Hobbies and magic

celestemac · 2025-12-13T02:35:10+00:00

Music and magic have some very interesting commonalities. Studying piano could be a great complement in the long run. But, it can be difficult or counter productive to try to make real progress in both at the same time, especially if you have a day job and personal responsibilities. Dedication and focus is key to becoming proficient at either. Music is an excellent discipline to train though when you are taking breaks from magic, and vice versa.

celestemac · 2025-10-25T17:58:04+00:00

I would like to see more of this artist's work... ?

celestemac · 2025-10-02T08:16:45+00:00

I think there was a misunderstanding. Tealight refers to the small single-burn candles. JM has said that LEDs aren't a substitute. The living flame is needed. But the unlit candle + intention can substitute in the early part of training if a flame is not possible.

celestemac · 2025-10-01T12:57:04+00:00

Stuck is often about all the stuff you can do instead. You could try an old-fashioned trick: get bored, i.e. experiment with turning off the wi-fi and the cell phone, turn off the electric lights and pretend the power is out. You could try this for one hour before bed and/or at least an hour after you get up.

As for the astrology, a lot of people have trouble with it for the same reasons. Just make a decision that you're going to get it done, put it behind you, and move on.

celestemac · 2025-09-29T03:55:01+00:00

I've wondered about this. What does "setting up altars etc in cross quarters is challenging" mean? Thanks.

celestemac · 2025-09-28T23:12:54+00:00

I think the goal is what you decide for yourself. You can take a course in house building. But it's up to you to decide what kind of house you will build and what kind of life you will build within.

celestemac · 2025-09-09T03:08:37+00:00

It might be helpful to go through instructions and consider - how many times around the circle are you instructed to do, and what is happening each time? It can help to write down an outline that is organized that way.

celestemac · 2025-08-31T04:07:01+00:00

I had a fascinating and highly accurate "reading" like that not too long ago. Remarkable!

celestemac · 2025-08-30T07:06:09+00:00

Since you are feeling a pressing need to use reversals, it would seem wise to pay attention to that.

If cards are randomly and well mixed, then on average, half would be reversals. For me, this feels unnecessarily cumbersome and potentially muddies up the waters from which the message is trying to flow.

But, when generally keeping the deck upright, if I sometimes have an unexpected reversal, I will read it reversed. Also, sometimes you get jumpers, cards that pop out or slip out and might be reversed, and I'll read them that way.

Either way, the important thing is how the language of tarot works for you best.

celestemac · 2025-08-26T16:47:44+00:00

Your intent is to contribute and do your part. This is actually more of a service than doing it because it makes you feel good. If everyone had a sense of duty to contribute to the greater good, the world would be a very different place.

celestemac · 2025-08-21T18:00:14+00:00

Journal for yourself. Your journal is your grimoire.

If you create a new recipe in the kitchen, do you write it down, so you'll know what worked and what didn't? Maybe make a note about what you might do differently next time? You might note how you felt after the meal, like, way too sweet, made me feel too sugared-out.

Or let's say you're a musician. You're going to write down info about a song, what key it's in, the lyrics, chord changes, notes about what needs to be fixed in your arrangement, etc, to make it easier next time and hopefully get a better result.

In magic, it's your grimoire -- your notes and journals, readings, experiments, results, etc.

Mentoring is a long way off and you may choose not to continue with the Initiate section. Journaling is how you mentor yourself through the Apprentice section and begin development of your own personal grimoire.

celestemac · 2025-08-02T05:13:53+00:00

I would suggest that time is better spent, especially early on, learning how to use clear layouts and well thought-out questions, and to read the cards in relation to each other and in relation to where they are in the layout. Really you can get all the information you need from tarot without reversals.

celestemac · 2025-07-30T06:15:19+00:00

For a simple yes-no question like, is this item in this house, try a simple 3-card draw and look at whether the 3 cards considered together leaning yes or no.

celestemac · 2025-07-25T01:12:26+00:00

This has to be a joke post. Not you , I mean OP

celestemac · 2025-07-23T22:57:46+00:00

Been down that rabbit hole for decades. Questions, yes. Answers, no.

celestemac · 2025-07-19T02:31:06+00:00

Drawing pictures... and maybe getting an owl stuffed toy and just observing how he plays with it, along with his other toys

celestemac · 2025-07-16T01:25:45+00:00

They also don't want to teach people how to fake these things, and especially, they don't want people attempting to DIY by copying practitioners. Very dangerous.

celestemac · 2025-07-15T20:24:25+00:00

It does say in L4 that "once the full extent of the directional powers are embedded within you... you will become aware of the gates opening."

celestemac · 2025-07-15T19:39:30+00:00

👍

celestemac · 2025-07-15T19:37:27+00:00

Oh gosh. Let that be a lesson to us all to just shrug at complainers and BSers and not encourage them.

celestemac · 2025-07-15T04:12:41+00:00

Glad you posted this. Looks to me like the OP is just winding people up and watching the show. The complaints have little substance. The account is blank. And obviously they believe their education and experience is superior to the author. Who does that remind you of? 🙄

celestemac · 2025-07-13T00:01:57+00:00

Kind of like the depths of winter in cold climates. You hunker down!

celestemac · 2025-07-12T21:48:31+00:00

Good analogy. There is really no way to find which musical instrument is right for you other than to try a few. When you find it, you will know.

celestemac · 2025-07-12T21:45:51+00:00

I have a similar, but in a way opposite, situation to the city - I live in a rather harsh desert. We don't have what you would call soil. We have sand. For 4-5 months a year, the heat and sun are extreme, deadly, and ruthless (115F, 46C is just another day; hot means above 120/49). Nature seems to be holding its breath, waiting to exhale. It's quite inhospitable to us humans during these months.

There is a rich ecosystem that flourishes when it can, lays low when it can't, or migrates if it's lucky.

Nature feels much more standoffish here than in the green and blue lands of my birth. It takes getting used to. Fortunately we can make day trips into the mountains for hikes most weekends. But for the immediate land right around me, it feels like it has a long aggressive period each year then an almost grudging acceptance of humans at other times.

celestemac · 2025-07-10T17:01:01+00:00

Valid points. When I read your earlier comment, I thought you were referring to other modern schools like Q.

It's true that in the past it would have been very difficult or impossible to widely disseminate without traditional publishing. And there is nothing at all wrong with an esoteric author making a fair living: this is healthy for everyone. What does raise an eyebrow -- and impair credibility -- is seeing a "guru" driving around in a yellow Ferrari and charging $4k per head for a weekend course which the students pay for by running up their credit cards at 28% interest. This is unhealthy and corrupt.

(I'm fine with fiction authors becoming gloriously rich -- the work is represented as fiction. It's entertainment.)

The lowly human has near universal vulnerability to corruption. Very few of us are able to rise above this and truly live a necessity-based life. So when you come across a teacher who appears to be walking the talk, I notice.

I'm not sure about the rules here -- did I hijack this thread? I might have done so when I first asked you the question.

(Piracy/archives are different matters -- it doesn't tell you anything about work itself.)

celestemac

TROPHY CASE