Magic Monday

[ecosophia]

It's getting on for midnight as I type this, so here we go with a new Magic Monday. This week's classic of Western occultism is Initiation into Hermetics by Franz Bardon, which for many years was the only serious introduction to classic central European occultism available in English. Bardon was Czech and was born in 1909, which means he had the bad luck to be in eastern Europe during one of the most difficult periods of its long and tangled history. He managed to survive the First World War, the Spanish flu, and the Great Depression; he spent time in a concentration camp during the Second World War, but survived; and finally died while imprisoned by the secret police of Czechoslovakia's Communist government in 1958. His three major books, Initiation into Hermetics, The Practice of Magical Evocation, and The Key to the True Kabbalah, were published in Germany in the 1950s, appeared in bad English translations in the 1960s, and not long ago finally appeared in good English a few years back. 

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)]

Is there a way to avoid being consumed by schadenfreude?

[ecosophia]

You actually have to work hard to be consumed by that, or any of the unfashionable emotions. Let yourself feel what you do in fact feel; don't pretend that it's anything but what it is; don't let it influence your actions or your judgments -- if necessary, by postponing decisions until you've gotten over it; and don't put any energy into it, either by feeding it or by resisting it. Just accept that it's something you're feeling at the moment, an ordinary human reaction to an ordinary human situation; let it flow on by, and then go on with life.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

1) last week I wrote to you about strong headaches after doing two different banishings in a day for some days. As per your recommendation I stopped banishing for a week and took plenty of rest.
My plan would now be to alternate the Banishing Cross (aka Christian Banishing) with the SoP and switch to SoP only as soon as I have added all 7 Gates of the Elements. Good idea/bad idea?

In the last few days I had the chance to go through W.E. Butler's "How to read the Aura", which brought up some questions - mainly concerning the etheric body:

2a) I have a strong suspicion that my etheric body was already damaged/leaky even before my double banishing frack-up. Butler glowingly recommends re-charging via regularly exchanging energies with trees. Would this in combination with a lot of sunlight be sufficient to patch things up or is there more I could do?

2b) Does the SoP strengthen the Etheric Body?

2c) Butler describes five energy centres, that are common in western teachings (I suspect he means Golden Dawn style - I know Gareth Knight uses 7 and the Druid Magic Handbook has 3). Am I right to suspect that the five "Tibetan" rites work on these five centers? If so, do they have a regenerative effect on the etheric body?

2d) If one tries to develop clairvoyance according to Butler's method by using a mirror to scry, is there an additional safety measure that should be considered before scrying (i.e. banishing the space beforehand)?

3) I think Saturn has a very strong influence on me, in good and bad ways. Is there a simple way to balance out the negative things, or should I see an astrologer about that? I feel that many things improved when I started wearing my golden wedding ring after my wedding, so I contemplated going full solar for a while - wearing yellow, burning frankincense, drinking infusions of St. John's worth and so on... Would that have an effect?

Thank you!

[ecosophia]

1) No, I recommend that you do one or the other. At this stage of your training it's not going to be helpful to switch off like that.

2a) Start with those and see what results you get. A lot of people have damaged etheric bodies.

2b) Indirectly, yes. It strengthens the astral body, and the astral body then recharges and balances the etheric body.

2c) Nope. If you read the original book by Peter Kelder, you'll find that it refers to these seven centers:


2d) Follow his instructions exactly as given, neither adding nor subtracting anything, and you'll be fine.

3) It depends on the fine details of your astrological chart, so yes, you should consult an astrologer.

My Garden & New Orphic Hymn to Saturn

[kimberlysteele]

Hi JMG,

Here's a post I made about the evolution of my Aurora, Illinois garden: https://kimberlysteele.dreamwidth.org/1834.html

Advice and suggestions are VERY welcome! I study medicinal plants and herbs and I'm in Zone 5.

