Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's a little past midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of Walter Gibson (1897-1985), one of the great authors of the pulp magazine era, creator of "the Shadow," who confounds one of the common assumptions  of the contemporary faux-skeptic movement by having been both a first-rate stage magician and a practicing occultist. If you can find his book The Complete Illustrated Book of the Psychic Sciences -- written with his wife Litzka -- you'll find a good solid overview of popular occultism from just before the late 20th century occult revival.

And if you're wondering who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men...the Shadow knows! 

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. If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here.   

With that said, have at it!

***This Magic Monday is now closed -- and yes, this means you. See you next week!***

Comments

Astrology

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Once in awhile, on the Lucky Mojo podcast, cat yronwoode mentions one of her astrology teachers who, iirc, was a gay grandson of a US president.

He had a total of 12 pithy sayings about each sign of the zodiac, such as “Cancer: The little crybabies of the universe.” And, “Virgo: The little watchmakers of the universe.”

Would you know his name, and the remaining 10 sayings?

Thanks for Magic Monday!

OtterGirl

Re: Astrology

[ecosophia]

No, I don't think I've encountered that! If anyone else knows, I'd be interested too.

Cue eerie whistling

[(Anonymous)]

You've mentioned before that one should never do energy work such as circulating the light except in a space that one has protected and (I suppose) consecrated with the LBRP or some similar ritual. You've also said that in public situations such as in the doctor's waiting room or at the bus stop is acceptable to meditate.

In his book "Elementary Psionics" Charles Cosimano advises the reader to visualize the aura while meditating; he also suggests visualizing a column of light descending from above into the aura and charging it up, so to speak, while doing so. He presents this as a preparation for doing psionic workings. In your opinion, is this too much in the nature of energy work to be done safely outside of one's private and ritually protected space? Is there some clearly defined point where we can draw the line between meditation and energy work as described above, and if so where is it?

You also mentioned recently that one can meditate in any physical position. This seems like good news to me. I fairly often encounter the situation in which I would like to meditate, am not yet ready for sleep, and yet am so physically exhausted that I yearn to lie down. Are there any protocols one needs to know about for doing this properly? Is orientation to the cardinal points critical, or can one face in any direction?

Kevin

Re: Cue eerie whistling

[ecosophia]

1) No, there's no hard and fast line. It depends partly on the condition of your own aura, partly on other personal characteristics including whether or not you have a relationship with a deity or other protective beings such as helpful ancestors, and partly on the astral and etheric condition of the spaces where you're doing such work. Forming what some sources call an "astral egg" is a fairly common bit of beginner's magic, and I'm not at all surprised to see Uncle Chuckie including it in his book. (I disagree with some of his views but the guy's technically very competent.)

2) Most people find that meditating in a lying-down position is a fast ticket to sleep. If that's not true for you, then by all means do so. No, there are no particular rules as far as I know.

The Sacred

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

Dear JMG

What would be your occult / magical definition or understanding of what sacredness is?

Many thanks

Regards

Re: The Sacred

[ecosophia]

I'm always baffled about what to say in response to questions like this. "Sacred" is a word -- that is, it's a verbal noise made by a bunch of primates, to which they each associate various experiences they've had or heard about from others. The definition of a word is a collection of other verbal noises made when the primates in question get confused, because they figure out they're using the word as a label for different experiences, and try to find some way of talking about the word that they can agree on.

"Sacred" isn't a verbal noise I use much, precisely because no two of us primates seem to mean the same thing by it. Sitting around grunting and hooting with my fellow primates, as we try to figure out a way of talking about a verbal noise that we can all agree on, can be an interesting experience sometimes, but especially in cases like this -- where there's nothing we can all point to and say "Uhhn! Uhhn!" so we all know we're grunting about the same thing -- I tend to give it a pass.

[shadow_rider]

Hi, iirc there was a reply you made either on MM or on an open post. It was something along the lines of the work going faster than anticipated because more people were helping. Did I understand this correctly? If so can you elaborate on this?

