Energies of the Etheric Body

Control over one’s manifestations, so important for the Magus, must extend to all levels of his being — mind and its foundation, the body.

We have already said that on the material plane the human being has two supports — in the form of a “physical” and an “etheric” body.

And although management, control and monitoring of the interactions of the bodies are not strictly part of magical practice, they are necessary for the Magus as part of the comprehensive development of his being.

And if interactions at the level of the “physical” body are usually readily apparent and available for control, interactions at the level of the life, sensory, and mental channels are less obvious, though no less important.

In terms of solidity and energetic intensity, interactions of the life body follow those of the “physical” body.

We will not, for now, delve into what “ether” is and how much the magical idea of it is linked to the physical; we will only note that in calling the life body “etheric” we mean, first, it has the material nature of the physical plane, and second, its materiality is distinct from the materiality of the “dense” body.

Nevertheless, this body is differentiated; it has distinct organs with their own functions.

Since the general task of the nefesh is to provide the being with access to the ocean of Life Force and to distribute that force across the different levels of functioning of the conduits of consciousness, the organs of the life body (the Eastern tradition calls them «chakras») are adapted specifically for distributing energy.

Each organ of the life body is capable of taking in Life Force and transforming it into the kind of energy (pneuma) that the organ requires and that is characteristic of it. Note that the intake of pneuma and its transformation can, first, occur more or less successfully, and this degree of success is a measure of the “health” and functional activity of the organs of the nefesh; and, second, this intake can be drawn both from the common ocean of Blue Light and from other sources, including by draining energy from other beings (or through energy exchange with them).

In any case, every person constantly and actively interacts with the people around them and with other beings at the level of life-body energies, and both the volume and the form of this interaction can vary greatly and must be controlled by the Magus.

People who enter into various forms of sexual interaction form more or less durable bonds of sexual energies; people united by a common undertaking or task establish connections at the level of will-energies; people experiencing emotional feelings toward one another interact at the level of “heart” energies, and so on.

Similarly, connections can be established with other beings or with objects.

Control and management of such interactions is an important aspect of effective functioning for the Magus.

Historically, two approaches to this control have been developed. The first — the “body-oriented” — involves actively regulating the nefesh’s functioning; all manner of energetic practices are aimed at this — yoga, qigong, tensegrity, etc. The second approach presupposes a high degree of awareness and complete self-mastery — the development of the energy of awareness to such an extent that it also regulates life-force flows: “competitive” rituals, exercises in visions of energies, and so forth. It is clear that the first approach implies advancing control “from the bottom up,” while the second — “from the top down.” Both approaches are highly effective, and the choice of which to use (or to use both) is a matter of the Magus’s personal preference. However, it is difficult to overstate the importance of control for the Magus and of orderly energy management.

Not only awareness, but also discipline and orderly action give the Magus the level of effectiveness required to go beyond mere evolution — and this is the primary task of Magic itself.