ecosophia: (Default)
John Michael Greer ([personal profile] ecosophia) wrote2024-10-27 10:48 pm

Magic Monday

DreamlandsMidnight is just a few minutes away, and so it's time to launch a new Magic Monday. Ask me anything about occultism, and with certain exceptions noted below, 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.  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 1.1 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.  And further:  I've decided that questions about getting goodies from spirits are also permanently off topic here. The point of occultism is to develop your own capacities, not to try to bully or wheedle other beings into doing things for you. I've discussed this in a post on my blog.

The
image? I field a lot of questions about my books these days, so I've decided to do little capsule summaries of them here, one per week. The book above was my fiftieth published book and my eighth published novel. (Once I found a publisher that was willing to take a chance on my fiction, it came out in a rush, so we're going to be in tentacle land for a little while!) Miriam Akeley, a sixty-something college professor, was an important subsidiary character in the first two Haliverse novels, and took center stage in this one. As usual with these novels, I had no idea where it was going to end up and was astonished by some of the twists and turns. 

One of the reviews this novel got finally succeeded in cluing me in about why my fiction leaves so many people baffled.  The reviewer thought it was a good story, but was completely floored by the fact that Miriam was, you know, an ordinary person, without superpowers or anything else that made her unlike the rest of our species.  That's when I realized that the reason so much of today's fiction sucks is that it's obsessed with the dreary fantasy of being the One Special Person around whom the whole world revolves. Me, I prefer stories about the rest of us. If you have similar tastes, you can order a copy here if you live in the US and here if you live elsewhere.

Buy Me A Coffee

Ko-Fi

I've had several people ask about tipping me for answers here, and though I certainly don't require that I won't turn it down. You can use either of the links above to access my online tip jar; Buymeacoffee is good for small tips, Ko-Fi is better for larger ones. (I used to use PayPal but they developed an allergy to free speech, so I've developed an allergy to them.) If you're interested in political and economic astrology, or simply prefer to use a subscription service to support your favorite authors, you can find my Patreon page here and my SubscribeStar page here. 
 
Bookshop logoI've also had quite a few people over the years ask me where they should buy my books, and here's the answer. Bookshop.org is an alternative online bookstore that supports local bookstores and authors, which a certain gargantuan corporation doesn't, and I have a shop there, which you can check out here. Please consider patronizing it if you'd like to purchase any of my books online.

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

With that said, have at it!


***This Magic Monday is now closed, and no further comments will be put through. See you next week!***
jprussell: (Default)

John Carter on the Podcast Was Never Found and Question About Vibrating Words Outside of Magic

[personal profile] jprussell 2024-10-28 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
Good Evening,

To all who mark it, a blessed Samhuinn - may the close of this year's life bring bounty and harvest, and the opening of the next seeds ready for growth. For anyone else, happy Halloween!

To Share: For those who do podcasts, Mark Bisone's The Podcast Was Never Found recently hosted his friend John Carter, and their discussion was wide-ranging and interesting. Maybe most interesting to those here was some fairly extensive speculation on the role of narrative in metaphysics and/or how we choose to relate to what happens to us and the wider world - it's certainly at least an interesting way to look at what it is we're doing here in incarnation: https://markbisone.substack.com/p/tpwnf-episode-2-the-dark-jeddak-rises

To Ask: I had a question on the "Heathen Rosary" I posted last week, and it had enough of a magical side to it that I thought it would be worth asking here. In brief, it's a set of prayers with a set of beads modeled on the Catholic Rosary, but with prayers to Heathen Gods and Goddesses and with some different numerlogical symbolism. After each prayer, you say "Alu" where a Christian would say "Amen." The reader asked if it would be worthwhile to vibrate ALU in this sequence. I wasn't sure, as Alu is certainly a word of power that seems worthy to vibrate in the right place, but the sequence of prayers isn't a magical ritual, which is the only context for which I know of vibrating words of power. So, would this be helpful, harmful, neutral, or something to determine by experiment?

Thank you again, JMG and everyone here!

My blessings to all who welcome them,
Jeff
open_space: (Default)

[personal profile] open_space 2024-10-28 04:20 am (UTC)(link)

1) Do you have any starting points or recommendations to read up on what was called in the 1970's biofeedback?

2) What do you think of it? Does it work?

open_space: (Default)

Guild of Master Jesus Material

[personal profile] open_space 2024-10-28 04:27 am (UTC)(link)

I was doing some searching on the journal and came across a post the mentioned that the material from Dion Fortune's Guild of Master Jesus was made public in a website that was dedicated to her, unfortunately that website is no longer available according to archive.org's Wayback Machine since a few years back.

Does anyone have that material available that would be willing to upload it somewhere or send it to me?

Thanks in advance!

jprussell: (Default)

Re: John Carter on the Podcast Was Never Found and Question About Vibrating Words Outside of Magic

[personal profile] jprussell 2024-10-28 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks very much! It seemed like that would be the likely answer, but I wanted to make sure there weren't any known pitfalls before haring off after giving it a try.

