Contact with Power
We have already said that the necessary conditions for the Power entering a vessel are, first, the correspondence between Power and the vessel that must contain it, and second, the presence of a stable contact between Power and the vessel.
The question of aligning the vessel with the Power it intends to receive has already been widely discussed. At the same time, the need to establish a stable connection with Power as a condition for the development of awareness often goes unnoticed.
This is why there is frequently a misunderstanding of the importance of a certain goetic maxim: «call frequently», which, when interpreted as broadly as possible, points to the necessity of constantly developing, reinforcing and expanding the interaction of the microcosm with the ocean of Power that surrounds it.
Many Magi are too inward-looking, and this danger is by no means less than the complete absorption in external activity characteristic of others. The Magus must find the balance between self-absorption and openness to the outside world that will maximize his effectiveness, since it will make him an active agent both in the psyche and the macrocosm. At the same time, the Magus must not sink uncontrollably into either the latent realities of the unconscious depths or the images that arise on the screen.
Repeated visits to the Places of Power, interaction with magical artifacts, and finally, the Magus’s ritual work are needed primarily to establish a stable contact between the flow of an individual’s mind and the Flow of Power.
There is often puzzlement over the apparent “pointlessness” of such activity: why “merely visit” Places of Power, why “merely call” spirits without asking them for anything? The answer is very simple — to establish contact with the Power. The flow of the Magus’s mind must come into resonance with the Flow of Power as fully as possible in order to secure the subsequent realization of the mind’s potentials — that is, its being filled with Power.
At the same time, let us recall that this established contact with the Power must be carefully under the Magus’s willful control; otherwise the Magus risks becoming overwhelmed by the Flow passing through him and becoming a slave of the Power.
In other words, the effective Way of the Magus runs along the boundary between the seething ocean of Power and the shining heights of the spirit.
The Magus must immerse himself in the Flow without merging with it; he must control the Power, not be controlled by the Power. And this mode of action is likewise achieved through repeated contacts with the powers surrounding him.
One must remember that until a person “sees” the Power, the Power does not “see” the person. That is, the Magus must become ” noticeable ” to the Power, and then it will flow to him.
“If you want to approach our Art, know this: it is a painful struggle, a path along the knife’s edge. You can win or lose, and two things lead to inevitable disaster: fear and interruption of the operation. Once begun, you must go all the way, as stopping leads to a frightening reaction with the opposite result. It’s easy to understand why: with each step you take, more and more chaotic energy is held back and pushed against the current; excited and provoked, it fills with tension. As soon as you give it all up, it will crash down on you and sweep you away.” J. Evola
It should also be noted that the process of “soul evolution” occurs, if I may express it this way, in a spiral… This is how I understand it, it’s embedded in the very code of DNA, the code of life, the code of the development of both spiritual and material life. In Sufism, for instance, they talk about the phenomenon of contraction and expansion, when the forces of “Heart” and “Ego” alternate. “Psychologically, contraction corresponds to the dominance of egoistic impulses or attention to one’s separate “I”, while expansion is self-sacrifice and a sense of belonging to something “greater”. Both are necessary and important milestones on the path, and without the growth and processing of one part, it is impossible to expand and deepen into another. In my personal myth, it looks like I constantly create these Tibetan sand mandalas… I am engaged in myth-making, building structures and connections, separating black from white, male from female, until at some moment, when the mandala appears to be finished, a collapse occurs, and all these structures are blown to smithereens, while the mandalas are blown away by gusts of wind.))) You stand and watch as all your meticulous work goes to waste… The desire arises to strangle one of the spirit-guides.))) And then, suddenly, you notice that some new feeling has emerged, a feeling once thought to be exclusively an attribute of youth, long lost and irretrievably. This feeling of volume, breadth, and infinity, receding into the distance on the horizon… And there you stretch out your arms, take a greedy breath of freedom, look around, feel how wings unfold behind you… and once again you sit down to gather the sand mandala, with each inhalation becoming more complex, more perfect, and yet still doomed to exhale…
“The established contact with the Force must be carefully controlled by the magician’s will; otherwise, the magician risks being intoxicated by the Flow that passes through him and becoming a slave to the Force.”
These words prompted such reflections:
This resource can be seen as a place of Power.
But… when articles are read in one breath and hyperlinks lead far away from the original topic – someone is definitely guiding me. And it is clear why there was an unpleasant feeling – you run over the surface, hardly delving deeply, without orientation, collecting some aroma, and the ‘basket’ remains empty.
When I return to the post that interested me, reread it, read the links that reveal the touched ideas and concepts, find information on the topic from other sources, make notes for myself, look for examples related to my experience – it’s a completely different matter.