[ecosophia]

I'm trying to remember what work I might have been talking about. I have quite a few different irons in the fire, you know.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I have a few questions about invoking and banishing during when doing Transforming Yourself part of SOP:

1A. When banishing qualities in myself during the first four Elements, do I imagine specific instances/examples of things I am trying to banish? For example, if I banish my childhood fears in Water, do I imagine specific fears from memory being swept out in the waves? Or is it enough to state the intention in the vocal component, and simply imagine 'childhood fears' in the abstract being swept away?

1B. When invoking qualities during the first four Elements, does the same principle apply? I do something a bit different: for example, in Air, while invoking 'clarity of mind', I imagine the wind sweeping into me with the yellow light, filling me with wind, which then opens my pores and sweeps out blockages, so that I am mentally clear. I do something similar with the other elements depending on the quality I am trying to invoke.

1C: With the three Spirit Elements, where one is supposed to ask for help in bringing about the four qualities being invoked and releasing the four qualities being banished, I'm less certain how to handle it. So far I've been stating this in the vocal component, but then imagining the Spirit Element flowing into me as in the unmodified SOP. So far it seems to be working, but is there a more effective way to do the imagination component here?

1D: I'm mainly asking the above questions for fine-tuning reasons, because the way I'm doing it now seems to be working quite a bit. But what the working is doing, since starting it a couple of weeks ago, is essentially slamming me over and over face-first into situations where I use the qualities I am trying to banish! I take that is meaning that the working is providing me with opportunities to change, but it is difficult to change because I don't yet know what the qualities I am trying to invoke actually look and feel like, because if I did, I probably would already have them. For example, with Air, I am trying to invoke 'clarity of mind' and trying to banish 'my tendency to be stuck in my thoughts' (because I am constantly thinking at the expense of observing the world around me). So far the working has shown me repeatedly when I am stuck in thought, but I don't know yet what 'clarity of mind' really feels like, because I don't have it.

If I may I have some other questions:

2. After reading the Maxen's tale in the Mabinogion, in which I was introduced to Elen/Niwalen, for a couple of days I remember a few signs of Elen popping (her name would pop up in my mind) and I felt a pull towards her. The biggest was during green color breathing. Due to a family conflict, I was worn down mentally and emotionally and for a few days I would do green color breathing before meditating for its healing properties. During the days I did that, in the green light in front of me a face appeared, made of the light. I could feel it giving me light as I breathed it in and taking the light I was breathing out. Elen's name popped into my mind, and it felt OK, but then I started to worry, it being the first time I had felt any such being, that it could also potentially be malevolent, and that it wanted something from me. I wasn't sure if it was attracted to the negative emotions coming from the family conflict or whether it wanted to help. So I didn't continue the exchange of breath. The face appeared the next day and I cautiously exchanged with it, but since switching back to orange color breathing it didn't appear again. What do you think was happening there? If it was Elen and beneficially, is there anything I can do to make contact? Could she be my patron deity? If it wasn't Elen, what else could it have been?

3. Can one use the Transforming Yourself modifications to the SOP in order to find out what work one is meant to do in this incarnation?

4. More of an observation than a question: While on a walk the other day, I stood for a while watching the sea. I suddenly realized that water makes it easier for humans to see Gwyar, because it's somewhere between a solid and a gas. I understand on one hand that the Druid concepts are not physics, but I couldn't help but notice that in the 4 elements, the same pattern of flow exists as in water but that the tempos are very different (mountain landscapes look like waves frozen in time - to us, anyway). Within them all, there is a pattern of ebb and flow, in and out, that visually looks similar. Even meditating on Spirit Above the same pattern exists - light reflects around the universe, and planets orbit back and forth... Is Gwyar a universal pattern of flow? I have to meditate on it even more. And maybe I am learning to see Nwyfre, too: at the beach, watching waves sweep over the sand, one can observe the bands of light along the crests of small waves as sunlight refracts through them, and these are places of course where energy is concentrated - these and other similar experiences are starting to give me hints of a way of looking at nature similar to how one can learn to see negative space.

Thank you!

