Two Wings of Liberation

Eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum

You will be like gods, knowing good and evil.

The Bible, Genesis, 3:5.

Tension and relaxation, mind and feeling, creation and destruction — these are only some of the binaries that the Magus must neutralize on his Way to freedom.

One way or another, a tilt toward either pole of a binary certainly makes the Way easier, eases inner suffering, and reduces strain and struggle, but it also reduces productivity.

We have already discussed that the Magus’s Way is always movement along the razor’s edge between two abysses; falling into either one carries grave consequences.

Nevertheless, the contemporary situation is such that most travelers still slide into either the Apollonian or the Dionysian abyss, finding themselves either in the crystal-clear, distinct yet barren world of “pure mind” or in the murky waters of a vast but sterile ocean of chaotic feelings.

Spiritual Ways, magical schools, and religious practices include both of these currents: in virtually every tradition one can find “Apollonian” adepts, possessing clear understanding, filled with light and harmony, yet standing on an armored facade that conceals dark depths of the psyche with demons locked inside; and “Dionysian” practitioners, who race across a boiling sea of chaotic energies with no chance of rising above its surface.

At the same time, the Orphic nature of the “middle Way” of Magic implies the combination and integration of as many binaries as possible, not by destroying the energy of their tension, but by transforming it and directing it toward the development and realization of consciousness.

In reality, for a traveler who has progressed some distance along one of the “extreme” Ways it is very difficult, and often dangerous, to attempt to awaken the second component. Destructive matrices saturated with Apollonian light can easily slip out of control and hurl one into an abyss of ruin, while Dionysian storms, accustomed to freedom, may, when tamed, plunge one into the doldrums of apathy and depression.

Nevertheless, even in such cases the risks are justified, because without the activation of both the ordering and chaotic manifestations of mind, the mind has no chance of realization and liberation.

Of course, a person accustomed to light and understanding may be greatly frightened by the elemental, chaotic, and mad manifestations of the Psychocosm’s “reverse side.” Likewise, for someone accustomed to the intoxicating and restrictive taste of trance-like, inspired, ecstatic experiences, the introduction of elements of order and classification may seem dull and limiting.

However, only a skilled theurgist can be a successful goetic practitioner, and only someone who looks without turning into the faces of demons will be able to withstand the gaze of gods. For example, in tantric Buddhism a successful practice must include the realization of both peaceful and wrathful aspects.

In today’s world there are so many teachers of Magic, so many spiritual mentors or “guide-psychonauts,” and so few accomplished practitioners because most try to fly on one wing, relying on mind or feeling, or only on cosmos, or only on chaos, or preferring only creation or destruction.

The focus of an effective Way consists not merely in “touching” each pole of duality, not merely in “knowing” about it, but in fully immersing oneself in it, diving into it with utter abandon, and then — emerging and then plunging into the other pole, knowing each of them and integrating them into the ineffable Unity.

Recklessness and fearlessness, necessary for such integration, are very rare and hard-won qualities; yet without them the chances of success on the Way are practically nil.