The Sense of Power
Along with the sense of danger that haunts the Magus on his path, an equally constant companion is the sense of Power.
Most people are used to trusting “authorities,” “sources,” “literature” and the like, but have no experience trusting themselves. A person is born with the complete set of tools necessary to realize their potential, with power capable of destroying and creating worlds, yet spends a lifetime fleeing from both themselves and that power. We have already discussed that this flight is connected to the global state of universal consumption and is cultivated by the Parasite of mind.
At the same time, the innate drive toward realization — toward Power — that dwells in the depths of a person can, with proper attention, point the way. If one can, through the insistent whisper of the Parasite of mind, through the noise of the world and the rustle of other people’s ideas, hear one’s inner voice, one will always find there the answers to every question. The most important thing is to hear ONE’S OWN voice, one’s heart.
Because a person’s will seeks to realize itself, by nature they seek to accumulate power and therefore have a faculty that lets them sense which objects, actions, or events will grant power and which will not.
At the same time, the sense of Power, like the other senses, needs development. But whereas the other senses are trained without hindrance, this one usually encounters enormous resistance.
The Parasite of mind, of course, remains vigilant and sets many traps. Consequently, for most people the sense of Power remains rudimentary.
Precisely because of this, the main criterion of feeling empowered for most people may not be the immediate sensation but the “aftertaste” of the event. It is common to encounter situations in which a person feels unusually comfortable and believes they are gaining power. Yet time passes, and a “hangover” follows — a state of depletion and withdrawal.
Such an aftereffect proves that the situation was set up by a predator and that the sense of power was false, because subjectively a person cannot distinguish different kinds of movement of Power. Consciousness registers any strong current of power as pleasure — yet that current may be directed either into the person or away from them. Very often the mind falls into this trap. It becomes conditioned to lose power and to take pleasure in that loss. I repeat: these forms of power movement can be distinguished objectively only after the fact.
At the same time, with experience, intuition complements the sense of power, and a person becomes capable of discerning whether a situation will grant them power or take it away, without risking deception by the Parasite of mind. A very common mistake among students of magic is to argue with their Masters, insisting their masters are wrong and that because the student enjoys a certain state it should therefore be cultivated.
Unfortunately, in such situations it often happens that a student, struck by the “hangover” feeling of loss of Power and realizing their mistake, is set back a long way, and recovering what was lost costs much time and power. The master of magic is meant to watch over the student’s condition and prevent loss of power; the Master should try to explain the difference between the various kinds of movement of Power and cultivate in the student a sense of incoming power.
Thus, one of the Magus’s most important skills is the ability to distinguish incoming and outgoing power, the ability to control these currents and to move toward accumulation rather than loss of power.
Are there any practical recommendations for tracking the ‘outflow’ or ‘inflow’ of Power? Or is this also the ‘lot of the chosen’?
And it is strange that human consciousness lacks the ability to recognize the movement of Power, as this skill could significantly help not only Mages but everyone else as well :). What do you think, why is this feature not ingrained, like, for example, the grasp reflex? It would be very useful…
This ability is indeed well ingrained. And it is by no means a prerogative of Mages. However, all others are easily deceived by the parasite of awareness, making one mistake the loss of Power for its acquisition. Initially, as I mentioned before, an indisputable criterion could be the ‘aftertaste’ – if Power is lost, a depressive state follows after some time; if Power is gained, then calmness and confidence follow. However, over time, a person learns to intuitively recognize situations of losing and gaining Power. The main thing is not to fall for the tricks of the parasite. To do this, one must carefully track the movements of consciousness to identify their own and foreign elements.
So, the loss and acquisition of Strength are quite tangible on the psychological level. Are they also tangible on the physiological level? Can Strength, so to speak, be ‘felt through the skin’?
Yes, Strength can be felt at any level, including physiological. After all, any energy – including health, well-being, and all the rest – is various forms of the manifestation of Strength. The thing is, with the question of where Strength flows. It can be abundant, while health can be scarce if it is preferred to be directed in other directions.
Is it possible that for a certain period a person has been giving away power (it was sincere, you can’t confuse it… intuition, after all, and experience… sensations), and now after some contacts, I feel emptiness and depression… a loss of energy, which hits really hard for several days. What caused such a change? Could this be a consequence… more precisely, a consequence of some of the conscious dream experiences, the implantation of foreign attitudes in this person… as something has changed internally (it is very noticeable), besides, the appearance has completely changed… radically. But I still feel drawn. Please comment in as much detail as possible. (Ideally, write to my email and remove this post from here.)
Vlad – you need to change your direction. You are likely oriented towards giving power rather than receiving. Moreover, the contacts, if I understood correctly, are a drain of power. Moreover, in geometric progression depending on each of them. There may be a way to disconnect from them, but I don’t know. Try to be alone more often and practice. Refuse to interact with unnecessary people. Maybe you will recover.