Also: I am very, very interested in further explorations of the Mabinogion, if you are so inclined, as discussed a couple of weeks ago. I remember others asking about the meanings of the Welsh names, I did find a paper on academia.edu that has some interpretations of those names, in case anyone is interested:
https://www.academia.edu/772058/Whats_in_a_name_Names_their_meaning_and_function_in_the_Four_Branches_of_the_Mabinogion

[(Anonymous)]

Regarding the Mabinogion, I'm doing some explorations into that on my blog: https://ymgyrchiannwfn.wordpress.com/

Bogatyr

solar paths, telluric paths, and lunar paths,

[(Anonymous)]

Hi!
Can you elaborate a bit more on what is meant by these different paths( solar paths, telluric paths, and lunar paths,)? Are they mutually exclusive for instance?

Thanks!

Re: solar paths, telluric paths, and lunar paths,

[ecosophia]

In certain traditions of Druid magic, there are said to be three basic currents of subtle energy that mages and mystics can use in their work; the names used for them in these traditions are the solar current, the telluric current, and the lunar current. The solar current includes all astrological influences (in these traditions, all such influences are held to be modifications of the influence of the sun). The telluric current includes all influences that rise from within the earth, including those that make some places holy and others malign. The solar current waxes, wanes, and changes in quality according to time, the telluric current waxes, wanes, and changes in quality according to place.

The lunar current is different. While the solar and telluric currents are always present, the lunar current has to be made out of the fusion of solar and telluric forces. Certain natural objects and phenomena create the lunar current now and then, but if you want to work with it reliably you need to learn ways to generate it. Some ancient structures, such as standing stones, are part of archaic systems meant to generate it; there are also ritual and meditative means of doing so.

All that's necessary to understand the distinction between the three paths. Some systems of magic work primarily with the descending energies of the solar current -- the Golden Dawn system is a good example. Some systems of magic work primarily with the rising energies of the telluric current -- the magical system taught by RJ Stewart in various formats is a good example. Some systems work primarily with the lunar current, and focus on practices that generate it -- the system taught in my book The Druid Magic Handbook is a good example. None of these is better than the others -- it's purely a matter of what energy you want to work with, and how.

[(Anonymous)]

1. In discursive meditation, do you use the initial rhythmic breathing to do an "emptying out" (eastern style meditation) before discursion? The old "empty 'em out then fill 'em up" approach?

2. Fortune (in MQ) suggests the correspondences of "Cups to the mental level; Swords to the astral plane;" I would have guessed the reverse, water more toward the emotions and swords more to the analytical? What am I missing here?

[ecosophia]

1) No, you're just using rhythmic breathing to settle the subtle bodies so you can operate on as close to the mental plane as you can manage. Don't worry about emptying anything, just pay attention to long slow even breaths.

2) She's messing with you -- something most trad occult writers do to keep students from taking the symbolism too rigidly. She's demonstrating that you can apply the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, to the four basic levels of the magical cosmos; Y (fire) to the spiritual plane, H (water) to the mental plane, V (air) to the astral plane, and H final (earth) to the material plane. If you use that as a theme for meditation, you'll grasp some aspects of the planes you might otherwise miss -- and you'll also have a keener sense of why most of the time, a different correspondence fits better.

Immunisations

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Hot topic I know, but what are the magical impacts of immunisations on people/children (aside from immunity!)? (Would you get your kids immunised?) And if so, what else might you do? Or if not, what other steps would you take?

Our 10 week old son is facing a about 10 different immunisations next week. We’re going to get most of them, but wanted your thoughts from a magical perspective.

Many thanks
Edward

Re: Immunisations

[ecosophia]

That's not something I've looked into, but I don't think it's likely to have any significant magical dimension. Human beings, like other living things, are constantly absorbing genetic material from outside ourselves -- about ten per cent of your body weight consists of other living things inside you, for example. So immunization is simply another mode of that natural process.

