Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's just shy of midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is the only surviving image of George Ripley, one of the great alchemists of the medieval English tradition -- believe it or not!  (Ahem.)  A canon -- i.e., a priest who lived a monastic life -- at Bridlington Priory in England, he wrote several highly influential books on alchemy, the most widely read being The Compound of Alchemy. His work was studied closely by such later alchemical notables as John Dee and Isaac Newton. (Yes, that Isaac Newton. Did any of your teachers ever mention to you that Newton put more time into studying alchemy than he did into working out the laws of gravity and motion? No, I didn't think so -- but it's quite true.)    

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. 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

[(Anonymous)]

I've purchased the Dolmen Arches course, and plan to spend the next few years working through it. I also want to get started on improving my self and working towards becoming a good Druid before starting on the course , as I recently found the religion and found it fits what I want to do with my life, and my values and beliefs quite well. However, I feel like I'm not in a good position for it: in order to be able to do so, I first need to get my life in order.

What I'm thinking is thus taking the time to get my life in order, figure out what I want and how to improve my life on the material level first. I found that I'm not sure of exactly how to fix it, although I know I need to do quite a bit of work in order to even begin to live the way I want to live. My current plan is thus to journal intensively until I receive the book at which point I'll start the more intensive spiritual practices contained in there.

a) Does this course of action make sense to you, or would it make more sense to start with basic spiritual practices at this point in time?

b) I plan to do two journaling sessions, one each morning and one each evening for the time being, both around 15 minutes a day. Does this sound like a reasonable amount to you?

c) I've started it today, and found that I've shifted slightly. Oddly, not in regards to anything I was journaling about, but in a couple other areas of life. Is it normal to see shifts in utterly unrelated areas of life when journaling? Also, seeing anything this early is a little surprising to me, but if it sticks I won't complain at all.

d) I found the process of writing the first thing which came to mind extremely easy. It was so easy in fact that I lost track of what was “conscious me” and what was “subconscious me”, and it felt almost like I was bringing two parts of my subconscious mind into a conversation with each other. Do I need to worry about this, or can I let my subconscious mind do all the talking?

[ecosophia]

a) The journaling is an excellent idea but I'd encourage you also to begin at least one spiritual practice at this time as well. The Sphere of Protection is the one I'd recommend -- it takes only a few minutes to do each day, and begins the process of strengthening and cleansing your subtle bodies and getting you in a balanced relationship to the elements.

b) That sounds fine. I tended to do one 30-60 minute session when I was doing intensive journaling, so it's certainly not too much!

c) That's very common, and a good sign.

d) That's nothing to worry about. Let the process go where it wants to go.

[jjensenii]

I've started practicing visualization, and have been using my copy of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha for the purpose (it was on-hand when I got started). I seem to have no trouble recalling the feel and smell, I do a decent job with visualizing the image of the Buddha on the cover, the Bantam logo on the spine, and even a sort-of-ok job with the bar code on the back, but the text is giving me fits. Even the title "SIDDHARTHA" is a challenge: I keep getting a "blind spot" in my visualization right around the first "H" for some reason.

You've mentioned in the past that you had trouble with visualization. Is it normal to have extra difficulty with text? Do you have any tips for strengthening that skill in particular, such as maybe focusing on each letter, then on pairs of letter, and build up to the whole word?

[ecosophia]

That's entirely normal, because the brain tries to switch from visualizing to reading when it sees text. When you read, you don't notice the shapes of the letters -- you simply take in the meaning of the word at a glance, and that's done in a different part of the brain from the visual cortex.

For now, you might want to leave the text alone; alternatively, look at it until you can see it as a shape rather than as a word, and try that.

[(Anonymous)]

I sometimes feel a quick and involuntary shiver in my body for just a moment or two. My impression is that this usually happens when I feel a “charge” of energy - when I have an insight, or feel especially connected spiritually, or when I think of someone and have the feeling that they are thinking of me in that moment. Tonight it happened after I’d finished my vanishing ritual. It’s not an all unpleasant - it’s somewhere along the spectrum between weird/neutral to almost pleasurable. Is there an occult explanation for what this is? I’d say it happens on average 2-3 times a week.

[ecosophia]

Interesting. I know other people who have that experience, but I've never seen a good explanation for it in occult literature. It's apparently harmless, though.

[(Anonymous)]

I've noticed something odd. I know a lot of people who can't stand to be in a dark room, at all. I've also noticed the sheer amount of light pollution in contemporary society, and also that when I'm at home I need to deal with family coming in to whatever room I'm in for the sole purpose of turning lights on.

Do you know what drives the obsession with keeping the dark away?

