The Magus’s Sacrifices
To grow a crop one must sacrifice seed. This is the essence of the «Law of Sacrifice» that underlies any transformation of Powers. To make gold – you must have gold. To receive – you must give.
However, into the understanding of this undoubtedly effective and inexorable law there often creeps a destructor who justifies suffering as «the necessity of payment».
At first glance, everything seems correct: by giving something up we diminish our sense of fullness, and therefore increase dissatisfaction — and consequently suffer. But this chain of reasoning leads to significant loss of power and reduced success in development.
The problem lies in the way we view «sacrifice».
It often seems this sacrifice is ‘forced’, that we «have to» give up something if we want to receive something.
And that feeling is the product of a consumerist attitude toward the world, born of the illusion of separateness, of the illusion of separation from the Great Spirit, of the illusory sense that there is something apart from our essence.
It creates the impression that we must give up, forfeit, lose something of our «possessions» in order to obtain another possession. We give money and receive goods. We give time (or energy) and receive development. So? — No, that’s not it.
We simply transform ourselves. We simply transmute some of our energies into others of our energies.
It is simplistic to suppose that the sower, the seed, the soil and the harvest are separate objects. The sower thinks that because he casts the seed into the earth he is the source of the action. But for the seed the sower is only a means through which it ensures its reproduction. For the seed the sower is merely a tool by which the seed preserves and reproduces itself. For the earth the sower and the seed are likewise only means of renewal — the renewal of its mineral and organic composition, of the soil’s water balance. Changing perspective we see different patterns in this seemingly simple process. The sower thinks he uses the seed, the seed believes it uses the sower, and the earth is certain that this is all for its development. And each of them suffers, trapped in chains, sinking into the chains of consumption. In fact, energies simply circulate, in which each link is merely part of the whole process that mistakenly regards itself as central.
All development is a process of actualization of potentials present in the Great Spirit in the depths of the Great Spirit (and therefore of each Monadic nature). Moreover, let it be noted, this only becomes meaningful when the category of time is introduced. And that means that what is ‘sacrificed’, what the ‘sacrifice’ aims to achieve, and the ‘sacrificer’ is merely a stage of the same process.
Viewing ‘sacrifice’ as forced renunciation we sink into consumption and suffering. By forcing ourselves to renounce something with the thought «this is necessary for further development» we commit violence against our own will. But by regarding it as grace — that is, as a free and self-directed transformation of energies — we open the way to unity and wholeness of mind.
A Magus’s sacrifice is, strictly speaking, not deprivation, not renunciation and least of all, «suffering». A Magus’s sacrifice is a free and natural transformation of resources. A simple shift in attitude toward this action makes it possible to take a significant step toward integration of one’s mind, toward the development of power and of nondual mind. The Magus does not force himself to sacrifice, to pay or to ‘give away’. The Magus simply redistributes resources. The Magus is himself the sower, the seed, the earth that nurtures the harvest, and the harvest itself. And the understanding of this simple fact turns the Magus from victim into a creator, from market participant to free wanderer across the boundless ocean of his mind.
Thank you, Enmerkar, for the substantive note. I fully agree with everything you presented in it, but I think that for a complete understanding of the magician’s sacrifice, there is a slight lack of something, which I suggest as a supplement:
Each symbol, and that which we call the sacrifice, without a shadow of a doubt is a symbol, as is known, has seven meanings or fourteen of their polar versions (seven dark ones—anti-sacrifices, and seven light ones). If we consider that everything that surrounds us and everything that exists inside us is a fragment of the Creator of the Universe, and He, for all those present in His current development program, is manifested as Love (the energy of attraction), then it seems logical to assume that the highest meaning of the Sacrifice (Sacrifice to the Creator) is the Highest form of the manifestation of Love, and the lowest—the anti-sacrifice, its opposite quality—egotistical fear of ignorant consciousness. Continuing to think in the same direction, it’s not hard to come to an understanding that the lowest form of Sacrifice is the Love of the bright magician for themselves, or, which is the same, for their pseudo-ego or personal soul. By the way, this in no way contradicts one of Christ’s main commandments: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Therefore, before loving someone, one must love oneself; and to love oneself can only be through studying and knowing one’s essence. From all of the above, one can conclude that only a bright magician is capable of the Sacrifice, for the dark can only engage in a deal that is beneficial to them to some degree.
A symbol is an agreement among members of society to express a particular phenomenon, event, or quality in a form separate from itself (word, drawing, sound). A Sacrifice is not a symbol. A Sacrifice is an action along with its consequences and the responsibility for it. Does a Sacrifice manifest Love? – only in the sense that the Power of attention is mostly directed at the object of love, and thus is sacrificed to it. What is a Sacrifice to the Creator if the Creator is Me?…………………….
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And love…………………
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Love is not always beautiful
Love is not always wonderful,
It brings the force of destruction,
And oaths and sacrifices without purpose,
Outbursts, passions without measure,
And puddles on the floor of blood…
Shall we redeem sacrifices with faith?
Shall we banish pain with love?
Sacrifice, as a manifestation of partnership (to give in order to receive) has an important realization aspect.
Sacrifice forms the necessary void (vacuum – free space) for the materialization of the result of the ritual in our world.
In this connection, an important aspect forms – the proportion of the sacrificed to the expected realization. A minor and insignificant sacrifice generally does not create enough space for realization.
An excessive sacrifice also does not lead to realization, as the potentially enormous space simply does not allow condensing the magical substance to the necessary density for realization (the Force spreads across the vacuum without crystallizing into the necessary form)
Practically every magician intuitively defines the proportion of sacrifice to realization. A secondary criterion can be the degree of significance for the magician of the realized – the greater the significance, the higher the value of the sacrificed should be.
One can only sacrifice what belongs personally to you (the energetic connection of the ritual, sacrifice, and materialization is only formed in this case)
The sacrifice must correspond to the force that is driving the ritual (one should not sacrifice water to fire :-), no matter how valuable water may be to you personally)
Suffering during sacrifice (pity or regret regarding the sacrificed object) is no more than a form of attachment (dependency) to the material. As one becomes aware that material possession is transient and relative (or simply put—you have nothing in this world except your body—everything else can be taken at any moment), suffering during sacrifice disappears.
Excessive attachment to the sacrificed hinders realization – as you give and do not give at the same time.
What is given not unconditionally, but with the expectation of reward cannot be considered a sacrifice. The film ‘Constantine’ illustrates the situation well when a person cuts his wrists to save another person, and Lucifer cannot do anything with him, despite the self-killer being there, because this is a SACRIFICE!!! The highest degree of manifestation of Love is the willingness to give one’s life for someone. But… I fully understand that not everyone can understand this… Nevertheless, the truth exists regardless of whether anyone understands it and agrees with it or not… 🙂
..And Truth.. It is unique to each of us.
And if it isn’t, then where are its sacred lines written?
It comes as a flash, an illumination of existence,
But in grasping it, we are alone.
And if in that moment, I don’t manage to describe it with words –
Sometimes, words and expressions are not enough –
In the darkness of ignorance, I remain once again,
In the shadow of unresolved doubts.
I am very grateful to you. This is exactly how I reasoned. But you, as always, arranged everything in order. Thank you, Master.