If I'd had living children, they would have gotten immunizations for a few really serious conditions such as diphtheria and tetanus, but the rest, not a chance -- it's not exactly comforting to me that vaccine manufacturers in the US are legally shielded from lawsuits for harm caused by their products. I'm unconvinced by the claims that vaccines cause autism, but I've encountered enough cases of definite harm caused by vaccines that I wouldn't take the risk -- and the attitude of those who insist that you must never question the pharmaceutical industry or its pimps in the medical profession strikes me as equal parts stupidity and rank corruption.

Donations or subscriptions from the UK

[(Anonymous)]

A question for other readers from the UK who have donated or subscribed.
Paypal charges £1 for sending money to someone abroad. Patreon charges 20% VAT on subscriptions - this was explained on another Patreon account. Subscribestar mentions VAT in its FAQs but it isn't very clear how it's taken. It's the same category of service as Patreon so I imagine it works the same way.

If you are making occasional donations from the UK, what is the most efficient way with fees? It looks like Paypal and Patreon are even if you are sending £5, but Paypal is more cost effective if sending more in one go, and subscribing for one month on Patreon is better if it's less.
Are there any other methods with lower fees?

[booklover1973]

In "Doctrine et Rituel de la Haute Magie" Eliphas Levi utters dire warnings about the dangers of ceremonial magic when the magician isn't highly purified in mind and body, the unsuitedness of women for ceremonial magic, and some other rather stringent warnings which aren't strictly adhered to in the same way in centemporary ceremonial magic. What is the difference between current attitudes and attitudes in the 1850s? Were the goals of magicians much more ambitious in the time of Eliphas Levi than today?

[ecosophia]

Levi was at the very beginning of the modern magical revival, when a first few daring individuals were blowing dust off the remnants of a forgotten tradition and trying to figure out how to make it work again. We've had more than a century and a half of experience since then, and have discovered that some of Levi's cautions were unnecessary.

SOP

[geostrophi]

Hi JMG,
Is the circulation of light in the SOP for protection, or the circulation of nwyfre, or both? Or somethimg else?

Thanks

Re: SOP

[ecosophia]

All of the above. ;-) It primarily functions as a means of protection, but when you do it the old-fashioned way, with the whirling spheres, it also spreads nwyfre evenly through the outer layers of your aura, and gets rid of certain kinds of astral and etheric crud that can adhere to the aura.

[(Anonymous)]

A while back, I think you mentioned that it's a bad idea to masturbate to the image of anyone you know, and that your imagination can fairly easily create an image if given the chance. I took the advice, and have landed in a weird situation: I've met someone who looks exactly like the person my imagination "created". We've never been able to have crossed paths before, and so I know it's not a subconscious memory, and am thoroughly confused. Do you know what's going on here?

[ecosophia]

Might be coincidence, might be psychism. I'd encourage you to change the image, and in the future, don't always masturbate to the same image!

Dangers of magical work.

[geostrophi]

Just in the last few weeks, I have read about some of Freud's close associates who committed suicide after leaving his group (Ok perhaps this isnt not magic, but its related I guess) and heard on the 3worlds shaman podcast about people committing suicide after exposure to a dangerous teacher. Yet I see a very cavalier attitude towards spirit contact and such workings.
I have seen you recommend caution and restraint before, but I am just wondering how frequent these severe consequences are, or are they very rare outliers?

Thanks

Re: Dangers of magical work.

[ecosophia]

That very cavalier attitude you mention is unfortunately widespread, and I suspect a lot of people are going to find out the hard way why it's a bad idea. Traditional occult training of the sort I teach is quite safe -- much safer than learning to drive a car, for example -- but if you don't take reasonable precautions and have that cavalier attitude, you can end up sick, mentally ill, or dead. I don't know that anyone's done a census, but I know half a dozen people who've thoroughly messed up their own lives by misguided magical work, and two of them are pushing up daisies now. So a certain amount of care is needed.

Overbanishing

[(Anonymous)]

The Golden Dawn and related groups seem to have this habit of banishing everything they've meticulously invoked at the end of a ceremony (e.g., the reverse circumambulation and banishing rituals at the close of the watchrower ceremony). What are your thoughts on this? Does this not simply undo the work you've done? Compared to a general license to depart one finds in the computer it's always seemed a little excessive to me. What would be the potential consequences of replacing all of these banishing ceremonies at the end of a ritual with a general license to depart?

