Toward Ecosophy

Hi, JMG- I’ve got a couple of related questions regarding divination this week. Firstly, in the last lesson of LRM, you write that Tarot Divination can be pursued “through books devoted to that subject”. Are there any in particular that you’d recommend (I’ve read through Tomberg’s “Meditations”, a great favorite of mine and largely my point of entry to hermetic studies, and Waite’s “Pictorial Key”, which I haven’t found terribly useful, but not much else)?

I know I’ve got a ways to go before I can use the tarot for divination with any confidence (several months in I feel like I can come up with a plausible post facto interpretation from my daily readings more often than not, but moments of genuine insight/TSW are much rarer, occurring with about as much frequency as complete stumpers), but I also find myself growing increasingly astrologically curious. I gather that you’d recommend sticking to one system of divination at a time, but do you think it would be biting offf too much to pursue a study of the basics of astrology while continuing to use tarot for daily use (For what it’s worth, I did try a tarot reading on this question and drew the Ace of Wands, the Magician, and the Wheel of Fortune, which struck me as broadly positive)?

Finally, on an unrelated note, after having recently changed to more physically demanding job than I’d been previously used to, I’ve been waking up with sore muscles nearly every morning. This past week, after reading the discussion here I started taking cold morning showers (or rather, your washcloth variant) and have found, much to my surprise, that contact with cold water completely removes the pain I’ve been having, pretty much instantaneously. Not sure if the effect is physical or etheric, but either way I’m grateful. So, thanks for that, and for your advice as always!

-NPM

A while back someone asked about Eris as an astrological planet. I'm nowhere near the point where I can read the charts, but I've been spending a fair amount of time learning astrology lately, and I know a good deal about the history of ideas, so I started thinking: what would I want to look for before concluding there was something which would make planet Eris plausible enough to start looking into?

The idea I had was to look at the history of when each planet was discovered, and how they reshaped society. This lead me to conclude that each planet brings forth most, but by no means all, of their effects on society through a single thing.

Thus, Uranus brings forth its effects through Utopianism, by attempting to bring forth the perfect, and rejecting the establish imperfect society, radical change of a sort not seen prior the discovery of Uranus occurs. The irony of it all is that this idea which fuels Uranian cultural forms is often rejected by people with a strong Uranus, but the universe seems to have a good sense of humor, so it seems plausible.

Neptune brings forth its effects via the idea of evolution; it reveals changes, unities, but is often misunderstood; additionally, plenty of fields were revolutionized during the period when Neptune came into focus by noticing how evolution occurred, and revealing hidden linkages between things. Fields such as religious studies, biology, linguistics, and anthropology were all created or revolutionized during the time around the discovery of Uranus by evolutionary thinking; and the unities, delusions, and strange ideas which emerge from the ideas of evolution continue to bring forth many of the Neptunian elements of society to this day.

Ceres brought forth the Romantic Era, which is perhaps easiest to see due to the fact it ended, and is not part of the world anymore. At its heart, Romanticism was an embrace of the natural world, and not just as something outside of us, but as something which defines us as human beings. It was about embracing our connection to the world of nature, in all of its glory, and power.

Finally, Pluto brought forth many of its effects by the oil age. The growth in organized crime occurred due in large part to the totalitarianism of the 20th century governments; this was only possible due to the huge amounts of energy contained in oil. Nuclear power was only possible due to the oil subsidy; massive pollution, global dimming, came from oil. As did the alienation, due to car culture. The brutal wars were fought using machines powered by oil; the rejection of the natural world was also only possible due to the oil age.

There's something which got started at the period when I'd expect to see Eridian themes coming into focus, which has radically reshaped society, and which seems unlikely to last much longer: the internet. Now, what's the main use of the internet been? Porn and theft of various kinds. Both of these are strongly Eridian in nature; the world's governments either tolerate a level of lawless chaos which is horribly destructive to society in exchange for surveillance capabilities which make the KGB look lackluster, or use it for horrific, totalitarian control (or both); it's payed for in no small part by theft and sex trafficking; and the level of abuse it enables is incredible.

1) Does my analysis of how astrological planets affect society sound plausible to you?

2) Do you think it's possible the internet is evidence Eris functioned as an astrological planet?

3) I expect I'll need to spend years working on getting the basics before I can look into it further, but what would you look for to see if Eris was a planet?