Cheers,
Jeff

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Dear JMG
I am spending difficult days with a close relative admitted to the hospital, in a serious condition. For this reason I have been thinking about some questions:
1 - When we came to this plane, did we have a pre-established time of life? I know that this time can vary downwards, but how can I vary it upwards and upwards?
2- what kind of cosmic entities establish our time on this planet?
3- If there is a need or even many requests (prayers), can this time be increased?
4 - What is the relationship between suffering and our spiritual growth? I think this topic has already been discussed here…
Thank you very much!
open_space: (Default)

[personal profile] open_space 2024-10-28 05:03 am (UTC)(link)

Hang enough time around here and you develop a taste and a sense for these kinds of things! My father has high blood pressure and today I saw some of himself in me, so I figured it would be a good idea to have the basics of biofeedback down to keep it in check. It also seems like a good skill to have in magical practice.

Thank you for the book rec! I have found copies online and will order one of them.

open_space: (Default)

Re: Guild of Master Jesus Material

[personal profile] open_space 2024-10-28 05:07 am (UTC)(link)

That is very helpful thank you! I have sent you an email.

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you for this.

I'm in a very similar position; my uncle is sick with liver failure and it appears he is not much longer for this world. Your advice in paragraph two re prayer is spot-on for me.

- Cicada Grove

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 07:46 am (UTC)(link)
Good morning and thank you as always.

Does the “feminine” aspect of Geburah create practical differences in workings with it as opposed to the “masculine” aspect of Mars?

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 07:55 am (UTC)(link)
I've gotten a few geomantic house readings lately for 'should I do x' or similar questions that have positive signficators for the querent and quesited but no mode of perfection. Would you still read this as a no?

Intolerance

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 08:48 am (UTC)(link)
Morning John,
I’m not sure if this fits in with the usual questions but anyway I’ll give it a go. I’m in my 50s now, and I’ve discovered I’m becoming intolerant to certain foods (rather than allergic). I struggle to digest sugar (that’s the worst), onions, and spicy food. It results in pain, gas and occasionally evacuation. It can’t get away with more than a gram of sugar in any food which rights off most processed foods. I’m aware your late wife had difficulties with food. Medical advice to date is simply to avoid the relevant foods. I’m wondering if there is anything magic/spiritual I can do? Should I try homeopathy? I’m concerned it will get worse and worse restricting my diet to very little choice. I appreciate you can’t give medical advice.
Kind regards Averagejoe

Perfect Timing / Astrology of Nations

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 10:44 am (UTC)(link)
Hallo JMG,

A while back you mentioned working on an astrology book called 'Perfect Timing'. Has that book evolved to your new book 'The Astrology of Nations', or are you still planning 'Perfect Timing' as a future release?

Kind regards

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 11:15 am (UTC)(link)
Not the OP

"Second, suffering is necessary to shake us awake to higher levels of awareness. The only way to learn is to fail, and the only way to realize that we've failed is to suffer for it."

To what extend can this be overcome by conscious effort? I meditated a lot on the life of family members and their suffering, for example. What I can say that at some point a certain realization was reached which also opened up an emotional component as well as a few events of highly relevant synchronicity. At that point I am unable to say whether my efforts linked my own - at the moment consciously unremembered - memories with the fate of my relatives or if there was genuine empathy at work - probably both. But judging from the experience I dare to hypothesize: If an individual has reached a certain amount of actual experience it might be possibly to generalize this to a certain extent and learn from corresponding emotions stirred up in meditation instead of learning by "big drama"? Which would, if correct, imply that said individual would need to reach a minimum level of development on the mental plain as it would require rather abstract principles (the generalization of the emotions of others) to create and guide astral experience (the emotions the individual experiences during meditation)?

Greetings,
Nachtgurke
kallianeira: (lavender)

something perplexing

[personal profile] kallianeira 2024-10-28 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
Dear JMG

I have been struck hard by the questions from the anonymous correspondent on the past 2 MMs regarding parasitic family patterns of energy / psychic vampirism. What they recount is similar to experiences of my own, even down to the dreams.

Like that family, there are redheads throughout mine. Unlike them, it is as a group very strongly Catholic down to and including my parents' generation, while I, cousins and siblings were all educated in religious schools. Not that the older individuals would have countenanced what they were doing consciously, so far as I can tell, being quite sincerely religious. Younger ones may have got into manipulative behaviours through inborn aptitude perhaps sharpened by willpower literature such as Dale Carnegie or the Secret type of New Age books.

How much do you believe that kind of self-development movement might foster such dark sides of the personality? Obviously the malign psychic influence can happen regardless of reading or instruction.
And what do you think is happening in terms of its occurring in spite of (even contradiction of) the avowed beliefs of such a natural witch?




