Confronting Demons
The primary component of any Magus’s life, regardless of his peculiarities or individual Way, is confronting demons.
Whatever we may regard demons as — illusions, destructive parts of the mind, fallen angels, vortices, energetic structures, or anything else — the fact remains: something causes the mind to act destructively, both toward itself and others.
Even the Buddha, before attaining Enlightenment, confronted Mara, and on the Western Way such confrontations receive special attention.
We have already said that the myth we describe divides demons into two large groups — those “integrated” into the mind, the Parasites, and those “external” to it, the Predators. At different stages of his Way, the Magus must confront both.
Let us clarify what it means to “stand against” the demons.
No personality, as a microcosm, can be entirely free of destructive manifestations by virtue of the very nature of actual being, structured by the binary principle, the principle of the “Great Limit,” and encompassing unity and the struggle of opposites. For this reason, liberation inevitably means the death of the personality.
Moreover, development becomes genuine when a circle turns into a spiral, and the cycle of causal transitions does not return to the original point but to an analogous point one level higher.
This means that, in addition to the “circular” movement, there must also be the “vertical” movement, is, the “third” power. This power, considered in its macrocosmic manifestation, was called Epinoia by the Gnostics, and called Mezla by the Magi of the Golden Dawn, who regarded it primarily from microcosmic positions.
The idea is that an additional impulse is introduced into the opposition of the poles of each binary, transforming the energy of opposition into energy of movement — just as energy is transformed into work in the physical sense.
For the opposition of poles to yield energy for development, the mind — that is, the transformer of that energy — must be located between them, belonging to neither.
This position of the mind is called “opposition“.
The mind “opposes” a demon not when it actively resists it, but when it disidentifies itself from it, without identifying with the opposite principle.
In other words, to oppose a destructive force one must “share nothing with it,” while remembering that such “in common” can be either agreement with it or active resistance to it, for both unity and struggle (in the active sense) are forms of connection.
It is very important to understand this point: struggle, understood narrowly, is a form of connection; the contending sides interact closely, exchanging energy, and therefore become interdependent. Angels can never defeat demons, just as demons can never defeat angels, since they are two sides of a single process.
The way to liberation is not in “struggle” — more precisely, struggle in Magic is not a form of binary binding — the way to liberation is to rid oneself of all affinity with demons, to move outside this binary, without denying it, and then its energy will provide the possibility for vertical movement — perfection, development. This is precisely how the Great Flow of Power is formed, and this is exactly how a competent Magus must act.
Victory over demons does not lie in fighting them, but in standing against them. By uprooting all attachments from himself, everything that makes the mind akin to these forces, the Magus becomes unavailable to them and thereby overcomes the pull of the poles of duality.
Victory over demons lies in refusing to have anything whatsoever in common with them, while not falling into the opposite pole. At the same time, very often instead of confronting demons there occurs shutting itself off: when the mind, having detected a destructive influence, separates itself from that influence but thereby limits its development possibilities. The Magus’s battle is not to attack a demon with his fists, nor is it to hide from it. The Magus’s battle is to walk his Way, to walk in white light in all circumstances, not admitting darkness into himself, and not allowing it to spread around.
For this, one must by no means deny destructive elements within oneself, nor by any means try to suppress them — all that leads only to the darkening of the mind and to the growth of the demons’ power over it; but — having faced them — to decisively refuse any form of submission, to step beyond the demons’ jurisdiction, acting according to one’s own will, neither oppressing oneself nor exploiting others.
Good world, Enmerkar. I.e., does conscious refusal not equate to suppression? Conscious presence, not hiding in the shadow but also not manifesting.
The word “refusal” implies a negative effort. “Opposition” is a positive effort. That is, it refers to the fact that when “refusing” something, one needs to understand who actually refuses and what remains after this refusal. If “refusal” means stepping outside of duality – then it is effective.
Thank you for your response. Stepping outside of duality, something greater, does this state, opposition… does effort not exist? Or is the “battle” continuing further?
Opposition requires energy but provides Strength.
Exactly so.
I felt it in practice.
A rare and very accurate remark.
Thank you, succinct and profound. An outwardly even attitude towards ongoing processes, without involvement but having an observational position of movement internally, does it constitute a positive effort, a resistance to binary poles?
The feature of OPPOSITION is that it is also built on the binomial – Action and Inaction.
The manifestation of Epinoia in Opposition – AWARE and embodied by the WILL and STRENGTH of the MAGICIAN is the probabilistic matrix of the Path – its Realization.
Activity invokes the embodiment of the PATH TRANSFORMATION, while passivity embodies it by ACCEPTANCE.
The key to opposing Demons is to separate one’s own true essence from demons and to act in the INTERESTS of one’s own true essence and chosen PATH, ignoring temptations and commands of demons.
The criterion of the effectiveness of opposition is INCREASING strength of awareness.
