The Magus’s Impeccability
Among the various categories important for the mapping of the Magical myth, the category is of exceptional importance impeccability as a characteristic of the Magus’s actions.
Formally speaking, “impeccability” is, on the one hand, a carefully formulated strategy of conduct based both on the traveler’s nature and on the essential principles of the myth he shares, and, on the other hand, the degree to which the Magus’s behavior aligns with the particular rules of the game he has adopted.
Etymologically, the word implies — one must act so that no one can reproach you. But who is going to reproach?
Obviously, Magi should hardly worry about how society will judge them. Therefore the “reproaches” to be avoided are, of course, internal ones. In other words, “impeccability” is a state in which the entire spectrum of personalities that make up the Psychocosmos acts coherently and responsibly, so that no one can say “I always thought you should have acted differently.”
It is hardly worth arguing that “impeccability” is the best mode of behaviour in every situation. One only needs to clarify what “best” means.
Leaving ethical evaluation aside, one can say that “best” means “most effective” — that is, meaning that minimal power expenditure yields the maximum result.
Does that mean the Magus should avoid excessive expenditures of power? Both yes and no.
On the one hand, the Magus must conserve power, otherwise his chances of success rapidly diminish. But on the other hand, there are situations when one must stake everything one has, risk everything, and either win or lose. Clearly, guided only by the notion of “economy,” one cannot attain impeccability. The correct (that is, best, impeccable) strategy of the Magus is precisely to be able to assess the chances present in each battle, and to commit all his power to try to win even when the odds are negligible.
Therefore a state in which the mind is divided among the “swan, the crayfish, and the pike” is always ineffective; it always leads to a significant portion of power being expended on internal “quarrels.”
This brings us to the understanding that for the Magus to “act in the best way” means always to use all resources available to him to achieve victory. It is obvious that such behaviour is inextricably linked to that “unity of aspirations” mentioned above. In other words, impeccability signifies not only the attainment (even if temporary) of harmony among subpersonalities, but also their joint use of all capacities — a state in which nothing remains “in reserve,” not taking part in the battle.
The value of impeccability as a state of spirit lies precisely in the fact that it prevents deferring action in time, and focuses action on the ‘here and now’: if one does not leave anything “for later,” but constantly uses all one possesses, life takes on a very particular colouring. The Magus begins to live in the flow, not “for the sake of something,” but to live as a process of realization, and thus he begins to align most fully with the essence of the World process — the realization of the Monad’s potentials.
Thus, impeccability is a state that brings a being closer to wholeness, a state in which internal disagreements are resolved and the entire spectrum of subpersonalities is united in a common action, from which no part of the Psychocosmos remains separate.
In practice, to attain such a state one must, first, know oneself (that is, one’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and limitations), and, second, follow one’s Way, for it is the Way (and only the Way) that is the axis around which the forces of the Psychocosmos gather. In this state a powerful central current absorbs all peripheral tendencies, so that the number of mutually neutralizing aspirations gradually diminishes, and the Psychocosmos strives toward unity, toward wholeness.
And how does ‘impeccability’ differ from ‘wholeness’ for a magician?
I would say that impeccability is a path to wholeness.
Good afternoon. Thank you for the article, it’s very interesting :). There’s one line that keeps recurring, which seems very important to me right now, namely the concept of play and the use of all resources to achieve one’s goal, shifting attention from the future to the present. I have a question: I accept the assumption that everything around is a game. And I once chose a certain role for myself. However, over time I realize that I don’t like this game. Neither the game nor the role that I once chose. The difficulty lies in the fact that my current role does not contribute to gathering strength or even simple stopping and resting. How to build a strategy in such a situation? What should I pay attention to? After all, if the role is clearly unsuccessful, does not impeccable behavior in THIS role inevitably lead to failure? Can one exit this game in such a position and start anew?
Hello!
First of all, the ‘role’ was most likely not chosen by you but imposed on you.
Therefore, the first step should be recognizing the fact that you do not control your game. This means you need to step out of it (at least for a time) and enter in another capacity – as a co-author of the game.
If, however, you yourself chose a role that turned out to be unsuccessful, you will have to take responsibility for it: one cannot change the rules of the game during play – you will have to lose, understanding that your loss is the result of your choice, to lose and to learn lessons from this defeat to choose a more successful strategy in the next battle. In one way or another, a cup must be drunk to the bottom. Otherwise, you will have to wade through heaps of unfinished business, unplayed games.
Thank you, thanks to the article I managed to look at impeccability from a different perspective than before.
I would say that impeccability is a kind of ideal, but in the modern world for a magician, provided they do not live somewhere isolated from people, impeccability is an ideal; it is unattainable, but it is worth striving for, and in fact, this striving is part of their overall war.
I notice in myself that it is the lack of impeccability that makes me angry, dissatisfied, etc. in case of loss. Being impeccable, everything is perceived without suffering. This does not apply to wins 🙂
Thank you very much for the article. For the articles. You are doing a Great Thing.
“Impeccability, as I have said to you many times, is not morality,” he said. “It only resembles morality. Impeccability is merely the best use of our energy level. Naturally, this requires both thrift, prudence, simplicity, and moral purity, but above all it implies the absence of self-reflection. Although this sounds like an excerpt from a monastic rule, it is not.” (Carlos Castaneda, Book 8, p. 214) (I think that the absence of self-reflection implies the perception of the External (Reality) without evaluative judgments of the Internal (established programs and algorithms). _ The practice of impeccability is akin to restructuring, redistributing energy streams within the human being. It automatically cuts off a huge part of energetically exhausting interactions, as a result of which most social games lose their meaning.
Perfection is only the best use of our level of energy, ………….., and the knowledge of the best use of our level of energy stems from Personal Power, the accumulation of which depends (among other things) on the degree of Fluidity of Consciousness……