Obstacles on the Way
Considering the Way as a method of the most effective realization of one’s potential, a Magus must clearly understand that ‘most effective’ does not mean ‘ideal’ or ‘the easiest’.
In other words, the fact that every step on the Way may demand enormous effort does not mean that the Way itself has been chosen wrongly.
Difficulties with progress can arise in two cases.
The first is when the specifics of individual development require continual effort, when for a given wayfarer at a particular stage of development the most effective way of increasing Power is precisely continual exertion.
The second is when a wayfarer’s advance along his Way brings him into conflict with various predators, and they engage him in battle.
Depending on which of these scenarios applies, the strategy of combat must differ. We will therefore consider them in more detail.
Thus, for some people the acquisition of Power is possible only at the final moments of battle. Although battle is a general way of describing the very essence of the Magus’s Way, the intensity of battles varies across different Ways. Some are more inclined to rapid, sharp assaults and storming; others to prolonged sieges. Both methods are equally perilous, but whereas in a swift onslaught — when all forces are pushed to the limit — there is no time for a detached perspective and understanding comes later, in an exhausting siege pessimistic thoughts recur and the overall fighting spirit declines.
In this situation it is important to understand that the situation that has arisen is a product of the Way, and seeing it through is a condition of further advancement. Battles cannot be avoided; one cannot hide from them — in such a case flight is tantamount to defeat.
A completely different situation is battles against real opponents. The difficulty of this kind lies in the fact that at each level of development, at each level of Power, a wayfarer comes into contact only with those who have comparable awareness. By changing his level of development, a wayfarer changes his circle of interactions, and thus his set of enemies. If for an ordinary person the worst enemies may be worms, a Magus encounters parasites in his mind, and the strength of his enemies increases in proportion to his own increasing Power. In other words, the further a Magus advances, the more Power he acquires, and the more serious the enemies he must confront.
The strategy of these enemies varies: they may attack openly or hide and disguise themselves, but one cannot avoid clashing with them. And in these battles a Magus does not necessarily have to ‘rush headlong’ as in the previous case; rather than fighting willful beings by brute force, he must display cunning and inventiveness, and sometimes make tactical retreats to win strategically.
A very important point that the warrior Magus must take into account is the influence of battles on the balance between advancement speed and accumulated Power, which determines the overall effectiveness of the Way.
On the one hand, in the effort to rush through stages there is a risk of failing to extract their full Power, and on the other — by forcing Power, one can become stuck and stop progressing. Therefore, it is precisely the choosing of the right battle strategy that helps achieve a high effectiveness of progress.
What if the enemies stubbornly do not want to show themselves 🙂 How to draw them out?
They cannot be drawn out; they need to be tracked and ambushed – and they will come out themselves. One just needs to closely monitor all movements in the Psychocosmos and distinguish between friend and foe 🙂
But what if all stable objects in the psychocosmos justify their existence, while those recognized as interfering appear only episodically and have no time to do anything? And they are still initiated from outside.
Well, if this is really the case, then either you have achieved complete enlightenment, or your enemies are well disguised as ‘stable objects justifying their existence.’
I have long noticed that even simply corresponding with you acts like a catalyst 🙂 And this time too – I found out who was ‘gnawing’ at me, I was even amazed at such audacity, and this is already the second time. It started with a vibration at a frequency of about 2 Hz (it seemed that the whole building was vibrating) and quickly ended with quite unpleasant pain in the stomach. Last time I was already sleepy and attributed the vibration to a recent earthquake (it was very similar, only the amplitude was much smaller), I managed to treat my stomach – and went to sleep. But this time I discovered and ultimately ‘crushed’ this entity. My pulse jumped from the tension 🙂 In this regard, I have a question, what to do if after the battle there are some remnants from the enemy, devoid of awareness? And how can such an entity be classified?
In theory, such ‘remainders’ should disperse over time. If this does not happen, it means the enemy was not finished off.
Yes, they dissipate. Is there any sense in trying to ‘keep’ any energies that previously constituted the enemy’s essence?
I don’t think so; you will spend more energy on assimilation than you will ultimately gain.
As a psychologist, I can comment: under all the entities and demons of our consciousness, I often understand my fears and complexes, harmful habits. And fighting them as a magician is greatly assisted by knowledge of psychology. Knowledge of how to direct one’s consciousness to the desired action.
Sometimes knowledge of psychology does help, but more often it hinders a magician’s development, as it leads Magic to a purely rational perception, while for a magician it is important to be able to perceive both with feelings and even will.
Psychology helps to fight against “internal enemies”, but when and if you meet “external ones” then psychology won’t help – they either know nothing about it, or know it better than you:))))
Currently, a transpersonal direction in psychology is actively forming. And this direction is very close to magic as such.
Magic and science (and psychology is, of course, a science) fundamentally cannot unite. They belong to different elements: science belongs to the element of Reason, while Magic belongs to the element of Will.
Magic should utilize all elements, including air. Moreover, mental, including higher mental processes have not been canceled.
Sorry, but ‘mental’, especially ‘higher mental’ are concepts of modern occultism, not Traditional Magic, and I do not fully understand their meaning. In general, of course, Magic should interact with all elements, but the nature of this interaction depends on the personal nature of the magician.