The Labyrinth of the Minotaur

The development of the Psychocosmos – the expansion of the mind with Light – is a global process that embraces all levels and layers of being.

At the same time, like any dynamic process, the development of the mind follows the tetragrammatic principle and consequently includes four distinct stages, levels, or layers: the “mineral,” the “plant,” the “animal,” and the “human.”

What has been said holds true for any level of synthetic understanding: we see these four levels in surrounding nature, the same levels can be found in the mind itself, and they can be used to describe larger hierarchies (spirits, angels, gods).

At the same time, confusion in terminology often arises from insufficient clarity in descriptions, which nevertheless must be expended, since without a clear map of the terrain, one cannot progress with purpose.

For example, it is frequently the case that, judged by formal features alone, the “angelic” level of mind is placed above the human level, and the “divine” above that.

The ancient manner of such descriptions misleads – one must remember that the Myth calls the “human” mind Transformative, and not merely the mind belonging to the biological species Homo sapiens. We have already discussed that from this point of view, angels possess lower levels of mind corresponding to the mineral (“eikhalot”), the plant (“levushim”), and the animal (“malakhim”) layers.

Therefore, the Magical myth insists that it is precisely the human level of awareness that is the highest possible level, while also noting that in humans this level is poorly developed, or rather exists only in an embryonic state and requires cultivation, whereas in other creative hierarchies (for example, the Aesir), this level is more fully developed.

Each particular mind, each center of individuation, whether sustained by the Monad or deprived of it, includes all four layers; however, one of them is always determinative.

In other words, angels do take part in creativity, yet their creativity is inspired externally, and their own creative level is subordinate; hence, the Myth calls them “ministering” spirits.

Similarly, the human mind (in the narrow sense), although by its very nature oriented toward creativity, is usually governed by the animal, plant, or even inert layer of the Psychocosmos because that creativity is weakly developed.

Therefore, the well-known magical maxim: «a god must become human to achieve liberation» has several levels of interpretation, one of which implies precisely the central role of creative activity in the process of self-knowledge.

Moreover, a Magus must clearly understand that his mind is an entire world, richly strewn with stones, entwined with plants, and inhabited by animals (the Near Eastern Myth rightly calls the mind in its fullness “Gan Eden” – a garden, an “enclosed place”), which must be “cultivated,” ordered by the human creative element – the human level of mind.

Encounters with many of the inhabitants of this “garden,” both those who rightfully belong there and intruders, can be painful and traumatic; this is reflected in many myths, for example, the well-known myth of the Minotaur, without whose defeat Theseus could not receive instruction from Daedalus. This myth has an important mystical significance even today, quite accurately describing the journey of the mind into its depths and can be interpreted from both a psychological and magical standpoint. In conclusion to this discussion, let us note again that the human mind in the broad sense is precisely that focal point at which the “primordial principles” – spirit and matter – are coupled, i.e., the active and passive states. And the task of the Magus is the purification and clarification of this focus, freeing it from the enslaving influence of inner and outer obstacles, turning it from a gloomy labyrinth into a flowering garden and shaping it into a perfect instrument of knowledge and creativity.