Remelting of the Soul
As awareness develops, as we have said, its center shifts from a potential state to an actual one, and on the basis of the fusion of the spirit that transforms with the environment to be transformed, a new substance — the soul — is created.
Put differently, the immersion of consciousness in being animates matter, and such “ensouled” matter is called the soul.
At the same time, we mentioned that since the formation of the soul occurs in a hostile environment inhabited by numerous predators and parasites, the resulting substance is comparatively rarely harmonious.
In this respect, Magic stands in tension with religion, which insists on the “luminous” nature of the soul, and it borders on popular beliefs that souls can be “black”, “callous”, or even “dead“. In truth, such disagreement simply arises from different understandings of the term “soul”, since what religions call ‘soul’ the Magical myth calls it ‘spirit’ and assigns it to potential reality, as opposed to the actually developing soul.
Thus, the Magical myth asserts that the souls of most people are “spoiled” by disharmonizing pacts with predators, under whose influence human life is typically shaped.
However, the Myth does not stop at merely stating the disharmonious nature of souls; it goes further and proposes transforming this ineffective system into a more harmonious one, to contribute more to the Monad’s development.
Various magical systems devote more or less attention to this process, but all schools include it as an essential component of development.
The essence of the soul’s transformation that the Magus must accomplish in the course of his development is, in the alchemical sense, to “remelt” the structure crystallized by corrupting factors into a more harmonious one — that is, less internally conflicted.
This process is aptly named “remelting” because the analogy is quite precise: at first, there is a crystal with a defective structure, then it is brought into a “liquid”, flowing state, from which a new, better-formed crystal grows.
Many routes for carrying out this remelting have been developed — the classical alchemical interaction with the principle of Fire, one of the sections of the Kolo Velesa, and other mystery rites.
Regardless of the particular method by which the “remelting” is effected, its obligatory intermediate stage is an unstable liquid state; therefore all methods of transforming the soul must be carried out with special care, since a “molten” soul can easily “flow” into Sheol and be lost.
Therefore, every Magus who sets out on the Way of development must understand that he must transform his structure — not to change himself, but precisely to remelt it; that is, not to alter its composition but the interactions among its elements, and thus to bring it from a less efficient state with limited capacity to transform energy to a more effective state, better able to broaden its scope. Moreover, one must clearly grasp the complexity and danger of this process and avoid its uncontrolled execution, which can lead to the soul’s death.
Is it possible to remelt the soul of the Macrocosm? Abram changed himself the first time; Abram changed himself the second time… and the world does not change, or is the remelting of the soul possible only within the framework of the Microcosm?
A serious topic. For us, it resembles Death, Change, and Birth more. Something akin to the transition from Quantitative changes to Qualitative ones. That is, artificially organizing this procedure is ineffective until the person themselves is ready to transition to the next level. Remelting the Crystal is a good association.
In the Tradition I am considering, rebirth and remelting – while similar – are still different processes, because the death-birth cycle requires complete dissolution of the system, whereas the melting-crystallization cycle only requires weakening the connections between them. Both methods of restructuring have their strengths and dangers, specifically – death is dangerous due to the scattering of elements, and melting is due to their drainage.
Hello! Can a purification ritual become the starting point for such remelting?
In general, of course, it can. BUT usually purification rituals do not carry such a global goal; they are typically aimed at more “cosmetic” cleansing, necessary for a specific situation, rather than global restructuring.
Indeed, “Rebirth” is a more dangerous ritual, an error in which leads, at a minimum, to quick death. I wonder if as a result of “Remelting” there is an “effusion”, should we “patch the holes” or should we “remelt anew” (considering the weakness of the recipient, apparently, additional forces will need to be attracted)? What method is preferred in your Tradition?
Loss of the soul during its remelting (as in any other situation) requires quick and decisive efforts for its return – there is no time for a “second chance” – first, there is a complex struggle, and only after the return of the soul (if it can indeed be achieved) and its re-assimilation can one attempt to remelt it again.
That is, in “Remelting”, as in “Rebirth”, the count is down to fractions of a second. I understood that the term “effusion” implied a more prolonged process over time. Thus, in both cases, the cost of error and the time for its correction are the same. In my spare time, I will think about the nuances, differences, and bonuses of these Rituals.
Regarding purification rituals, it’s not so simple. It depends on which purification ritual is being discussed. If we are talking about the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP), it can indeed serve as a starting point for transformation. However, at the same time, the LBRP is inherently something more global than just a purification ritual. Crowley wrote that anyone who considers the LBRP a simple means of banishing spirits is unworthy of its application, as it is, in fact, a remedy for metals and the philosopher’s stone. In other words, with the LBRP, the matter is not limited to a merely “cosmetic” effect. The very structure of the ritual is such that, without practicing the ritual itself (or something else with similar objectives, namely purification and balancing of elements), it is unlikely to discuss any magical advancement. Of course, contact with the Force isn’t excluded in one way or another, but the subject who has made such contact will most likely become a prisoner of the Force.
Can the concept of a “break” be considered the first level of transformation? When the soul feels as if it is being torn apart by events and turmoil, and then, as if shaking it off, it moves forward, having organized everything that happened, rethinking and drawing conclusions, finding both pros and cons. A sense of calm arrives, along with the feeling of reaching a new level, as if you’ve grown a little.
Will you separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the coarse gently, with great skill?
Hello, dear Enmerkar. I cannot wrap my mind around the question of whether the world I observe is collapsing, that is, the matter I animate with Spirit, along with the decay of the physical body, or if ‘I’ am just taking from it the ‘part that belongs to me,’ while it continues to exist as some ‘skeleton,’ foundation, or matrix?