Inspiration and Mastery

As we have already said several times, the magus’s realizational power is a manifestation of his life energy and can be an expression of its ascending (baraka and dinitas) or descending (hamingya and vod) currents.

Magic is an eminently pragmatic worldview, so instead of speaking in terms of hard-to-define and generally hard-to-objectify psychological categories — “luck”, “inspiration” or “mastery” — it speaks of perfectly observable and measurable concepts of energy: hamingya, vod, dinitas and baraka. Indeed, one can argue whether a person had “inspiration”, how great his “luck” was, or whether he truly possesses “merit” or “mastery”, but the amount of energy is a clearly measurable characteristic that can be measured and expressed in equivalents and outcomes.

At the same time, the energy of vod results from the magus’s high personal Power, baraka is an expression of his Authority, dinitas represents his aspirations, and hamingya is the product of his victoriousness.

It is not hard to understand that hamingya and vod are modifications of the same energy, since victories usually produce inspiration, and fury in battle contributes to victory. In other words, if a victory creates an “inertia of success”, a stream of luck, we are speaking of hamingya energy; if it stirs the mind, prompting further action, we are speaking of vod energy. One could say that hamingya is the ability to create conditions favorable for achievement in the environment, while vod is the ability to create conditions favorable for achievement in the mind.

It is also obvious that hamingya is a much harder-to-identify and grasp energy than vod, and in this respect inspiration is often called the “higher luck“, referring to its high realization potential.

Just as victory itself is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the emergence of hamingya, inspiring circumstances do not guarantee the appearance of vod either. Nevertheless, controlling the onset of inspiration is still much easier than managing the flow of luck, which can appear or disappear because of any unexpected, seemingly harmless lapse.

Given this fluctuating nature of luck, hamingya can hardly be considered a suitable basis for the magus’s regular practice, and therefore in practice one usually employs vod or baraka, while dinitas largely shapes the conditions of its manifestation. However, for most operations, hamingya nonetheless remains an important behind-the-scenes player, affecting their effectiveness and outcomes, “repercussions” or “blows” one way or the other.

At the same time, with sufficient observation and experience the magus can, very likely, induce a state of vodic inspiration and direct its energy toward practical needs, while the accumulation of dinitas and baraka is always the consequence of prolonged, deliberate practice.

Moreover, by virtue of the “airy”, “windy” nature of vod, it is more effective in vector operations, whereas the formative, “Tiferet” nature of baraka makes it an especially effective “engine” for creating, tuning and transforming whirls.

Therefore, for runic Magi inspiration itself is the key “fuel”, while the “flywheel” of ceremonial Magic is driven primarily by Authority and baraka.

At the same time, it is clear that each energy type is necessary for successful magic: effective realization will not occur without inspiration or mastery, and just as Power and Authority are the two wings that carry the magus’s mind, vod and baraka are the two pillars of his achievements.