Wizard on a Mountaintop: Thought that is Power
“…the general similarity of psychic processes in all individuals must be based on an equally general and impersonal principle that conforms to law, just as the instinct manifesting itself in the individual is only the partial manifestation of an instinctual substrate common to all men.”
- Carl Jung (Phenomenology of the Self)
Just because certain desires, impulses, and thoughts are within me does not mean that they ARE ME. Besides the general accretions of societal contamination that are, to varying degrees, common to all as aggregates in the ego-persona, these various desires, impulses, and thoughts may also just be a part of my genetic and / or archetypal heritage as a sentient biological being. Properly understood, what I refer to as “I” is a particular kind of awareness and activity within the energetic and populous territory of my Subjective Universe. “I” am the coordinator of my consciousness. “I” am the Director. “I” am the living awareness of my own thought. “I” am the power and command within my own Awareness.
Utilizing the power of imagery, I can view my mind as a clear blue, infinite sky. The different types of clouds that drift across it, either randomly or within a current, are thoughts, impulses, feelings, and desires. These clouds are, in essence, typical to any world / mind, and are not necessarily unique to my own psyche. Formerly I identified myself with every cloud and atmospheric disturbance that drifted across my sky. Every cold front and storm system of emotional and hormonal passion was “me”, and as a result I was extremely contradictory and complicated to myself. With time and self-observation, I began to see the possibility that these drifting clouds and weather patterns might be nothing more or less than my genetic / biological inheritance as a human being. With this perception I was able to depersonalize the forces in my psyche that had so confounded me in the past, and begin the work of distinguishing what “I” was amidst and against all of them.
This is where I stand now: what I do not consciously determine or control is not me. These random and uncontrolled impulses, desires, and “thoughts” are energies within my mind and body; energies that I can either be confused and controlled by (becoming their victim by falsely identifying myself with them) or that I can learn to utilize and direct for my own consciously willed purpose of defining and creating what “I” am, and can be.
The mythologies of many cultures and traditions relate this message in different ways. The various unconscious and undetermined energies of my psyche, which are Subjective Universe analogues to Objective universe forces of nature which I also do not determine or control, are akin to what the ancient Egyptians called the Neteru, which were mythological personifications of the forces of nature. To the ancient Egyptians who lived before the takeover of the Osirian religion, only Set - alone amongst all of the Neteru - struggled against and overcame his instinctive programming to become a fully conscious, self-willed Being. Just as Shiva stands within the calm eye of the storm that is the dance of Shakti that swirls around him, I am the central and immovable point within my own consciousness. I am the power and command that directs my Attention, and what is my heart and “soul” if it is not my Attention?
I am the living Awareness that stands at the fulcrum of my consciousness; the living Awareness that can stand apart from the rest of my psyche, and can regard it from an “outside” and superior position.
Thought that is power issues forth from an identification of myself with that which consciously directs it. To the extent that my knowledge of myself as the directing agent within my consciousness is flabby and unexercised, I will be buffeted about by the winds of my mind and body. I will not think thoughts - they will think me. Passions inherent to mine and every other biological entity will cause me to dance to their tune. Thought that is power - a living Awareness of my consciousness - requires a disidentification with these “natural” energies, and a converse identification with the self-critical directing agent within my psyche – Set’s Gift of the Black Flame.
Nature does; it does not know. Because it does not know, nature does not know duality. The ability to regard my own psyche from a non-natural position gives me the ability to not only achieve self-awareness and self-knowledge, but to change and form myself according to a conscious will. Non-natural consciousness makes self-observation possible. It gives me the ability to know myself as a machine, and, with hard work, to possibly become something more than a machine – perhaps a god!
The wizard who stands on a mountaintop and conjures a storm so he can harness and direct its lightning for his own dark purpose is a popular traditional image of fantasy fiction, yet it is also an effective symbol for an internal process that takes place in the Quest for self-mastery and transformation. The clouds and storms of my mind and body are not me, but they are energies I can use to shape my Subjective Universe (and thru it the Objective universe) according to my conscious will. To the extent that I have achieved true self-knowledge and mastery, I can call up different passions and thoughts (powers) from my depths and heights without fear of being overwhelmed by them. I do this because I am the architect of my consciousness, and the sculptor of my Being. “I” am that wizard on the mountain peak at the Center of my psychocosm, calling up different monsters and mysteries so that I might make them more conscious and, putting them under my direction, increase the sheer realm of my Being.