[ecosophia]

No, I don't. It baffles me.

Changeling Issue

[(Anonymous)]

My grandfather developed schizophrenia and spent the second half of his life in a hospital sedated for decades. He claimed my father (his biological son) was a changeling. I believe it caused my father to experience alienation and psychological harm. I have read several descriptions of this fairytale creature and understand that the label could historically even lead to the death of the person on the receiving end.
Would this issue be similar to being cursed? Would a strong enough SOP ritual be enough to banish the effects of this labelling from my family even if my father lives in another county? How would I incorporate this notion into an SOP or would the ritual banish any dark entities associated with it automatically? Would a better remedy to simply ignore it and not focus? Or perhaps build on the other side of the idea and perceive it literally as my grandfather did but look at it as a positive and be happy to be part of the fairy world...

Re: Changeling Issue

[ecosophia]

Unless you have any reason to think that your father actually was a changeling, the best thing to do is to treat it as the ravings of a lunatic and ignore it.

[(Anonymous)]

Looking through the Dolmen Arch table of contents, there doesn't seem to be anything which looks like divination. Is this assessment accurate? If so, can the course be combined with any divinatory system, or is there one which would work better for it?

[ecosophia]

That's correct -- many magical systems at that time didn't include divination. It can be combined with any divinatory system.

Prayer

[shadow_rider]

Hello... do you think that a prayer is something that should be repeated many times or is it something that should be done once? I wondered whether it was a 'tracks in space' activity or whether I'd be annoying whatever deity I was praying to by repetition. I know I would be irritated by many requests for the same thing. What do you think?

Re: Prayer

[ecosophia]

Pray to your deity and ask! As with individual humans, individual gods have their own preferences where that's concerned.

Born in a shirt

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

does it have any significance if somebody is born either „with a caul“ or „en caul“? I looked up there is a difference between these two. In Czech we say „be born in a shirt“.

Hana

Re: Born in a shirt

[ecosophia]

In many European countries it's a bit of traditional lore that a child who's born with a caul -- that is, with a piece of the amniotic membrane on his or her head -- will have unusual psychic gifts. I don't know that anyone's done a study to see how accurate the tradition is, but it's probably worth paying attention to.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG:
I know you've told us not to mix systems but I have a question. I'm currently studying Druidry but would like more of the clarity that seems to come from all the house and shield charts you've helped interpret on previous MMs. The fews are very good but sometimes tend to wander off and give me spiritual advice (or even info on what's happening to those around me) when I'm really after mundane guidelines for me, myself and I. LOL
Now, if geomancy is like the I Ching, then it's okay to mix it with Druidry, yes? But if geomancy is like Golden Dawn, then it isn't.
Not sure what to do.
Lex

[ecosophia]

Lots of Druids practice geomancy -- in fact, it's the standard divination system in the Druidical Order of the Golden Dawn. Since geomancy derives from the four elements (each line of dots in a geomantic figure represents the presence or absence of an element), it meshes very well with those Druid traditions that work with the elements and quarters.

...and of course I'm a Druid and do lots of geomancy, if that's any encouragement!

Mindfulness craze

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

A lot of big companies have been endorsing the practice of mindfulness meditation in their workplaces in recent years. It has become a mainstream habit in the middle class. Considering the side effects of Eastern types of meditation (like dulling the abstract thinking abilities), do you think that this craze is motivated by some sinister goal, like making these people into only task-oriented working machines who do not question anything? What could be the reasons behind this fashion?

Re: Mindfulness craze

[(Anonymous)]

As someone from an upper class background, there's nothing nearly so sinister. Rather, a bunch of them have realized that mindfulness meditation dull abstract thinking abilities, and when the privileges you can't stand to go without depend on the immiseration of the majority of the world's population, anything which makes that easier to ignore is going to be popular.

The Watcher

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for the advice last week to press on with my normal routine in the face of heat from the Watcher. Confidence and comfort are on the rise again, and I've decided to leave my ritual work like it is for now and focus on expansion with Geomancy. When I finish the Fool's Journey 13 weeks from now (the Strength trump has been a surprising boost for this Leo's strength this week, with my practice space full of in-laws - couldn't have timed that any better!), I plan to dive straight into the geomantic meditation sequence you prescribe in APoG, and then try my hand at scrying. Very excited about that. Sounds pretty intense.

Quick question though: since I'm practicing classic Golden Dawn rituals and intend to stay on that path for the foreseeable future, should I switch over to your other geomancy book when I'm ready to learn the details of geomantic magic? I wouldn't mind having it - I've always thought it was a beautiful book with a nice title.