I composed a guitar/voice arrangement of the Orphic Hymn to Saturn, sheet music is in the works still:

https://queeniemusic.bandcamp.com/track/orphic-hymn-to-saturn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ukgsPNRPyU

Re: My Garden & New Orphic Hymn to Saturn

[ecosophia]

You probably know about medicinal plants and herbs than I do, then!

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

1. I've been meaning for a while to gain a more intuitive understanding of the Tarot, and with that end in mind, I’ve begun to think about the cards (mostly the Major Arcana) as they relate to situations in my daily life. For example, the global events of the last couple of months bring to mind XVI. The Tower and XIII. Death. For me, the Tower represents the punishment of human hubris with nemesis by the universe (or forces of nature, or God), and Death represents upheaval leading to a new beginning, the recycling and composting of the old, the negative, destructive side of the cycle of life. Another example: in my mind, those individuals who suffer from addictions (either to substances or habits) are under the energy of XV. The Devil, whose inverted pentagram symbolizes the domination of spirit by matter. Does this seem like a worthwhile little habit?

2. One interpretation of the Great Work can be formulated purely in the terms of analytical psychology. It’s the achievement of wholeness or individuation, the bringing into consciousness and interpenetration of all aspects of the psyche, the dissolution of complexes. Thus we achieve the Circle, the complete Self. Another interpretation is more spiritual/religious: as our awareness expands we become conscious of divine truths about the nature of reality; we approach higher consciousness and union with the divine. Are these interpretations in conflict, or equally valid? Is it a matter of personal preference?

3. Not really a question, but one thing that struck me in working through LRM (now on lesson 8) is the gradual nature and slowness of the approach, and the gentleness with which concepts are introduced and left to ferment in the student’s imagination. “Hasten slowly” seems to be the driving pedagogical approach. With the gradual approach, it seems that the student’s unconscious mind is left to do a lot of the heavy lifting, and by the time an insight rises to consciousness, it already has firm roots planted in the unconscious, which makes the student’s understanding natural and sustainable. I find myself having to slow the pace and remind myself that if I rush things, it will only make things harder for me in the long run. Unfortunately, "Ars longa, vita brevis" holds true...

[ecosophia]

1) Yes, and in fact that sort of thing is recommended in some esoteric schools.

2) I see both interpretations as attempts to talk about something that reaches beyond human understanding, using varying sets of symbols, which are necessarily inaccurate but the best we can do. The important thing is to do the work and experience the results for yourself.

3) Got it in one. We designed the course the way we did because we found that a lot of students benefited from that slow and somewhat indirect approach.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

I've been doing the heathen LBRP for about four months now and the heathen Middle Pillar for a little over two. I've gotten comfortable with both exercises at this point. I have struggled a little with a few of the visualizations during the MP. I have trouble with visualizing the perthro is silver in the second sphere of light and I have had trouble visualizing berkana on the final sphere. Aside from these two little troublesome spots I can usually clearly visualize everything else in both rituals.

I have been struggling for the last six months with recurring pain from an overuse and poor form injury. The form has been fixed and I have been had a lot of rest for the last six months as well as other treatment and I have mostly healed but I do suffer from minor pain that has obstinately refused to heal.

Earlier this week, after my normal practice of the LBRP and MP, I performed the LRP but traced the pentagrams clockwise and, pausing before the final hammer sign formed the intention of asking for healing energy. I got a strong feeling to burn some frankincense, I did and then performed the final hammer sign. While doing the visualization for the hammer sign, the sun appeared black (still bright, but black) and so did the hammer when I formed it.

The next day, my pain was markedly improved so I repeated the extra LRP. This time all the visualizations were black and when I traced the lines for the pentagrams I could not get myself to visualize them in anything but black.

Again, my pain was improved the following day and I repeated the whole thing but this time, all my visualizations were in black. Everything, even during the MP. I normally can form the initial sphere of the MP in bright white with ansuz in dazzling gold, but I tried as hard as I could to visualize it as normal but could only see it in black

After this, I paused my practice because I wanted to ask if you had any idea what might be going on here?