Hi JMG. I have two questions.

First my background is basically doing SoP daily for the past six months, an not much else of experience with ritual magic.

I was walking in the forest and thought about all the tracks that must be there and how nice it would be to see more of them (yelous of my dog perhaps, because she seems to have a very interesting time when we walk in the forest). Is there any way of seeing etheric tracks or similar to enhance the ability to track someone or something?

Second question is perhaps premature since I havent finished the Circles of Power yet, but reading the rituals in the book makes me wonder where one should insert the carefully formulated phrase tha is about to be willed forth by the appropriate ritual(s)?

If I invoke Fire for example, using the greater ritual of the pentagram, then when do I ask it to do my bidding? Perhaps I'm confusing this to much with prayer?

Thanks in advance, Ola

Dear JMG and the forum,
regarding the publication of scientific papers I assume it is a third house mater(?) So, I cast this chart to figure if this particular journal will accept my paper to publication:

1 - acquisitio
2 - caput D.
3 - tristitia
4 - caput D
5 - populus
6 - puer
7 - acquisitio
8 - via
9 - albus
10 - conjuctio
11 - puer
12 - amissio

RW rubeus
LW Caput D.
J - Fortuna Mayor

I read the chart as being favourable , as it perfects with Caput D in the 2nd and the fourth house, tristitia in the third would mean that major revisions would be asked, and the whole process would take some time.The court didn't look so bad either. So and I mad the submission but the journal desk rejected it - they did send it to a transfer desk to be submitted in another journal with an editorial line more "quantitative". Still, I have never been so wrong reading a chart, and I still didn't figure where did I misread the chart. Any opinions?


Thanks!

Hi JMG,

The Arcane Teaching series by the same author is much more comprehensive than the Kybalion. The first book of the series also contains similar "seven laws" but it covers a wider range of topics in Western occult philosophy (and in more depth). The third book ("The Mystery of Sex or Sex Polarity") further elaborates on the principle of gender on different planes. Additionally, the second and fourth books (namely "Arcane Formulas or Mental Alchemy" and "Vril or Vital Magnetism") contain a lot practical exercises related to these teachings. I wonder why this series is not as popular as the Kybalion.

Dear JMG,

When I thought about Dion Fortune's use of Arthurian legend in her order, it led me to think about a possible historical analogy between Saxon invasion of Britain and Nazi invasion attempt. Since Fortune and her society organised a magical resistance against Nazi army; when they decided to incorporate Arthurian legend into their ritual work, were they motivated by this kind of historical analogy?

I have a long-standing case of congestive heart failure, generally under good control, which flared up over the last 4 days. (Slight problem with cutting back my meds a bit - the cardiologist said to try it and see how it worked out. Also a bit of indulgence in foods containing more salt than I should have. Nothing to hit the panic button over.) But I am over 80 and do not expect miracles.

I'm already limiting my practice to meditation, divination, natural magic, and the LBRP. The problem is that when this happens, I can barely light up the pentagrams in imagination. I'll be picking up the Middle Pillar Ritual as well today, but once again, it seems to call for some heavy-duty visualizing a lot of energy here, there, and yonder.

Also, though I practice Wicca, I'm looking at the tools for a full-scale ritual and realizing I really don't do such rituals any more. Again, no energy nor endurance except as one of those spurts of adrenaline that don't last. I won't get rid of the basic tools, of course, but they are on the shelf.

My question is, where to go from here. The Gypsy Witch cards are working out nicely for me, to the point where the overly simplistic interpretations on the LeNormand deck are giving way to more meaningful readings most of the time. I guess what I need is adaptations of the usual Golden Dawn stuff I was taught, for someone not quite up to it any more. Will accept advice from anyone, as well.

Thanks.

Dear JMG,

When I saw that some prominent members (even leaders) of the Carbonari were initiated into various Egyptian Rites of Freemasonry, I got surprised. On the one hand, Carbonari sought to build secular and rationalist republics around Europe; on the other hand, they were initiated into some occultist organizations whose rituals were influenced by ancient Greco-Egyptian Paganism. Were the Carbonari members really interested in occultism, or did they use Continental Masonic lodges merely for political gatherings?

I'm making honey jar spells for better career/business outcomes, should I coordinate it with moon phases or certain days/time of the week?  I had planned on doing it at the beginning of the upcoming new moon.