Of all the occult philosophers in the history of western esotericism, Thales has one of the most notable resumes.
Widely regarded as the first philosopher in the west, Thales maintained that spirits and gods permeated all physical things in the world. He also said that all things originally derived from water, making water the first and highest substance. This position is echoed in the hermetica, where all things are said to emerge from a “dark, watery substance.”
Thales studied metaphyics and spirituality with Egyptian priests. While in Egypt, he became the first person to accurately measure the height of the pyramids. Thales was also the first person in the west to predict an eclipse. Though extremely precocious, his active mind gave him a reputation as an astrologer with his head perhaps a little too far up in the clouds - he once fell into a well while staring attentively at the sky, serving as a cautionary tale for all of us to make sure we have our feet planted firmly on the earth.
He served as an advisor to the great king Cyrus of Persia, and is considered by some to be one of the seven legendary sages of Ancient Greece. Again, quite a resume.
Thales was also the first options trader that we have any record of.
Thales had been mocked and belittled by his peers for being so lofty and high-minded that he couldn’t make any money. Some even went so far as to suggest that his spiritual and intellectual capacities must be flawed if he couldn’t apply them to succeeding in financial, material domains.
I’m sure a lot of the free-spirited, entrepreneurial magician types in my readership have received similar critiques. If our magical, occult connections are real, why can’t we use them to make tons of money and live extravagant lives?
Thales responded that he was poor not because he couldn’t earn money, but because he didn’t care to. If he really wanted to apply his wisdom, his studies and philosophy could make him all the money he wanted. A man of his word, Thales then set off to prove his point.
According to Aristotle, Thales predicted that the weather the following year would be extremely abundant for growing olives. This was the 6th century B.C. - there were no weather satellites or mundane data collection tools that could have informed Thales of this. So when Aristotle says he predicted, he means he predicted - in the good old-fashioned magical sense.
Seeing that next year would be a great boon for the olive industry, Thales proceeded to take out loans and reserved all the local olive presses in advance at a discount. Lo and behold, the next year’s olive harvest turned out to be incredibly fruitful. Thales rented out his reserves in the olive presses when the demand for them peaked, and made a steep profit.
I see three morals here.
The first is that prediction works. Whether through astrology or more oracular kinds of divination like tarot, sufficient skill with the craft will lead to accurate predictions about concrete states of affairs. Clearly, this works for business and financial matters too -and this is one of my favorite applications of the tools of classical astrology.
The second is that magical, occult knowledge can be applied to generate substantial abundance. In response to critics who assume that there must be no value in magic and astrology because they can’t be used to generate wealth, Thales demonstrated that you actually can.
I can also attest alongside Thales that magic and astrology can be used to create wealth and build a sustainable business because I have used them for these purposes as well. I’ve studied the practical, business-oriented sides of astrology to great success, and seen the techniques of this tradition work time and time again. I’ve also made contact with spirits on the other side of the veil who are more than happy to help mages with good intentions to manifest abundance and create a life free of financial stress.
And this brings me to my third moral, and my biggest takeaway for all of you: trust that the magic will work. You don’t have to keep hustling and hustling. You don’t have to break your back in order to receive financial success. You have access to ways of moving energy, manipulating reality, and seeing into the future that kind of laborious grind totally unnecessary. You don’t have to play the same game as everyone else.
Be like Thales: use your tools, your predictive capacity, and your spiritual practices. If you do it properly, finances will flow. If you come to it with good intentions, you’ll always have what you need.
I know times are tough right now, but the current global financial situation does not negate the power of magic. Keep using your tools, and learn how to use them better. Instead of fighting your way to financial success on the material plane, try using the magical skills that you’ve accumulated thus far. See how far they can take you.
Stick it to the man. Refuse to worry about money. Find smart, fun, and fulfilling ways to use your magical abilities to generate wealth instead.
Merlin
P.S. I’m still running my business astrology promotion, but only for one more week. If you are interested to see what practical assessments, advice, and timeline your chart (and the spirits of astrology) have to give you about your own business, you can sign up by clicking the link below! Use the code THRIVE25 to get 25% off a natal chart reading!