[ecosophia]

You're doing the Lesser Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram rather than the banishing version. Obviously you needed more magical energy, and that's one way to get it. Try doing the invoking ritual in the morning and the banishing ritual in the evening for a while, and see what results you get.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you think the unusual length of peace and stability in the Western World is of Plutonic origin? It seems odd that it lasted this long, and Pluto rules things repressed, so I'm wondering if it might have somehow hidden the historical norms. Of course, this would also explain why it started coming undone now...

[ecosophia]

In a certain sense, yes -- nuclear weapons are extremely effective at preventing war among major powers, and they're certainly ruled by Pluto.

The Art of Memory

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
I am trying to locate a book I think I remember you writing. It is on the Art of Memory but though I search mightily on Amazon and other locations, I cannot find a trace of it. My poor old memory does need some help. What book title would you recommend for someone trying to learn the Renaissance are of memory?
Maxine

Re: The Art of Memory

[ecosophia]

The book that I did on the subject was a translation of Giordano Bruno's book On the Shadows of the Ideas, and it was a limited edition; it'll be back in print later this spring. The book I recommend, though, is Frances Yates' classic history The Art of Memory, which covers the basic technique very well in the opening chapters.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

Late night start here, but thank you once again for hosting these Q&A sessions.

1. What would you do if you had the Philosopher’s Stone? Would you reveal the formula to the public? (After writing this question, it occurred to me that the whole idea of the Stone might have been to serve as a cautionary exercise in ethics, along the lines of “What would you do if you could do anything?” and that it was only the most foolish who actually tried to make it)

2. Do you think that something like a Copernican revolution in magic might one day occur, where the assumptions of the art would be turned upside-down and fundamentally redefined? What kind of discovery could lead to such a revolution? Has something like this happened in the past?

3. People born between roughly 1990 and 1996 have a Uranus-Neptune conjunction in Capricorn within a 5 degree orb. What do you think might be the generational effect of this aspect?

4. I’ve been thinking lately that there may be a way to reconcile science with occult philosophy; that if we conceive of science as being a science of the material plane, then occult philosophy is a science of the subtle planes. In this view, the two are basically compatible, although employing different methods. Neither has the full picture because we're just not smart enough to have the full picture.

[ecosophia]

1) The formula for the Stone has been revealed to the public countless times. It remains cryptic because the secret of the Stone is the mutual transformation of the alchemist and the prima materia; you make the Stone by becoming the kind of being who can make the Stone, and the prima materia becomes the Stone by making you into the kind of being who can transmute it. Lege, lege, lege, relege, ora, labora, ut invenies!

2) That happens on a regular basis. The last such revolution was the work of Eliphas Lévi. Doubtless we'll get another when our culture has mutated to the point that current models no longer make sense to us.

3) My studies of natal astrology have not proceeded far enough for me to have an informed opinion. (I've mostly studied horary, electional, and mundane astrology so far.)

4) It's perfectly possible to reconcile science and occult philosophy; occultists do it all the time. It's the scientists who by and large refuse to have anything to do with such a reconciliation. The usual scheme is more or less as you've outlined; science explores the material plane, occultism explores the inner planes which we are capable of perceiving (the etheric, astral, and mental planes), and religion explores the inner planes that are beyond our capacity to perceive (the spiritual, causal, and divine planes, in one analysis).

[(Anonymous)]

JMG,

In recent years, the media has been obsessed with a particular online phenomenon that it has dubbed the “incel phenomenon.” Without going into too many details, it appears to be a diverse group of young men frustrated by certain aspects of modern sexuality and dating norms, many of which, as the name implies, are long-term celibates, involuntarily so, and who congregate in various online venues to discuss their problems, commiserate, and offer advice. The discussion around the topic is highly polarized, with the cultural mainstream unilaterally denouncing them as violent misogynist extremists, and the incels themselves, finding that they have no avenue to respond, retreating further into their own insular communities, which, unsurprisingly, have often been a breeding ground for views that might be described as ‘hateful’ (to use that problematic term).

