Empty Experience
Many people who have experienced illuminations, which would seem capable to completely transform their lives, in fact do not change their way of life at all.
In particular, it is well known that often a powerful transforming factor, such as a religious experience of direct communion with the Divine, does not actually make a person any kinder or wiser than they were before.
The same is true of many Magi — after what they call successful magical operations, they do not alter their overall level of power.
The apparent contradiction is resolved quite simply — often even an experience that seems indisputable at first glance proves to be empty, illusory, resulting only from the individual’s desire to undergo such an experience. In other words, the mind deceives itself, creates a particular picture and projects it outward (often not without the help of “inner friends“), and then the mind engages with that fiction. So people often have a “spiritual experience” only because they expect it; in reality, they soon discover that the experience is empty.
Upon closer inspection, the primary beneficiaries in such an “experience” are its “shadow players” — the Archons and the mind parasite, who feed on it: the former from the power invested in the illusion, the latter from the pointlessness of that investment. Therefore, the experience itself, despite its apparent importance and significance, undermines the desire to have such an experience. From this, it is clear that for a Magus it is extremely important to judge each experience by its fruits — by its influence on the overall level of awareness. And only if this power increases can one speak of the value of the experience, insight, or attainment itself. It must be remembered that sharp swings in levels of consciousness — enlightenment and illuminations — are not a necessary condition for the expansion of consciousness. On the contrary, Western experience shows that for many people a gradual ascent is more appropriate, similar to climbing the Tree of the Sephiroth, Dante’s journey through the celestial spheres, or the “Enochian” ascent through the Ethers. Therefore, the absence of a “higher experience” should not be taken as evidence of slow or incorrect development, but simply as indicating the peculiarities of one’s personal path. It is precisely the pursuit of “effects” and the disappointment at their absence that has led many astray, and many others have become lost because of such an expected but false, nonintegrated into the stream of consciousness, experience. A Magus is above all a warrior who walks the Way of Power not because that Way gives them advantages or abilities, but because outside it their existence would be meaningless. We have mentioned many times that the Western myth insists that Magic should not be practised by those who want it or even those who can practice it, but only by those who cannot help being a Magus, for whom Magic is not merely a suitable or preferable — but the only Way.
All life is magic, and everyone engages in magic, whether they realize it or not. Cursing in the heart of a loved one or praying in temples for health – doing all this at the peak of emotional intensity – isn’t that magic? And in experiencing this in the way that you do not get the expected outcome, it means this is not your path; you need to seek another. And even better – just stop from running, even if just for a minute, to wake up from the dream, look around, for Life itself offers paths, just not every person finds their path. Or perhaps, they subconsciously do not want to seek it, fearing responsibility. They say the more that is given, the greater the demand, and it’s simpler that way. Slaves do not need to think.
Fantasies and daydreams are the same in both religion and magic.
What I cannot agree with is that a genuine religious experience of communication with the Divine is not a prerequisite for development, after which a person is supposed to become wiser and kinder, but rather the result of immense labor. Usually for many years. To high Divine energies one must ‘grow up’ just like a magician must grow into the ability to accept a large amount of Power.
And religious people frequently display illusions. Look at how many ‘believers’ there are, yet where are the results?
It has been said that true sons and daughters will perform miracles. Something is not visible. They are there and according to what has been said, they dissolve, not showing their capabilities. Because if in our time a believing person does not lose faith, they are already performing a deed stronger than various miracles. Therefore, the believers have many more illusions than the magicians. Quantitatively, they are much higher.
It seems to me that a familiar publicist once said that there are less than 1% of real magicians on earth.
I don’t know if that is true or not.
In the end, it always and completely depends on the person, their intentions, and the means of achieving their goals.
There is one interesting case in literature.
A man lived very religiously. He fulfilled all commandments, rules, and did good deeds. He had a habit of reading a short prayer early in the morning on his balcony. Then, a neighbor appeared who loved jogging (also early in the morning, and singing loudly) and passed under his balcony while he read his prayers. It ended up that one day, the one reading prayers threw a pot at the runner’s head. It just irritated him that the singing disrupted his concentration on the prayer. The essence is that it’s not about the quantity of deeds but rather the quality and set goal.
And the goal, it seems to me, is the same – the ability to receive love (the energy of love) and to share it. And here there is a paradox. The more love (power) you give, the more you receive.
