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, since I've been indulging in Ross Nichols' poetry of late, is The Cosmic Shape, published in 1946, which contains his brilliant essay "An Examination of Creative Myth," which discusses the need for nature-myth and ritual as a counterbalance to the artificialities of modern life, and his related Arthurisn poem-cycle "The Cosmic Legend," as well as other poems of his and his fellow poet James Kirkup. He clearly discussed these ideas with his good friend Gerald Gardner; those ideas ended up playing a central role in the creation of Wicca as well as the transformations of 20th-century Druidry. Here's a bit from "The Cosmic Legend": 

I have made my ceremonies; the crisis
comes. None may reproduce, no water flow,
until the sword is from its sheath pulled.
Only I, the medicine-man Gawain, instructing 
at midnight Galahad, the pure one of 
spring -- only I can save you, faithless 
with the fallen leaf. I prove to you,
O my dead people, once again that
I alone am your strength.

In the first ray beating touching on the centre altar-stone
to the eye prepared at vigil-end, the vessel of the sun,
cup and heart, to Galahad. 

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!*** 

And don't forget to look up your Pangalactic New Age Soul Signature at CosmicOom.com! 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Following hard on the heels of the supermoon eclipse justice working, Michael M. Hughes has posted a justice working of his own: https://medium.com/@michaelmhughes/black-lives-matter-a-spell-for-justice-80cc3c760763?source=---------4------------------

what do you think that the major effects of this spell will be both in the world at large and in the lives of those who cast it?

[(Anonymous)]

1) Do you know anything which looks at which sect Uranus and Neptune belong to, or is something I'll need to develop myself?

2) I'm starting LRM, and have found most of it intuitive, but every time I do the breathing relaxation exercise, I feel the need to void my bowels. Is this normal?

3) You've mentioned things are returning to normal in Rhode Island. I live in Canada, and things are emphatically not. My city has just shut down a restaurant for having the audacity to allow people to wait on its patio. Do you have advice on how to stay sane when it's fairly clear that the country you live in has gone insane, and “normal” won't be returning any time soon?

4) Since advertising is a corrupt form of magic, I figure it's not out of place to ask a few questions on the topic. I've started doing research into the 1950s, and part of that is I'm currently reading The Hidden Persuaders, and have found it raises a lot of questions. Some of them are for further research, but I've got a few I'd like to ask here:

a) Something that strikes me is that the Myth of Progress in the modern, highly toxic and bizarre form, took shape in the post-war world, and it seems like a logical extension of one of the core messages of advertising: “Old is bad, New is good!” Do you think there's a connection, or am I over-analyzing it?

b) How does one keep themselves clean from it? Banishing rituals, journaling to identify and remove the hooks already in, and avoiding exposure all seem like good first steps, but are there other things worth doing to keep clean?

c) I'm also noticing that a lot of the ideas which our comfortable classes have seem to be those of the 1950s, but more extreme. This raises the question of is this why the 1950s hold such a potent place in our collective consciousness, and why it's so hard to find anything which talks about it in any sane manner? At some level, people notice that their thinking is the same as the 1950s, and since the past is evil, they can't stand that?

d) I've also noticed our chattering classes thinking can be described as “1950s thinking, minus any nuance”. Do you think advertising has created essentially a feedback loop? Our chattering classes get their thinking from the ads, and the ads are made by the chattering classes. Each generation of ad is thus further and further from the underlying reality, which has changed anyway....

5) I've noticed a few religions have an issue with male masturbation making people ritually impure, but not female masturbation. Since it's come up here before that male masturbation is more effective at releasing etheric stuff, do you think there's a connection? If so, would taking a cold shower after masturbation be a good idea?

[(Anonymous)]

Is the material taught in the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids compatible with the classic golden dawn work stream of magical practice?

Geomancy Conversation

[tunesmyth]

Hello JMG,

Continuing the geomancy discussion from last week, if that's okay.

1. The Mirror

An update on my thinking regarding "The Hinge", as I dubbed the figure with the postulated meaning of "that central thing shared by Querent and Quesited" last week. I have discovered that there is one more pair of similarly constructed figures that have a predictable relationship with the rest of any Geomancy chart.

