ecosophia | Magic Monday

I'm thinking of doing a protection spell for my niece and nephew (both minors). I'm their godfather in the RCC. They and their mother (my sister) live with me. Their father died a few years ago and so I've had to step into the godfather role in a full-time way. I'm not a legal guardian, though. I have no doubt my sister would consent to me doing a magical spell to protect them but I'm wondering, do magical ethics require it? As far as the RCC goes, I can give them blessings and perform a role similar to what their father would have.

I don't happen to know what rights a godparent has in Catholic tradition. Since you're sure that your sister would consent, though, why not ask her?

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Good evening!

I've received my copy of The Way of the Golden Section and have ordered After Progress, and though I won't be following the exact path of Golden Section any time soon (I'm knee-deep in DMH right now), I'm very much enjoying it. I have a couple of questions related to that, and some other more general ones, this week.

1) In a previous MM, when I described troubles with travel on Wednesdays, you suggested planetary charity to Mercury, so I'm going to give that a try for the first time. I've based my approach mostly on Chris Warnock's website and some comments on previous MMs. Do you see anything I should change in the following?
a. Planet: Mercury
b. Charity: I'm at a bit of a loss here - Wikipedia or charities that help with education come readily to mind, but I wonder if it might be better to find something more travel-related?
c. Amount: $64
d. Number of Donations: 8
e. Day: Wednesday
f. Hour: of Mercury (the first or eighth 12th of the time from sunrise to sunset on each Wednesday)
g. Candle: an Orange "spell/chime candle" allowed to burn all the way down
h. Hymn: Say the Orphic Hymn to Mercury after lighting the candle
i. Place: On the altar where I light candles/incense/lamp for my regular prayers to deities

2) If you're sick, is there a threshold short of "I can't get out of bed" where it's not really worth it and/or actively a bad idea to do your daily magical work?

3) In a previous MM, you talked about the "set dressing" of Hindu language more-or-less required by Western occultists in the heyday of the Theosophical society. Besides becoming thoroughly familiar with pre-20th century Western Occultism and Hindu/Yogic philosophy, any tips on how to distinguish between genuine inspiration/cross-pollination and terminology borrowed for "marketing" reasons?

4) I got my copy of The Way of the Golden Section this past week! As I'm still working my way through the DMH, I won't be taking it up as a complete system any time soon. I'm wondering if the following exercises ought to be compatible with following the DMH:
a. the morning exercise (stretch, breath, and affirmation)
b. the evening exercise (with topics taken from the DH/DMH)
c. the solar plexus exercise

5) I've been doing the SOP with Anglo-Saxonized names following the Norse list of deities you provided here on Dreamwidth. I see that in The Way of the Golden Section you have a list of Anglo-Saxon deities that makes some slightly different choices. I know that the SOP is extremely flexible with deities/powers/concepts invoked for each gate, but if I'm considering changing which deities I call on at which gates (after ~6 months), are there any factors I should think about besides divining and praying on it before deciding?

Thanks very much for your time and attention,
Jeff

1) That's fine. In terms of charities, Mercury governs language and literacy, so a donation to a library, or a charity that helps children with language and reading, might be a good choice.

2) That seems to be a personal matter. In my case, if I can get out of bed I do magic, but then I'm a bit fanatical about it. (I kept up my daily practices straight through Covid in April of 2020, for example. They helped me feel better, too.)

3) Thorough familiarity is the only option I know of.

4) Delighted to hear that that's out! (A long, strange trip...) Everything in The Way of the Golden Section is compatible with the DMH, and vice versa.

5) Divine and pray about it, and remember that the suggestions in the new book are just that -- suggestions.

Considering how the astral body disintegrates (or at least should) before reincarnation, I am thinking about the process that allows memories from previous lives to be recovered. Is there any literature on this subject?

Any occult book that covers the after-death process will get into that -- for example, Dion Fortune's Beyond the Gates of Death discusses it, iirc. The recovery of past life memories is a function of the mental plane, not the astral plane, and your mental sheath doesn't disintegrate.

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Good evening JMG,

1. As I’m nearing 2 years of consistent practice in the GD tradition, I find myself increasingly feeling guilty due to not going above and beyond the daily practices, not expanding the range of things I know how to do, even though I’ve been very consistent with the daily practices themselves. If feels like I’m settling for the bare minimum (LBRP, MP, divination, meditation, and some specific practices related to the book I'm currently working through), which still takes me a good hour a day, and in addition to a day job, a social life and other interests and hobbies, I find myself not having the time and energy for much else. However, I’m still highly interested in growing as a magician. Do you have any advice?