Is such a phenomenon historically unprecedented, a unique product of the post-sexual revolution environment? And secondly, assuming that the laws and culture will not change to assist incels, would you have any recommendations from an occult perspective for them, such as specific magical practices, to help them with their problem? My guess is that there must be some psychological blockage at play, some issue on the subtle planes that make them unable to attract a partner, and this issue must be common enough to affect large swathes of men in a generation. Thinking about it, this seems like a perfect test for the efficacy of magic.

[ecosophia]

Yes, I'm familiar with the incels. To my mind, they're caught in one of the clearest modern examples of what Gregory Bateson called a "double bind." The basic structure of the double bind is that there are two sets of rules -- an overt set and a covert set -- and they contradict each other. Those who obey the overt set are praised but surreptitiously punished; those who obey the covert set are denounced but surreptitiously rewarded; and those who refuse to play the game or, worse still, try to discuss what's going on, are targeted with overwhelming abuse to try to force them into subservience to the game.

That's the situation the incels are in. Our culture teaches young men a set of notions about dealing with women that guarantee that most of them will be perpeutally one-down, forever chasing after sexual favors that are always dangled in front of them and usually withheld, and then blamed for a failure that has been imposed on them by the entire structure of the game. Those who do the one sane move they have and stop playing the game are then targeted for abuse as mentioned above. There are things they can do, but it's going to take changes in society -- not just changes for individuals -- to resolve the whole mess.

It's worth noting that young women are being fed a hugely counterproductive set of notions about men, too. Compare the way that men are portrayed in romance fiction to the way that women are portrayed in pornography and you can see some of the ways that both sides of the gender struggle are set up to fail.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

1. Since you recommend a maximum of 30mins to 1hr a day of magical practice (for safety reasons), what, if anything, can be done outside of that brief practice window? In the same way that most mainstream religions have prescriptions for how to live a virtuous life outside of attending worship services, is there something we could be doing to constantly progress in the Great Work when we’re not actively practicing?

2. In last week’s MM, you mentioned that the internet is what it is because it reflects the consciousness of those who use it, so it’s not surprising that large parts of it consist of cheap entertainment, pornography, and memes. What would a “redeemed" Internet look like? And more broadly, what would a culture look like that focused on the higher end of the astral plane? Has anything like this ever been achieved in practice?

3. In my opinion, a writer has an intellectual responsibility to educate himself on a topic before he puts pen to paper, that is, to learn what has already been done before he attempts to add anything new to the body of knowledge. But this process of learning seems endless: we can spend a lifetime on it and never finish. However, without it, a writer is unprepared and immature. At what point in your own career as occultist and writer did you decide that you knew enough, that you were ready to create and contribute- was it after a certain age? And how do you balance the twin responsibilities of continuing education and contribution?

4. Do you have a theory on procrastination, and why so many people suffer from it? Have you dealt with it yourself? I can say from experience that often, there is an enormous emotional resistance to doing something that you know is good and necessary, like a wall of pain and fear that prevents you from taking constructive action. It seems like exactly the type of situation where magic would be useful.

[ecosophia]

1) What you do alongside your magical practices is have a life. That provides the stabilizing influence you need so that magic doesn't unbalance you, and it also provides the field of experience in which you learn to apply the subtle lessons of consciousness you learn from magical training.

2) That's like asking what a square circle would be like. It's not just the content of the internet that reflects the bottom-feeding end of the astral; to borrow one of Marshall McLuhan's few real insights, the medium is itself the message. As for a society that focuses purely on the upper astral, it's been tried over and over again -- that's what most plans for social reform amount to -- and it always fails, because most human beings can't maintain that for long. "Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made."

3) This attitude explains why you have problems with procrastination. You've set up an arrangement whereby the inner critic -- the voice of internalized authority Freud called the superego -- can always insist "But you haven't learned enough yet." Every writer is unprepared and immature, because the only way to prepare and mature is to write. Some of the things in my early published books embarrass me now; accepting that this is going to happen is an important step toward achieving anything at all.