Many thanks!
Tripp

Re: The Watcher

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome. Yes, you should probably use the rituals in Earth Divination, Earth Magic to begin with, and then develop your own geomantic rituals based on classic Golden Dawn methods.

Tree of Life and children

[packshaud]

Is Alan Moore's grimoire Promethea safe for children? I never read it.

Re: Tree of Life and children

[robertmathiesen]

It's not a grimoire; it's a beautiful and powerful story that takes very seriously the sort of things we talk about here, but it doesn't really tell the casual reader how to get anything done magically. The worst it might do, IMHO, is tempt chidren to invent some magic for themselves, but any fairy-tale or work of fantasy fiction offers the same temptation to the same children.

Visualizing HLBRP

[(Anonymous)]

How does visualizing the whole ritual compare to drawing the pentagrams and speaking the words outloud? Is it as effective? If it is, and just requires more practice, is there any downside to always doing it that way?

Re: Visualizing HLBRP

[ecosophia]

It's effective, but it's not as effective. One useful rule of thumb in magical practice is that you should bring the energies all the way down to the material plane if you can, and actually moving and speaking in the world of matter is one way to do that.

possible psychic attack

[(Anonymous)]

I have been working with a person who has been extremely vindictive with me for the past couple months ever since I defied their unreasonable demands. Lately they have been instructing others to pass me up for opportunities in order to teach me a lesson. Bad enough, right?

There has been a pattern of our conflicts immediately followed by my illnesses, which I had considered a result of stress on my system. On Wed I filed a public notice regarding the issues in question that others have complained about as well, and within 45 minutes I got a terrible back spasm that ruined the holiday weekend.

It has been years since I have had a spasm, and never this bad. Usually they ease up on the next day but this one persisted until day 3 when out of desperation I tried the sword and torch method out of the appropriately titled DF book that had been sitting on my shelf (half-read) for years.

On the first couple days I tried SOP and got some relief, but had to do it twice a day to cover both sun up and sun down. On the third day I was also bloated and vomiting in addition to the spasms. Using meditation I followed a line up my spine and out to a spot just below and to the right of my solar plexus. I found the connection and imagined who I thought the source was, I put up the glass barrier then hacked, slashed, and cauterized the nub. Immediately I felt relief and my mobility improved.

Today was much better, and I am actually able to walk without a cane and did some laundry. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a masseuse who also has energy worker training and let them know in advance what I believe to be the cause.

Besides timing, my suspicions regarding this other person are based on a few other reasons. They had previously brought up the subject of spirituality in an attempt to get me to admit to what it is that I believe in, but I did not reveal anything specific besides a general admission of higher forces at work. When our disagreement intensified they used Jedi mind trick-style hypnosis techniques to undermine my self confidence, and when that didn't work they moved on to shameless gaslighting. My impression is that because the SOP results were limited this was likely not a conscious attack, but I do not have much experience and per instructions from the book am avoiding occult practices (like divination) until this is over. The techniques I did try were out of pure desperation as it was a holiday weekend and nobody was available to help.

One thing I picked up from the book is that DF does not like cannabis very much, and I have been using edibles a lot lately to help me sleep which I also stopped after the 3rd day. My justification was that my use was not to the point where I was hallucinating, but apparently it still leaves the wrong doors open for an attack to sneak through.

I know you cannot comment on the medical aspects, but hopefully you can give me some advice on how to improve my defenses when it comes to coping with the other realms. The past few months have really done a number on me and according to my astrology report the roller coaster does not stop until after next summer.

Thanks!

Re: possible psychic attack

[ecosophia]

I'd strongly encourage you to consider using the hoodoo protective bath and the red bag amulet discussed in the Magic Monday FAQ, as those offer good protection against this sort of thing. Yes, this sounds like a classic form of psychic attack, and the fact that the person involved asked you about your spirituality to try to figure out how to carry out the attack suggests to me that it's deliberate and intentional. Quite a few people know how to do that sort of thing these days -- the more corrupt end of the New Age movement spread such instructions fairly widely, and of course there are also unethical Neopagan and occult teachings that do the same thing.

Something to do with magic.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John
Several questions, some of which have something to do with magic.
First, I’ve started reading The Cosmic Doctrine in order to play along with your study guide. The last time I tried to read it, it was absolute gibberish. How come it makes sense this time? Like I got around to needing a philosophy, so now I can develop one?
Second, speaking of philosophy, are you getting any mileage out of Derrida’s hauntology? Nostalgia for the future you didn’t get certainly suggests an explanation for some of the phony outrage of various fashionable people over assorted fashionable causes… or might it be a symptom rather than a syndrome?
Complete aside – Hauntology has lent its name to a musical subgenre. Wizardren unfamiliar may find some entertainment value in “There Only Once” by the Soundcarriers.
And third, what is there to be gained by building symbols into a floor (or walls or ceiling)? Tile, parquet, what have you. Is this better than chalk or a carpet? If you don’t mind commenting on fictional magic, what might such a floor do in your Weird of Hali RPG?
Many thanks.
Rusty

Re: Something to do with magic.

