Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's midnight as I type this, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. This week's classic book of Western occultism is The Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie -- far and away the most influential book on magic published in the 20th century. Regardie, an initiate of one of the successor orders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, gathered up everything he could find of the original order's papers and published the lot in four volumes in the late 1930s, providing the most extensive and detailed curriculum of magical study ever made public. Republished regularly in a single volume since the 1970s, it's about ten years of daily practice and hard work in a single package. 

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)]

Several Magic Mondays ago, you commented that ancestor veneration was fine as long as one didn't try to summon the dead. Is there a difference between summoning and merely inviting or welcoming? Also, is it okay to perform a banishing ritual in the same location as one's ancestor altar?

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, there's a difference between summoning and welcoming. In the latter, you're just inviting your ancestors to be present in the way that they are normally present. In the former, you're trying to force a bridge between the realms of the dead and the living so that the dead will be present in a way that they're not normally present.

2) Yes, that would be a good idea, in fact, because it will keep anything unwanted from hanging around your ancestor altar.

[nodrog]

Well, thank you!  I’m writing a wartime home-front spy romance novel, and for reasons of her own the heroine is in the Hermetic Order, but my research time has been limited.  This looks like “one-stop shopping” for what I need!

[ecosophia]

You're most welcome. You might also want to find a copy of Ellic Howe's waspish but well-researched The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, which is a good solid history of the order, and if your setting is in the Second World War you might want to consider reading a bio of Dion Fortune, who was the most influential British occultist before and during that conflict -- her bio will give you a good idea of what the British occult scene was like at that time.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, JMG- no question this week, just a data point and expression of gratitude: I just finished performing the self-initiation ritual found at the end of LRM for the fourth time (have done it on each of the past four nights), and was startled at how moving and powerful I found it each time- an order of magnitude moreso than my experience with any of the previous exercises. I've always struggled with visualizations, and my experience with most of the course leaned towards the dry, intellectual and "head-y", but when performing the self-initiations each time after the first, my visualizations were clearer than they'd ever been (still not very), almost as if I were getting help with them in some way, and I felt a clear sense of *presence* when imaginally dealing with the archangels that I'd never experienced before. And, afterwards, a clear sense of how all the preceding coursework worked together to make this possible- in retrospect, the entire work seemed like an extended rite of initiation. Afterwards my banishings have felt cleansing in the way I'd heard described but hadn't experienced before, and in general I have a sense that some kind of contact was made and a door was opened. I was really not expecting this! So...TSW, I guess, and thanks for making this possible- I never would have considered undertaking something like this without your book, your previous writings, and the opportunity to ask questions here! I'm taking the next 40 days off from hermetic study to focus more exclusively on spiritual work for Lent (though I'll continue to banish and meditate), but then I'm excited to begin working my way through Paths of Wisdom.

(Also, a happy clean Monday tomorrow to the Orthodox Christian readers here... I know there are a few!)

[ecosophia]

I'm delighted to hear this, and will pass it on to the other two authors of LRM, who will be just as pleased.

[booklover1973]

Am I right in my assessment that, nonwithstanding the benefits which the Sphere of Protection offers, it won't protect from having a bad day sometimes?

[ecosophia]

The only thing that will keep you from having a bad day sometimes is your total annihilation. As long as you exist, you will have bad days as well as good ones; practicing the SoP will simply help you have fewer bad days, and deal with the ones you have more constructively.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. On the open post this week, a commenter asked about positive evil in the undisciplined person, and you responded that an undisciplined doesn't realize "that a goal pursued via evil means inevitably takes on the evil itself."

I've not read Fortune before so I hope I'm not misunderstanding the concept, but I wanted to check whether a situation I'm in corresponds to it. I recently took on a promotion to low level management at the company I work at. I've also been working through the DMH and been practicing daily the SOP, meditation, divination, etc.

The job has pros and cons but frankly, I don't know what else I can do to earn a living, so I have justified it by applying what I learn in the DMH to my job - doing it well as a kind of practical application of my spiritual practice by being attentive, not treating my job as something to resent, etc.

But I already find myself using the de-humanizing language of management (referring to people I manage as 'resources' during management meetings, etc) simply because that's the lingo that the other managers use, so I'm worried this might be positive evil starting to influence my thought processes. This type of abstract language seems somehow counter to the philosophy of the DMH in that it 'de-enchants' things and people into cogs in business processes. But maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Do you think that this is the case, ie, have I understood positive evil correctly? If so, how can i protect myself from being corrupted in this way?