(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 11:48 am (UTC)(link)
I've picked up running over the last few months as a means to get into better physical shape. I've noticed it seems to have a decent amount of possible overlap with occultism. First, there's a lot of willpower required to do it, especially with longer or faster runs. There's also self-knowledge: most runners eventually learn certain foods cause problems if eaten shortly before a run, for example; while the most common way to get an injury from running is running too far, too fast, or too much, so a knowledge of how much you can run is essential.

Then there are the energy centres. Running gets the heart beating, and extended over longer periods of time, it seems to cause sensations similar to the ones I get when I do the Middle Pillar Ritual, or another that works heavily with that centre. It takes far longer, but my sister, who runs marathons, but has zero occult practice, was able to confirm this occurs even in runners who have not done anything to activate the heart centre. The side stitch is also a very interesting phenomena in light of body energy centres: runners who push to hard will often get a pain at the solar plexus; this can be avoided by learning to breath properly, which given the role of the solar plexus and breathing in bringing etheric energy in seems like a fascinating connection. This also means that runners often have to work on breath control, which is another overlap with occultism.

In A Magical Education, you said that there are certain "auxiliary arts" (forgive me if that's the wrong term, I do not have access to the book right now) that mesh well with occultism, and if I remember correctly provided martial arts as an example. Do you know if anyone has explored running as a possible auxiliary art for occultists?
thinking_turtle: (Default)

[personal profile] thinking_turtle 2024-10-28 12:56 pm (UTC)(link)

To share, for those who wonder what SR, RF or DH mean, a list of abbreviations used on Ecosophia.

Fifty books already, and we're not into this decennium! Looking forward to the story behind book fifty one.

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 01:01 pm (UTC)(link)
In learning to read my natal chart, I took a look to see what it says about religion and spirituality, and I now see how much Saturn plays a role in my chart in these areas.

I’ve read that, for religion and spirituality, I need to look at the 3rd and 9th houses in my chart. There are no planets in either house. My 3rd house in Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and my 9th house is in Capricorn and so ruled by Saturn. The Moon is in the 8th house, also ruled by Capricorn, which means she’s in detriment. And Saturn is in rough shape, conjunct Mars and in detriment in Leo.

So that appears to mean that both houses of religion and spirituality are not exactly optimal in my chart, and the Moon, herself in detriment, is in a house ruled by Saturn, who is also in detriment, which looks like a sort of ‘double affliction’ (*). The only favourable thing for religion and spirituality in my chart, from what I’ve read, is the position of Jupiter, who is exalted in Cancer in the 2nd house and conjunct Venus.

I know the rest of the chart makes a difference, and overall there is a mix of positive and negative aspects which I’m learning to untangle. Jupiter/Venus and the Moon are in opposition.

So my interpretation is that it appears I face pretty strong headwinds when it comes to my own spiritual practice; particularly when it relates to discipline (Saturn) and emotions (Moon), and sometimes the two conjunct benefics will help, but sometimes they will cause problems with excess when imbalanced.

1) Because spiritual practice is important to me, I'm wondering what could help. Maybe planetary charity to Saturn and the Moon? And/or to Jupiter?

2) And is the 'double affliction' situation I described actually a legitimate thing in astrology, in which an affliction is intensified by another affliction?

Thanks in advance!

Learning astrology is fascinating; all these relationships in a chart end up forming these chains of interconnected influences which can sometimes circle back around on each other.

* - ‘Double Affliction’ would be a great title for a movie involving a murder mystery in which astrology plays a role! I can picture the byline on the poster for the movie franchise now: “Double Affliction part II: This time, it’s personal - because Mars is in the 7th!”

Natural Magic

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Hello JMG!
We have been diving into Natural Magic lately and we have started a small crystal collection for research and (of course) magical purposes.
We’ve been thinking of some questions to ask you this week:
1) Are there any specially effective ways to cleanse, charge, and program crystals?
2) How can you tell the correspondences of a mineral/plant/substance if you can’t find it on an encyclopaedia or another trustworthy source?

Wishing you the greatest of weeks,

-Aspiring Wizards
yogaandthetarot: (Default)

Conceptualization vs Imagination

[personal profile] yogaandthetarot 2024-10-28 01:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Hello JMG and thank you again for being there for us!
Kinda a silly question but would the word “conceptualization” work as another way to describe how “imagination” works for the mage? In other words, are those terms interchangeable?
Best
Jill C

Raising kids

(Anonymous) 2024-10-28 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)
What's the best way to raise kids in an occult household? I'm specifically wondering the following:

1. What age to introduce them to basic banishing rituals / meditation / SOP?
2. What objects to place in the home?
3. How to protect babies / young children from negative spiritual forces?
rjpowell: (Default)

Re: Guild of Master Jesus Material

[personal profile] rjpowell 2024-10-28 02:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I am interested in that material as well. If you don't mind sharing it with me too.
I am not sure, however how to reply with a comment here marked "Not for Posting"

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