How Not To Do Magic, Yet Again

[ecosophia]

I really had resolved not to do any more posts on the antics of the self-proclaimed Magic Resistance. Their workings, being poorly designed, ineffective, and splashed all over the internet, made a good teaching opportunity for a range of magical basics, but we covered those points in some detail and moved on. 

But the electronic equivalent of flyers are popping up in occult-themed corners of the internet proclaiming a "Global Working for Justice" on the so-called "supermoon" tomorrow, June 5th, and either they've moved much deeper into epic fail territory than I realized, or something rather more troubling is going on. Yes, that's the flyer on the left.  

Let's start with the basics. First, magic gains power from unity of focus, so a working intended to protect, heal, and bring justice, all at once, everywhere, isn't going to have any measurable effect anywhere. Second, magic -- like any strategic activity -- can be countered if the other side knows in advance what you're doing, and the countermoves needn't be obvious to be effective. 

There's also the fact that workings for justice are notoriously chancy. Justice is not whatever you want it to be.  If you yourself are not strictly just in your thoughts, words, and actions, and you do a working for justice, that working is going to manifest in your own life first. and your life is going to blow up. The most likely countermove to this working, in fact, would focus on that -- "let the people who call for justice be held to account for their own injustice" would be simple to do and, given current mores, viciously effective. 

But there's something considerably more dangerous going on here. 

A "supermoon," in case you were wondering, is a full moon that's a little closer to Earth and thus a little larger visually than your ordinary full moon. They happen quite often and they have no occult or astrological importance. However, the full moon of June 5th has a rather more important distinction, because the moon will be eclipsed. Eclipses aren't whatever you want them to be, either; five thousand years of astrological experience have shown that eclipses are malefic -- they focus the same kind of destructive and chaotic energies as the last three days before the new moon, the "eld of the Moon" known and feared for centuries as the typical time for really nasty magic. 

Eclipses happen when the Moon is at one of the two nodes of her orbit. This one is happening at the south node, which is called Cauda Draconis (the Tail of the Dragon) in Western astrology and Ketu in Hindu astrology. In both traditions it brings trouble, sorrow, and suffering. This is not a place you want the Moon to be if you want to do a working for protection, healing, and justice. 

The catastrophic mismatch between what this working is supposed to do and the nature of the astrological influences that will affect is so striking that I'm really wondering if someone has laid a very clever trap. The people who take part in this working are not going to achieve their ends, and if their magic has any effect at all, that effect will most likely be to bring powerfully malefic energies to bear on their own lives. It strikes me that some clever, malicious, and well-educated alt-Right mage may have deliberately set out to get the Magic Resistance to call down malign energies on itself. (I'm guessing that if this is the case, the person in question is a Traditionallist -- the references to Spiritualists in the text suggest that, because Traditionalists are generally very down on mediumship.) 

One way or another, if any significant number of people pile into this latest stunt, the results will not be good...

Comments

[tamanous2020]

Hi JMG,

It seems to be a recurring theme since 2016 for the leaders and members of the occult/neopagan/alt spirituality groups to engage in this sort of stark mistake when it comes to magical workings (with there being rare exceptions like yourself).

Besides kek chaos magicians working quietly from the sidelines, do you have any thoughts on why people who should know better are making such basic mistakes? Has TDS and the failure of progress so undermined their rational minds that they throw themselves into boondoggles like this?

And as someone relatively new to the occult/magic, it does feel a little disheartening to see so many prominent people acting in a polarized manner when a major point of practice is to "know thyself". But I spose that's human beings for you.

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting! So do you generally avoid doing magic at all during such astrological conditions?

[(Anonymous)]

There isn't enough popcorn in the world for this.

Gods of Justice

[(Anonymous)]

Hello JMG!

A topic closely related to the theme of your post: would a similar effect happen if you include a God that has justice as one of his domains in your practice of the SoP (either in the Cross or the Calling)?

Thank you!

[brendhelm]

I had honestly been thinking that something like this was coming as soon as I heard the news about the protests and such.

The astrology is horrible for this. A south nodal eclipse exactly squared by Mars, with both benefics retrograde? To make matters worse, I'm pretty sure a lot of them will be burning black candles, thinking they'll symbolize solidarity with the black community, when in reality they'll symbolize whatever black actually symbolizes in magic, and I don't think "solidarity" is it.

[(Anonymous)]

Bring 'justice', to 'injustice' everywhere? I don't pretend to be an expert of magical workings but that sounds so vague that practically anything could happen. At best they'll all get constipated ('Lets help end this sh*t), at worst -- yeesh! But if it is the work of a malicious alt-Right wouldn't the raspberry jam principle hold? Namely if you deceive the ignorant and gullible into sabotaging themselves won't it eventually backfire on the deceiver?