4) See my previous answer. I suggest journaling, so you come to understand the emotional habits and childhood programming that are getting in the way of your ability to do what you will.

[(Anonymous)]

Bit of a random question.

Does Occult Philosophy have anything to say about the era in the recent past when-- according to the archaeological evidence-- multiple human species (H. erectus, Neanderthals, Denisovans, the floresiensis "hobbits") lived at the same time?

If not, what do you think of it?

And do you ever suppose that the regular and rather casual mention of giants, dwarves, dog-headed men and the like in older literature might point to the survival of various archaic hominids into historic times, or even into the present?

Dog-headed men

[(Anonymous)]

When I first read about the "dog-headed men of Africa" in a medieval bestiary, my first thought was "baboons!" For what that's worth.

As for giants - if your source is Mediterranean, imagine a visitor from say, Scandinavia among the shorter, more compactly built (guessing at that from Greek vases) Acheans. Dwarves, of course, exist in the human population and always have; it wasn't hard to find an actor to play Tyrion Lannister.

[(Anonymous)]

How does a person reconcile their own experiences of Christ as a loving, tolerant figure who accepts some very unorthodox Christians and even non-Christians with some of the things he (supposedly) said in the Bible?

[ecosophia]

The New Testament as we now know it was voted into existence by two church councils at the end of the 4th century CE. None of the people who took part in those elections, obviously, had ever met Jesus of Nazareth, and they all belonged to one particular end of the very broad Christian movement -- the end that turned into the established Christian church. A lot of other Gospels got left out of it, as you may know, and some of them have at least as good a claim to authenticity as the ones that made the cut. So the portrayal of Christ in the New Testament is not necessarily accurate. (Nor, by the way, does it say anywhere in the Bible that the Bible is inerrant, or literally true.)

More broadly, the old woman who taught me her method of Bible study used to shake her head sadly when anyone referred to the Bible as the Word of God. "The Word of God is Christ," she would say, and quote the first chapter of the Gospel according to John. "Anybody who can't tell the difference between the Son of God and a printed book has real problems."

Dion Fortune and The Qabalah

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG,

I am a long time reader and appreciator of the clarity with which you write on various subjects. I have started reading Dion Fortune’s “Mystical Qabalah”. This week I took the following sentence from it as a subject for meditation:

“Pantheism and polytheism had their day and a new and more spiritual culture was due.”

In your opinion is this just Dion Fortune reflecting her particular prejudice? Do you know what it was that she saw as less spiritual about polytheism and more spiritual about monotheism? I appreciate your elucidation.

Eric

Re: Dion Fortune and The Qabalah

[ecosophia]

Fortune was a Christian -- a decidedly unorthodox Christian, granted, but Christian enough to go to church regularly. The sentiment she expressed there is a standard bit of Christian rhetoric that helped feed into the modern mythology of progress -- the claim that Paganism was fine enough in those primitive days, but we outgrew it and of course we all know better now. I take wry amusement in the fact that some atheists now use exactly the same rhetoric on Christians!

[(Anonymous)]

Hi John,

IIRC, you said you considered your book on Atlantis to be a disappointment and were not sorry to see it go out of print. I loved it and really liked how you tied together a wide range of material and perspectives. I thought your conclusion made a huge amount of sense and is the most plausible interpretation based on the evidence. Is there any chance of a revised edition someday, perhaps via a different publisher such as Aeon?

[ecosophia]

Down the road a bit I'll be writing a new book on the Atlantis legend and its relation to human civilizations before and during the last Ice Age. That book will include everything in the original book that's worth keeping, and a great deal more.

Etheric injuries etc

[(Anonymous)]

JMG

Two questions from me:

1. It looks like the UK has followed the Indian example (along with various other countries) of the nation clapping at a fixed time to show appreciation for the NHS and healthcare workers. Again it sounds like there was a good turnout but I’m assuming the timing was probably not fixed astrologically for the UK (unlike India).

Some pictures and description here:

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-52063866

Any thoughts on what the benefits could be and how it could compare to the Indian ritual?

