Transitions and Initiations
The zigzag way of developing awareness is accompanied not only by objective fluctuations of awareness, but also by subjective sensations of falls and rises, inspiration and depression.
Just as any current of power, whether a gain or a loss, is experienced as pleasurable — any restructuring of the mind, a significant regrouping of its elements, is experienced as an “illumination“, a new discovery.
Nevertheless, such regroupings can be either evolutionary or involutionary in character.
Sometimes the inclusion of a new element into the mind, though destabilizing in a global sense, increases the mind’s level of integration. For example, a mind that has accumulated a considerable number of destructive tendencies, yet is held from collapsing by the deep logos of self-preservation, by taking in an additional chaotizing element that organizes those tendencies around it, greatly increases the coherence of its destructive impulse and rushes headlong into the Qliphoth’s darkness. In such a case, a subjective sense of the unity of the impulse and the attractiveness of darkness predominates.
Or, conversely, a Magus restructuring his mind when advancing to the next level experiences its destruction, disorder and fragmentation, and subjectively finds himself bewildered and disintegrated.
Sometimes the overcoming of the Threshold between two successive stable states happens relatively quickly; evolution is accompanied by enlightenment and an increase in integration.
In other words, the subjective feeling of increased wholeness is not always an absolute criterion of success, just as the feeling of being forsaken by power is not always a sign of the loss of direction.
It becomes obvious that not every illumination is a sign of evolution, and not every depression is evidence of degradation.
When one feels movement — it is important to understand where it leads.
In fact, any change of state, any transition from one stable position to another, is a process of Crossing the Threshold, a passage through the Gates, which are points of instability.
Several outcomes are possible:
– Successful crossing of the Gates — is — a transition from an unproductive or obsolete state to a more productive or promising one;
– Failure, when the Gates “do not yield” and the movement only expends energy and motion “in vain”;
– Collapse, when excessive energy loss causes the Traveler, instead of reaching a more effective state, to fall into a worse state;
– Becoming stuck in the Gates, loss of stability — the most dangerous state, since it can lead to the disintegration of the body or even the stream of consciousness.
Therefore, it is clear that without a criterion to assess the correctness of the general line of one’s development, the danger of losing the Way is great.
It is relatively easy when there is a trustworthy Master or mystagogue, guiding one through falls toward new heights.
But when there is no Master — where can one find support to continue moving, to make the transition?
Any development must from time to time be accompanied by the disordering and regrouping of the mind’s elements. Working hypotheses change, the breadth of perspective changes, and the system-forming factors change. A mind in a liminal or disintegrated state is most vulnerable both to the implantation of destructors into it — that is, to the creation of a less effective system — and to the invasion by predators and parasites.
Therefore the developing individual faces two urgent tasks: first, to understand whether the overall evolutionary level is increasing in the course of this restructuring, and second, to include only its own elements its own elements, not integrating invaders and their instruments into it.
The sole criterion in this case is the creature’s own logos.
Accordingly, only someone who has learned to hear its voice can become a successful Magus, not confusing it with a mental parasite’s whisper or with one’s own limited notions.
This ability, manifesting either as vision, or as ” knowledge and communion“, or as higher intuition, is an essential component that increases the chances of victory in the struggles of self-development.
Therefore, a Magus striving for effective and successful development must, above all, learn to hear this voice — the voice of their heart, leading them through the darkness.
Thank you! Please tell me – if you are increasingly finding yourself at a crossroads making such choices, does it mean that you’ve lost the integrity of the elements of consciousness? I feel that something somewhere did not work in my picture and this incompleteness begins to corrode from the inside, gnaws at me, forcing me to search for what I missed. If illumination turns into a goal – is that a problem?
From the article, the principle importance of understanding and interacting with one’s logos can be inferred. The logos falls into the trio of carriers of consciousness: monads, logoi, and vortices. The monad, as I understand it, is a potential given, and researching it is complicated. Although, there are probably ways to approach it. As one of the great scientists said: “the head is a dark object, not subject to study”; however, neurobiology has already made many steps toward clarifying brain functions… A lot of information has already been provided here about the structure of “vortices,” about the quadrupolar quaternary, about the Whirl. And what is the structure of the “logos”? What is its “device (mechanism)”? Such information should assist in building effective interaction with the logos and in operating with logoi. Thank you.
Logos is the ‘informational’ component of each being. In fact, it is the principle of its ‘ideal structure,’ that is, information about what this being ‘should be,’ during the ideal course of its development. In this sense, the notion of logos is quite similar to the ideas of ‘Higher Self,’ ‘Holy Guardian Angel,’ ‘Individual Genius,’ and similar concepts.
Thank you. Instructive.