2. I just received the Dolmen Arch in the mail (it is a beautiful-looking book). A few questions about it:

a) Is it 'cheating' to read it fully first, ie, are you not supposed to read ahead until doing the exercises in a chapter?

b) On the open post, you pointed out the difference between a mage, mystic and occultist. The Dolmen Arch looks to be an occultist work, designed to help cultivate wisdom, is that right?

c) I'm about halfway through the DMH after about a year, and as I go through it, I realize that my interest is essentially working to create the lunar current in myself, rather than enchanting objects or doing magic for practical purposes. I understood that the lunar current is related to the soul and its powers, and to enlightenment. In terms of the terminology you set out (mysticism, magic, and occultism), is creating the lunar current the same as the quest for wisdom?

d) I'd still like to finish the DMH, but I took it on originally ignorant of the distinction between occultism and operative magic, and now I'm pretty sure self-development, getting in touch with the higher self, and learning to perhaps one day actually a bit wiser than I am now, are my real goals. It looks like the Dolmen Arch is tailored for that. If that's true - can I do the Dolmen Arch and the DMH at the same time, and if so, do you have suggestions about how best to do so? It looks like the issue would be the need for multiple sessions of discursive meditation per day, because there's so much to meditate on in both systems.

Thanks as always!

[(Anonymous)]

Not JMG, but I'm in a similar situation and have a couple ideas that are working for me.

I never wanted to be a manager where I work, but had it thrust upon me 18 months ago with no option. The corporate culture is for managers to refer to things as "my program" and people as "my staff". Even people who came up through the ranks, so to speak, change to that verbiage almost immediately. I find this to be egotistical and dehumanizing.

So, what I've done is to remember to put myself in the shoes of the other team members in the group I've been told to lead. I've asked both of them to quickly call me out on it if I revert to the corporate normal wording. I've asked them to call my wife and tell her and that she'll beat the living whatsis out of me if I get outside of the bounds of being a human team leader. I also slow down and think through what I'm saying if it is related to our work group and involves the other team members. Notice the way I've referred to the other members of the work group that I have been appointed to lead: the wording may appear awkward, but it keeps me away from the dehumanizing corporate norm. It is "our" group and "our" program.

Also, I used an affirmation for several months that was very personalized for my situation. It helped a lot.

DJSpo

Leap year

[(Anonymous)]

Perhaps a too general question, but is the 29 February (leap year) astrologically significant in some way?

Tidlösa

Re: Leap year

[ecosophia]

Nope. The civil calendar wasn't designed with astrology in mind and it does not reflect astrological influences.

Stephen Skinner

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

Dr. Stephen Skinner seems a very prolific author about magic.
What is your take on his approach to the subject and some of his books like "Techniques of Greco-egyptian magic" & "techniques of Solomonic magic" for instance.
Regards

Re: Stephen Skinner

[ecosophia]

I haven't followed his recent books, as he's gotten into aspects of magic that don't really interest me. His books on geomancy were important resources for me early on, though, and a book he co-wrote with Francis King -- Techniques of High Magic -- was the book that got me started practicing magic back in my teen years.

Ars Notoria

[(Anonymous)]

Hello!

According to Skinner Ars Notoria is "Ars Notoria is a mediaeval grimoire, it contains detailed techniques to enable the practitioner to absorb whole subjects very rapidly, and to understand very complex subjects on first reading, as well as remembering whatever has been read."

Do you agree with the above and if so how would you approach the subject?

Many thanks

Re: Ars Notoria

[ecosophia]

Yes, and I'd approach the subject by getting a book on the Ars Notoria that contains the notae -- the complex diagrams central to the art -- and going to work on it.

[(Anonymous)]

1) I had a rather weird experience during meditation last night: I felt the concept I was meditating on looking back at me. Did I accidentally make contact with something? Is this normal?

2a) What's a reasonable upper limit for a beginner to aim for with meditation? I'm planning to increase it until I'm at a half hour a day, but I'm worried that might be too much.

2b) How can you tell if you're doing too much?

3) I'm working my way through the 1st degree of the AODA, and found that I'm writing more on meditation than everything else (SoP, time outdoors, lifestyle changes, bardic work). Is there something I'm missing with the other material, or is it normal to find it worth recording way more with meditation than other material?

4) Do you know good sources on horary astrology?