Whereas the Hinge is the diagonal that stays immobile and unchanging as the other figures revolve around them, what I'll at least for now call "The Mirror" is the other diagonal of the square. The Hinge was created by the diagonal which is made by M1F (1st Mother's Fire Line), M2A (2nd Mother's Air Line), M3W (3rd Mother's Water), and M4E (4th Mother's Earth), and this is always duplicated in the Daughters (D1F, D2A, D3W, D4E). What I later realized is that the opposite diagonal (M4F, M3A, M2A, M1E) also repeats; however, the corresponding Daughters (D4F, D3A, D2A, D1E) are not the same identity, but rather the *mirror reverse* identity: a Mother Puer means a Daughter Puella, a Mother Cauda Draconis means a Daughter Caput Draconis, a Mother Carcer means a Daughter Carcer, and so on. So the Mirror figure is actually a pair of identical twin figures, and always comes as a pair.

In the Hinge visualization I used last week, the 4x4 grid of the Mothers can be spun like a four sided 2d diamond on the axis of the two corners (the ones I called the Hinge) in order to see both sides of the situation-- the Querent's, and then spun on the hinge to reveal the Daughters/Quesited's position, which are the same position of dots seen from the backside and at a 90 degree rotation (with corresponding shifts in elements). In doing so, the corners of the remaining two corners form a diameter which traces out the circumference of the circle that encompasses entire matter. This diameter is both Mirrors, and unless it is a symmetrical figure (Via, Populus, Carcer, or Conjunctio), its value will be one of two geometric reversals depending on which position you are viewing it from. (I see shades of the Cosmic Doctrine here: Mothers/Daughters as Ring Cosmos, a Ring Chaos that creates the axis/hinge, and the Ring-Pass-Not traced out by the Mirror).

Thus the Mirror figure describes that part of the question on which the Querent and Quesited are coming at from the most diametrically opposed perspective-- although, if the it's a symmetrical figure, they still see basically the same thing from their respective viewpoints.

Now I note that there is no guarantee that any of these three figures will otherwise appear in reading. Thus how do they meaningfully relate to the question at hand? Well, I think maybe I got a big clue on Friday, which was the first daily geomancy divination I did where I was taking both the Hinge and the Mirrors into account. On Friday, my Hinge was Rubeus, my Right Mirror (corresponding to the Querent) was Cauda Draconis, and my Left Mirror (corresponding to the Querent) was Caput Draconis. In the actual chart, the only one of these figures to appear anywhere was Cauda Draconis. I struggled as to what this could mean, if anything... after all, no Rubeus appears in the actual chart, so by definition those energies are not likely to play out in the day's events, right? And then you posted the latest "Magic Fail" Dreamwidth piece with its discussion of the eclipse... Ahhhhh. The Draconi in this case were, literally, the nodes of the moon, and Rubeus was the moon in eclipse.

My current hypothesis is that the Hinge and Mirror are like the revolving carousel stage on which the action is played-- the Querent starts at stage right and approaches the interaction from the perspective of the Right Mirror figure, and the Quesited starts at stage left and approaches the same stage from the opposite Left Mirror perspective. The result of the question is the choreography that they play out on the stage, around the Hinge. Just as in any theater or dance performance you have ever seen, sometimes the events as staged will heavily utilize a set; some plays, on the other hand, simply have a set, and don't really involve the actual set pieces in the story that is told on that occasion. I posit that the Hinge is the center of the stage, and the Mirrors its arches at the wings defining the boundaries of the action. A chart which uses the same figures as the Hinge and Mirrors in a lot of places are like a play where the set dressings play a big part in the specifics of the story line. A chart which doesn't have these figures is like a play where the backdrop is there, and sets the scene, but doesn't really inform it significantly.

I'm still developing these themes. Does everything up to here seem reasonable to you?

----
2. The Triplicities

As I'm trying to eschew House Readings for a few months and do a little bit of Shield Chart basic training, I've been trying to wrap my head around the geomantic triplicities. One place I found some discussion on them was over at Sam Block's blog, although he calls them "triads" to avoid confusion with astrological triplicities: https://digitalambler.com/2015/03/21/on-the-geomantic-triads/

His discussion traces your description of triplicities in your books to Robert Fludd's "Fasciculus Geomanticus". Now, I want to make clear that I like Sam Block's writing and get a lot out of it, but it seems to me that when he tries to summarizes your descriptions of the triplicities there, he does so incorrectly. Also, he provides his own translation of the relevant passage in Fludd, but then summarizes it in a way that doesn't follow for me based on the translation he gave. Assuming that Block's translation is correct, though, Fludd's description also doesn't exactly match up, in my view, with the summary *you* gave of triplicities in "The Art and Practice of Geomancy", either! Though perhaps Fludd wasn’t your source. So, may I ask:

Was Fludd's "Fasciculus Geomanticus", in fact, your original source for information on the Triplicities? If not, then what was your source of information? And if it was Fludd, were you aiming to directly convey the information Fludd covered, or were you modifying it at all based on your own experience?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm working through the completion exercises for the first grade of the Dolmen Arch. I have a couple questions:

1) am I correct that these take the place of the daily discursive meditation temporarily, or should I be doing both?

