Grounding Force
Although Magic is, above all, the path to expanded awareness — the very aim that the cosmos itself strives toward — one should not think that Magic is merely an acceleration of evolution.
Moreover, in a sense, Magic is a path that runs counter to the current, since it strives for the liberation of its adepts from rebirth, i.e., from the universe’s economy. Specifically, for the universe as a whole Magic is detrimental; it draws away part of the Power prematurely converted into awareness.
Therefore all elemental forces are only conditionally friendly to the Magus; they do not help him automatically, and this is especially true of the Great Power of Life — the Power of the Earth.
Mother-Earth, All-Generating and All-Nourishing, by her very nature is all-unifying; that is, she favors only the passive, divinatory currents of magic — dreaming, Sejt, predictions.
Her Power draws the mind into the Flow of Life, into its tumult — and into its death, since life and death are two sides of the same process.
Therefore the Power of the Earth is, in essence, inward-turning; it lowers the mind into the depths of embodiment, into the full materialization and densification.
Accordingly, Magic aimed at differentiation — the conversion of Power into awareness and the exit from the cycle of life and death — conflicts with this grounding force. After all, the Earth is not only Veles, but also Leviathan, not only life but also death.
That is, the Magus strives to detach from the Earth — not in a primitively technological sense, but in the sense of an alchemical transmutation, transforming dense matter into a lighter, more mobile form.
A Magus never enters into conflict with the Earth; he always deeply honors Her, yet he hovers above Her, if not materially then spiritually. While on the Earth, the Magus belongs to the Heavens; while in the one, single Flow of Life, he belongs to the one-undivided Pleroma. The Magus draws Power from the Flow of Life, but transforms it into a current of consciousness.
This conception has a number of important practical consequences. One of them is that different kinds of Magic must have different places of practice: everything connected with Divinations is best performed on or even within the earth, whereas practices connected with creative will — above the earth.
In other words, in lowlands, caves and marshy valleys the Power fosters receptivity and union, while on mountains, heights, and the like — manifestations of will and differentiation.
This is why the Magi have always gravitated toward mountains, pyramids and towers, while seers have gravitated toward forest thickets, lakes and caves.
Thus, ceremonies of evocation magic work best on the upper floors of buildings (“Towers of the Magi”), and appeals — on mountain summits.
Many pagan magi, drawing power from the Great god of the Earth, forget his hunting nature, merging with the motherly flow and dissolving in the current of Life. Such a Way has a strong appeal, for the desire of a newborn infant to return to the mother’s womb is so intense; yet to develop one must step forward and upward, not forgetting one’s source, honoring one’s source, and nevertheless being oneself — a human, not merely a creature. An old formula states «There are no spirits on the Earth», and this should be understood not only figuratively — as the need for additional Power to materialize a spirit — but also literally — as a recommendation to perform evocations on elevated places away from the earth. This is also related to the special power of mountains — they weaken the bond with the material and make connection with the spiritual easier, and this explains something of the mountaineer’s rapture on cloud-piercing peaks. However bound a Magus may be to the Powers of the Earth, however elemental his path, he must from time to time detach himself from the earth simply in order to remain a Magus. A Magus must from time to time ascend into the mountains or onto towers, reducing the grounding force’s influence to look upward, so as to have roots not only in the earth but also in the Heavens.
If a summoning ceremony related to elemental forces is conducted, can it be said that ‘rising above the ground’ will increase the magician’s control, while ‘landing’ will increase the strength of the manifestation of power?
Perhaps that’s the case
En, what about Seita, supposedly a connection to Earth, while for predictions, a high place was chosen, and additionally the seita was placed on a high stool with three legs?
You are talking about some Roman version of Seita. Seita ceremonies were held in different places, and far from always did they serve for predictions.
I agree that Seita was conducted not only for predictions, but one of its characteristic features was ‘…a high seat, or a platform on which the practitioner is located…’ (S). Accordingly, it implies a ‘detachment’ from the Womb of the Great Mother, and at the same time, immersion into the Womb during the trance. It seems all very convoluted 🙂
Well, why is it convoluted?