Thanks for Magic Mondays!

Re: Overbanishing

[ecosophia]

If you're baking a cake, let's say, you get out various ingredients and tools, measure and mix and pop the cake in the oven, and then you put the flour and the sugar and the butter back where they belong, and put the bowl and the other tools you used in the sink to be washed; if you don't do that, your kitchen quickly gets too cluttered to use, the butter may go rancid, and mold can get going in the mixing bowl. Banishing after a Golden Dawn ritual serves exactly the same function. You've invoked a range of specialized energies at high intensity, using potent ritual formulae, and a general license to depart won't send them back where they belong; you need to banish what you've invoked, so you and the space you're in both return to a balanced condition, and you can call on other forces the next time you do magic. Of course you don't put the cake back into the cupboard -- you serve it and eat it! -- but there are specific ways in the GD system to make sure that the energies you've invoked go to the purpose you have in mind, and aren't disspelled by the banishings you use to close.

[(Anonymous)]

I've seen a great deal of discussion of Great Conjunctions in astrology, and I'm curious if anyone has ever looked into conjunctions of Uranus and Neptune. It seems to me like conjunctions of the outer planets (Jupiter out) are likely to be important, and as I have the Uranus-Neptune conjunction in my natal chart this particular conjunction is of personal interest to me. Do you know if there's anything which looks into the topic?

[ecosophia]

There's some discussion of the Uranus-Neptune conjunction in mundane astrology literature -- if I recall correctly. H.S. Green talks about it in his book on the subject. Since it happens only once every 170 years or so, there haven't yet been a lot of opportunities to make and test predictions!

The Arthurian Cycle

[ferngladefarm.com.au]

Hi John Michael,

I'm reading Jack Whyte's epic re-telling of the Arthurian cycle. He never lets the action down for even a moment, and I totally love the books. Plus the author has a pragmatic bent which suits me, but he also doesn't shy away from the occult. The thing I'm wondering is: What is the core lesson of the Arthurian Cycle?

I can see many meanings in between my reading, but the story is important in a way my mind just grasps and then slips away - only to be re-engaged. If you could enlighten me, even in a mysterious way, I'd much appreciate it. I can handle subtle! ;-)

Hope you are well and enjoying your autumn? Much of the continent down here is in an epic drought. It is so dry up north that it is bonkers. Things in my little corner of the continent so far are cool and normal damp – about normal more or less. Last autumn was crazy hot and dry compared to this year. What can I say, other than I’m a sucker for a challenge – but don’t really like being challenged too much as that is a bad thing… Been there, done that, and you have said before – got the t-shirt.

Cheers

Chris

Re: The Arthurian Cycle

[ecosophia]

I don't think it's possible to put the essential lesson of any cycle of myths or legends into words. It's an experience, and yes, there's a great deal to learn from it, but just try to explain it to anyone who hasn't had the same experience!

[(Anonymous)]

I think it was last week you said you disagreed with the idea that, at the end of their life cycle, gods disperse throughout the universe. I've always thought of that as the 'spiritual compost' theory, and liked it because of its similarity to the life cycle of stars. Later generations of stars are denser and longer-lived because they contain elements produced by previous stars. So in the same way, subsequent generations of matter would be improved for having been fertilized by god-stuff. If this isn't the case, what do you think happens to old gods?

[ecosophia]

In traditional occult philosophy, the beings we call "gods" are entities belonging to evolutionary waves much older than ours, who long ago went through the stage of experience we're in right now, and who are passing through another stage of experience where they relate to beings like us by way of the patterns of interaction we call "religion." When they finish with that stage of experience, they go on to other stages that are even more incomprehensible to us. It's a vast cosmos, full of incalculably many kinds and grades and classes of beings...