2. I’ve been training martial arts fairly intensively for the last year or so (a couple hours a day or more 5-6 days/week). I’ve had my share of minor injuries and improved fitness, but I’ve had one recurrent problem which has caused me to lose a LOT of training time. It’s essentially falling or rolling slightly awkwardly from a throw and landing on my back with a sharp pain which then results in severe muscle pain and back spasms - some kind of muscle strain. Typically I can barely move for a couple of days and then it slowly eases up. Usually I’m back to light training in a week and full training in two weeks.

It’s not a serious problem or injury (although very very painful) and I usually recover fully - it’s annoying to lose training time regularly to the same problem.

I currently follow the usual medical advice (take painkillers for the intense pain in the first few days, then taper them off and stay as active as possible and go back to normal activity in a phased manner). This is fine as far as it goes but I am wondering if there is more I can do.

I am currently on my 5th training break (even before the corona lockdown) in the last 9 months because of the same injury and I am sick of it. It feels like that area has become more and more delicate so where last year it took a pretty bad fall to trigger it, now even lighter falls and smaller mistakes are triggering it.

When I am fully recovered this time (it’s taking longer than before), I am going to start targeted muscle building exercises for my lower back.

All of that is a long winded way of asking if injuries - especially recurrent injuries in the same area like this - have an etheric component and if there is anything I can do on the etheric level to encourage healing of that area and especially reverse this tendency of the area to become more and more delicate and bring it back to full recovery. For example, I get some relief by using cold packs and pads on that area and I accidentally turned my shower to cool (not really cold) yesterday and the sensation on that area of the back was really nice and I wonder if that was etheric.

But I guess my general question is whether injuries like this have an etheric component and whether there is any healing to be found from that angle, in addition to the normal meds. I have no spiritual or magical practice to speak of (I used to practice discursive meditation fairly regularly but have stopped for the last few months).

Re: covid response and astrology

[(Anonymous)]

Piggybacking on this question, I noticed that the UK lockdown was announced at the dark moon, the day before the new moon. Magically could this strengthen it, as it is in effect a type of banishing?

[lloydgd]

Dear JMG,

I would like to take part in the cell salt experiment and want to double check with you that I’ve got the correct combination. I was born 10° Leo but was a month premature.
Is the following correct: Mag. Phos. 2, Kali Sulph. 3, Nat. Phos. 3, Calc. Sulph. 3, Silicea 1.
I live in UK & we are in lockdown for 2 weeks, which will then be reviewed, so not sure when I can receive the cell salts as many websites have temporarily ceased trading & delivery is slow.
with best wishes, Lloyd

[ecosophia]

Yes, that's the correct combination. By all means start when you can!

Geomancy love question

[(Anonymous)]

I had a short but intense relationship with a girl.

Since we broke up, I bumped into her twice randomly, around town; I've never had this with any other girl I dated before.

The second time around, I encountered her just as I left my office; I was going to a date, while she was walking with another guy. She was walking right in front of me, headed the other way, and she definitely saw me from a distance as she walked there, but she looked straight ahead as I passed her by. I felt like my heart broke for a second time, but I was wondering what sign the universe was trying to send me with this.

I had a dream where I met her at a bookstore, I touched her and she disappeared, but after a while she appeared again.

Anyway, given all this, I felt like we had some unresolved karma between us.

I cast a chart with the question: Will E reconcile with me?

Four Mothers:
Via
Carcer
Amissio
Via

Full Shield Chart here: https://imgur.com/gmWFVrW

RW: Fortuna Major
LW: Populus
Judge: Fortuna Major

The RW and Judge of Fortuna Major seem quite positive to me. I'm interpreting it as saying that it will turn out well.

I think Fortuna Major as the RW describes my situation well: my external conditions probably don't look very good; a startup that I was working on failed to get enough traction when the virus hit, and I stepped down from the company and am applying for jobs. However, I feel mentally and emotionally much more collected after the chaos of the last few months, and I'm also launching a podcast. I have this feeling of "I'm going to get through this".