In the case when Seita was raised above the ground, the soul of the Seidkona also detaches from the ground, from the Lower world. However, when the Seidkona immerses into the Flow, she is on the ground. However, the idea is not where to conduct Seita, the idea is where to conduct Galdr 🙂
Galdr is the Song of Will, accordingly – above Earth, but in the case of a niddu associated with the spirits of the earth, – on Earth, despite the fact that they dictate their will. If I am wrong, please correct me.
Guys, you underestimate the Earth. Magic is in no way opposed to Her. She herself is a Magician. And what a one! She teaches many things. Furthermore, Her magical property as an element is the Earth’s Push. It is precisely Her constant ‘nudges’ that push everything around. And a magician capable of catching them flies better than the proud bird, the hedgehog! And when it’s time for a magician to move on, it is the Earth that gives them the push, which with unimaginable force torpedoes them into the Sky, into Infinity. And right now, the Earth is preparing to launch a particularly large Serpent into the Sky..)
In general, I can’t stay silent on this topic! =)
‘…Therefore, the Force of the Earth is essentially involutive, it lowers consciousness into the depths of embodiment, to the maximum of materialization and solidification…’
—-I cannot agree with this at all! Because it is the Earth that is our primary evolutionary force! This is my personal experience, and not only mine! And when it comes to incarnations, it is not the strength of the Earth that matters, but of another. I don’t know what they call it in Western magic. I simply call it – the Moon. It is also the Snail, it is also the Wheel of Time, it is also Samsara, the power of the cycle. It is this force that creates all universal cycles on all existing levels.
‘…All-generative and All-nourishing, by its very nature, and All-unifying…’
—–Exactly! All this is a necessary part of its work! It nourishes, unites, and gathers together to give a Push with its power! Its activity and might are simply unimaginable! That’s why the Ancients had to make quite an effort to balance It! There were times when from its powerful pushes, all sorts of creatures constantly emerged, for example, huge dragons, which would be born and rise into the air straight from the ground.
And it continues to radiate the power of the Push even now! Constantly! Therefore, the whole problem is just how much we ourselves can catch these pushes!
2Leon: I can’t stay silent either. If you already have a stable description of YOUR Myth, and you know perfectly well which power should be called Snail, then it would be more correct to focus on managing your blog, rather than incorrectly promoting yourself on someone else’s.
To Leon: I recall a saying about the statute and a foreign monastery. It’s pointless to crudely mix different Myths. One can only try to gently find points of contact between them if one desires. Everyone has their own experience, and it is personal and subjective. Enmerkar’s experience, his Knowledge and Authority have found embodiment, among other things, in this blog. This is a specific Tradition, which one can familiarize oneself with, but if it’s not your path, it doesn’t make it any less valuable.
PS. I couldn’t keep quiet 🙂
Dear ladies! Your outrage is quite understandable and deserved by me!
At the same time, personally, I am SURE that Enmerkar, whose occasionally genius articles deliver me an immense pleasure and also valuable food for growth, genuinely possesses Experience, Knowledge, and Wisdom, thanks to which he can easily draw useful information even from the most Non-authoritative sources and in any form of presentation.
I may lack gentleness – it’s quite possible. But I’m not writing to pet ears. I will say directly – I haven’t seen such Strong materials in the networks for a long time. For which respect and admiration to the Author! Very beautifully, I swear! Thank you! And therefore from my side, I wholeheartedly want to express my gratitude to you for all that is useful and delicious. And the biggest thing I can do for this is to share my pathetic pieces of ‘alien’ Myth. Because I choose to believe – you perfectly KNOW that the Myth is one! And whose caring hand weaves its colorful, yet impeccably harmonious and unified fabric, you remember too.
And then, inconvenient comments can always be deleted. There’s no need to be shy – it’s a matter of life 🙂 No one will be offended, I swear! 😉
2Leon: This is not about ‘inconvenient’ comments, but about basic respect. And to behave in a familiar manner, addressing the Author in ‘you’ is also inappropriate.