[(Anonymous)]

If a society's priorities lean heavily toward the spiritual, it will still have people born into it who are less advanced or are first-time humans. It may even have this to a greater extent than other places, as its spiritual infrastructure is passing so many on to the next level, it would create a siphon that has to draw up replacements. So at least in the stereotypical image of such a place, it'd be quiet, dignified, beautiful monasteries, but still have some of the population prefering a much more rough-and-tumble life. Acknowledging that is the stereotype and there are a lot of ways for a society to be spiritual, are there common threads to what place less spitritual individuals find in a highly spiritual society?

[ecosophia]

Somebody's got to herd the goats, engender and raise the children, haggle in the marketplaces, and -- not least -- defend the serene monasteries from people in other societies who might think of them as easy prey. Have you looked into life in Tibet before the Chinese conquest? Might be a good approximation to what you're looking for.

[(Anonymous)]

If it was possible to develop a drug that prevented post traumatic stress disorder the same way PrEP prevents HIV infection, would there be any spiritual downside to it? If the goal is okay, are there magic or alchemical methods that would have a similar effect?

[ecosophia]

1) I have no idea. That's one of those things that would have to be discovered by experiment.

2) Not that I know of. There are ways to help release the emotional and somatic impact of the trauma, but they're not anything like as easy as popping a pill; as the famous sign in the psychiatrist's office said, "Either way it hurts."

Illness and Magic

[esingletary]

My mother, who has been working on LRM for a few years now has had a rather sudden bout of health problems and is currently in the hospital for a few days. At one point there was a brief heart scare, and she was in tears over the possibility of having to stop the LBRP since it makes her feel safe and protected and I think she was more afraid of the idea of living without it than she was of whatever diagnosis came her way. (Fortunately it looks like nothing that’s going on is likely to be serious or permanent, it’s a bacterial infection from a medicine side effect and should be quickly treated and didn’t involve her heart, so giving up magic isn’t an issue at this point, but it did get us talking). On her behalf a few questions:

1: One of the more common warnings you see in books on ritual Magic is that it shouldn’t be practiced by individuals with certain health conditions. One of the big ones is heart conditions. Considering that some form of heart condition is among the most common health problems that manifest late in life, what sorts of adjustments to daily practice would you recommend / would you as a life-long Magician yourself make if one of those health conditions arose? Does that warning primarily just refer to more intense magical workings while still allowing for the core life-long daily practices like banishing, meditation, and divination? Is this a situation where something like the sphere of protection might be gentler and safer than a form of the LBRP? Or do you really have to completely quit a lifetime of practice with the onset of certain common old age illnesses at a time when such practices might be more crucial than ever?

2: How do you recommend handling daily banishing rituals when stuck in a hospital bed for a day or two? Can it be done as an inner plane working if you can’t physically get up and move around?

Re: Illness and Magic

[ecosophia]

1) This is something that occult schools have been having to deal with for a long time. One of the reasons I recommend the SoP is precisely that it's easier on the subtle and physical bodies than the LBRP, and so can be done regularly by people who probably shouldn't risk the more strenuous forms of ritual magic. Most people can keep up a daily banishing -- either the SoP, or the LBRP plus Middle Pillar -- into advanced old age despite minor heart trouble or the like -- it's the more advanced magical practices that can be problematic in that case. As for meditation and divination, those are perfectly safe to continue; if anything, meditation should be practiced more intensively as you get older, because it's good for the heart and the physical body generally.

You can also choose to keep on doing magical practices knowing that it may shorten your life a bit. You're going to die anyway, after all, and it really does come down to deciding how you want to spend the finite number of hours you have left.

2) Visualize it. Imagine yourself getting up out of the hospital bed, standing in the middle of the room, and doing the banishing, just as though you were doing it in your physical body. This is excellent training anyway, as it builds the capacity to visualize and concentrate, but it's especially useful when you're bedridden -- and with practice, the effect can be as powerful as doing it in your physical body.

Update on last week's 'enemy' question

[(Anonymous)]

A minor incident sent me to the Gypsy Witch cards determined to pin things down, once and for all. The first thing I asked them was "Has my behavior offended anybody?" I got a definite No. The next two involved the minor incident, easily corrected. Again, No. The next 3 or 4 referred to specific people or groups of people. Again, No. Finally I asked "It is a clash of values?" and got a most decided Yes.