[ecosophia]

1) Excellent. Yes, that's normal, but it usually takes a while to happen; your meditations are clearly progressing well. On the mental plane, ideas are beings, and you just met one.

2) It varies from person to person, but 30 minutes is a common maximum and 20 minutes is easier for most people. You're doing too much if you start feeling spacey and disconnected from the world of ordinary experience.

3) That's fairly common, especially if you're well suited to meditative work.

4) I'm not at all sure that any of these are in print, but the books I used while learning the art were Derek Appleby's Horary Astrology, Robert de Luce's Horary Astrology, and Ivy Goldstein-Jacobson's Simplified Horary Astrology -- this last in particular is worth its weight in gold. Chris Warnock also offers a very solid course in Renaissance-style horary astrology via his Renaissance Astrology website.

Two questions

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for your books and for hosting Magic Monday. I have two questions:

1. In one of your books you refer to Marsilio Ficino and his theurgic work on dealing with depression. Is there a particular work of his that focuses on this issue?

2. I've been doing the SOP and praying to Minerva daily for seven months now. I've recently been experiencing some people's strong emotions second-hand, like a 'contact high'. I've also had repeated experiences - two or three per week - where in a conversation I've had a thought which has then been the exact next thing out of someone else's mouth. I've been praying for guidance, but do you have any recommendations for maintaining my boundaries and respecting other people's?

Thank you for your help.

Re: Two questions

[ecosophia]

1) It's in his Three Books on Life.

2) This is normal; regular practice of ritual and prayer will very often awaken any latent psychism you have. Prayer for guidance was going to be my main suggestion! Other than that, do your best to think through any action you take in response to your perceptions, and reflect on whether you'd be okay with it if it was the other person who was psychic.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG and all, not a question, but a request for any of you who wouldn't mind a prayer or two thrown my and my family's way.
For some context, on February 9 last year, Mum had a stroke, causing vascular dementia. Since that day we have spent every day, (hospital, care home, her home and new care home) with her, in a shift rotation, as she cannot be left on her own. (Fall risk and meltdown without at least one of us there) My shift is the early evening, til she's asleep in bed. ( I'm back home now after Monday night's) My sister is in before me, but stays with me as it's a two person job, managing her through the nightly process of keeping her awake,calm, (showered if she wants one) changed and finally, ready for sleep.
I could go into more detail, but suffice to say, we are all pretty exhausted by it. I work full time, and social activities, friends, hobbies etc have been put on hold.
What worries me is an already very complicated situation may possibly be made worse if coVID causes a lock out in the facility and we can't be with her, or one of us gets it and is therfore unable to go in and do our shift for a few weeks, when we are already stretched so tight as is.
Her passing is not what disturbs me, I actually feel it would be a release and a blessing given the life she has now. It's her being alone. She just wouldn't cope.
On that last point, I do sometimes find myself wishing that she could slip away in her sleep. JMG you have said what you contemplate you imitate. Is it wrong to wish, that my 90 year old mother, who, if she understood her situation, as well as the toll it has taken on all of us, would be horrified, could be taken on to the next stage of her journey?

Regards, Helen in Oz

[ecosophia]

Please accept my sympathy! I used to work in nursing homes and I know how harrowing that sort of thing can be.

What I'd recommend is that you pray -- to a deity if you have a relationship with one, to the universe if you don't -- and simply ask that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible in the best way for all concerned.

[(Anonymous)]

First, thank you for hosting these, as always.

What is the distinction between the planetary spirit symbols as used in the Picatrix and the ones commonly seen elsewhere? I have, out of ignorance, I suppose, always used the ones in the Picatrix, and they seem to work fine...

[ecosophia]

Everything in magic is subject to that kind of variation. If you have something that works, stick with it.

Invoking again

[(Anonymous)]

Last week you helped me with this answer: "You can expand that section: "By the hawk of May in the heights of morning and in the great name HU, I invoke the air, its gods, its spirits and its powers! May the powers of the element of air bring me...""

I have added this a few times and I feel like I would prefer to ask for bringing after banishing. In more powerful experiences of the SoP banishings I have quite often had imagery of bad things being shed and got rid of, and something new and improved arising. It feels like that point might be better to put into words something to invoke or improve.

But I am just someone who has been doing the SoP for several months, I don't have the experience with it and other magic you have to know how or if this would fit into it.