Populus as the LW and the Way of Points leading to double Conjunctiones seems to indicate that she's seeing other people, maybe more than one. That's fair enough, I've been dating other people but she was really my favourite out of every girl I've dated.

Fortuna Major as the Judge seems to indicate that it will turn out well? Since this is a Yes/No question, I would want to interpret it as "Yes", but I don't want to deceive myself.

Would like to see your thoughts on this, JMG, thanks!

Re: Geomancy love question

[ecosophia]

In a shield chart, if you get two or more favorable figures as Judge and Witnesses, the answer is Yes. Fortuna Major is the most favorable figure of the sixteen, so you've got a definite yes. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that it often means delay at the beginning, so things may not resolve right away.

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

I hope it's OK to ask quite a few questions this week, meditation has been fruitful!

1. I have spent the last few weeks meditating on the descriptions of the Druid gods listed in the appendix of the DMH. Where can I find more information about them beyond what is in the DMH?

2. One thought struck me during meditation: I think I remember you writing elsewhere that if you meditate on or worship fictional deities, you get fictional results. If a lot of the Druid Revival lore comes from Iolo Morganwg and if much of it is considered a forgery, then wouldn't the same principle apply?

3. About focused goals, the will, and focusing on one thing at a time: I've been wrestling all week with trying to choose a single goal to focus on, and it has been a big struggle. It's simply hard to pick just one interest from a number of them to work towards. I'd like keep up the DMH practices, to make music, learn to grow vegetables, learn more about the cell salts, in my free time but there are also the goals that I have to work towards because of my day job. Clearly, it's hard to do any of these well with a limited amount of time per day, and each activity is full of rabbit holes in themselves.

I may have made a breakthrough during meditation though: I suddenly remembered from looking at the AODA study program that a number of my goals are actually part of it in terms of the Earth Path and the spirals (I am not part of AODA, yet, I'm still working at the DMH first). I realized that actually I can weave many of my goals together under the umbrella of Druidry, and that really, what I'm trying to do with many of my goals is to learn from them, to study the universe and I suppose to gain wisdom from them. So that's my overarching goal, and all of these things are different facets of that. Is that a good way of approaching this problem, or am I still trying to have my cake and eat it, too? :)

4. I am reading Manly Hall's Self-Unfoldment Through Disciplines of Realization (I'm not doing the practices, simply reading it out of interest). He talks about how gaining wisdom should be a natural process and it should be effortless. I don't in all honesty think I really know what wisdom even means, and therefor I feel even a little silly saying as above that my goal is to gain wisdom, when as Hall writes wisdom essentially is a by-product of consistent meditation and practice. I wonder if there's a danger in making wisdom an abstract goal, and thus moving further away from it as I try to move towards it?

It's a similar thing to what he writes about poise: I don't really have poise, but it sounds like something I'd like to have! :) But Hall warns that you can't imitate poise, it has to come from internal factors. But building those internal factors implies that you shouldn't care about the outward appearance of poise. But it is the outward appearance of poise that drew me to the goal of having it in the first place.

Hall also implies the same thing when he writes about the Taoist monk who doesn't have a bad temper, he/she has moved beyond temper completely. I'm still puzzling through this but it seems that trying not to have a bad temper is going to be counterproductive in the same way... thanks for any pointers here!

5. I've understood vibration such that tuning in to the higher planes involves vibrating at higher frequencies. But when one is angry or anxious, it feels like one is vibrating at a higher frequency, and when one is calm, it is the opposite. Why is that, or have I misunderstood something?

Thanks again!

[ecosophia]

1) The Book of Druidry by Ross Nichols and the Druid-oriented books of Lewis Spence are about what you'll find in English.

2) This is a great example of the way that our culture systematically denigrates its own spiritual options. If a spiritual movement in some conveniently non-white culture were to take to worshiping a new set of gods and practicing a new set of rituals, nobody would go stomping around dismissing those as "forgeries" -- nah, we'd hear all kinds of babble about how creative it is for a new spiritual movement to follow its own unique vision, blah blah blah. The Druid Revival didn't come up with its deities as props for a novel or a movie, you know -- it developed its pantheon as a way to talk about the immanent spiritual forces/entities its members perceived at work in nature.