In general, this amusing sparring can continue indefinitely. Only no one gains anything from it.
I will repeat my message. There exists an Ascending flow of Power. Its source is the Earth. Yet, in this article, as well as in other articles dedicated to It, I found no mention of this Mainstream. After all, this Evolutionary flow plays a primary role in the life and development of our entire world, including Magic. Because Magic in no way contradicts the Mainstream of the Earth but is an essential and integral part of it. As for the pushes of power, they are all in one way or another droplets of this Mainstream.
I must point out that the author, despite all my sympathy for him, has completely neglected this topic. On the contrary, as far as I understand, the author of the article indicates that the power of the Earth is solely involutive. And one cannot agree with this at all! Forgive me, but this is precisely the medieval ignorance of the times of the grim inquisition! Because throughout all times of the Supreme Alchemy, only those Magicians reached it who accepted the Earth and its Ascending flow. Only such beings have a chance to successfully complete the alchemical transformation and completely, together with their physical body, ascend to Heaven. The others are just buried, like ordinary mortals.
For these reasons, I find my criticism entirely appropriate and justified. And I see nothing impolite, shameful, or rude in it. After all, comments exist for free communication, including for criticism, right?
Regarding the benefits of elevation for magical actions – this indeed carries practical sense, I agree. But we must not forget that we still remain within the womb of the Earth. Since it encompasses not only physical matter. And even if we sit on a rocket and fly to Mars, for example, even in this case we remain within Her! And if this connection is broken ahead of time – serious problems may arise…
Dear Leon! I apologize for interfering with my medieval ignorance, 🙂 but I want to draw your attention to the fact that among the key ideas of the Tradition described in this blog, two can be highlighted. The first – the importance of maximum tolerance and loyalty to others’ Myths and Paths, I’ve never positioned my Myth as the ‘best’ or ‘only correct’, I simply describe one of the possible Paths that suits some, and does not suit others. The second – adequate perception of any Myth is only possible through its systematic study. Having read just one article and noticing a discrepancy in the terminology used with the concepts familiar to you, one should not rush to accuse the author of stupidity. Each article contains hyperlinks to materials important for its understanding for this very reason.
The dispute here is actually related to the fact that the commenters responding to you have likely read a greater number of articles. Nevertheless, I want to note that this dispute is only a product of different understandings of the terminological apparatus. You speak of Earth as a point of Support and a Force of origination, in this article, I speak of it as Secondary causation. Therefore, the power you romantically call ‘snail’ in the Tradition I describe is called Merkavah, the Ascending Flow, which is indeed evolutionary (at least partially) and is rooted precisely in the supportive potential of Primordial Matter. So the incident, is evidently resolved, and note, I did not go to tarnish your resource with my criticism and righteous anger.
Leon, it turns out it’s easier for you to insult again than to see the rudeness in your own behavior. There is a difference between free commentary and banal trolling.
2Jokser & Ice’s Grief: I admit. I overstepped with the medieval ignorance. I apologize.
Different names for powers – possible.
2Leon: Thus, Expansion appears to be the key to the development of the Myth on Earth. Considering the existing reality of Earth and its ecological problems, I have concluded that someone has monopolized this ascending flow. As most attempts to interact with the ascending flow are blocked or reduced to absurdity by Archons. From this perspective, Earth is involutive.
The presence in the distance, at heights, in nature allows me to agree with you. And in general, at present, the involution of the Earth is acknowledged and proven. 🙁
2Leon: The sparring ceases to be funny when it shifts to personal matters and describes a Path different from your own as primitive and meaningless. If one approaches the discussion constructively, perhaps it is a matter of the difference in the terminology used, which leads to misunderstanding. To make it completely clear, the Power that you refer to as the Power of Earth may have a different name for Enmerkar. Look for it. 🙂 And for the future, please don’t slide into banal trolling; this isn’t LiveJournal.