Re: Invoking again

[ecosophia]

Hmm! I've always done all the invoking at the same time, but you can certainly experiment and see what works best for you. The SoP is remarkably flexible.

[(Anonymous)]

I've been lately considering egregores as consciousnesses that arise from smaller ones; that is, that they might have their own thoughts and agency.

Derived from that, I'm thinking that it may be possible to talk to the spirit of a country this way--say, by invoking Columbia, in the case of the United States, to check what she has in mind, and what she expects for the future.

I spoke of possibility because invoking Columbia strikes me as an idea worse than invoking Batman.

That aside, am I on the right track? Perhaps the collective mind of a country can act by itself, not only as the result of actions by the parts that make it? I'm starting to see consciousness and action everywhere.

[ecosophia]

Good heavens, yes. An egregor of any strength functions as an independent being with its own consciousness and powers of action. I don't recommend invoking (that is, calling into yourself) Columbia or any other egregor, but you can interact with it in the imaginal plane with relative safety.

New house and safe space

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

We’re looking at moving and I had some. questions. What might be a good question to ask the wands about the new house (bigger, same village)? something like:
Will “x address” nurture our family over the coming years?

Also it has a garage that is built into the house. However it has no direct access from the house, just an external side door. As my children are under three, and will not go into the garage, will this qualify as a separate enough space? The only down side I see is that there are no windows in it!

Any other advice on choosing a new home from a magical perspective? I’m in the Bard stage of CGD just looking at meditations and middle pillar at the mo.

Best
Edward

Re: New house and safe space

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, that would be a good question; don't hesitate to ask several questions if there are more details you need.

2) So long as the children's bedroom won't be right up against the garage, that should be fine.

3) Divination and a close eye to practical concerns are what I've always used, with good results.

[(Anonymous)]

Greetings JMG and commentariat,

I’m currently working through LRM (Lesson 6), and through experimentation and trial & error my daily practice has evolved into something like this:

Morning session

- [OPENING GESTURE]
- Relaxation variant 1 (lying down on a hard surface)
- Relaxation variant 2 (stretching the muscles/ligaments in the torso and solar plexus)
- LBRP (beginning and ending with a Qabalistic Cross)
- Attention exercise (on days without meditation) OR
- Attention exercise in preparation for meditation; followed by
- Meditation
- Will exercise
- [CLOSING GESTURE]

Throughout the day

- Number exercise (thinking about how the number applies in my own experience)
- Reading and study (reflecting on the daily sentence)
- Tree of Life symbolism memorization (new Path or Sephirah every 3-4 days)

Evening session

- Reading and study (reading a new sentence)
- [OPENING GESTURE] (just before going to bed)
- Daily recollection
- [CLOSING GESTURE] (if still awake, otherwise done the next morning)

Does this seem reasonable? The main thing I’m unsure about are the relaxation exercises:

a. Are both variants necessary every day? It's not really a big time commitment because the second variant takes about 30 seconds.
b. Is it a good idea to start the day with the relaxation exercises, even before performing the LBRP?

[ecosophia]

That's a wholly workable schedule of practices. As for the relaxation exercises, yes, it's important to do both, but when you do them is entirely up to you.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

I have a question today of a more philosophical nature. Many religious and philosophical traditions, among them Buddhism, Gnosticism, and to some degree Christianity (possibly Hinduism as well, but I'm less familiar with it), conceive of the material world as an error, illusion, or fundamentally unsatisfactory, a place of sin and suffering, and make it the goal of human life to transcend it and achieve a perfect spiritual state beyond matter (consider, for example, the Buddhist description of this world as dukkha, or the Christian description of it as a vale of tears). Do you think there is any merit to these views? What is your response to the problem of evil?

Often, my own life has seemed to me like a punishment, a harsh learning experience of some kind, a making amends for previous faults and mistakes (and this is while living a fairly privileged life in the upper middle class of a first world democracy), so it’s hard to shake off the idea that I am here to be tested, in preparation for rejoining a higher state of union.

[ecosophia]

No, I don't think there is merit to those views -- in fact, you've just touched on what I consider to be the essential failure of the prophetic religions. All of them start off by positing an arbitrary concept of what humanity and the universe ought to be like, and then denounce humanity and the universe because neither one lives up to expectations. The resulting cognitive dissonance runs all through the prophetic faiths, with any number of unpleasant and/or embarrassing consequences.