2. Somewhat related to the above question, but another issue for me is that, while I’m seeing plenty of benefits from my practice, I don’t feel like I’ve “made it” yet as a magician. I haven’t had a true “TSW” experience. I haven’t contacted any spiritual entities or done anything fantastic or what have you. I recognize that such things come with time, but it's unclear to me when if ever it will happen. For the time that I’ve invested in this pursuit, it feels that I should be further along. Life is short and I’m impatient to get as much done as possible while I'm here. What do you suggest?

Both these tell me that you're going through one of the reliable events in the life of a mage in training; mystics call it a state of "dryness." When you're in that state, nothing seems to be going anywhere, the benefits you've gotten from your practice don't matter, the goals you have seem hopelessly out of reach, and so on. All you can do in a state of dryness is keep on keeping on -- and after a certain amount of time, you'll realize that it's during these states of dryness that you develop most dramatically as a mage, though you can't perceive that at the time.

Keep on keeping on. When you get the state of dryness, paradoxically enough, that's one of the best signs that you're making good time on the journey.

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You might recall that on Wednesday I asked about what the stories we Green Wizards tell ourselves:
I hadn’t considered “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” in conjunction with the conversations we charcoal burners have about the strange origins of the Green Wizards’ Benevolent and Protective Association when we get together with the unicorns to play cards on first and fourth Saturdays…
Perhaps the next thing we should discuss is what our stories about a poor Ruinman who walked away and became the first Green Wizard tell us about ourselves and our world…?
Please advise.
Your response was, “I recommend discussing it with the unicorns!”
So, I did. On Saturday night, I brought the stories up with the usual card not-so-sharps. In Ohio, unicorns are the predatory type – they look like very large, long-snouted mountain lions, (they drink from human cups with reed straws) with long, fluffy, semi-prehensile tails, and iridescent polar bear-like fur. (A tweenaged girl is about their weight limit for a rider, thus THAT legend.) The toes of the unicorns’ forepaws are quite dexterous, and their dew claws are extensible for use as a thumb, so they can shuffle and hold cards. They also like to ante up by tiddlywinking our wooden poker chips with their retractable claws. Any that land in the beer belong to the mug holder.
The unicorns tell me that the stories about the GWB&PA are about rejecting the losses caused by the end of carbon and healing by building a new organization based on the forms tossed aside over the last five centuries. Anti-nostalgia leading to anti-hauntology, if you will.
Then I asked my staves what our stories about a poor Ruinman who walked away and became the first Green Wizard tell us about ourselves and the world.
Ngetal, reversed. A need to heal.
Walking home, I saw a rabbit, so I meditated on the rabbit or hare. When I asked my staves what to notice about this.
Ngetal, upright. “Beginning of heroic deeds, that is, healing.”
Then I picked up “Tlön.” It was open to the last page, and a line jumped out at men. “A scattered dynasty of solitary men has changed the face of the world.”
I think we might be on the right path for the right reasons… but… would you and the commentariat grant me the traditional favor of the fraternity of slide rule users and check my work.
Rhydlyd

My slide rule gets the same sum yours does.

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Hi JMG and Ecosophians,

Thanks to everyone who has donated books for my library. Right now the physical library is on hold, so I am asking people to stop donating books, at least for the moment. As many of you might already know, I rented a commercial space for the last 11 years in Naperville, Illinois for my music lesson studio. Originally I envisioned combining the music lesson space with a subscription library. Since 2020, running a small business out of a commercial space has become too expensive to sustain. Though I always seem to maintain a core of approximately 20 loyal students at any given time, 20 students is a far cry from the 40 - 50 needed to pay the bills and clear the most modest of profits. Thanks to my own Ogham divinations and help from fellow Ecosophian and horary astrologer Andrew Skeen, I made an informed decision to collapse my Studio and teach out of my own home in a nearby town. I’ll be making the final part of move by February when my commercial lease expires.

Please pray for me to find a suitable way to make the physical library happen. For now, it is at http://patreon.com/athenareadersclub as an online version. There are lots of great occult and rare books available to patrons in the continental US.

