Flashes of Power

Everyone knows the sensation of a “short circuit” sparked by a chance meeting with previously unknown people, by a piece of music, or by a place. This feeling — like an electric shock or a hard flash of light — is traditionally called a “flash of Power.”

Three conditions must converge for Power to enter a vessel: 1) the vessel’s correspondence to the Power received, 2) a connection between the vessel and the Power, and 3) suitable conditions for the Power to enter the vessel. When all three align, a sudden “gulp of Power” occurs, accompanied by the sensation of a flash.

Magi cannot ignore changes in their level of Power, and they track the sensations that mark those changes with precision. They therefore read flashes of Power as a sign of the importance of an event or meeting, one that demands the maximum extraction.

Unlike pushes of Power, flashes of Power rarely signal substantial advancement along the Way. Most often they testify only to the correspondence between the Power of one object (a person, a place, a phenomenon) and the Power of another. Where such correspondence exists, a more or less prolonged resonance arises. It is this resonance that produces the sensation of a “gulp” of Power, even when the absolute change in Power is negligible. This resonance is the chief value of flashes. It clarifies the character of one’s own Power, the direction of its flow, and thus makes the map of one’s Way intelligible.

It is especially important to watch for flashes at the beginning of the Way and at its sharp turns. These brief illuminations are the guideposts that first help one place a foot correctly on the Way, discern the Call of Power, and then move along it without turning aside.

Yet, like any important phenomenon, flashes of Power are often imitated by predators — that is, replaced by corresponding destructors. We have already said that the subjective sensations of Power entering and Power leaving are almost indistinguishable. A flash therefore often arises when one encounters an object that takes Power away, and that can throw one far off the Way.

To understand whether the object whose encounter triggered a flash of Power harmonizes with the Magus’s personal Way, one must see the systemic nature of one’s Way with clarity and maintain awareness of how the next step is bound to the previous one. To preserve the direction of movement, one must also follow the aftertaste of every choice. The Magus’s Way is an unbroken sequence of choices, a labyrinth where each step opens many branches, but only one leads to the final goals — Power and Freedom of mind.

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