Guiding Spirits

However mighty the gods may be, and however great their contribution to the development of the Cosmos, in practice they remain transcendent to the “lower” worlds, intervening in those worlds only to the extent that their macrocosmic vantage deems necessary.

Thus, the specific processes unfolding in the “lower” worlds are governed in practice by the lesser gods — the Stichials and the directing spirits of the Interworld (Spiritus Directores) — as well as by demigoddess entities such as the Sids and the Manes.

To the Magus, all these beings are sources of creative activity, yet their wisdom pertains to the manifested realm and to the evolutionary process; the Magus seeks to transcend the worldly current, to leap along the endless ascent of awareness. For this, he cannot rely on gods or fairies.

Only one category of beings — whose interaction is theoretically accessible to the human level of mind — possesses pre-creative wisdom, a wisdom that transcends time, space, and conditioning: the Jotuns-Progenitors.

These most ancient beings, arising from the World Abyss before the very notion of the “lower” world existed, possess the detachment from its bustle and restlessness that a Magus so desperately needs on his bold Path.

Just as Odin sought counsel from Mimir (and then from his Head), so the Magus turns to these Primeval Powers in search of wisdom. It is their timeless perspective that lends the Magus sobriety in his struggle for the infinite.

Little wonder that, from the Aesir’s point of view, the Jotuns are the chief threat to their rule: the Progenitors see no value in the formed world; for them, being is merely a cauldron of seething potentials that already contain everything and are everything in themselves.

Nothing helps one grasp the transience of the world more effectively, nothing aids so effectively in destroying what must be destroyed, nothing grants such detachment as the wisdom of the Jotuns.

But how is a Magus to establish contact with beings whose very nature is to resist the mind?

The answer is well known: the highest wisdom is to renounce wisdom. In other words, to behold the formed world from the outside, to assess its position and locate its weak points, one must step beyond conscious judgment, immerse oneself in the primal waters and, sacrificing one’s reason, emerge with new wisdom — just as Odin, by driving a spear through himself, won the Runes.

It is clear that the Magi do not practice self‑mortification; their approach to going BEYOND the bounds of reason lies in accentuating the Principle of Will, pure potency unclouded by creative reason.

The Magus must learn to act ” without fear, without hope“, to act for the sake of action itself, relying solely on will. Thus, by plunging into Elivagar, he may find wisdom older than any other wisdom.

At the same time, the Magus must understand that his goal is not the premature destruction of his being; therefore, once he has reached the depths, he must find within himself the strength to surface again, like Odin, who “fell from the Tree” and thereby gained the wisdom of the Runes.

It is precisely in these encounters with the Primeval Entities that the purpose of many Immersive Rituals lies. In the end, the Magus discovers that, for example, the Vision (a Vision of the Way) is given not by the gods but by the Jotuns, and that the Vision itself is timeless.

As the First Manifestation of Power, the Jotuns are nearest to its source — the Great Spirit — and for that reason alone are entitled to judge “truth” and “falsehood” from an absolute standpoint.

Therefore, whenever a Magus seeks counsel about his Way from the infinite to the infinite, the only ones capable of giving such counsel are the Progenitors, for they themselves dwell on that very threshold where the finite is born from the abyss and the finite loses its boundaries.