ecosophia | Magic Monday

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Magic Monday

It's getting toward midnight, so we can proceed with a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism and I'll do my best to answer it. With certain exceptions, any question received by midnight Monday Eastern time will get an answer. Please note: Any question or comment received after then will not get an answer, and in fact will just be deleted. (I've been getting an increasing number of people trying to post after these are closed, so will have to draw a harder line than before.) 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. Also: I will not be putting through or answering any more questions about practicing magic around children. I've answered those in simple declarative sentences in the FAQ. If you read the FAQ and don't think your question has been answered, read it again. If that doesn't help, consider remedial reading classes; yes, it really is as simple and straightforward as the FAQ says.

The picture? I'm working my way through photos of my lineage, focusing on the teachers whose work has influenced me and the teachers who influenced them in turn. I've taken the lineage of OBOD back as far as I can, and now it's time to jump to another initiatory lineage, the Martinist Order. It's bad form (and forbidden by the obligations of initiation) to reveal the name of your Martinist initiator, even indirectly; thus I'm going to leap over the last several steps in my Martinist filiation to this gentleman, René Chambellant, whose title as a Gnostic bishop was Tau Renatus. Born in 1907, he was an oral surgeon by trade, and spent many years in central Africa teaching oral surgery and dentistry at a college in the Congo. He was initiated into Martinism and numerous other esoteric orders by Robert Ambelain, one of the great figures of the modern French esoteric traditions; in 1944, after the Gnostic patriarch Constant Chevillon was assassinated by the Nazis, Chambellant became the head of l'Eglise Gnostique Universelle, one of the major French Gnostic churches of the time. Several important Martinist lineages received their initiation through him.

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~~With that said, have at it!~~

***This Magic Monday is now closed. See you next week!***

Threaded | Flat

Hi JMG.
Tao Te Ching often mentions that "softness overcomes hardness" or "pliable overcomes stiff". From an occult perspective, can this be also interpreted as "subtle/finer forces are more effective upon gross/dense stuff; not the other way around"?

I was reading a book the other night and came to a passage talking about the crying ghost of a girl down by a lake. I'll leave the other details out to avoid spoilers. The thought spooked me, especially as I have a lake house where a girl drowned in the 70's. Any advice on how to I can use my will to exorcise the haunting image from my consciousness?

1. I passed my four-year anniversary of starting daily magic practice a couple of months ago. I began with DMH but when I got to scrying I was seeing what I now believe to be astral static, so I pivoted into DA and now am halfway through. I have greatly benefited from the DA mentorship program through AODA, and also from these books in general, so thank you for writing and arranging them.

2. We have moved onto a quite narrow lot, and since I do the Circulation of Light from the DA where I set it on the ground and leave it there, I'm assuming I need to make sure it doesn't brush the neighbors' property without their consent, correct? That'll mean I can't fully cover our long house or the tree. One happy thing: from imprints in the grass, two deer have been sleeping next to the house right where my Circulation of Light covers.

3. I am always running behind on your writings these days but I wanted to thank you for the janegirl post. I am a tomboy (don't know if the term changes when you're an adult, but my tomboyishness didn't). I'm glad there's a term like janegirl as well.

4. Is it safe to assume that I am making spiritual progress if I am getting wave after wave of baggage to sort out and unravel? I feel like I am up to my ears but that this work will pay off. I am in ptsd counseling, also couple's counseling with my spouse, and I am reading books on adrenaline surges and getting stuck in moods and negative thinking. I pray for clarity and it seems inch by tiny inch I get it. Thank you for your time.

I was recently focusing on releasing some tension in my sore hip by moving my awareness into the tissue and relaxing it when something happened. I felt a couple surges of a sensation almost like (forgive my frankness) an odd, partial orgasm. Then energy began shooting out the top of my head, and eventually the boundaries of my body dissolved from my awareness and I felt myself to be something like a boundless collection of sparks of static electricity in an infinite sea of sparks flowing ever upward.

Questions: What happened? This reminds me of stuff I’ve read about Kundalini but not sure. Is it…okay? Am I going to blow out my etheric circuits or something? It feels like it could likely happen again, in that the energy/life force in my body feels very responsive and active when I focus my awareness on it and seems to want to move upward primarily. Is it a problem for my infant? She was touching me when it happened, and I can often feel the life force moving pretty strongly while she is nursing.