2) how do I know when I have completed them? Is there a range of how many repetitions this generally takes? I'm on completion exercise 1, which I feel pretty good about, but looking ahead to exercise 2 I forsee a difficulty: I still can barely visualise at all. Can I complete the exercise by non-visually imagining that I am doing it, or is it only complete if I successfully visualise looking at my body from the outside?

Many thanks for Magic Mondays!
-Bewilderness

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG -

Three questions for you this evening:

1) Does the amount of experience a person has with divination determine the accuracy of the result? In other words, if I, having no experience with geomancy, cast a chart, will the chart give an accurate answer to my question even though I may not be able to interpret it correctly?

2) I’m doing the green candle spell to earn more money, and I’ve had the experience that the first opportunity that came up conflicted with a job commitment that was already in place, so I wasn’t able to take it. No other opportunities have come up since. Did I nullify the spell?

3) I’m looking at protection and money magic on Lucky Mojo. Are the spells there generally safe for people with no magical experience?


Thanks, as always for giving your time.

David

Happy Birthday

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
Happy birthday and I wish you many happy returns of the day.

I was meditating and a question for you popped into my mind. I was wondering if putting working tools and similar out in the moon light is good for them and a way to nourish them. As I thought that, I had one of those pleasant little shivers up my spine which I usually take as a positive response. What do you make of moon bathing tools?

On a different subject, I was thinking of burning a black candle to Saturn as I did a little ritual last Saturday at the hour of Saturn (thanks so much for the article on timing spells!) asking him to protect my house. If a black candle is used to curse, what would be an appropriate offering to Saturn?

Also, my niece the sculptor made e a wooden statue of Priapus and it is in the garden. The strawberry crop looks to be going into legendary mode. I have read somewhere that Priapus likes offerings of fruit and flowers. Do you know of other offerings he traditionally likes?

Many thanks,
Maxine

[(Anonymous)]

Experience of the inner worlds has an exercise where you build up a rising flame in your spine that eventually reaches the cranium. Given your often told anecdote of the Theosophists dying from Kundalini yoga how can I make sure everything stays safe?
I am really reluctant to start this exercise, maybe it is the watcher?

[ecosophian]

First of all, happy birthday, John!

I would like to ask a question about the three paths in the Western tradition — the mystic, the mage, and the occultist. So you say "the mystic eventually becomes one with the object of his or her love...the mage eventually becomes one with the power that sustains and transforms the cosmos...and the occultist eventually becomes one with “the mind and eyes of God.”

1. While all of this is infinitely far from where I currently am, I'd like to ask if this "becoming one" means destruction of an individual. Will there be somebody to still say "I am one with this" or not? For the reason I find the prospect unnerving.

2. Also I think I understand how mystic path works. It works by two principles "what you contemplate you imitate" and induction of vibrations as described by Dion fortune. How the other two paths work is harder to grasp.

3. Also you said that getting cancer is a Mystic's occupational hazard. Is there anything mystics can do to reduce the risk? Also is it related to phrases like "he/she was too good for this world" and "God takes soonest those he loveth best"?

P.S. Minneapolis city decided to disband their police department completely. I recon the dark age future of warlords and raiding parties might be closer than I thought previously. The famous warbands of Minneapolis! :)

Leftist Witches and Karma

[kimberlysteele]

Hi JMG and Commenters,

I was putting down some of my thoughts on leftist witches and I wrangled them into post form.

https://kimberlysteele.dreamwidth.org/3919.html

From what I can tell, they have no clue what karma is and are not about to get one, even if it whumps them upside the chin.

[(Anonymous)]

I had a rather odd visitor Thursday as I was out transplanting tomatoes and peppers in my garden, and I hope someone has a guess or ten as to what it might have been, or perhaps suggestions on how to communicate better!

