Early this morning I dreamt I was being hunted by a polar bear and then two large spiders. This shifted to an OBE. I fell asleep in a deep cuddle so exiting was awkward and some subtle body of mine rolled on to the floor and sank right through it. I could not see well and quickly willed myself to “wake up”.
When I mentioned this to my fiance he was silent for a moment. He then told me that a few nights ago he dreamt he was hunted by a polar bear and large spiders. He is not particularly spiritual nor the type to indulge me. We are currently vacationing by a sunny beach. Bizarre.
Hmm, sounds like it’s a good time to Banish and generally clean yourself and your place spiritually. I would think that you do that often, but it also sounds like you keep cursed objects with you or such objects that radiate malefic influence (such as curse jars). That can draw evil spirits to your home or area. Spiders are ruled by Saturn, so these can be demons who take on spiders’ form and are drawn to curses and rotten things. Polar Bears… well, they are in part ruled by Mars, so it can be a powerful demon in the form of a Polar Bear who is also drawn to curses and violence and conflict.
Now, if you’ve cursed someone you shouldn’t have (as in, ethically), these could be Daemonae of Vengeance or Punishment, drawn to your miasma. Getting rid of them would be done in a different way.
Observe your life and relationships closely in the near future to be sure these are spirits (but, the fact that you and your fiancé had this dream is seems to make it clear that it is from a spritual influence).
I do keep curse jars, but in a special, guarded, concealed place in my temple in Germany. I am in a different continent atm, no curse jars or cursed objects on hand. Except for perhaps an item my father gave to me recently that belonged to my great-grandfather. That is in the room with us. But there room feels good, as does the object.
Hmm. I think its hard to say what is ethical or not, especially when it comes to cursing. But I certainly don’t curse people for no reason or for petty nonsense.
We are staying with family atm. My family is very happy and the energy feels good; I will have to think if there is some sort of entaglement.
I had thought that perhaps these beings were tied to the land here. I have never encountered them in Europe. I have been playfully messed with be land spirits in Massachusetts and wonder if certain places have land spirits with penchants for certain behaviors
Yes, absolutely. They feel and act a bit different in different places. Sometimes very differently. The ones in Hawaii sometimes felt different from different islands. Part of it is the feedback cycle from the people and things that live/grow there.
You mentioned a beach. Sometimes more hedonistic places carry their own shadows, too. The shadows on Waikiki could be different than those in Waimea, for example. Different concentrations based on different feeding sources sort of thing.
You might say that. Platonism doesn’t really recognize “evil” in the way Christianity does, however.
The Gods are seen as perfect (See, Plato’s ‘The Republic’ Book III), doing no evil, and are eternally happy. The world is not evil in Platonism and Hermeticism. If I recall correctly, in Plato’s ‘Timaeus’ as well as in the Hermetic work called ‘the Definitions of Hermes to Asclepius’, the entire cosmos itself is said to be a God. The world is holy. It is not evil nor is it the cause of evil. Even though it is further from reality. Further from true reality is a better way of putting these emanations in Platonism.
For spiders, I went with my intuition and reason. William Lilly places Spiders as being ruled my Mercury. They are intelligent creatures who make complex webs, so this makes sense. But I would place venomous and especially aggressive and dangerous spiders as being ruled by Saturn. I do see now that Al-Biruni places venomous insects as being ruled by Saturn as well, so it is confirmed by a traditional source.
I don’t think polar bears are mentioned in traditional sources in this context. But I would place them as being ruled by Mars and the Sun, because they are mighty and have no natural predators. Traditionally, bears in general are said to be ruled by Mars and the Sun, and also by Saturn. And indeed, the constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor (The Great Bear and the Little Bear) are similar in nature to Mars and Saturn, respectively, according to Ptolemy, because of the colour of the Stars in these constellations. Although, take note that the Planets do not rule the Stars. Rather, the Stars rule the Planets, as they are “higher” than them.
Lol I gotcha! So is this correct: the power of an Animal is seen through a Celestial Lord, a planet?
I erased my comments bc I didn’t like how I phrased the question originally.
I work with Animal. Sometimes, it expresses through trans-saturn-ian planets. Most animals I see via the “trans-lense of Uranus”
Odd because I do not have material to traverse these planes, without sounding like an edgelord lol
Yes! That is correct, under a traditional view. The traditional (pre-1700s) view in Western esotericism is Platonist and Hermetic.
Traditionally, it is seen that there are multiple “levels” of reality. The first and highest is The One, which Plato calls “The Good”. All things ultimately arose out of The One and is connected to The One. It is not a spirit, or a being, but it is the very ground of being. From The One arose the Demiurgos, God. But in Platonism, the Demiurge is seen as entirely benevolent. In fact, all the Gods are believed to do no evil at all. So, that differs from some of the Gnostics, and Plotinus (2nd Century Roman Platonist) makes lengthy arguments against the Gnostics in his Enneads.
