The Ritual Activity of the Magus

We have repeatedly said Magic is a Way of developing consciousness through conscious activity, and therefore neither reflection, nor meditation, nor even visualizations are sufficient to realize this Way. Since Magic is a constant alternation of purificatory and realizational actions, there arises the need for a clear awareness of the causes and consequences of any manifestation of will.

As we already know, the actions performed by magi are ordered and ritualized.

Although, in the broad sense of the word, any conscious and structured action directed at realizing a desire is a ritual, the term is usually reserved for special, “unusual” actions based on analogy and symbolism.

Therefore, while the whole life of a Magus is a ritual in the broad sense, he periodically conducts (and must conduct) rituals in a narrower sense.

However much we may wish to regard our Way as an expression of “pure will” or “free reason,” however attractive the idea that “any action can be liberating” may seem, the reality of existing in a world full of destructors is that “ordinary” actions do not provide the “revolutionary” jolt required to overcome the “gravitational pull” of the Gilgul.

Just as the body in “ordinary” life needs water, food and air, while special skills require special training, the mind needs actions that push it beyond for its transcendences. And so — there is no Magic without Rituals, there is no development without stepping beyond the bounds, there is no evolution without transformation.

And just as a body deprived of intensive physical training, while not losing the capacity to move, nevertheless loses its exceptional qualities, a mind deprived of “threshold” actions reverts to the “baseline” level of Gilgul existence.

Consequently, the traditional Magical Way of development includes four elements:

1. (י) Special Rituals, Initiations and transcendences that provide excess energy for “jumps” of the mind;
2. (ה) Reflections, awareness, analysis and assimilation of the experience gained;
3. (ו) “Daily practices” — ordinary ritual activity to sustain the “extraordinary” functioning of the mind;
4. (ה) “Ordinary actions” — everyday tasks in which ritual experience is applied, along with the ability to analyze, be aware of, and organize actions developed in earlier stages.

Neglecting, omitting or underdeveloping any of these elements leads to a significant drop in the effectiveness of the entire Way of development. Just as a rocket that fails to reach the necessary “cosmic” velocity has no chance of escaping a planet’s gravitational field, a mind that fails to develop the required intensity does not break free from Gilgul cycles.

Therefore — the Magus must step into the unknown, to step into the darkness, to take risks, to fall and rise, to purify and realize, to be aware of and analyze; otherwise he will remain a Gilgul being, and it will be entirely unclear why he set out on this perilous path in the first place.