One time I was a witness to such a scene. A little witch (she heals people but has her own agreements with the power) because she’s not a healer but a witch, complained to a friend. She went to the store and bought food. She ate with her son. Her son was fine, but she felt sick after eating. She just didn’t think it could be done to her. Her friend took a match, lit it, and waved it around her back. In short, she removed it. This made her feel better immediately and she thanked her.
Then, after a minute, the one who helped received such a surge of energy. It was as if a tank of powerful energy dumped onto her.
And I observed many who heal people. They cannot not heal. They are simply filled to bursting with the amount of energy they receive from above. And the more they help, the more they give, the more they receive.
And illusions can come not only from internal ‘quality’ and ‘internal companions’ but also from external sources. So one can live for years and not suspect how influenced they are by ‘neighbors’ and ‘well-wishers’ often acting through other people. Because they have developed methods over the years to mislead a person (be it a religious one or a magician) into delusions and create an illusion from which it is sometimes impossible to escape without help. And these ‘well-wishers’ have such an aptitude that they can play on the most luminous feelings of people, let alone those who have none.
I would like to continue the comment.
About the multiplication of power, I spoke in quantitative terms. This is horizontal movement. Power is acquired and its use begins with the increase in quantity that I mentioned.
But this is by no means a change in its quality. For horizontal movement to exist, vertical movement is necessary. This is where strength is acquired in a new quality, with new opportunities.
This is the Path. If a person (magician) wishes to walk the Path, they must ascend vertically (expansion of consciousness), and with the power they have received, they learn to ‘coexist’ with it, that is, learn to manage it practically. Once they have done this, they immediately begin to seek new power.
Usually such magicians are teachers. They show, teach how it can and should be done. But not everyone becomes leaders. There are also simply practitioners. After acquiring strength and learning to work with it, they remain at that level. Is this bad or good?
It all depends on the magician. Clearly, the practicing one spends a lot of time on practice, thus, the time for seeking new strength is much less than that of the teacher. Thus, their vertical movement is much slower. But it must be.
And there are just the lazy ones. And why? I can do both. And I am satisfied with that. But at some point they realize that what they have is insufficient, they’ve been so long without vertical movement that they completely forgot that it’s possible. Especially when internal ‘friends’ help by saying – you are this way, why do you need it?
But something is missing for ‘flight’; the soul remembers how it was both in flight and in collisions along the Path.
And taking the leap back to where there should be movement, sometimes gritting teeth and sending everyone and everything away for the sake of the Path, is very hard for a person used to honors (helping many, healing many). This is when illusions of movement are created, leading nowhere.
And some magicians even perceive experiences as a negative factor.
Why?
Remember the fairytale: if you turn left, you’ll find this, if you turn right…
It is an experience, though foreign.
And few ever have the audacious thought that they can achieve everything. That wherever they go, there is a chance to obtain a horse, a princess, and half a kingdom. Whether they go left or right. Practically acquired experience becomes a limiting factor, hindering one from even imagining the possibility of something one cannot think of today.
As soon as the magician learns not to think about their experience: it was what it was; it was yesterday, and they think about what they can learn tomorrow about what they previously did not conceive, the boundaries of their consciousness will have the opportunity to expand as far as they deem necessary.
It’s true that it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to learn.
And when it happens to be ‘automatic’ the question will only be what is needed and why. This is a huge problem 🙂 for the one on the Path.
For me, it has become extremely relevant lately to analyze my ritual and other experiences for their ’emptiness’. Am I correct in understanding that certain practices may not provide any immediate spectacular effect in the spirit of gods appearing in dreams, visions, or insights, but at the same time gradually contribute to the expansion of the quality of awareness? But how then to grasp the connection between a specific practice and ‘improvement’?
Of course, the instant effect from ‘practice’ is often worse than good, as it may be a sign of self-deception. Correct practice is a gradual ascent to the top, not a ride on a sled down a mountain, so the main criterion should not be its ‘effectiveness’, but its correspondence to inner needs. That is, we must do what we feel helps us to be ourselves, helps to develop and expand our consciousness. ‘Improvement’ is not superpowers, not siddhis, it is the realization of consciousness, its harmony, and internal consistency. Another criterion for the success of progress is the reduction of personal manifestations and their replacement with the development of an individual way of perception. Ultimately, this can be reduced to the well-known magical maxim: ‘it is not what we learn that matters, but who we become.’