Buried Talents
Although the meaning and substance of the world process is the realization of potencies, in practice, one often sees the opposite — beings refuse to fulfill their potential, preferring to live at “half-power” or even “quarter-power.”
Indeed, any realization of potencies — the use of available resources — also requires effort; so why strain oneself when one can remain relaxed?
In one good film, a minor character said:
‘He who can walk — must walk, he who can dance — must dance, and he who can fly — must fly.’
And although the phrase seems obvious — how often do we encounter someone who can fly but doesn’t even want to walk?
Development occurs only if one exerts all one’s strength to win the battle — then tomorrow larger efforts will become available, the day after tomorrow even larger ones, and so on. If, however, a being refuses challenges, declines to apply its own efforts to solve problems, or chooses ones that do not correspond to its real powers and capacities, it will inevitably deteriorate.
For a Magus, this principle is even truer because in his world, as another heroine said, «even to remain in the same place — you must run with all your might».
A Magus who strives for the heights can find the stimulus for his development precisely in overcoming his worst defeats — if, of course, he does not accept defeat as final, but sees in it a summons to marshal all his resources and strengths. And the Magus’s highest achievement of mind consists in the conviction: “I will never admit defeat!”
A Magus cannot afford to live at 50%; he cannot even afford to live at 100% — his battles are too grand, and in order to have even the slightest chance of winning them, he must always do everything he is capable of — and then some beyond that.
For a hen living in a warm, cozy henhouse, the ability to fly is utterly superfluous; but if she intends to leave the coop and cease being a hen — she cannot afford to be lazy. And however sore her wings may be from disuse, the moment she sits down to rest, some fox is already nearby, licking its chops.
The question of fully using the resources at a Magus’s disposal is not a matter of choice; it is a condition of survival.
A Magus cannot keep any of his resources “in reserve,” cannot indulge himself or be lenient with his weaknesses — for in that case, there will be no one left to be lenient with tomorrow.
The Magus’s task is not simply to walk his Way, but to accumulate power and increase his chance of winning the Last Battle, so he must not only survive in a hostile world but survive with minimal losses.
Therefore anyone who follows the Way of Magic, and anyone who walks it as their path, should remember — Power is born only through overcoming.
In your posts, there are too many wars; it gives the impression that a person enters the path of magic only to satisfy their thirst for war. But life is not just war; war leads only to the destruction of everything and everyone, starting with enemies and ending with the victor. Nobody will rejoice in the victory, especially when war becomes the meaning. This is the first point. The second point pertains to another direction: if there is a thirst for war, there will always be someone to fight; there is a possibility of being deceived and eternally fighting the defeat of some parasite that will absorb the dissipating Power. The third problem is the problem of illusions; not all our sensations or visions relate to the world (not as to a material ball in space, but as to a complex multilevel system with its own beings at each level), and it is quite possible to have a situation of eternal struggle with one’s fantasies, which have no relation to reality.
He who thirsts for war will never become a magician. A magician fights not because he manifests aggression, but rather because he strives for peace. And the task of the magician’s battles is not ‘destruction’ of enemies, but personal liberation.
>And no matter how much the wings ache from unfamiliarity – as soon as you sit down to rest, some fox is already there – licking its lips.
The problem isn’t even with the fox. Not all foxes get into chicken coops. The problem is that the kind grandmother who fed her entire life (the chickens) comes to twist their necks and throw them into the soup.
But being a chicken is so comfortable 🙁
Personal liberation is achievable only through liberation from personality, the core of which is the ego. It generates enemies, and it also seeks to defeat them in order to ‘liberate’ itself. The ego pushes its own ‘negative’ aspects outside, into the image of external enemies. Alienated aspects are endowed with power, but this power is essentially the magician’s own power. Therefore, all overwhelming ‘enemies’ that the magician fights, seeking to take and multiply his power, are merely alienated particles of the whole, the nature of the one who called themselves ‘magician’, or designated it in another way. The principle of battle stems from the heroic myth – the simplest archetypal layer of the mystery of life. In it, there is a distinct polar division (good-evil, white-black, etc.), and the hero’s honor is to fight ‘evil’. The Tradition that is relied upon here is evidently patriarchal, as is our written history. That is, it exists in the division and separation of masculine and feminine principles. Patriarchality harmoniously builds specifically within the plane of the heroic myth. But as long as such a state of affairs exists, the confrontation within consciousness will not end. Just as wars will not end (real wars are internal, manifested in the outer world).
Beyond the heroic myth are entirely different realities.