It was late morning, I was down on my hands and knees putting the plants in, and I felt like I was being watched. I looked all around twice and saw nothing. Where we live, there are many animals that might watch, of course. Since I was in full view of the road I then mentally did the Christian Banishing and proceeded through Gareth Knight's exercises as far as the Sea of Light, and then looked around again. I couldn't see anything, but had the impression still I was being watched, and that my visitor was heavy, dangerous but not hostile, and quite curious. I told it what I was doing, planting plants that would grow food for my family, and it did not become less curious. So I visualized the plants grown and fruiting, and the family eating them, and it seemed to understand that, ceased to be interested in my activities, and the sense of presence slowly faded.

I felt the same or a similar entity pass near while hanging laundry on Friday, and attempted to say hi and introduce myself in images--my given name is that of a local wild plant, so at least should be comprehensible to some extent to something that doesn't comprehend English, but I doubt it noticed, it was otherwise occupied. Laundry, apparently, was not interesting to it.

I'm quite curious about who and what this might have been! Any ideas?

There are less than a hundred years of building in Western style in this canyon, I knew the daughter of the rancher who first homesteaded here wjen I was a girl, she was elderly and fond of me because I liked her stories. The Tribes in this area operated in the hunter-gatherer style, so if my visitor had woken up from a long nap it might never have seen gardening, or if it wandered out of the wilderness areas around, possibly disturbed by one of the recent earthquakes.

The only other thing I can say is that it is neither masculine nor feminine, thus it, though that seems quite rude. Also our weather has been very temperamental, but nothing record setting unusual: cold and hot and cold again, and those days were in the cooling off. Yesterday we got slammed with a two hour thunderstorm, and by Monday morning we expect snow, so I've only been out a very little Saturday and today.

Many thanks in advance,
BoysMom

[(Anonymous)]

There's something I've been wondering about for a while, which has come up recently and indeed already in these very comments: the meaning of the color black. The confusion I have is between its association with negative energy you talk about and it's status, as far as I've learned, as a color of [i]life[/i] in Kemet, which after all even means "The Black Land" (after the fertile soil brought by the Nile and in contrast to the desert). Now, for people who aren't working with any traditions from there but are working with traditions in line with what you commonly state, I expect that doesn't matter. I, though, while I have not felt it good to dive [i]deep[/i] into magic, am I think significantly more on the path of the mystic than I am on either of the other paths in your division, and specifically in a religious relationship with a pair of Kemetic deities. I have thus wondered what black would be for me were I to raise my practice to a level where it became important; I imagine this question likely also has broader applications to other aspects of religions or traditions that given certain things within those contexts significantly different meanings than they are more generally given.
Or is there some subtlety I'm missing, or some knowledge I lack, that the question is not correct?

Reese

Geomantic Initiation

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you for answering our questions.

A long time ago you were working on a project regarding Geomantic Initiation, was this integrated into your books on Geomancy?

Was this group rituals, self-initiation, or both? Was there more than one "degree"? Any info on this would be interesting.



-Bizarre Spiritual Greeg

The first few stirrings of a wider world and some occult anatomy questions

[open_space]

Good evening JMG!
I had a couple of nice pathworking sessions using one of the Hindu Mahavidyas. I was not sure if pathworking would work on them but it did and it was fantastic! Honestly it got me by surprise to see how the world starts building up and even though I was familiar with some of the things that I saw as if images from my astral repository where borrowed it didn’t feel as if I was consciously doing it and some other things seemed from somewhere outside myself. It’s pretty trippy! And it feels so much richer than psychedelics for example because I’m fully conscious of what is happening. Cool stuff!

I took my image from a nice illustration while looking for spiritual artwork and I thought it would be something somewhat related to it but as soon as I opened the door with the image there she was, the goddess receiving me on the other side on a completely different setting from the picture and odd things happening with a young Shiva playing with what seemed a miniature version of the universe. She didn’t talk but her presence seemed to transmit something else as if she was awkwardly using a human form. I got a lot of symbolic elements from that scene and then it vanished into a different, less symbolically charged one. A child version of her peeked through the entrance of a temple looked at me with deep dark eyes and ran inside laughing innocently as if she wanted me to follow her. When I came out of the session I had a massive grin on my face. Thank you for showing me how to do that!

A few questions:

1) Is there something like astral sound? I didn’t hear the laughter physically but it felt like the equivalent of the images in sound form.

2) So now I know, thanks to a comment you gave me a few weeks back that my mind and it’s qualities are not happening precisely inside my brain. Which is mind blowing, literally. It is a tool and you can use it to explore other dimensions of life! WHY did I not learn this at school but memorized useless and often inaccurate facts instead? smh. Now it starts to make sense why the Inner Planes are whole planes by themselves. I used to think of them as handy models of the human experience but after this pathworking sessions it feels more like a completely different realm of experience with its own laws and ways of being... Fascinating.