Disidentification from the Demon includes 1) – its awareness; 2) acceptance that it is an alien essence, whose imperatives ultimately cause the outflow of Strength into EPHEMERAL abstractions that do not provide the REALIZATIONAL component of the PATH.
Action is inspired by the demon if its weight (materialization) in the Realization of the path is zero or negative.
Awareness of the ALIEN nature of the demon, acceptance of its eternity and multiplicity, and readiness to adhere to ONE’S PATH regardless of its temptations and imperatives, form a state of BALANCE and CHOICE.
The absence of BALANCE and falling into EXTREMES is an external primary sign of POSSESSION, manifesting even before the outflow of Strength. The absence of CHOICE from among many possibilities is the second sign of POSSESSION, which also arises even before a significant outflow of Strength. The loss of Strength and complete or partial physical or potential disembodiment is a later sign of POSSESSION.
Physical disembodiment is the loss of a part of oneself. Potential disembodiment means not acquiring what could have been embodied within the matrix of potentials.
Right in the Jungian way 🙂
By the way. Buddha was also called the Binder of demons. And, according to legendary descriptions, he defeated them countless times and not once.
Orthodoxy helped me overcome the reading of the Bible. Thus, I became a Christian child: a Jehovah’s Witness. The Order of the Eastern Templars helped me defeat the Jehovah’s Witness, the Christian child inside me. The Thelema within me was conquered by the Kabbalah of M.S. Laitman. The Kabbalah of M.S. Laitman within me was shattered by Traditional Judaism.
And then the lieutenant came and vulgarized everything :).
Familiar situation. But maybe it is worth developing some clear and simple path? Take everything necessary from what has passed and gradually move ahead. Lonely, of course, but at least one does not throw something purportedly good into the hole. I’m not condemning but rather showing compassion.
And it would be best to choose a simple criterion for correctness, something like what works well in practice is good. And onward.
Oh yes. The article provides an interesting perspective on the question of opposition. That is, no crusades, no heroism.
A practical, scientific approach, with no emotions. We place angels on the right, demons on the left, giving them the opportunity to sort out their relationships. And ourselves quietly retreating to the side,
and we send the freed energy during the tussle along the wires.
Voila! The guys are busy with each other, the light bulb glows, everyone is happy.
The main thing is not to take anyone’s side but to quietly do your own thing.
Did I understand everything right?
Is the principle of the triangle of power and being above the plane?
In general, demons cling to so-called energy tails and confronting them fills with strength, helping to better understand oneself. The trick is not to fall into aggression regarding the destructive aspect in this confrontation, but to engage only in one’s own improvement with pleasure and enthusiasm. What they truly cannot stand is human humor and joy.
Hello! I would like to know, in this context, does working with Goetia (invocations and evocations) provide advantages in resisting demons, or does it weaken and corrupt, or does it depend on the practitioner?
Goetic practice, of course, provides immense experience in interacting with destructive forces; it reveals their characteristics and helps find hooks in the consciousness that they cling to.
However, it requires immense discipline and internal honesty, without which any evocation can turn a confrontation with a demon into a bridge for it, merely facilitating its penetration into the world.
For more details:
https://enmerkar.com/en/magic/why-is-goetica-necessary
https://enmerkar.com/en/magic/inner-goetia
https://enmerkar.com/en/magic/external-goetia
https://enmerkar.com/en/magic/goetica-and-development
I agree. One must conquer and educate their demons. When I asked my teacher how to identify a demon within myself, he replied: primarily, it is fear. I understood that it is not I who is afraid – it is he who is afraid.
Feel fear, ask yourself what it is rooted in, what the cause is.
Amazing information. Thank you.
“Consciousness ‘resists’ the demon not when it actively resists it, but when it disidentifies with it, while not identifying with the opposite principle.”
What is the ‘opposite principle’?
That is, if we rephrase and call the demon (parasite) a destructive program from the subconscious, then the most effective way to interact with it (with the demon) is to see how it acts and fully understand the mechanism, structure, and manifestation of this program in life. Right?
The opposite principle is a one-sided assertion of ‘angelic’ understanding. For example, if Baal is the non-vision of the Divinity of the world, then the angel opposite him is, on the contrary, fervent religiosity.
The most effective way of Opposition is, yes, to see the mechanisms and attachments of this ‘program,’ and to have nothing in common with it.
Hello, is staying in non-dual awareness (rigpa) the best protection from any type of ‘negative’ energies from any plane? Since in such a state of silent mind, there is simply no one to cling to, there is no informational code, and everything perceived is seen as if through ‘X-ray vision’ and is instantaneously broken down into parts to emptiness, losing its dual qualities. Am I understanding the principle correctly? Thank you in advance for the answer.
Hello. Yes, non-dual perception is protection from any invasions; the issue is that in its fullness, this state is accessible only to Buddhas, while for everyone else, the ‘remnants of duality’ they have not yet overcome are quite sufficient for any demons to nest there.