The problem of evil, in effect, is only a problem to those who postulate a false idea of what the universe is and then have to explain away the inaccuracies that result. It seems far saner to me to accept that the world is what it is, and to avoid letting our concepts of spiritual reality be held hostage to an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.

One other thing -- it's actually quite common for people who lead relatively privileged lives to become convinced that the world is a horrible place and ought to be replaced with one better suited to their preferences. The Buddha started out life as a pampered princeling, remember!

[(Anonymous)]

Concerning discursive meditation:

I find it to tell when I'm properly doing discursive meditation and when I'm simply musing or making far-fetched and implausible associations trying to squeeze blood out of a stone.

What should I pay attention to in performing this exercise? My train of thought? I tend to be led far afield towards topics that have no possible connection to the object of meditation. Or is it the subtle emotional impression that the object (let's say, a Tarot card) makes?

[ecosophia]

The train of thought is what matters, but you don't need to let it run amok. As you follow out your train of thought, relate it back to the original theme at intervals, so you remain in contact with the theme. Free association is a valuable skill, but it needs to be combined with the gentle guiding of the mind that keeps it working on the theme at hands.

Effects of worship

[(Anonymous)]

Happy Monday! Sometime within the last few weeks, you commented to the effect that invoking a god tends to strengthen the qualities of that god (both negative and positive) within the invoker over time. I failed to locate the exact quote, but I recall that being the gist of it. The conversation that followed noted that this effect is mitigated by the polytheistic worship of balanced pantheon.

I found myself curious - if the worshiper is only praying to a god and honoring them in non-ritual ways, does this concern still pertain?

-Accidental Mystic

Re: Effects of worship

[ecosophia]

Yes, though not as intensely. One way or another, what you contemplate, you imitate.

Astrology Question

[(Anonymous)]

My question concerns the latest information on the star Betelguese, which may be starting along the path to supernova, and is over 600 light years away. If a supernova would effect us astrologically on earth would it be at the time of the event or later when the light reaches us? That may sound like a silly question but given the universe is more interconnected that it appears, I wasn't sure.

Really, it just boggles my mind that the light we are seeing from this star now was generated before Columbus sailed west!

Re: Astrology Question

[ecosophia]

The astrological effect begins when the light arrives. Einstein might have appreciated knowing that not even astrological influences move faster than the speed of light!

The impact of SoP

[(Anonymous)]

This is a data point rather than a question; you asked earlier about interactions between arts such as Aikido and the SoP. I've been practicing Aikido irregularly for slightly less than 35 years. I've moved around a lot in my career and I've rarely managed to stay with one particular dojo or style for more than a year or two. That said, it's had a positive impact on me, and on the single occasion I ever had to use it 'in real life' it had an impact on somebody else. I'm not practicing at the moment though.

Shortly after Christmas this year I decide to learn the SoP but whereas I have found most arts and skills that interest me fall into my grasp quite easily - this one has been extraordinarily difficult. The combination of speech, visualisation, and gesture, performed simultaneously gives me a sensation akin to rubbing my belly and patting my head - except I've never had any problem doing that. I have yet manage a performance to my own satisfaction and after around 10 weeks I've only managed to reach Fire. The usual problem is that I have found it hard to memorize the invocations - I can do them perfectly in my head, and once or twice in dreams. Actually doing them often leave me tongue tied or leaving out a phrase. I'm becoming quite amused with my klutziness.
I've persisted, partly because I'm doing this as an ongoing project rather than a goal that I can achieve and then give up on, but mostly because I've simultaneously noticed that the unhealthy amounts of coffee that I drink daily have dwindled from 5 or more strong espressos to a single cup first thing. Even odder, my ongoing obsession with Twitter - that could occupy me for 3 or 4 hours of an evening - simply vanished over the space of a fortnight.

The idea that I was going to stop simply popped into my head one evening, apropos to nothing, and that was that. As a matter of fact I glanced at my feed for about a minute this last weekend before I noticed that it was mostly people whining and that I had better things to do. To put that into perspective, I spent stupid amounts of time watching people do little else over Brexit for the last 3 years on Twitter.
So I've no idea if I'm finding SoP hard because it's is actually quite hard, because I've spend a fair amount of time on the mat practicing Aikido, or because I've actually got a lot of crud to deal with, but it does seem to be doing something.

Andy

Re: The impact of SoP

[ecosophia]

Andy, many thanks for the data points! You're not the only one who's had banishing rituals banish the desire to waste time online, for what it's worth.