Druidry gave me sufficient antennae over the last six years to discern that renting a commercial space in the existing climate will only serve to exhaust my resources and snuff out my ability to run a library at all. Commercial rents are at all time highs. I sincerely hope it will get easier to rent commercial space in the future. For now, I’m collapsing to avoid the rush in hopes of rising again in a better climate for small-scale entrepreneurs. I am fairly sure that this is the right thing at the right time. Again, thanks everyone for all your help and book donations so far.

Thank you for this. More positive energy en route!

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We occasionally talk of demons here. If you want to hear the real thing in the wild, the recording of poor Anneliese Michel ‘s 6 demons is on the Internet; I stumbled on it today. I only got through 3 of the 6–these creatures are so inimical to us that I couldn’t stand to listen any further. The 3 I heard were Cain, Hitler, and Nero. Hitler spoke in a grating, masculine snarl. There are no recordings of Cain or Nero, but plenty of Hitler in his lifetime, so I listened and compared. Hitler ‘s everyday conversational voice was unexceptional. In some of his speeches, you can hear Hitler the person fading out as Hitler the demon takes over; in others, the transition is abrupt, as if the demon flipped a switch. How anyone could listen to this and not be aware that that that wasn’t Anneliese is beyond me, but a German judge managed. 😳

If you listen and compare for yourself, be careful which site you visit for Hitler-the-person—I noticed too late that I had used an American Nazi site, so I’m probably on 347 different watch lists now, and who knows how long I have before they

I don't recommend getting even that close to demonic entities.

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Hey there, JMG, good evening!

1) I have a question about meditation. I went through some of my meditation notes for the past year to see what would need revision cross-checking with the knowledge lectures and I noticed that I seem to prefer a "constructive" approach to meditation. As an example, in the first meditation I would imagine the seed, I would then try to build up upon that as I usually do when I think things through by examining the contents of what would most closely link to the topic from the things that I already know. Some time ago I mentioned that when following a particular thread I kind of felt something that would link next but that I couldn't really tell what it was besides a nebulous something that would be there if I knew a word for it. I couldn't really figure out what to do there. Reflexing on this I think this is because I am doing the meditation "actively", instead of passively by letting thoughts rise. How can I become better a letting images rise? Perhaps that is why I couldn't figure out the next link, because I didn't have the contents to describe it but by "listening" it might come?

2) I've been getting nudges towards understanding "Love". But to me, perhaps out of the heavy sucrose marketing, love feels like dripping honey. However, some people write of Love as a "force" and as an apprenticed to magic that description sounds more congenial to me. What have you found helpful for understanding this notion as an occultist?

3) Why is it that some magical workings have a distinctive signature of the magician? It seems to me that there is a play between the magicians aura and the magic that flows through him in the same way that a draftsman has a particular way of making lines by his muscle memory that is the average of the movements he has made before. Doesn't this imply that the magic you can do is very tightly limited to what you've become and what you have been able to integrate?

Thank you!

1) That's one of the things that varies from person to person. The constructive way of meditating has remarkable powers, and if that's the way you meditate best, keep working with it. In terms of "listening," that's something I do naturally, and I'm not sure what will work best for you -- can you get images to surface spontaneously in your imagination, for example?

2) "Love" is one of the vaguest words in the English language and it means a dizzyingly wide range of things. The idea of love as a force has never made sense to me; maybe you can figure it out and explain it. ;-)

3) That's an important element of magic. The more you study and practice magic, the less formal magic you have to do, because your life becomes a magical ritual -- but what you can do with it narrows, because your ritual is ultimately a reflection of who you are. That's one of the things tangled up in the notion that every Magus proclaims the word of an Aeon.

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Tarot Tuesday?

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Hello and thank you for providing this forum.

Are there best practices for phrasing questions to oracles?

Sometimes when I ask a question in the format "Should I do X?" my tarot cards throw it back at me, as if to say "I don't know, what do you think?" Of course, the question of whether or not I "should" do something depends on a lot of subjective factors: whether I want to; which of the available options I prefer; whether I feel the outcome is worth the cost (effort involved, possible downsides).

On the other hand, asking more specific questions might lead in the wrong direction. I can ask "if I do X, will I get result Y?" The answer could be a clear "yes," but I haven't asked about possible downsides or better options that may be available.

So, what's an open-ended way to ask an oracle for general advice on a particular situation?