Also, take a look at this article:
The Demiurge in Greek Platonism is identified with Zeus. The Demiurge gave life to all the Gods, and they exist outside of time and space. They are seen as limitless, all-powerful, and create all things. The entire cosmos is also One Unified Living Being, as Plotinus says.
“Zeus is the first. Zeus the thunderer, is the last.
Zeus is the head. Zeus is the middle, and by Zeus all things were fabricated.
Zeus is male, Immortal Zeus is female.
Zeus is the foundation of the earth and of the starry heaven.
Zeus is the breath of all things. Zeus is the rushing of indefatigable fire.
Zeus is the root of the sea: He is the Sun and Moon.
Zeus is the king; He is the author of universal life;
One Power, one Dæmon, the mighty prince of all things:
One kingly frame, in which this universe revolves,
Fire and water, earth and ether, night and day,
And Metis (Counsel) the primeval father, and all-delightful Eros (Love).
All these things are United in the vast body of Zeus.
Would you behold his head and his fair face,
It is the resplendent heaven, round which his golden locks
Of glittering stars are beautifully exalted in the air.
On each side are the two golden taurine horns,
The risings and settings, the tracks of the celestial gods;
His eyes the sun and the Opposing moon;
His unfallacious Mind the royal incorruptible Ether.” (From Aristotle’s ‘De Mund’ and Proclus’ commentaries on Timaeus, translated and collected by I.P. Cory, “Orphic Fragments”, Ancient Fragments, 1832 ed.)
The Demiurge is the creator, and so created the cosmos. The Stars and Planets are seen as the Encosmic Gods (See, Plato’s ‘Timaeus’, and Book 3 of the Corpus Hermeticum).
Now, in traditional astrology, we do not look towards the material Stars and Planets. Rather, these all point towards the inner workings of the cosmos (Read, the introductory chapters in ‘The Arabic Parts in Astrology’ by Robert Zoller for a very nice explanation on this. And also look at Plotinus’ ‘Enneads’, Ennead II, 3). And light is important in traditional astrology, so we do not look at the “trans Saturnian planets”, that is, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. But they certainly point towards something, as everything does. But traditionally, we only look at the 7 Visible Planets when it comes to Planets.
Now, the Celestial World is traditionally divided into several spheres. I really like Petrus Apianus’ cosmological diagram, so let’s go with 10 Heavenly Spheres:
(Source, taken from Apianus’ ‘Cosmographia, 1524’)
The first and highest sphere is the Primum Mobile, the First Mover. That is traditionally seen as pointing towards God in the Medieval Ages and the Renaissance. Here is an excerpt from E.M.W Tillyard’s ‘The Elizabethan World Picture’ on that:
"In spite of Copernicus and a wide knowledge of his theories through popular handbooks, the ordinary educated Elizabethan thought of the universe as geocentric. He was as apt as a modern to meditate on its immensity and he thought of God as domiciled beyond the bounds of the fixed stars in the coelum empyraeum (Milton’s empyrean) attended by the hosts of the angels. The name of this heaven signifies fire and hence, fire being the best of the elements and heavenly fire being better than the elemental, the highest perfection. It also signifies light and the notion of God as light. Milton’s first description of heaven can not be far from the Elizabethan conception:
“Now had the Almighty Father from above,
From the pure Empyrean where he sits
High Thron’d above all highth, bent down his eye,
His own works and their works at once to view:
About him all the Sanctities of Heaven
Stood thick as Starrs, and from his sight reciev’d
Beatitude past utterance.” (E.M.W Tillyard, The Elizabethan World Picture, p. 38)
Then, below the Primum Mobile is the 9th Sphere of the 12 Signs of the Zodiac (And I add the 36 Decans of the Zodiac and the 28 Mansions of the Moon). The 12 Signs are not the same as the Constellations in traditional Western astrology. The Signs are unmoving and invisible, unlike the the Stars.
Then the 8th Sphere has the Fixed Stars and Constellations, and then below them are the Planets, in the order of: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, Luna.
As we read in Agrippa’s ‘Three Books of Occult Philosophy’, the Celestial World is an intermediary between the Divine and the Material World. So, the Stars and Planets embody certain Ideas/Forms in the Mind of God, and communicate all things down to the world. So, all things descend from Stars and Planets. The Sun is also traditionally seen as the Celestial Demiurge, an image of God.
All things point towards the higher worlds. Within the Celestial World, The Earthly Bull ultimately descends from the Sign of Taurus, and then down from the Constellation of Taurus, then from the Sun (And Venus). Everything is connected through the Grand Chain of Being, down from The One, the Gods, the Celestial Gods, and hosts of spirits below them, to the material world.