[(Anonymous)]

JMG-

As always, thank you for hosting these Q&As.

I have two questions for you today.

1) Does the DOGD/Celtic GD system use a modified form of the LBRP or is it based on the Sphere of Protection?

2) I've spent three years working in the GD system (your LRM and now Israel Regardie's book) and I find it increasingly less satisfying from a spiritual point of view. The truth is I don't like the christian/jewish symbolism. I've felt pulled to work directly with directional entities (east, west, north, south) without the added angelic symbolism, but so far I have not come across any sort of system like that, save some really awful attempts to co-opt first nations' systems. Have you (or anyone else) heard of something like that?

[ecosophia]

1) It uses a modified LBRP. It really is a Celtic Golden Dawn.

2) The DOGD LBRP (how's that for the attack of the acronyms!) invokes the Hawk of May in the east, the White Stag in the south, the Salmon of Wisdom in the west, and the Great Bear in the north. Is that the sort of thing you had in mind?

The Fear of the Lord

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

In your other blog I noticed you recently fielded a question by someone there named "Waffles" regarding their fear of eternal damnation. I also suffer from this fear at times. More in the past than now. I've tackled it in therapy. I've tackled it by reading the higher critics. I've followed mythicist arguments that seem very convincing to me, etc. I'm more of an arm chair occultist than a practicing magician, but I have even performed a ritual or two (which I regret now, having done it in the wrong spirit) simply in order to face my "Fear of the Lord" and stand up to it by doing something subversive.

Do you have any magical recommendations to those of us raised to be afraid? I'm nearly 40 now and this is ridiculous! Also, very related, if you're willing to answer a two-part question, what is the view of magic as regards morality? Are we judged and tormented for not toeing some set of behavioral proscriptions by some magical analog of Jehovah after death if we're not good boys and girls? Book recommendations on this or related topics would be very welcome!

Sincere thanks,
Trepidation Nation

Re: The Fear of the Lord

[(Anonymous)]

Not JMG, but I spent nearly two decades in the same boat as you - fear of hell controlled almost every decision I made. I was able to overcome it by looking into the arguments for Christian Universalism (the belief that hell, if it exists, is temporary and restorative, not eternal and retributive), and finding them utterly more convincing than the arguments for the more traditional Eternal Conscious Torment view - despite the fact that I'm no longer a Christian. Your mileage may vary, but I wanted to throw in my two cents in case it could be of any help to you. Best of luck!

SOP Banishing

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I received the Dolmen Arch hardcover and it is magnificent. I started right in on the first grade and just wanted you to know I am very impressed not only with the material but also with the physical book. Well done!

My question has to do with banishing in the SOP. When I do the calling of the elements, I make three specific invocations. For example, in the gate of air I call for clear thinking, good judgment, and the liight to see the truth. When I do the banishing portion, I just use a generic banishment of all harmful and disturbing elements of the power of air.

Should I be more specific about the banishments? On the one hand I don’t want to focus too much on negativity and theirby strengthen it, but on the other hand I wonder if I am being a wuss by not naming and calling out the issues I need to work on.

Many thanks!

Re: SOP Banishing

[ecosophia]

I typically use a generic banishing, and let the gods and my higher self decide what needs to be banished. Your mileage may vary, of course, but it works for me.

Yet another dream question

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I know you usually don’t do dream questions so thanks again for hosting a forum where I can appeal to the commentariat :)

I never see people I know in my dreams. Often it’s just me or it’s very sparsely populated with people who are basically just scenery. When there are people in my dreams who are active participants, it’s random people I don’t know.

Is this normal enough? Is it supposed to indicate anything? Not concerned about my sanity, just been curious about it for a while. Thanks to all!

Re: Yet another dream question

[(Anonymous)]

That's interesting,

I have a data point to offer.

I've noticed that in my dreams, people who are people I know are present in my dreams, as in, they are there, and I know they are the person I think they are simply by their "feel."

Yet sometimes, when I actually think to how the person who "feels" like a person in my life visually looks in my dream, it's often much more idealized, or really different, than they look in the physical.

Sometimes I feel like I am more interacting with some symbol or different form of themselves, sometimes I wonder if it's purely one way and they're just constructed from my own impressions and such, and not connected to the real person at all. I have a feeling it's probably both that its my own impressions and constructions, and interacting with something "outside of myself."

I hope that's helpful, or at least interesting,

-WM