[ecosophia]

1) That's fairly common. The first time I tried to make sense of the Cos. Doc. I got precisely nowhere; I think that encountering the metaphors, letting them percolate through the subconscious mind, and then returning to the text may be helpful.

2) My encounters with Derrida's ideas in the early 1990s, during my second pass through college, were sufficiently off-putting that I've basically ignored him ever since, and in fact I've tended to steer clear of any French philosophy more recent than Sartre and the Situationists. The concept of "hauntology" sounds worth a look, though. Can you point me to a not too opaque source?

3) If you put something like that permanently into a structure you have the option of consecrating it the way you would consecrate a talisman, and thus dramatically increasing its effect. You can't do that with chalk. You can do it with a carpet, which is where the "flying carpet" of Middle Eastern legend comes from -- the "flying" is astral, of course.

3a) Whatever the GM wants it to do. It could make conjuration easier by providing the conjurer with a protective circle he or she doesn't have to cast; it could provide additional Voorish Points for sorcery, or help replenish spent Voorish Points the way a standing stone or moon path does; it could have a spell of any kind worked into it, which could be triggered by a PC speaking a certain word or simply by standing on the right bit of floor, and so on. That would be a very fun thing to put into one of those abandoned houses that feature so largely in August Derleth stories!

[booklover1973]

A while ago you mentioned that old occult study courses are difficult to find. Interestingly, at my workplace in an antiquarian shop there surfaced a magical study course with the title "Das Buch der Magischen Praktik". It is a copy of an original from the twenties of the 20th century. It seems to be quite loopy, with the grand ego and the bombastic language so often encountered in the occult/esoteric scene. One of the teachings stood out to me: it consists of standing towards the evening sun with outstretched arms as long as one can. Quite a while ago, interestingly, you advised against doing the solar nwyfre exercise (which is similar) at evening, because the energies thus incurred tend to weaken rather than to strengthen the subject of the exercise.

The book mentioned will shortly be listed on the website of our used-book store. It is in German.

[robertmathiesen]

It this person the author?

https://www.wikizero.com/de/Friedrich_Wilhelm_Quintscher

[booklover1973]

And the course mentioned teaches methods to influence other people without their consent, for example, to get money from them. This kind of magic with the aim to dominate, to reap where one hasn't sown and to bolster one's own ego seem to be quite widespread.

Dream encounters

[(Anonymous)]

On a couple of occasions I've had an emotionally meaningful encounter in a dream with someone I've been out of contact with in waking life. My question is: Did I really encounter them? (I know the word "really" is tricky here, but don't know of a better way of asking the question...)

A belated happy Thanksgiving to you! I am thankful, as ever, for this space.

-escher

Re: Dream encounters

[ecosophia]

It depends. Sometimes that sort of thing involves images projected from within your own psyche; sometimes it involves actual contact between people on the astral plane. Divination is one way to sort out which is which.

SoP

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

just lettkng you know that last week I performed the SoP 8n its full form for the first time (the version you posted here). Felt good. It took me 2 months or 2 years if you count the false starts. this time I managed to maintain a regular practice.

Polytropos.

Re: SoP

[ecosophia]

Glad to hear it. Now comes the real challenge: keeping the practice going. Very likely your mind will come up with a godzillion and one reasons to stop doing it, to do something else, blah blah blah. Ignore them all, maintain the practice, and you'll start reaping the benefits.

DMH Tool Enchantments

[filthywaffle]

1. A question about the Druid Magic Handbook. I've worked through all of the Druidry Handbook and am just finishing up the first year AODA program as outlined, along with a daily SOP, mediation, and divination. I am now eyeing my copy of the DMH, and thinking about the next stage. My challenge is that I don't really have the freedom in my living space for some of the magical tools, namely the 8 stones, the wand, and the cauldron. I probably could work in an enchantment here and there, but then it would be kind of pointless as I couldn't pull them out to empower most of the grove ceremonies. Would enchanting such tools on the inner, using very specific images in my mind, be a workable alternative?