It depends very much on the oracle -- and on the diviner. One thing that seems to work well for many people is to start by thinking through all the subjective factors, so you have them in mind as you frame the reading, and can say, "Given x, y, and z, is going ahead with this the best option available to me?"

I am rebuilding my modest "barn" after it and most of the neighborhood were burned down in the wildfires last year. The Amish traditionally decorate their barns with star and geometric designs, barn "hexes", for decoration and maybe for protection. Now they sell alot of designs for tourists to buy and put up. I would like to paint something similar to their barn hexes on my barn but ones that actually would protect. DO you know what would be appropriate choices for color or designs to get those effects, and more importantly, not get any ill affects ? When I look up amish barn hex designs I mostly see designs based on an 8 pointed star, or sometimes 6 or 12.

Hmm! That's not something I've studied. Anyone else?

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Hi JMG,

There was a conversation a few MMs ago about risks of opening up teachings in a way that Israel Regardie did by publishing Golden Dawn material and in a way you open it in your books for several traditions.

I, for one, am immensely grateful to you for all the public work you do and I don't know how I would navigate the world of magic without your help and guidance. I am sure there are many more people who have similar feelings towards yourself and other people who make these teachings public. Before that discussion about the risks and possible karma for this kind of work I was happily aware only of my side of the picture where I only see the benefits I receive. Now, I am more than curious to know more!

1. What kind of risks are there for making this information public? What can go wrong? I understand that someone might want to use it for less than noble goals but I doubt they'd get past the Watcher to get enough power for anything too malicious. There is also a chance to go too far out of balance, particularly if there is no guidance available for correction... Anything else?

2. What measures can be put in place to prevent or reduce those risks? I understand that this is what the flake filters are for. The obligation we take in the Ovate Grade initiation of the CGD is also neat. Any other examples (that you'd be willing to mention publicly?)

3. Any examples of karma that one could incur by making teachings like this public?

Many thanks once again for everything you do!

1) The traditional teaching is that when you make an esoteric spiritual tradition public, you get all the karma, good and bad, that results from all the use made of it. So if you turn something over to the public and a lot of evil happens, you get the karma for that, just as much as if you did the evil.

2) Flake filters, obligations, evasive language that requires patience and study to decode -- there are all kinds of gimmicks, and I use most of them. ;-)

3) See above.

One thing that's also in the traditional lore here and there is that we live in an extremely difficult time, when it's necessary to open up magical teachings to the public to a much greater extent than otherwise. The reason for that, as I was taught, is to make sure the traditional lore survives this era of materialism and its aftermath. Only by getting it into many hands is its survival assured. The karmic issue is still there, and those who distribute the teachings know that they're accepting the potential for a significant karmic burden by doing so -- but it needs to be done.

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Salutations JMG.
Is the mental training taught in Mouni Sadhu's books [i]Concentration[/i] and [i]Meditation[/i] compatible with the training of an occultist in the western tradition? I found [i]Concentration[/i] seemed to lean really heavily on the idea that the natural world is not real and needs to be escaped to the "real" world beyond manifestation. It seemed very Buddhist/Christian.

1) Maybe I'm overreacting, but will his training make my mind become really terrible at thinking just like those people who lobotomized themselves with "mindfulness meditation"?

2) Will it interfere with my druidical aspirations of connecting to the spiritual foundations of the natural world by focusing my mind too heavily on the unmanifest?

I'm interested in Sadhu's books because my CGD meditation still seems indistinguishable from normal intense thinking and I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Mouni Sadhu's own spirituality was esoteric Christian with a big helping of Hinduism on the side, and so yes, he was into the idea that the natural world is an illusion and we need to bail out of it. That ideology doesn't influence his practice as much as you might think! If you want to approach his work as a Druid, do the first three series from Concentration but not the later ones, and the first four series of practices from Meditation, replacing the later ones with your own choice of themes instead of his.

You're not doing anything wrong. Meditation takes time to ripen; if you've got to the point where you can engage in ordinary intense thinking on a theme at will, you've made good progress.

I have a recently developed interest in the after-death process. Previously I had only a mild and detached curiosity.

A member of my family who had been in declining health for several months, took a turn for the worse a few weeks ago. During these months we spent more time together than usual and deepened our relationship. They went into hospice care on the night of Friday, November 19 and died this past Friday afternoon. I was told of the passing a couple of hours later. I lit a candle for them that night with no special ceremony.