3) So chakras are meeting points of Voor in the Etheric plane and organs are physical manifestations of those energy centers it seems. Are there equivalents of chakras or rather subtler versions of them on say our astral bodies or are they uniquely etheric?

4) How is occult anatomy discovered and studied? I assume since it is beyond the material it has to be through psychic senses but is there anything particular to it?

5) This is one is more practical in a sense. I was having a conversation with someone dear to me the other day and as of now, I have not particularly hidden what I have been studying and practicing just being careful with the words and phrasing but I think I pushed it too far when I said that the thing that I had been looking my whole life seemed to be occultism. So she asked what I have been up to and I answered but instead of the reaction I was expecting to get followed with some questions or clarifications I got a grim and somewhat worried look. And that is when I knew what it feels to be judged with strong prejudice. I got the standard arguments about Satanism, black magic and oogie boogie monsters. The more I tried to calmly explain how it is not, the more I got the dismal look and the stronger the arguments became. Because what can be more frightening than a calm tone hiding something evil, because when you can’t change deeply engrained past the line of questioning in somebodies mind they will make everything possible, even if ridiculous to not change their stance. And it is not her fault at all, honestly I feel a little guilty of making her worried about me and putting that on her face. So, do you have any advice on how to maintain a social life when these things start to get more of my time and attention? I am a little worried because even though I have seen some changes already, like loosing interest on some things I don’t know how to proceed as spirituality becomes more important to me. Should I just fake it?

Thank you and I hope this pie suits the occasion! It’s virtual but still tasty.
https://imgur.com/a/0h1usiE

—Crimson Transcendent Platypus

Fae Souls

[(Anonymous)]

What is your take on the idea that certain supernatural beings don’t have ‘souls’ in the same manner a human possesses one? The earliest mention of this idea that I can find seems to be the Comte de Gabalis. Is there any occult significance or is it just a literary trope?

[(Anonymous)]

Whenever I try to do the four fold breath, it is difficult to maintain a consistent count...my fluctuating heart beat or other internal pulses distract me from a consistent timing.

Any ideas of what I can do?

Thanks a bunch.

Also....any recommendations for someone who has to work NOC shift? Anything you think that would help balance or keep health when one has stay up every night?

[(Anonymous)]

What are your thoughts on the spirits of the classical grimoires, eg., the grimoirum verum? Have you worked with any of these spirits and if so what were your experiences?

Homeopathy and banishing rituals

[(Anonymous)]

JMG, Thank you as always for fostering this wonderful space on the internet. :-)

My question is about homeopathy and magic.

(CR Patiño, if you are around; I think you have probably given this some thought, and I'd like to hear your ideas too if you are willing)

A close friend has been using homeopathy for all her family's health needs - and quite often my family too - for almost 20 years. She has treated it as a hobby for most of that time, but is by now very skilled. She began formal study two years ago, is now considering going properly into practice and is slowly widening the group of friends and family she is willing to treat as patients.

She is very sensitive, which has an obvious upside, but also a downside: If she doses a patient with a remedy she has not used before, even by simply handling the bottle in many cases, she will 'prove' the remedy and is sometimes out of action for a few days.

Would regular practice of a banishing ritual help in this scenario? It seems that homeopathy and magic operate on similar principles, and so I wonder if a banishing could be designed to protect herself from unwanted effects of the energies she is handling.

Is this even plausible? She would be quite surprised to know of my interest in magic, which I keep to myself, but I think this would be worth a shot, even it it became a 'try it and see' project.

If you think it's feasible, how would I go about wording a ritual?

Many thanks.

Close Cousin - John Greer

[(Anonymous)]

Dear John Michael Greeg,

It is with considerable pleasure that I see your close cousin, John Greer, has recently published "Love in the Ruins" on Amazon. Sadly, there is a slight typo on the page - with the author incorrectly listed as "John Michael Greer" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1945810432/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ecF3EbC6G9B97). But, if you click on "Follow the Author", it correctly goes to your cousin's biography (https://www.amazon.com/John-Greer/e/B002885TDA?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000).

While I was well aware of your cousin's extensive mediation practice, and spiritual teachings, I didn't realise he was a Professor at the University of Memphis and spent two years in the Peace Corps!

The next time you see him and his lovely wife in Memphis, please pass along my warm regards and best wishes.


