Adequacy of Actions

Understanding the relativity of the world as a product of description, Magic nevertheless points out that action in this “illusory” world is the only available mode of self-knowledge and therefore the only means of development both personal and absolute.

Thus, as we have said, the sole criterion of mental development is the capacity of its conduit for adequate action.

By adequacy, Magic means the correspondence of the Magus’s pattern of action to his way of describing the field of that action — specifically, the correspondence of actions to the Myth.

For example, although the idea of the power of the Parasite of mind over the Psychocosm is merely a description, it dictates a corresponding pattern of action.

How often we meet people who, with all their might, deny both the existence and the power of the Parasite. And everything would be fine if they could act in accordance with their description — that is, behaving as free beings. But careful analysis shows that most people, whether they admit the existence of an external power over their awareness or not, behave as if the Parasite of mind exists. That is, to account for the constant and purposeful dissipation of Power that they produce, for their self-destruction and the manic ineffectiveness of their actions, one must invoke either the idea of the Parasite or some similar notion — for example, the vague and indistinct concept of “mortido.”

Namely, a Myth that describes the presence of the Parasite permits a more accurate account of the observed pattern of people’s actions than a Myth that does not include such a description.

There is nothing wrong with describing the world in any of these ways; problems begin when one must act within that description, because forming a pattern of action adequate to one’s description can sometimes be extremely difficult. But when action and description diverge — that is when the outflow of Power reaches its maximum.

We repeat once more that to live within another Myth one must not only deny the existence of the Parasite but also act as if it did not exist.

In fact, this is precisely what the Prophets and Masters of humanity meant when they spoke of the “power of faith.” It is also what Magi mean when they speak of “adequacy” — it is not enough simply to acknowledge some idea or concept intellectually; one must also act in accordance with that idea.

Needless to say, most people who “believe in God” do not act in a manner consistent with that claim — they act as if God does not exist and therefore only squander words about their faith.

The magical notion of ‘awareness’ and its expansion is also directly connected to the idea of adequacy.

As mentioned, from the point of view of Magic, to realize some idea or concept does not mean merely to accept it intellectually or even to feel it, but to begin to act in accordance with that idea or concept.

That is, to become aware of the presence of the Parasite in the Psychocosm or of the Archons in a dream means not simply to acknowledge their “existence” or even to undergo the shock of encountering them — it means to change one’s pattern of action so that this new mode of behavior reduces the power of such beings over life and mental development.

This is why Magic insists on the importance of a systemic description of the world: only within such a systemic Myth, where all elements are logically connected, can one respond most adequately to changes in particular elements, since from one change one can easily infer how the other elements and the whole system will shift.

In other words, the systematized Myth makes it possible to develop an adequate pattern of action that will more effectively overcome the obstacles arising on the Way.

At the same time, shifts of Myth, which inevitably occur in the mind from time to time, also require their own adequacy — and now, when “the world shifts,” appropriate actions may be the most unexpected and unusual — for in conditions of the Rift, the Abyss or other liminal states of mind, when one Myth has already lost its adequacy and another has not yet acquired it, the mind must also be fluid and mobile.

Thus, a Magus’s actions must be highly ordered and well matched to his description of the Cosmos, and the greater that adequacy, the greater both the effectiveness of his actions and the expansion of awareness — the Magus’s self-realization.