Tonight is well into the third day of the period between the first and second deaths and I don't know what if anything to do, think about, or watch out for. I have some of Dion Fortune's books, but not Through the Gates of Death. I have access to your first Druidry Book and the DMH. The only relevant text from my ancestral tradition that I have much familiarity with is Ecclesiastes.

During the past few months, I sent blessings and love to this person, and made extra offerings to deities that I have relationships with. I continued on with this, feeling a fairly strong connection with my relative, after they went into hospice care. They lingered longer than anyone expected and I finally realized that I should tell them not to stay on my account. Since Thursday, radio silence and no dreams about them, which does not surprise me.

Do you have any advice for me?

First, please accept my condolences. It's obvious that your family member's death has been a difficult process for you. May you receive the healing and solace you need.

Second, don't worry about it. Death is a natural, healthy process, and your family member is well on their way into the process. The lack of dreams or psychic connection is a good sign that everything went the way it should; if the person had a long illness, the second death could well have happened very quickly, in which case they're safe and sound on the other side. Mourn them, celebrate their life, remember the good memories, and let go.

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I have been very stuck in my life. We had a large wildfire, and I have been in disagreement with my insurance company. Starting the sphere of protection months ago has calmed me down, for the most part I am not as bothered by my circumstances. But, I would like to have my life back. I dont want to bore you with too many details, but last spring I said and thought to myself, hey if this is how they want to resolve this, fine, I can wait out their process, I can do this with one hand tied behind my back I thought. I dont mind not living in my house for a bit and they have to pay me for not being in it. That is what I said to myself.

I was wrong, I am quite tired of it. It has been too long. I have mentioned this in prayer a few times lately, and that I was sorry to have thought it didnt matter how long it took. I dont know if there is anything spiritually I can do that would help matters along. Or at least clear up that I dont want my will to be a road block to resolution ?

Unfortunately that's one of the things that can happen when you take decisive action -- you get what you ask for, whether or not it turns out to be what you want. My suggestion is that you accept the situation you're in now, and try to make it work for you.

Do you think that reaching out to 'non-sectarian' God through prayer could ever go poorly for someone and they could end up with something else pretending that it's God? Intent probably matters a lot here, right?

Asking because I did this, and I realized the past six months were pretty much entirely laid out for me in advance by whatever I spoke to, and for a someone who spent their 80% of their life as a materialist it can feel a little frightening at times.

It doesn't matter whether it's sectarian or otherwise, your intent and your level of consciousness between them determine what kind of response you get. Since you clearly got a response that told you the truth, you might want to continue praying, and ask for help dealing with the very real fear that this sort of experience can cause. There's a saying from the Bible, "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom," and it's true -- not the end of wisdom, nor even the middle, but wisdom begins to dawn when it sinks in: "oh frack, these things are real and they're a lot bigger and smarter and stronger than I am..."

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I need to set up a website soon for two areas of freelance work which are both undoubtedly the province of Hermes / Mercury. I have thought of a business name and found that a suitable URL is free, but not yet set anything up.

By the time both Sun and Moon are waxing it will be very nearly a Mercury retrograde so I am not sure exactly when to do it. I also don't think I'd have the full text of the website ready to go before the retrograde. Ought I to wait even longer then?

If you're not ready by the time the retrograde begins, use the retrograde to edit, revise, and make other preparations, and launch it on an hour and day of Mercury during a waxing Moon afterwards. It sounds like taking a little more time would be a good idea!

How close to solar noon should the solar salutation be performed? -Berserker

As close as you reasonably can do it.

Hello,

1.
I remember reading your predictions about the great conjunction though I don't remember all the details. It certainly feels like we have entered a new era though definitely things are particularly hazy, do you have any hopefulness about what is to come even individuals from astrology. I have heard that this coming time is not all bad.
2. I had some health problems and stopped all meditation and practice what do you recommend in terms of going back to it. Should I build up smaller amounts of meditation or try and go back?

Thank you !

1) You can find my predictions here. Of course there are good things coming as well as bad ones -- in fact, my reading suggests that there'll be less mass death and misery than we've had in previous cycles. The pace of change will be slower; economic conditions will improve gradually, especially in rural areas, and the arts and creative pursuits generally will face much less difficult conditions. So there's a lot to look forward to.

2) Start with some short meditations and easy practices, and build up as you feel ready to do so. Be gentle with yourself and the results will be better.