So, the powers of each Animal, Plant, Stone, etc. Is seen through the Celestial Being who rules over them. They also move as their Celestial Ruler moves. And everything moves as the entire heavens move.
"True it is, without falsehood, certain and most true.
That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above,
to accomplish the miracles of one thing.
And as all things were by contemplation of one, so all things arose from this one thing by a single act of adaptation.
The father thereof is the Sun, the mother the Moon.
The wind carried it in its womb, the earth is the nurse thereof.
It is the father of all works of wonder throughout the whole world.
The power thereof is perfect.
If it be cast on to earth, it will separate the element of earth from that of fire, the subtle from the gross.
With great sagacity it doth ascend gently from earth to heaven. Again it doth descend to earth,
and uniteth in itself the force from things superior and things inferior.
Thus thou wilt possess the glory of the brightness of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far from thee.
This thing is the strong fortitude of all strength,
for it overcometh every subtle thing and doth penetrate every solid substance.
Thus was this world created.
Hence will there be marvellous adaptations achieved, of which the manner is this.
For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus, because I hold three parts of the wisdom of the whole world.
That which I had to say about the operation of Sol is completed. " (Source (Taken from Wikipedia). Steele, Robert and Singer, Dorothea Waley 1928. “The Emerald Table” in: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, 21, pp. 41–57/485–501, p. 42/486.)
However, each animal, plant, stone etc. Does not have all the powers of their celestial ruler. You can see John Michael Greer’s ‘Encyclopedia of Natural Magic’ for more on that and the various powers of plants and stones. Albertus Magnus’ De Mineralibus is also a traditional source that gives the powers of various stones.
That was a long post to explain something that seems simple. But I felt to simply answer it plainly wouldn’t explain enough for some of those who are interested. A background is necessary for understanding what is meant.
And the further you get from this First/Forever Fire, is “Bad” and “Evil”? Being more so an absence, compared to the late Renaissance ideas of the problem of duality?
@Dankquanicus would you say that a cast iron owl figurine had properties of Mars via iron, and the Moon via owl? Or perhaps Saturn or Mercury for the owl? I think I read somewhere that Agrippa actualy associated the owl with Mars…
What immediately came to my mind was that I would place Owls as being ruled by Mars, because they are ferocious hunters, and Saturn because they are widely considered related to Death.
I did look through a few traditional sources, and as you say Agrippa does place Owls as being ruled by Mars, and William Lilly also says that Owls are ruled by Mars and Saturn. Al-Biruni also says that all flesh eating birds who have curved bills are ruled by Mars, so, naturally that also places the Owl under Mars.
With Iron, our traditional sources don’t entirely agree with what metals are ruled by which Planets (Which is perfectly fine. Everything has all the Planets within them, and often times the qualities of multiple planets are strong within something). But in some sources such as Agrippa and Lilly, Iron is ruled by Mars, and in some other sources it is also said to be ruled by Saturn (Quite appropriate for the owl, then!). I add this here to say that the common list of the Planetary rulership of metals that circulates isn’t the only list, and I believe it’s taken from Agrippa if I’m not mistaken.
So, I’d say that the figurine in it’s entirety is close to Mars and Saturn.
But if the rulership of the metal and the image weren’t in agreement… hmm, I would say it combines the spiritual power of both. For example, the figurine of an Ox in Iron or Lead, I would say can represent Long Endurance with great Suffering.
Fascinating! I think the figurine might make a good talisman for resilience or determination or the like. I will think on it. Thank you very much Dank!
I have long made a quick connection between Odin and Owls. At first, I thought this was because of the owl relating to Wisdom, but then I learnt that both have strong relation to Death. So, doubly appropriate! No doubt, the earthly Owl ultimately in part descends from Odin. The One > God > Odin (And other Gods relating to War and Death or Owls > Stars and Constellations relating to Owls > Saturn and Mars (Most strongly) > The Earthly Owl (As a simplified map of the Links in the Chain of Being)
Very cool! I love it when these kinds of things happen. Truly, the Cosmos is one unified body. I often find that the music I listen to relate to my state of mind and thoughts in that very moment (Even though I didn’t hand pick them).
I also wanted to ask you if you still perform Planetary Magick in general, since you quite liked that work from Jason Miller (So, that also comes in good timing!)
Tbh, the book does not live up to a traditional astrologer’s expectations. It does not explore going beyond planetary hours and days, and I later read online criticisms about this. I had some blow-back myself after not considering what was happening with Saturn, as I believe you remember!
I feel a bit intimidated; I thought I knew what I was on about, because I know modern astrology quite well, but I know nothing of traditional astrology. I know much more witchcraft and folk magick than ceremonial magick or most of what would be considered western occultism, especially of the traditional kind. I honestly know more about ceremonial East Asian magick than anything from Renaissance Europe. I don’t know a thing about Crowley or John Dee or Kabbalah or the Golden Dawn or any of that.