In any case I'll certainly hold off on lighting any candles even just to burn them down. In fact I may just stay in bed tomorrow. :P

Sepia Hyperactive Opossum/JLfromNH

"Let's help end this sh*t"?

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe they'll end up constipated. Folk tales are full of supernatural blow-back when wishes are granted.

I'm inspired, though, and will be praying to my God for justice (and mercy). I read, somewhere, that the young favor justice, while the old favor forgiveness. That's probably because the old have seen the consequences of even their good intentions.

Lathechuck

[ecosophia]

Partly it's that a vast number of people in the pop-spirituality scene have bought into the bizarre notion that magic is whatever they want it to be. That's partly the influence of the shallower forms of chaos magic, but I think there's more going on here than that. It's all very reminiscent of the Ghost Dance, and of all those other times that people in various parts of the world fled into a warm comforting delusion to hide from an unwelcome reality.

[ecosophia]

During such times I focus on my standard practices -- banishing, meditation, and divination -- and leave major ritual workings for another time.

[(Anonymous)]

Does that apply just to the day of the eclipse?

[ecosophia]

[ecosophia]

Yes, though I'd be careful scheduling anything the day before and after.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you - I didn't know about the eclipse or its significance, and I had an unrelated ritual planned. Will wait!

Re: Gods of Justice

[ecosophia]

It wouldn't be the same, since you'd have other gods and goddesses involved, and so the results would be less extreme. You'd certainly find some pressure to behave more justly, though, and that's a good thing.

[ecosophia]

I've been trying to think of worse astrological conditions, and there aren't many. I expect this to have ghastly blowback.

[ecosophia]

Yes, the Raspberry Jam Principle applies here as always. The thing to keep in mind is that if you know that that's going to happen and accept the blowback, it's easier to coe with.

Re: "Let's help end this sh*t"?

[ecosophia]

Lathechuck, prayer is an excellent idea. One of the implications of the old occult lore is that since religious activities deal with the realities that were there before the stars were born, astrological factors don't hinder them.

[ecosophia]

You're welcome. It may be a good idea for me to do a post on ritual timing, as I gather a lot of people don't know about that.

[dreamstrike13]

I have no love for the alt-right but gotta respect the tactics involved. F#$ck with fire you get burnt.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on why seemingly well meaning people are so inept at their craft?

It seems akin to a hippy degenerate with his martial art of power generation via the sea of endless flow challenging a seasoned cage fighter, in his preferred environment the cage, and is shocked he ends up broken and bleeding in a corner.

[tamanous2020]

If you dont mind my speculation, could be in relation to the American archetype of the "trickster" as you've discussed before. "Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad" sounds awfully similiar to what ole Coyote would have as a modus operandi...

Ah yes, the ghost dance of an out of touch worldview. A great concept that I'm happy you wrote about. A hope and a prayer that perhaps 2020 is the year where it starts to give way to reality. Thanks for all your writings JMG, you help the rest of us stay grounded while all about people lose their heads.

[(Anonymous)]

That I would very much welcome. I don't know the first thing about ritual timing.

[katylina]

Maria Brink, member of the alternative metal band In This Moment, shared that picture on her twitter. She has 130k followers. This is gonna be good.
On the sidenote, i decided to look into the origin of #spiritualprotest. on twitter it was this tweet https://twitter.com/lilmochibear/status/1267273535002685440 the picture in it is diffrent from the more popular one you posted(i checked in google search and this is only instance). Ah, and r/occult is discussing your post https://www.reddit.com/r/occult/comments/gwpqzn/a_response_to_the_june_5_call_to_action_by_john/

[temporaryreality]

From my mostly, but not totally, clueless perspective, I'd also hesitate to call for something like this right as the moon is poised to wane... Dissolution and decrease, waning of light, etc.

How come _I_ can figure that out?

[(Anonymous)]

Do I remember correctly that Wovoka had one of the visions that that inspired the Ghost Dance during a solar eclipse? I wonder if tomorrow marks the point when the revitalization movement growing about us starts to move towards its endgame, whatever it may be.

For whatever it's worth, I smell a rat with that graphic-- specifically it doesn't mention George Floyd, the protests, Black Lives Matter, or any of the _buzzwords_. Where does it say "say their names," "hands up don't shoot," or "I can't breathe". Where does it even mention Trump? Where does it talk about the threat of fascists, the alt-right, neo-nazis and white nationalists? A genuine social justice post tends to invoke at least some of these out of sheer habit. Put a bit unkindly, they bray the slogans. Michael M. Hughe brays the slogans. But where are the slogans in that graphic? There are conspicuous in their absence, which inclines me to think that the creator probably is someone who's outside the culture. It appears coldly calculated to me, and certainly looking at twitter a lot of people have swallowed it hook, line and sinker, but the fact remains: it strikes me as made from someone not entirely familiar with normative leftist discourse.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, that'll cover until July! ;)