm right with the above, they come from an excess of Fire/will, such that the will is focused too much on the self and the act of willing, and wants for the sake of wanting. I notice this in a practical sense in active daydreaming I sometimes engage in (a habit from childhood) where I imagine myself doing something incredibly well in front of other people, which is perhaps the source of my problems with confidence.

In general the SOP is helping me a great deal, despite the great difficulty in untangling what comes up in meditation, and I see connections in other areas of life: I just finished reading Hermann Hesse's novel Narcissus and Goldmund, and he touches on these topics by personifying combinations of traits (symbolized by the elements in Druidry) through the two central characters. A lot of things clicked by reading that book while practicing the DMH and meditating.

Anyhow, just a report on how things are going.

[ecosophia]

Excellent! This kind of thing is always slow going, and especially so when you're having to overcome the momentum of our culture, which goes all out to keep people from developing a reasonable sense of self-worth -- after all, people who have that can't be tricked into buying an endless stream of shoddy consumer products in an attempt to shore up an inflated and unstable ego (the usual result of the fixation on "self-esteem" so common these days). I'm delighted, though not surprised, to hear that Hesse was helpful -- his novels are among the most psychologically profound works of fiction I know. (Of course he and Carl Jung were good friends, so that figures...)

Natal Astrology

[(Anonymous)]

I have several astrology questions for you this week, JMG, following on last week's discussion about planetary affliction and talismans.

1) I took a stroll through my natal dignities and debilities per your outline of essential and accidental affliction, and it looks like I could work with these planets in this order, starting with the most dignified:

The Sun - In Rulership and Triplicity in Leo, in the mid-heaven, trine Neptune, sextile Pluto, and only in opposition to a very weak Jupiter.

Mars - Physically in Aries, also ruling the Ascendant in Scorpio (or is that Pluto?), trine Moon, (also trine Lilith, but I'm glossing over the minor players for now), sextile Saturn, but square Mercury, and opposite Uranus, a "T-square" I think you called that.

Saturn - in his triplicity in Gemini, sextile Mars, but square Pluto.

Those are my strongest three. None of them reside in angular houses. Do I have them in the correct order?

2) I'm not ready to just yet, but if I wanted to make a talisman am I right to lean toward a Sun talisman in Aries to align with his exaltation, in order to bring balance and harmony to all that solarly solarness?

3) I also did a quick run-through on the charts of my other family members. My wife's chart is nearly free of affliction - no fall, no detriment, no retrogrades, with plenty of accidental dignity, and fairly few accidental afflictions.

What does this say, if anything, about a person? I mean, I think she's pretty perfect, but...

4) The one thing that bothers me about my wife's chart only bothers me in combination with the charts of my two children. Her Mars is combust (in Virgo, in VII, and square Neptune, her most debilitated planet). This isn't her Sun sign or ascending ruler, but could her Mars relate to me? Especially considering...

5) Both of my children have strong ruling planets - Venus in the case of my daughter, Mercury in the case of my son - both very well-dignified, BUT both combust again.

Because of my over-the-top solary solarness I can't help but think this could point out an issue with me, for all of them. Tell me I'm worrying unnecessarily?

6) For Mercury and Venus only I guess, does it matter which side of the Sun they're on in combust? IOW, is the combustion effect lessened at all if they are physically on our side of the local star?

7) Unlike my wife's chart, my son's chart is highly afflicted. Like, there's a whole square, between the Sun, Saturn, Pluto, and then Jupiter and Uranus in conjunction together on the 4th corner of the square. Which also obviously creates a lot of oppositions to boot.

In fact, only Mercury, in Gemini at mid-heaven, and ruling the ascendant in Virgo, is probably strong enough for him to work with one day. All the other planets are moderately to SEVERELY afflicted, including the Moon (he's a solar Cancer) in her fall in Scorpio and square Venus, a Saturn with 3 squares and 2 oppositions (an arrangement I've dubbed a T-square squared!), the Sun in Cancer with 3 squares and an opposition, Pluto with 3 squares and an opposition, Jupiter and Uranus in tight conjunction in Aries, both with 2 squares and an opposition.

Hoo boy. Is that as bad as it looks? He was overdue and my wife was miserable and induced labor (which I wasn't happy about), and now seeing this, she feels dreadfully guilty about landing him in this position. I tried to reassure her that all that squaring and opposition was with the outer planets, who were unlikely to have moved much in the next week or so. But the Sun might have moved enough to break his half of the square loose, and perhaps that's why he was running late for his due date. Any advice for her? Or for my son, in working with a chart like that?

Thank you so much!
Tripp

Re: Natal Astrology

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Tripp,

I am the person who wrote to JMG to ask about my rather spectacularly afflicted natal chart. Similar to your son's in style but not in planetary placement.

And I just wanted to reassure--don't worry! That kind of chart is not necessarily a recipe for a bad life. There are always strengths, and as they say, when dealing with the negative stuff you can "vibrate on higher levels".

Natural magic

[(Anonymous)]

I recently farm-sat for some friends who were spending a few weeks in the British Isles. As a thank you they brought me some stuff from Stonehenge - a bottle of excellent mead, a pewter mug, and a beaded bracelet made from the same stone that the inner ring of Stonehenge is supposedly made from, the Preseli bluestone. Researching this latter, I discovered that there is a lot of hype about the Preseli bluestone out there, attributing all sorts of magical and healing properties to it. And I admit, I feel good wearing it, and I had crazy lucid dreams the first night I did, but in your opinion, what's the real deal on Preseli bluestone?

Tripp

Re: Natural magic

[ecosophia]

I've never had the chance to work with it, but it's a pretty fair bet that the people who hauled those stones hundreds of miles to Stonehenge knew exactly what they were doing. What's more, the old Arthurian lore agrees that the bluestones have magical virtues.