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Hi JMG,

I have a couple of child-related questions for you:

1) My wife is pregnant (first trimester), and I have recently had some strange dreams where I am with what is our daughter in the dream (we don't know the baby's sex as yet). In the dreams, she is around 12 or 13 years old and disarmingly intelligent - in the sense of her saying things that I don't quite understand, or are from a completely different perspective to what I'm expecting. I don't remember any specifics unfortunately, just the overall feel of the dream, and a sense of "this person's intelligence is far, far beyond my own". Both my wife and I are reasonably smart, so there may be a bit of wish fulfilment going on, but I have wondered if I'm meeting our unborn child in advance? Is there any way to tell or find out? Despite several things which could have potentially been an issue, my wife actually got pregnant extremely easily, so I am also wondering if this child really *wanted* to be born to us as well?

2) My wife's sister desperately wants to get pregnant as well, and she and her husband have had no success for a couple of years, sadly. However, they keep returning to their house to see a heron perched on the roof, and are miles from any bodies of water. Is there anything to the "storks carrying babies" myth, and could the presence of this heron be taken as a good omen?

Thank you.

1) It's quite possible that either you've contacted the soul that will be descending into incarnation, or that you've had a precognitive dream. There's no way to find out for sure, other than seeing what happens -- but you might make a point of reading stories to your child from earliest infancy, whether you think she can understand you or not, and generally making sure that she has a mentally stimulating environment early on. Babies with high intelligence get bored easily and it makes them cranky!

2) It might, yes. Have you and your wife prayed for them?

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readoldthings - 2021-12-07 00:37 (UTC) - Expand

You've written before about the value of reading Dion Fortune's books, and I can only agree wholeheartedly. I have a number of them, and I just finished reading Sane Occultism. I know you're not Dion Fortune :) but I have a question that your knowledge and experience could shed some light on:

On the very last page of Sane Occultism, where she writes that the character of the adept is that of "a soldier-scholar dedicated to the service of god" also includes this passage: "But, like the soldier, being under discipline, his is without responsibilities, and consequently he has in him something of the joyous and carefree nature of the soldier on leave. His needs are simple, and he knows that Those who command his service will see to it that they are supplied. The child in him remains unrepressed, and when he relaxes the bent bow of his psychism, he reverts to the child."

My question Is about this last sentence. I've spent a lot of time journalling on the theme of the puer aeternus and reading Marie Louise von Franz, and exploring how I am affected by this archetype, because it seems that my own occult practices are forcing me to confront the eternal child within me, as evidenced by events in daily life. Yet Fortune's quote has flummoxed me, because she is saying that the child shouldn't be repressed, and even embraced. Does she mean that the eternal child should be brought into conscious awareness? Hmm, I do remember von Franz writing about the danger of going to the other extreme and losing the child completely, and becoming overly cynical. So perhaps this is what Fortune is pointing out the dangers of?

I don’t remember at present whether it’s in Dogma & Ritual or The Key To The Mysteries, but Levi also devotes some words to the child-like nature of the Initiate. Maybe the keyword in Fortune’s take is “unrepressed” - that is, the eternal child within is free, but not necessarily in tyrannical control? Curious to see JMG’s answer.

Edited 2021-12-06 19:57 (UTC)

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Greetings ArchDruid,

A person close to me has been seriously depressed - while at their home I did an energy reading using Tarot and found a strong negative energy on one side of their bedroom. I asked them permission to place a jar of salt along that wall, but they asked me not to, as they think such a thing is nonsense.

My question is could I do sphere of protection ritual there in that room, with the purpose of banishing the negative energy? Is there any part of the ritual that should be modified to achieve this?

Also, do I need to ask their permission before doing this ritual in their home? I know in general permission is necessary, but since this is regarding their living space and not them personally, I am unsure.

Thank you,

Gunnar

Consent is as important in magic as it is in sex. Never do magic for someone else without their permission -- and yes, this includes doing magic for their home. (Especially since your goal is to change their depressed condition.) Since your friend has already rejected your attempt to help, all you can do is accept that.

Hi JMG,

I was wondering if losing one's virginity has an effect on the other planes, particularly the astral body?