Thanks!

I did a geomancy reading to determine if there's an inimical spirit dwelling in my apartment & Trisitia was in the fourth house.

Does this confirm my suspicion or am I looking at the wrong house?

-Josh

The topic of relating to the gods appears to be in the air this magic Monday!

JMG I know you have discouraged "mixing pantheons" in the past, but what are your thoughts on picking a pantheon and an Abrahamic (in my case Catholic or Gnostic) monotheistic god?

I've seen the joke of the saints as "gods in drag." What if this sentiment were made explicit?

Hi JMG-
I have money saved in a investment account that I have not touched in over five years. I'm trying to get the money back, but I'm having a hard time locating up to date information about the account, and I imagine that it will be quite difficult to get more info. The money that I put into the account is all money that I earned working as a construction worker. Do you know of any magical workings that would help bring that money back to me?
I am a Discordian, if that makes a difference.
Thanks!

Archdruid,

I'm reading about human hormones and reproductive cycles, and I'm hung up on something. I notice there is an absolute ocean of material on the female reproductive/hormonal cycle, but comparatively little on the male hormonal cycle. I get that there's the biological difference since women give birth, but male hormonal cycle is summed up in as a day-night cycle, which just seems over simplified.

From personal experience I know that my body is effected by the lunar cycle and seasons. Even occult lore seems to agree that human energetic cycles (which are connected to the hormonal cycles) are complex and varied in both men and women.

What gives, why is the medical science so oversimplified?

What would be good electional aspects to make a permanent cross-continent move (for work but could be citizenship/green card later)?

****Minor Spoiler Alert*****

JMG

I know you've had a bunch of questions about the Witch of Criswell and that the premise of the book is that the magic used in it is all real and could actually (in theory) be done in real life.

My question is - is that 100% true? Of course the story itself is fictional and the people and the circumstances they're involved in and so on. But is *all* the magic stuff that could happen in real life?

Even the creation of the familiar? And the Trident that is used (or rather threatened) at the end? Would a trident like that do what the book characters say it will?

I ask because it reminds me of the Trident of Paracelsus mentioned in your book Monsters?

When doing the healing session for Healing Hands right after empowering, do I need to activate my hands right after for a total of two? One for empowering and one for the session?

If performing healing for several people on a single session, do I need to re empower my hands per person?

Just before I woke up on Saturday morning I had an unusual dream, or possibly something other than a dream. I had one of those false awakenings where you just dream you wake up, and I went downstairs. But it was the front room and kitchen as they were in the 90s, even with details I'd forgotten about. Then I started feeling like I was being led around by something, and it was becoming hard to see. I had to try really hard to force my eyes open and when I did I was back in my present-day bedroom. I felt conflicted because while I had the sense this was bad and thus made the effort to wake up, it also felt like I was being offered a second chance at the 90s, something that would be a very big deal for me. Was this just a type of dream I've never had before or was something else going on? (I had night vinegar out at the time.)

Greetings JMG, I only just saw your post requesting comments on the rising call and as it seems the time for that is past, perhaps you will be kind enough to allow me a couple of quick ideas here.

Thanks so much for sharing this practice! It’s very interesting….I have taught alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana pranayama) to my beginning yoga students for a long time. Many have taken it up with enthusiasm for a myriad of issues like tension headaches, sinus congestion and insomnia and report positive results.

The rising call is like a super ramped up version that has a lot going on! Combining alternate nostril breathing, breathe retention and an inversion is epic. Three breaths of this is all you need or want every day. I wouldn’t consider this a beginners practice for those who haven’t ever practiced pranayamas…however it is very effective. If it works as is, then go for it! But if it feels overwhelming then start with one breath for a week, two breaths the next week and finally three breaths at a time when it feels all right. Also start with very short breath retentions and work your way up. Breath retention, especially in an inversion can cause some anxiety. Count your heartbeats to establish a nice rhythm of inhalation, retention, exhalation.