Local shops verses chains

[(Anonymous)]

I have managed a complete avoidance/boycott of a certain multinational burnt coffee chain since June, in an effort to force myself to try out local coffee places.

I stepped inside one of these chains this last week for the first time in four months, and I had the strangest gut instinct feeling. The place was smarmy, dark and negative. My friends had been having fun and joking around at a (local) cafe just before, but once we got inside this chain they started complaining and getting grumpy.

I didn't buy anything because I intend to keep up with my promise, but even just sitting there made me feel uncomfortable. Not only did I feel like a recovering alcoholic sitting in a bar, but the atmosphere weighed on me.

1. What do you think this is? I don't consider myself "sensitive" in the least, and I have only been doing spiritual practice since the start of the year, just the DMH-SOP with Ogham & meditation.

2. Do you think all huge chains are like this, and I just can't tell because I'm still there often enough? Could it be the collective karma of the company, that of gaming the system to run small places out of business, or is this feeling something the customers bring in, that this place attracts grumpy complainers? I know that this shop actually has a manager & franchise owner who's a nice guy and treats his employees well, because a friend used to work there.

3. As an exercise of will, how long do you think I should avoid a place until I feel "safe" that it won't tempt me anymore? I was thinking six months before I add another chain to this list, or do you think I should stick to one place per year?

Thank you for your time, and Happy Autumnal Equinox and Alban Elued.

-Pondering

Re: Local shops verses chains

[ecosophia]

That's utterly fascinating. No, I don't think all chains are like that; I think you're perceiving the energetics of that specific chain. I don't drink coffee -- it gives me migraines -- and prefer plain honest green tea to the gussied-up garbage that burnt-coffee vendors sell, so I've been to one of those places once in the last ten years...but you know, it wasn't a pleasant experience, and that may be because of the same thing you sensed. As for how long to stay away, if the place gives you a bad vibe, why not stay away from it permanently?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I've been working with my affirmation, but I had a thought I was curious to know your thoughts about. Is the same principle that prevents negative affirmations ("I don't do X") from registering on the mind at work in larger things like dystopian fiction?

This is something I have thought about for a while, that we tend to see art as a record, say in the example of cave paintings, that they document successful hunts, but it seemed possible that they actually functioned in the opposite direction and predicted successful hunts and helped people imagine them. Thinking about the film Jurassic Park is what made this click for me, funnily enough, I thought "Does the existence of Jurassic Park make it more or less likely that people will try to clone dinosaurs and bring them back?" Anytime I asked myself this or any of my friends we all agreed it was far more likely that people would try, even though the entire purpose of the book and films is to say that this is a terribly dangerous idea.

I certainly took note that you wrote a utopian SF novel and have criticized the doomer nature of some climate change and peak oil scenes ("do X or Y will happen!").

Thanks,
Johnny

[ecosophia]

Got it in one. Dystopian fiction tends to encourage dystopias; this is one of the reasons why I have no patience at all for the kind of schlock literature that wallows in imagery of wretchedness and despair.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

you described ritual as an emotionally charged psycho-drama, if I remember correctly. What about theater? Being in a play is very much doing an emotionally charged psycho-drama, like doing a ritual. Moreover actors do the same plays over and over again. Is there a similarity? Does it have an effect on their consciousness? Actors seem to think so, some believe for example that if your character that dies violently during the play you're more likely to die violently for real.

Secondly, music seems to have a profound effect on human consciousness. Just listening to it does the trick it seems. Is this why the music industry is so big and powerful in the US and the rest of the world? Can anyone use music as a means to help with spiritual development?

Finally, you should totally publish your commentary on the Cosmic Doctrine and call it "The Long Ascent", to complement "The Long Descent". :)

[ecosophia]

Historically, theater started out as ritual, and yes, it still has some of the same effects. The main difference is that in magical ritual, the performers and the audience are the same people, and so you can push the transformative work much further. As for music, why, yes -- why do you think that most religions use music so intensively?

As for the commentary on The Cosmic Doctrine, funny. I'm already arranged to have it published but the title's going to be the much more boring A Commentary on the Cosmic Doctrine.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been considering buying an Orgonite pyramid recently, and I did an Ogham divination to see if this was a good idea, and I got the following:

Me: Tinne
Action: Straif reversed,
Result: Huath

Where the "action" is buying the pyramid. I interpret this as suggesting that I should go ahead and buy it, that the procurement process will for some reason be difficult and painful, but that in the end it will be successful. The "pain" might be that I just don't like spending money.

Is this a reasonable interpretation of this spread?

Thanks very much for your consideration.

[ecosophia]

That's the way I would anticipate it. There may also be delays in shipment or the like.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello,

Would the SoP be a safe ritual for someone on antidepressants to engage in? Would just sticking to natural magic be better, or would it depend on the person?

Thank you for your time.

[ecosophia]

It should be safe for someone on antidepressants, and may actually help wean you off them. You should keep track of your mental state, though, and also have a friend or family member do the same thing; if your state worsens, try stopping the SoP for a while and see if that helps things.

Affirmations - putting on the brakes?

[(Anonymous)]

Your instructions on affirmations were clear and easy to follow, thank you. From the current success I'm having, I'm vaguely worried that this kind of practice might produce too much of a good thing. Is there a way to moderate the effects if they get too severe, short of discontinuing the practice? For example, would the practice still work at a lower level if done every second day?

Thank you for your help.

Re: Affirmations - putting on the brakes?

[ecosophia]

No, what you need to do is work out a second affirmation that moderates things, and use that in alternation -- say, the first affirmation on one day, the second affirmation the next, and so on.