Modern culture would have us believe that, aside from being a rite of passage, having sex for the first time, assuming there is no conception involved, has no biological effect whatsoever. However, from having friends who I've known since childhood (male and female), you can somehow tell when they first have sex - it's a subtle overnight change in personality. I know from my own experience, having lost my virginity relatively late at 19, I suddenly found I had no interest in Lego and other toy-like entertainment and decoration (eg. I got rid of the Iron Man action figures in my room...). I also know that two or three of my friends still have not lost their virginity 10 years later, and without meaning to pass judegment, they have retained somewhat child-like hobbies and attitudes (though possibly that's confusing cause and effect!).

I'd guess something about opening up the aura to female/male influences (or just to another person's influence) must make a difference.

On a more horrible level, is this be why child sexual abuse can be so harmful, as it prematurely opens up the aura before it is fully developed?

Thanks.

Yes, the transition away from virginity is a significant astral and energetic shift. Sex isn't just friction! The subtle bodies are profoundly involved when two people have sex, and the first time it happens marks a major shift in the way the subtle bodies work. (And you're right about child sexual abuse.)

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Hi, I was hoping to ask about the magical effect of land on individuals and nations.

1. Can being born in a foreign country have an effect on a person's character? Asking as a Westerner born in Japan.
2. I remember you mentioning the effect of the land on people. Am I right to think that this implies that the future societies on the Australian continent will be shaped by the spiritual forces that the indigenous Australians were aware of and worked with? If so, we should be studying the indigenous religions very seriously indeed.

Yes on both counts. Whether or not people in Australia study the indigenous traditions, the spiritual powers in the land will shape Australian spirituality over time to conform to ancient patterns.

I'd like to ask you two questions:

1)I had confessed about having downloaded your books in the comments on the Dreamwidth post just before this one, and that I had deleted the copies of all of your books with me, but that I couldn't remember the names of two of them. To this, you replied:

"Don't worry about it. The intention of my working is that if you didn't pay for it, you won't benefit from it. Since you can't even remember which books they were, it's a pretty fair guess you did't get much from them!"

I actually want to buy books of yours (that I've deleted) other than the two whose names I can't remember, but I'm a bit confused about the working. Given that I don't remember the names of these two books, I won't be able to buy them, and thus the effect of the working will continue. This would, then, nullify any benefit obtained by reading even those books of yours whose names I remember and wish to buy. I am very keen on buying them as even though I've read pirated copies of them, they have completely changed the way I look at many things, so I can only guess as to the possible benefits accrued by legally buying them and reading them. That's why I want to ask you this - is there anything else I need to do, or am I missing something here? I'd greatly appreciate any help.

I wanted to ask in the previous post itself, but I thought it would be better to ask as a Magic Monday question, hence I'm asking here.

2) I've also downloaded Ioan Couliano's Eros and magic in the Renaissance, W. B. Yeats' A Vision as well as one or two other books of his whose names I can't remember, as well as two of Dion Fortune's books (one of them was an occult novel). However, after learning that your books have the working built into them, I decided to delete the copies of these books as well, just in case they carry some magical working aimed at those who obtain them via piracy of any kind. If they do, and deleting them wasn't enough, is there any magical advice you'd recommend? I have zero experience of doing any magical practice - I just wanted to read up on them, particularly Couliano's book.

1) Okay, stop and reread the passage of mine you just quoted. It doesn't say, "If you steal just one of my books, none of my books will benefit you." It says, "if you steal one of my books, that book will not benefit you." Do you see the difference?

2) Yeats's books are out of copyright and so are Dion Fortune's, so you can download them to your heart's content. As for Couliano, why not just buy a copy?

Greetings ArchDruid - 25 or so years ago I was an amateur trader, and there was a man who put out an investing newsletter using astrology that was actually quite profitable - it was a funny situation, as the investors and traders didn't believe in astrology in general, yet they could not argue with his results, and subscribed - unfortunately I cant remember the analysts name.

Looking at some of the newsletters that currently call themselves astrology based, I see some use Elliot Wave and Gann - Robert Miner provides a very nice simplified actionable approach to Elliot wave and Fibonacci analysis, and he has won the robbins futures trading contest a few times- the real deal, if you want a quick primer on those subjects.

I look forward to seeing your work in financial astrology.

Gunnar

J.P. Morgan, the greatest American financier of the early 20th century, used to say, "Millionaires don't use astrology...but billionaires do." One of the things that annoys the bejesus out of rationalists is that stock market astrology works. I'm more interested in the astrology of the business cycle, and using financial astrology to improve the economic side of my mundane charts, but you never know!

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