2. Oh and I'd thought I'd report a fun TSW moment that surprised me. I was clearing out my email spam folder, deleting left and right, and saw an email announcing the quarterly lucky draw winner from a survey I routinely answer. A not-so-common surname popped into my head. I opened the email, and it was the name of the winner. A dubious skill, I know: perceiving the content of spam. And not a reliable one at that. But after a year of daily work it was reassuring. Anyway, Believe it or Not! (sorry)

Re: DMH Tool Enchantments

[ecosophia]

1) In that case leave enchantment for later on, and concentrate on the other dimensions of the work. I don't recommend doing tools on the inner -- most of the point of the exercise is grounding the work on the material plane -- but everything else in the book should be accessible to you.

2) Ah, synchronicity! :-)

Pathworking

[(Anonymous)]

With tarot and the Tree it's obvious where to start with pathworking but what about those using a Hellenic system? What would the natural progression be?

Re: Pathworking

[ecosophia]

Why not do what a lot of people have done, and map the Hellenic gods onto the Tree? As Gershom Scholem's great work on the origins of the Cabala points out, the Cabala was not originally Jewish -- the Jews got it from the Gnostics, and a good case can be made that the Gnostics got it from Greek Neopythagoreans, who developed it out of the tetractys. (Read John Dillon's book on the Middle Platonists and you'll be astonished to find how many basic Cabalistic ideas came straight out of Platonism.) That's why so many Cabalistic terms (for example, sephirah and gematria) are borrowed from Greek.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to (re)construct a Hellenic Tree of Life. Simply translate the names of the spheres into Greek -- Kether becomes Stephanos, for example, Chokmah becomes Sophia, Binah becomes Noesis, and so on -- and assign Hellenic gods and goddesses to the ten spheres -- Sallust did most of the work already in On the Gods and the World -- and you're good to go. If you need the advice of someone who's been up and down the Tree a few times, just ask. ;-)

Aoda's SoP

[(Anonymous)]

Is the version of the Sphere of Protection on the AODA website as effective as the version of it you have posted here and in the DMH? Aside from the fact that the AODA version doesn't use deities, of course. The general language is a bit different, so I was curious if that detracted from it at all.

Re: Aoda's SoP

[ecosophia]

I find that invoking deities makes for a stronger working, but other than that, it's fine. The SoP has a lot of flexibility built into it.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

could you make an appearance on Gordon White's podcast?
I'm certain a lot of us here would love to hear a chat between you two!

[ecosophia]

I'm potentially up for that, but I don't go around cold-calling podcasters -- I let them make contact with me if they're interested. If Mr. White wants to get in touch, a message here or on my blog will get a response.

Questions and answers tossed out to the universe

[(Anonymous)]

I am a visual artist. I have two distinct bodies of work that are related but visually quite different. I alternate between the two, doing one for several months then back to the other. I do this because of my personal interests and exhibition/sales demands. While working on one set of paintings recently with the intent to do so until spring, I suddenly had the strong sense that I should be working on the other type of artwork as soon as I finished up my current painting. I kind of tossed off a comment while working – “Okay universe, should I start working on the other?” By the end of the day through what seemed like random events such as an unexpected email correspondence, a magazine image and an unsolicited comment from a friend, I gathered that the answer was a very loud Yes! I am comfortable taking those as specific signs meant to answer my question, and will proceed accordingly.

My questions is this – In general, if one asks a question out into the universe like I did, and then encounters situations that would seem to provide answers, are those answers reliable and are they safe? I haven’t yet but intend to start the Sphere of Protection. This experience kind of felt like divination, or something, but I’m not sure what? I’ve had this kind of thing occur several years ago before I started reading you and your magical teachings.

Thank you for your answer in advance.

Re: Questions and answers tossed out to the universe

[ecosophia]

That's the simplest and oldest form of divination there is -- augury, the art of reading omens. People created formal oracles such as Tarot cards because it's easier to figure out what the cards are saying. If you're used to augury, though, by all means keep using it, it's as reliable and safe as any other divinatory method.

Hoodoo Bath question

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

This may be a stupid question, but should a Hoodoo bath be applied before or after a regular shower? When coming home from work, I often feel like I need both. Or is there a way to combine the two?

Thank you as always!

Re: Hoodoo Bath question

[ecosophia]

After. Shower to get yourself physically clean, and then take the hoodoo bath. If you want to do the whole thing at once, do the hoodoo bath as a washcloth bath rather than a tub bath: i.e., prepare a basin full of the hoodoo bath mixture, and after you've showered and dried off, dip the washcloth in the mixture, wring it out, and rub yourself down with it, dipping and wringing at intervals. (If someone else can scrub your back that's better still.) Then get dressed and take the whole basin out to throw on the tree, and you're good.