Yours Faithfully,

KiwiJon

2nd edition and SOP plus Reiki

[sea_spray]

Hi JMG

1) Do I remember correctly that you were bringing out a new edition of “A world full of gods”? If so is there any news on a release date

2) Do you have any idea if there would be any conflict between daily pratice of the SOP and ether receiving or practising Reiki (like the one it has with Tai chi).

Thanks for all your guidance here

[(Anonymous)]

What would be the occult dimension, and magical consequence, of BDSM sex? What kind of karma is a masochistic person calling onto himself?

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,

1. Since poetry came up as a topic, how would you suggest one get started with learning to write poetry?

2. An offbeat question: Over on the other blog, you discussed how Johnny Appleseed was a kind of a spiritual businessman, which led to muse about how spirituality could combine with other professions, which led me to the question of whether there were ever occultists who were also professional criminals? The goals of both seem opposed, but this being occultism, I'm sure there are many examples. I should note that I promise I am not trying to become a spiritual criminal mastermind! :)

Also, and though it may seem otherwise considering my last question, I wanted to let you know that your recommendation on the post about the working on the eclipse to meditate on the concept of justice was really fruitful. Because of that, I will finally soon start on my as-yet-unread copy of the Nicomachean Ethics.

Thanks again!

Overspending on pagan religious items

[(Anonymous)]

I bought an overly expensive statue of a god. The listing said it was the last one left. It would presumably make things more complicated if I were to return it, so I wouldn't do that.

Do you have any advice, apart from to think more carefully next time?
I bought the statue at the correct hour and day.
I think I did it because I was worried I wasn't giving this god as much attention as another.

If others are interested in the topic, I'd be curious to hear others' experiences with how they decide what and what not to buy in magical and religious items, especially if they are on a budget. This blog seems like a good place, as there are more people who are older and sensible with money - all those recommendations for Dave Ramsey that pop up - and fewer who want to buy all the shiny new things or guilt you into buying their friends' products.

I'm not one of those people who buys lots of pagan paraphernalia, though I did used to overspend on some other things. I have mostly got that under control (rhis would be a good time to re-start an affirmation) but there are occasional slippages. This is only the second god statue I have bought, and I have almost nothing else specifically pagan apart from the statues. There are acandles, a few mythology books and a t-shirt, none of which look unambiguously pagan.

[(Anonymous)]

This was brought to mind both by the recent protests, and your Lovecraft mythos work. Are there characteristic astrological signatures associated with the charts of individuals who become more influential and famous after their deaths than when they were alive?

[(Anonymous)]

Dear JMG,
an odd question, and I’d entirely understand if you felt there was nothing useful you could say in response.
You have suggested journaling number of times on your site, and it’s an idea that I’ve frequently come across in the past. But I have an almost pathological aversion to doing it, or indeed to writing anything personal which could, theoretically, one day be discovered by someone. As far as I remember I’ve had this feeling all my life, and it doesn’t have any particular origin in personal events or circumstances. I’ve written millions of words professionally, but virtually nothing about myself. In almost thirty years of Internet presence, I have systematically chosen usernames, passwords and email addresses which reveal as little as possible: alphanumerics, nonsense words or names in foreign languages (I went through a period of using names of angels). I subscribe to almost everything on the Internet under a series of assumed names, and in general try to use fictitious names or personal details when I can in everyday life. I never enter written questions when consulting the I Ching, for example, and I seldom make written notes on anything if I can avoid it. I’m nervous about having physical copies of books on magic (including yours) or acquiring any of the materials for magical workings. (Coincidentally or not, having steered clear of magic all my life, since starting the SoP last year I have had a series of injuries to different parts of the right-hand side of my body). I should add that all this isn’t shyness: I have been on stage, and I frequently do lecturing. I’m much happier to talk about personal things than I am to leave any tangible trace of them. This is, of course, an anonymous post.
Meditating on this, it’s clear that I have a real fear of some force that is tracking me, but it doesn’t seem related to any actual event in my life. The I Ching (which recommended that I ask you this question) doesn’t seem to have any more idea than me what this is about, but encourages me to wait calmly for the situation to resolve itself.
I have always thought that this is just one of those irritating little foibles that we all have. But since discovering your work I have started to wonder if there’s a dimension I am missing. I’m well aware of cultures where names are powerful, and concealing one’s name is a form of protection. I’m also well aware of various direct correspondences between the Internet and the spirit world.
Does any of this mean anything to you?
Thanks.