Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's just shy of midnight, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. The picture is of Elias Ashmole, one of the great figures in the British tradition of alchemy. An extraordinary scholar interested in just about everything, he was among other things fascinated by alchemy, and put together and edited several important collections of English alchemical documents from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A capable astrologer, he was also one of the first people known to history who joined a lodge of stonemasons without being in the building trades, and his initiation is thus one of the early mileposts in the emergence of Freemasonry. 

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.

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With that said, have at it!

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

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm a bit nervous about trying Hoodoo,seeing as I'm not exactly on the best terms with the Christian God.

What other folk magic traditions would you suggest?

[ecosophia]

Depends on where you live and what resources you've got to hand. In most of the Western world, despite enthusiastic fabrications by the adherents of modern Neopaganism, the trad folk magic has a strong Christian element, period, end of sentence. You can go digging in modern Neopagan magic and find some good stuff; if you get along well with the Norse deities, modern Heathens have some very solid stuff; or you can decide to sort things out with the Christ. (Hint: he's a lot less intolerant than his more loudmouthed followers.)

[(Anonymous)]

I live in the Piedmont region of South Carolina and resources are limited to say the least.

I'll try to patch things up with Christ but in the meantime what books on Heathen and Neopagan folk magic are worth reading?

[ecosophia]

I haven't studied either of those branches of the work -- I've just met people who have -- so I don't have any recommendations. Sorry!