Battle and Hunt
In our conversations we have noted that the primary form of a Magus’s existence is the battle, while the main source of Power is the hunt for it. Therefore it is necessary to clarify how these cornerstones of the Magical myth relate to one another.
The Magical myth proceeds from several basic concepts which, as applied to the accumulation of Power, reduce to the following:
– the meaning and justification of the cosmos lies in the accumulation of the Power of awareness;
– there is a single way to acquire the Power of awareness — to generate it (the life force turning into the Power of awareness);
– beings who possess a high Power of awareness but have exhausted their reserves of life force very often begin to take Life Power from other beings, converting it into their own awareness.
The last assertion is a general principle of existence: the world is the continuous consumption of some beings by others. Animals obtain Life Power from plants and other animals; humans from animals and plants.
Nevertheless, it is obvious that devouring is not the only way to obtain life force. We have said that the Magical description of the world insists that the resources of this Power are inexhaustible; one only needs to know how to use it. At the same time, for many reasons, for many beings — including humans — it turns out to be far easier to take life force from others than to draw it directly from the Great Flow.
This is precisely why the battle–hunt binary is born. Battle is the effort to maintain the existing level of Power, protecting it from predators who seek to replenish their power at others’ expense; Hunt is the effort to acquire Power, both from other beings and directly from its Sources.
In other words, for the Magus, battle is essentially his defense, and hunt is his offense. The sum of a Magus’s battles constitutes his life — his war.
Magi, Lines and Schools regard various forms of the Hunt for Power as permissible and desirable. Some prefer to take it from others; others seek the Sources — but the essence remains unchanged.
What changes, however, is the direction of evolution: using the Power of others as the principal source is a direct path to the Qliphoth, and in order for the mind to expand and deepen, a being must seek sources of power that do not harm other beings.
This distinction is precisely what distinguishes mere hunting from the Hunt for Power. Magic sees the Hunt for Power as a search for non-predatory sources, which let one gather power without harming others, and so without limiting one’s evolution.
The ability to hunt this way is one of the Magus’s most important skills. To find a Source of Power and to extract it
What prevents predators from directly consuming the power of a power place?
The power of a place or object requires “activation” by a consciousness of a certain level. A power place is not just a “spring”; it is a potential spring that provides strength only when interacting with consciousness, and most predators are not capable of “awakening” the Power directly.
Now it’s finally clear what you call “Hunting.” I always believed that the skill of working with Sources is fundamental. This is what I have been teaching from the very beginning. I honestly call “Just Hunting” – vampirism. I believe one should know everything, but use what does not harm others.
Well, “just hunting” is not always vampirism. Vampirism is when strength (blood, resources) is taken from a living being, while hunting often leads to the victim’s demise and then to the consumption of its resources. But overall, of course, the difference is not so significant. Consumption is consumption.
It’s interesting why humans as predators almost never attack directly, unlike animal predators. Usually, a human predator creates a justification for their attack and tries to fit everything around into this picture. Then, if the potential victim accepts this picture, the predator attacks. If not, the attack is canceled. Is this a tribute to established norms of behavior? Or an element of a game the predator plays for their own interest? Perhaps both.
Enmerkar. Huge respect to you!!!