The Marvels Close at Hand

It is not uncommon to hear from Magi, especially those who have come a considerable distance, the phrase: “I am no longer surprised by anything.” Yet such a viewpoint is one of the signs of stagnation of power, and therefore of a magus’s decline.

Indeed, wonder is a reaction to something new that does not fit into an established worldview. Accordingly, the ability to be astonished, the ability to notice the marvelous, is the ability to help expand the mind beyond the current system, and thus the key to successful significant qualitative leaps in growth.

In reality, the lion’s share of the efforts of the Parasites of mind is aimed precisely at teaching the mind not to be surprised. The very logic of ordinary human perception is such that any perceived object is forced into the matching template that best integrates with the cognitive system, and perception itself becomes a dreary drift of attention over homogeneous objects and forms.

Thus the mind is deprived of spontaneity, immediacy, and the liveliness of perception, and so falls into the fetters of the mundane.

A simple example: a person walks down the street and lets their attention drift over the objects and people around them. In a large city the probability that, even during a short journey, they will encounter nonhuman entities is quite high. If the route is longer, then almost certainly they will come across objects of power, traps, and altogether unusual items from other realms of consciousness. Nevertheless, both ordinary people and magi often notice only a tiny fraction of objects that don’t fit the overall logic of the perceived scene; and a considerable number of those perceived oddities are awkwardly shoehorned into a Procrustean bed of “I didn’t have time to examine it,” “it seemed to me,” and other such tricks of the parasites of consciousness.

For a Magus it is very important to preserve lively perception and to be surprised by every object that does not fit the logic of the present moment. Such perception requires considerable effort, because it must not be allowed to become a habit, but must be kept constantly in the forefront of awareness. Yet that freshness of perception provides a successful strategy for seizing spontaneous leaps of insight of mind, and therefore for a significant increase in power.

In other words, a Magus must not be afraid to encounter the unfamiliar, must not flinch before the unusual, but must perceive the world as it deserves — with eyes wide open, always eager for new doors, opportunities and possibilities.