3) That's a good first step. Keep meditating!

4) Excellent. Did you think Hall intended his meaning to be obvious?

5) This is a fine example of what happens when a metaphor is stretched beyond the point at which it means anything. "Vibration" in terms of the planes is a metaphor; saints and sages do not emit high-pitched buzzing sounds...

Ancestors

[(Anonymous)]

I was too late to add a question to this thread last week:
https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/83179.html?thread=7884011#cmt7884011

How close do the ancestors need to be? If someone moves to an area where some of their ancestors lived 150 years ago, and probably for hundreds of years before that, but the ancestors in between lived in various different places, does that have any relevance? And of course going this far back, one only shares a fraction of DNA and culture with them if a person has ancestors from a few different regions.

Re: Ancestors

[ecosophia]

You'd probably have to experiment to find out. I don't know that anyone's set out any kind of hard and fast rules for that.

Weak Dan tien/solat plexus

[(Anonymous)]

I find the ending white sphere from SOP difficult on my nerves, causes my body to shake when ibtry to build and maintain it even for a minute.

Besides regular practice or SOP, what else can I do to help stabilize and stregthen my solar plexus?

Re: Weak Dan tien/solat plexus

[ecosophia]

1) Are you tensing your body while you concentrate on the image? That's common, and can have various unhelpful results, including the one you've described.

2) Sit in a comfy chair or on a sofa. Relax. Draw in a long, deep breath, expanding your belly as far as you can while not expanding your chest. Then, while holding the breath, expand the chest and suck in the belly. Let the belly out again and flatten the chest; then expand the chest again and suck in the belly. Repeat a total of three times. Then let out the breath and relax completely, going as limp as you can. Breathe normally for a minute or so. Repeat twice more -- so you're doing three cycles, each of which involves three back-and-forth movements. This is an old occult practice for activating the solar plexus.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG,

In order to do scrying with tarot cards, is it necessary to know about their Cabalistic correspondences?

[ecosophia]

No, not at all.

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Archdruid,

Would you recommend reading The Chronicles of Prydain after The Mabinogion or before it?

[ecosophia]

Hmm. Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain were among the delights of my childhood, but I haven't read them in decades -- most of the kid's books I liked back in my insufficiently misspent childhood don't do much for me now, for the same reasons that I no longer play with toy trucks. If you want to read them as well as the Mabinogion, I don't imagine that it makes any difference which you read first, but don't confuse them -- Alexander borrowed a lot of names and props out of Welsh legend, but plugged them into a good lively kid's-fantasy formula.

[(Anonymous)]

How much of Do-In and cell salts are things you do regularly, and how much are just for when you have a specific problem?

[ecosophia]

I do a basic Do-In sequence daily, and take cell salts quite regularly. One of the things that you have to do with alternative health care is monitor your body's condition on a daily basis -- since alternative modalities are subtler and work best when used at the first sign of a health condition, it's best to pay attention to your body and treat the little symptoms when they first occur, rather than waiting for things to spin out of control and then trying to fix the damage with chemical poisons or surgery.

[(Anonymous)]

If you do a banishing ritual in a place with really bad energy, so more 'heavy lifting' is required, how does it feel different? What part of doing it is actually harder?

[ecosophia]

That seems to vary from person to person. For me, the visualizations are harder to maintain and there's a sense of "heaviness," as though the air has become thick and moving through it is harder.

[booklover1973]

I have a somewhat strange question: Can magic help when a printer needs to be repaired, or otherwise serviced, so it prints correctly again? Normally, this would be a thing of the material plane, but are there other aspects to it?

[ecosophia]

Under normal circumstances, the appropriate magical grimoire to use for printer repair is a repair manual, and the appropriate mystic implements are screwdrivers and the like. Do you have a specific example in mind, or is this an abstract question?