Then, being at that moment, more perceptive than usual, I asked "Are my values misguided?" And got an answer, less from the cards than from the figures on my altar, "you do have a tendency to blow things out of proportion." So!

P.S. The incident involved one of those interminable surveys I had filled out and not sent in yet. I merely called the person issuing them to say "I filled out the survey when I was not feeling well and it came out very badly. [Full of errors, handwriting totally illegible, I wasn't about to say, covered with snarky comments.] Could I please have a blank copy? Done - filled out honestly, sensibly, and legibly. So problem. Just FYI.

So.... pinpointing the problem with a series of small and very specific questions did the job.

Pat in Gainesville.

Re: Update on last week's 'enemy' question

[ecosophia]

Excellent! That makes a great deal of sense -- and yes, that sort of precise questioning of the oracle seems to work well for a lot of people.

[(Anonymous)]

Good morning. In The Mystical Qabalah, Dion Fortune mentions that nations as a whole experience the alternating influences of Geburah and Chesed, spending forty or so years under the influence of each. When I look back over the public personas of US presidents over the last century I think I see the pattern. (In which case, part of the furor around the current administration is simply the transition to a new Geburah phase).

Is there an astrological basis for this trend? And does timing vary from nation to nation, or do you think we're seeing an upsurge of Geburah tendencies worldwide, specifically with authoritarian governments consolidating power in many parts of the world?

- Dylan

[ecosophia]

That's a fascinating question to which I don't have a definite answer. I know that in one system of occult timekeeping that seems to produce valid results, we've recently passed from a Sun cycle of 36 years (1981-2016) to a Saturn cycle of the same length (2017-2052), which would support the idea of a shift toward Geburah -- but the cycle before the Sun cycle belonged to the Moon (1945-1980), and the one before that to Mars (1909-1944, the era of the World Wars), so it doesn't produce the regular swing Fortune discussed. I'll have to review what she says, and see if there's an astrological cycle that echoes it.

[(Anonymous)]

The character you may have in mind (I located him after a brief Google search) is Chester A Arthur the Third. A bi-sexual, he lived a rather checkered life to say the least, based on the little biographical info I was able to find. He did write an astrological/sexual manual The Circle of Sex, written under the name Gavin Arthur which may have the info you're looking for. For better or worse (depending on your tastes) the book is out of print though you may be able to get a copy on Amazon if you are willing to cough up the price they're asking for it.

JLfromNH

[ecosophia]

Thanks for this.

Mercury retrograde shadow

[(Anonymous)]

What do you think about the fashion for this? I don't keep a close eye on astrology but have been looking at a few mundane and long term forecasts over the past fortnight. Lots of sites say in passing or in article titles that Mercury retrograde begins on 11th October. So I assumed it did, but then a page that gave more detail said that was the start of the pre-shadow.

Re: Mercury retrograde shadow

[ecosophia]

Mercury retrograde is one of the big bad fooftawoos of contemporary astrology, and in my opinion it's been massively overblown. Retrogradation is a debility, but it's less of one than (say) detriment, fall, or a square or opposition with a malefic. Furthermore, if you know how to work with retrogrades, they're very productive times -- I do my best editing and revising when Mercury is, ahem, going back over his previous track. As for the so-called "shadow periods," the only thing I've experienced that corresponds to those at all is that when Mercury's slowing down -- either to retrograde or to stand direct -- everything Mercurial slows down too. If you slow down with them, it all works out fine; if you try to rush things at such times, yeah, you're going to have some problems. My guess is that that's what's behind it.

Morning Routine

[moondog79]

If one wished to incorporate a hatha yoga stretch program in one's morning routine, do you recommend doing it before or after one's ritual/meditation/divination time?

Re: Morning Routine

[ecosophia]

I'd recommend experimenting with it and see which works better for you!

Which ritual working are you doing, btw? I'm in the process of crafting a system of occult training that's meant to be compatible with hatha yoga, t'ai chi, and other common Eastern exercise systems, and if you're working with the Sphere of Protection I'd be particularly interested in your feedback.