I really liked your blog. Thank you! Hence the impulse for feedback arose, and in the name of Wholeness. (To the Author)
Beyond the ‘patriarchal’ Myth, there are only other Myths, and the ‘matriarchal’ Myth is no more perfect than the ‘patriarchal’. That’s the thing; we live exclusively in a Myth – a description, a differentiation of elements and objects from that very non-attributive ‘wholeness’. Therefore, the choice of each is merely to choose the Myth in which they can be most effective. The Myth considered within the framework of this blog’s Tradition is neither better nor worse than others; the question is only to whom it resonates with individual peculiarities. For those who prefer to live in other descriptive categories, there are plenty of other resources.
Yes, Andrew, if a chicken is pecking to break free from the jaws, then it is guided by a thirst for war, what else?! Often a magician has to fight with their own ‘lice’. If lice bother a person, they are unlikely to start reading soulful poetry to them or persuading them to leave nicely. And, continuing the metaphor, a chicken cannot peck a fox to death, but it must have the strength to break free and the flexibility to go around it. And if the fear of being deceived is stronger than the desire for Freedom – this is a one-way street.
Absolutely right. My post did not suggest opposing myths or beginnings. The key word is WHOLENESS. By choosing this or that myth, a person often finds themselves captive to their subconscious, under the influence of various archetypes. To break free from captivity and gain freedom is impossible without liberating oneself from personality (not in the sense of individualized consciousness but consciousness with the center in the ego. The focus in the ego is doomed to endless battles, as it distinguishes its will, opposing it to the Whole). When the place of the ego is occupied by the Spirit, then essentially there is no one to fight.
Wholeness is an important concept not of the Myth, but of the way of action. In the myth I describe, the search for wholeness as an effective means of action is equally crucial. One should not think that anyone who does not share your views is ‘in captivity of the subconscious’. Such thinking is destructive; I have already written that instead of highlighting differences between Myths, it is much more productive to look for points of contact between them.
Regarding effectiveness – I have already written many times – in the framework of my Tradition, this word means achieving maximum realization with minimal resource expenditure.
And regarding ‘merging’ – this is one of the Paths, not the only and not the best. Yes, the Myth I describe does not orient towards ‘merging’; on the contrary, it emphasizes the importance of maximum self-identification. But this too is not the only and not the best Path. There are simply those who like to ‘merge’, and there are those who prefer to stand out.
-> Liliya
The problem with a military approach in dealing with internal ‘lice’ lies in the danger of destroying one’s personality into many other sub-personalities. This is because all internal parasites are spawn of one’s own psycho-cosmos; in essence, they are another facet of personality (that is, another part of it, connected to the main one). Destruction or ‘exile’ can lead to nothing good. This issue is well illustrated by the following example: if your hand starts to fester, you can cut it off and your health will improve, but if you endure a bit and treat it (which will take much more time), the improvement in health will be much better.
As for external parasites, they exist independent of our desire or perceptions. But all have their own goals, they eat while they are fed and attack when they feel they can profit from something while the object of attack is much weaker than them.
The metaphor with the chicken is not quite good; a chicken that escapes from the coop will die a much more terrible death anyway.
Andrew: There is no such thing as a good, bad, or worse death. There is only Death. Moreover, the process of getting rid of internal parasites is actually more akin to ‘painful healing’, although it also happens that cutting immediately is the only way out – otherwise, decay will engulf the entire organism. I’m again saying that standing up for one’s Freedom and the thirst for war are two different things.
So I say the same, then what difference does it make where to die?
Thinking in such a direction is normal for a person who, in general, has ‘neither Path nor Fate’, but not for someone who is trying to use that scant chance, which is still ‘different from zero’.
Personally, I agree. War is necessary everywhere and always. Whether you want it or not – there was, is, and will be war.
“If there is a person, there will be one who wants their death” (c) The Book of Times.
If you do not want to fight – boldly set off on foot to the grave.
Everything depends on the Myth that you choose. Your Myth will define Your Existence. The World is the Myth; beyond the myth, it is not manifested. But not every myth has war, yet every one has Life.
What is funny:) – What reached me yesterday, I read from you today. They say, “everything is one whole.” Thank you, Enmerkar, for creating a guide.
..About 13 years ago, I was into reading Murakami. Back then, he was trendy, and this naturally sparked interest.
…in his works – a lot about magic, but not about rituals and not about supernatural forces, but about that magic which emanates from a person out of despair, spiritual pain, from the impossibility of continuing to live the same way and the inability to solve unexpected problems with known methods.
Somewhere between the mystery hidden in old black-and-white photographs, accidentally found by the hero in dusty attics of other people’s houses, and the restriction of being deeply at night at the bottom of a well, where only a small piece of the starry sky connects consciousness with reality…….the hero opens those facets of himself that are absolutely natural, yet completely unknown beforehand…….
..and in life, I have seen enough people who have smothered and buried their special and incredible Gifts.