I’ve been practicing the rising call daily since you first published it and experience the benefits as advertised….mental clarity and brightness, relieved sinuses, etc. The only thing I do differently, to polish it up a bit, is to put my right hand into nasagra mudra…..thumb over the right nostril, ring finger over the left nostril with the index finger and middle finger resting very lightly on the spot between the eyebrows (third eye). This mudra instantly makes you calmer and the third eye center is given a little invitation to join in the fun.

Looking over Gardener’s book you linked to I noticed his “breath of life”. The issue of everyone predominantly breathing mostly on one side of the nose or the other and the effects of this is well worth some study. But rather than his advice of stuffing a cotton ball up one nostril to force breathing on the other side!! it seems like it would be better to just practice alternate nostril breathing for 5 or 10 minutes a day to balance out. He’s so almost there on this one 😉

Thank you very much for this wonderful forum every week. I learn so much from you and everyone who participates.

Persimmon Discombobulated Durian ~~~ SundaraYogaShala

I have a few childhood memories that seem to be "impossible" from an adult point of view but, well, some are so vivid and include so many details of the situation that it's hard to dismiss that something out of the ordinary had happened.

With Venus bright in the evening sky one particular memory surfaced: I was maybe four, certainly not older than five. My parents called me in the morning to have a look at that particular bright star in the sky. It was still dark outside and the "star" which I think was most likely Venus hung relatively low over the horizon. I was totally absorbed by the sight and continued to look at it until it slowly faded in the brightening sky. But what did I see? Not the ordinary bright "dot" in the sky, but a comparably large silver disc surrounded by equally spaced, thin rays of the same silver color that extended into all directions roughly the distance of the discs diameter. That was what I saw until the whole vision faded into the daylight. I can still remember that even at my young age I was puzzled by the sight for it did not look like any other object in the nightly sky that I had seen before.

So what to make of this? Any idea what I saw or why I did see it the way I did?

Thank you!
Tangerine Berserk Crow

Hi JMG,

many thanks for this continuing service. I'm slowly making my way through the CGD bardic grade, and am practising the Grove of Water. I'm finding it harder to visualise than the Grove of Earth, which was surprisingly clear and lifelike. Is it normal to find some elements trickier than others?

With blessings to you from Australia.

Thank you for hosting these Magic Mondays. In prior posts about reincarnation, you've discussed how because of the growth of the human population, souls are having fewer and fewer years between lives to process what happened to them in the previous human incarnation, and this is contributing to a lot of problems, such more and more people believing that they are another biological sex, or simply having trouble thinking rationally (interesting btw how the ossification and then decline of civilizations in the past has coincided with population growth in their respective golden ages).

Outside of just processing memories from their previous human life, do souls incarnating as humans continual to develop their astral and mental selves when between lives? Is this another aspect of the problems caused by human population booms?

A few observations.

First, in self-defense against a daughter who I felt defensive about - she notes every detail and seemed to be challenging me; and, her opinions and tastes and ideas of what's good are pure PMC - I started telling myself "I an who and hat I am, and that's all I can be," over and over and over again, in a matte-of fact mental voice. It seems to be working wonders for me. Meanwhile, the official affirmations in the Workbook have reached the point of (paraphrased from memory)"untangling your own thoughts from those laid one you by [all your cultural programming]" --- which really should be a lesson bloc in itself, starting with parental programming and working on up..." and the two seem to have met and mated in midair!

Second, a statement of Jung's that used to infuriate me popped back into mind. He said (again from memory that women's opinions wee always derived from from some man's. Long ago, after calming down, I started wondering how many men's options were equally derisive. "Standing on the shoulders of giants" anyone? But now I wonder if he was pinpointing the female astral body. And of course, if so, he was overlooking the 10% with male astral bodies.

?What man was Jane Austen imitating? Huh? I doubt Jung ever read Jane Austen's works.

And finally, I truly hope that somewhere in the Ariel Moravec novels, her mother is redeemed. Because she's not only in the grip of an obsession, she's flipped over into full-fledged delusion with her "Daniel would have...." line. I don't mean a total flip-flop-now-she's-a-saint, but a return to relative sanity.

Iridescent Jejune Unicorn

Greetings JMG, and happy Monday to you.

