The Second Abyss: Between Light and Warmth
A Magus who has achieved certain successes in his progress sooner or later notices his solitude. All his victories were won alone; all his achievements belong to him alone. Depending on the peculiarities of his personality and the degree of inner integrity at this stage, the Magus may either turn his solitude into a cult or become consumed by it.
Indeed, in earlier stages he had stood face to face with the Power that guided him, sometimes opposing him, but always faceless and undifferentiated. And in this Way, in this struggle, he emerged victorious. No one helped him, but no one hindered him either. He is free and independent.
So why sacrifice this independence? It seems far better to continue the Way alone, refusing to be constrained, refusing to allow anyone to influence his character, pace, or direction.
Many choose that course, refusing to interact with other wayfarers, only occasionally condescending to extend a hand to those in need (or not — depending on their mood).
A Magus who has chosen this Way becomes a cold light, allowing no darkness but offering no warmth. He is devoid of compassion, for he believes that since he managed to walk the Way and become victorious without any help, others likewise do not need assistance; and if they lose in the process, then that is their fate — the fate of the unsuccessful.
A Warrior who has chosen the solitary Way remains a flawless warrior; he does not stop fighting and his strength continues to grow. No one will dare to judge such a Warrior, for his achievements are boundless and his battles immeasurable. However, he remains in the realm of abstract laws; one might say that, having passed the Hagalaz stage beyond the human world, he stands outside and above that world.
Another group of wayfarers, having attained a clear vision of Victory at the Sowelu stage, suddenly realizes that a victory won for oneself, by and large, is not a victory. They discover that a day lived only for oneself is not worth living. Many recall the long-ago Gebo stage, the stage of harmony in simple human relations, and with bitterness understand how far they have strayed from that stage, how infinitely distant it has become.
At this point the wayfarers divide again. One group, having tasted the bitterness of solitude, nevertheless joins the solitary wayfarers, seeing harmonious coexistence with others as unattainable. They form the “Sorrowful Host“; they no longer have that cold light characteristic of the Warrior of Sowelu, yet neither is there warmth. They continue their Way with bowed, sorrowful heads, remaining as they became on the Way — Wayfarers walking into Infinity.
Only a small number of wayfarers decide to take a step toward the world of illusions, hoping (a rather precarious and mistaken hope) to find there meaning and justification for their battles. Such a transition turns the Warrior of Sowelu into a Warrior of Teiwaz, transforms him from a source of Light to a source of warmth, from a cold warrior into a kinder warrior. This is the Way of Sacrifice, and just as the Second Att began with destruction, so the Third Att begins with the Sacrifice of Tyr, by giving a part of oneself to achieve a (not just, but necessary) new equilibrium. Waking in the morning, the Warrior of the Third Att asks himself for whom he has risen. Going into battle, he remembers for whom he fights.
Therefore the new turn of the spiral of the Way leads the Wayfarer to compassion and coexistence with the world of falsity and illusions he has overcome, and in this he finds a new source of Power.
From Self – to Self. From Me – to You.
They remember the stage of Gebo because they passed not it but by it. For a magician is made first and foremost by the blows of fate – it is comfort, it is a promise of power. Few achieve it in body; even fewer sacrifice it.
That’s why Mahavataras come into this world without a pair (Babaji, Sai Baba, etc.). But the stick up the backside in the form of the question ‘what kind of person would I be if…’ is, at least, always there for them.
…It’s interesting, do you have Ninemkar?…
I wouldn’t highlight Gebo in such a way. This stage symbolizes not a state, but an attitude towards this state. Gebo is not love; it describes the forces that arise between people, while love may or may not exist.
But There is a maximum concentration of this harmony. Harmonious relationships should imply this. And then there is such a term (by church canon, ‘inherited’ from Greek) ‘agape’, i.e. abstract ‘love for people’…
Agape is not abstract love at all; it is a very concrete, ‘brotherly’ component of love. However, it is precisely a component; love cannot be filled with just agape alone.
Strange… I heard about this as a standalone Type of Love (implying love that is not simple, i.e. elementary) but rather a complex concept… But it would be good if I had only heard it – I have also experienced this (in whatever sense one takes it). There is, for example, Love of Two Types and Three Kinds: two types – Love-for-the-External (Eros) and Love-for-the-Internal (Ananka, also agape); three kinds – philos, eros, agape (according to another classification), where philos partly relates to both, to Eros and Ananka. Agape, as far as I remember, is responsible for humanism, the love for ‘people in general’, which was affirmed by Saint-Exupéry: ‘…Thus love for God created the basis for elevated relationships among people, as actions were carried out among the Ambassadors (of God, who was each person) INDEPENDENT OF THE WORTHINESS OF PERSONALITY… Love for one’s neighbor was serving God through personality…’
And if ‘independently’, then quite abstractly. Moreover, in the absence of passion (Eros), it is actually quite functional and independent – so there it is.
Of course, people want everything at once, but we have traveled and worn out the concept of love so much that we forget about its complexity and about how it works. In each specific case, the picture turns out to be different, as (and see the beginning)…
Relating what has been read to the title of the article, “The Sad Host” is indeed the second abyss on the path to infinity. It is a necessary part of the journey for a traveler heading toward Infinity by the shortest route.
Thank you for the article. It very accurately describes my state, and not just mine. Sadly, the warriorhood is unbearably lonely, but only stepping away do you understand how much. And the others, who have not yet realized their loneliness, their sorrow, desperately think of themselves as being in warmth and light, giving those, with glassy eyes, stare at you. And you understand that no one, except themselves, can show how far they are from the notion, “For whom do you go into battle, warrior?”
And there is a bright sorrow in my heart for those who remain in the warriorhood of cold light.