I once had lunch with a young woman who made it known that she was interested in 'supernatural' things. She told me some very strange things which were rather intense for a casual lunch. After we shook hands goodbye, I noticed that my right hand and forearm had a distinctly vibrating or buzzing feel. I felt vaguely infringed upon, but not knowing her at all, I did not mention it. On my way home, I had this feeling like, this is too strange, due to the things I heard and the effect on my hand and arm. The buzzing feeling on my hand and arm lasted for several hours, but was gone the next day.

Have you heard of such a thing, and do you have any ideas about what might have happened? Thank you very much.

Hi,

A few quick questions:

1) Last week there was a brief discussion on 5 levels of reading the Bible, the usual four forms from literal to anagogic etc, but also a fifth, the 'magical.' Where can one read more about this fifth level?

2) What is your take (JMG's; commentariat) on the Bornless Ritual a.k.a Headless Rite?

Views seem to range from the recommendation that it be done daily; once a week; as a key (but not necessarily a definitive) opening to the HGA; or as a pivotal once-in-a-lifetime DIY 'red pill' moment of decisive access to a wider world. Dr Sledge ('Esoterica' channel on youtube) seems somewhat nonplussed by its power and he identifies, if I understand correctly, as a non-practitioner.

What is the deal with this rite? And do you, JMG, write about/analyse it anywhere?

3) Further: There's been some recommendation to add to the Bornless/Headless ritual a conjuring/invitation to the Four Elemental Kings. It makes some sense, given the character of the Headless Rite but - the Elemental Kings are sometimes characterised as 'infernal.'Are they demonic? Or rather, 'daimonic'? Are they infernal, or do they only appear that way given the Western tradition's chary relationship to the created order? Are the elemental kings just 'misunderstood'? Or do they occupy some sort of taxonomic liminal zone like maybe djinn? Is it prudent to include the kings at the end of the Headless format as a courtesy to the right levels of the hierarchy/invisible 'bureaucracy'? Or is it just playing in heavy traffic on the dark side of the street?

Hi JMG, I'm having trouble figuring out divinations where both witnesses are the same figure and the judge is populus. For example in the below chart, I asked my Gods if they would be okay with me moving the ides to always be on the 15th instead of slavishly copying the old Roman calendars, since I'm using a purely Solar Gregorian calendar rather than the old frankenstein's monster of Solar-Lunar plus Caesar's duct tape patches plus Octavian's card shuffling:

https://amissio.net/gen/tradshield/c2/4c.svg

I interpreted this as "no" due to the passive, diffuse immovability of populus, but I wonder if this is actually a shrug and a "Meh, doesn't really matter." I get charts like this a lot and I'm usually at a loss on how to read them.

Any tips on the underlying logic of such charts?

Greetings JMG and Commentariat

I was reading an older post about how the spirit of place affects things. I.E. Trump as the changer.

This got me to thinking, I've noticed myself and a good many fans of Japanese culture tend to be assimilated into said culture by different degrees, many even taking up Shinto or Zen Buddhism among other things. It got me to wondering how far this could go. Could a devout Shinto practice in America change the spirit of place as I understand Buddhism and to an extent Christianity has done?

Moving on while reading Doors of Tarot, John Gilbert talked about how doing the SoP makes one "a walking spirtual space" what does that mean and does it affect those around me?

Finally and Update from my corners on the backlash against the Rainbow. As I'm sure you've heard a recent boycott over Budweiser is killing the company and knocked it from it's number two spot, similar actions by Target (hiring a Satanist of all things to design trans clothing for very young children) has triggered a massive backlash as well hurting the company. All across Twitter corporations are taking down their rainbow icons, doing this just days into pride month.

Conservative Christian groups have tried to take credit but it seems a coalition of Muslims, Hindus, Gamers/Otaku, and Japanese Nationalists especially followers of Shinto, Japanese Buddhist traditions and other Japanese religions have been doing the lions share of the work and together made it clear they won't tolerate a return of the 90s Religious Right, I'll keep everyone update on what I'm observing.

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Weeping Ghost

4 Question Backlog

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Finding Money

Harmones and Energy cycles

Q

More Witch of Criswell

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Rising call

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About the shortened time between material incarnations

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Bible; Headless; Kings

Geomancy

Japanese spiritual stuff, John Gilbert and the SoP, and Rainbow Backlash