I am not just the directing power within my consciousness. I also become those energies that I extend my conscious direction to. To direct the forces within me is not to control them totally and utterly. To hypothetically reduce them to complete control is to achieve a stasis that does not end my struggle, but rather turns it against me. Shiva does not enslave Shakti, He seduces Her with His own invincible implacability. That I effectively direct the action of fierce tigers that can turn on me and maul me at any time is my power, not my wasted “command” of slaves that have no will of their own. Magical power, like all power, is a Dance with partners that I consciously lead from a position of sustained superiority, not a song and dance routine with robots I have reduced to absolute subservience. Where is the power without tension and struggle?
-Werbinox
- Carl Jung (Phenomenology of the Self)
Just because certain desires, impulses, and thoughts are within me does not mean that they ARE ME. Besides the general accretions of societal contamination that are, to varying degrees, common to all as aggregates in the ego-persona, these various desires, impulses, and thoughts may also just be a part of my genetic and / or archetypal heritage as a sentient biological being. Properly understood, what I refer to as “I” is a particular kind of awareness and activity within the energetic and populous territory of my Subjective Universe. “I” am the coordinator of my consciousness. “I” am the Director. “I” am the living awareness of my own thought. “I” am the power and command within my own Awareness.
Utilizing the power of imagery, I can view my mind as a clear blue, infinite sky. The different types of clouds that drift across it, either randomly or within a current, are thoughts, impulses, feelings, and desires. These clouds are, in essence, typical to any world / mind, and are not necessarily unique to my own psyche. Formerly I identified myself with every cloud and atmospheric disturbance that drifted across my sky. Every cold front and storm system of emotional and hormonal passion was “me”, and as a result I was extremely contradictory and complicated to myself. With time and self-observation, I began to see the possibility that these drifting clouds and weather patterns might be nothing more or less than my genetic / biological inheritance as a human being. With this perception I was able to depersonalize the forces in my psyche that had so confounded me in the past, and begin the work of distinguishing what “I” was amidst and against all of them.
This is where I stand now: what I do not consciously determine or control is not me. These random and uncontrolled impulses, desires, and “thoughts” are energies within my mind and body; energies that I can either be confused and controlled by (becoming their victim by falsely identifying myself with them) or that I can learn to utilize and direct for my own consciously willed purpose of defining and creating what “I” am, and can be.
The mythologies of many cultures and traditions relate this message in different ways. The various unconscious and undetermined energies of my psyche, which are Subjective Universe analogues to Objective universe forces of nature which I also do not determine or control, are akin to what the ancient Egyptians called the Neteru, which were mythological personifications of the forces of nature. To the ancient Egyptians who lived before the takeover of the Osirian religion, only Set - alone amongst all of the Neteru - struggled against and overcame his instinctive programming to become a fully conscious, self-willed Being. Just as Shiva stands within the calm eye of the storm that is the dance of Shakti that swirls around him, I am the central and immovable point within my own consciousness. I am the power and command that directs my Attention, and what is my heart and “soul” if it is not my Attention?
I am the living Awareness that stands at the fulcrum of my consciousness; the living Awareness that can stand apart from the rest of my psyche, and can regard it from an “outside” and superior position.
Thought that is power issues forth from an identification of myself with that which consciously directs it. To the extent that my knowledge of myself as the directing agent within my consciousness is flabby and unexercised, I will be buffeted about by the winds of my mind and body. I will not think thoughts - they will think me. Passions inherent to mine and every other biological entity will cause me to dance to their tune. Thought that is power - a living Awareness of my consciousness - requires a disidentification with these “natural” energies, and a converse identification with the self-critical directing agent within my psyche – Set’s Gift of the Black Flame.
Nature does; it does not know. Because it does not know, nature does not know duality. The ability to regard my own psyche from a non-natural position gives me the ability to not only achieve self-awareness and self-knowledge, but to change and form myself according to a conscious will. Non-natural consciousness makes self-observation possible. It gives me the ability to know myself as a machine, and, with hard work, to possibly become something more than a machine – perhaps a god!
The wizard who stands on a mountaintop and conjures a storm so he can harness and direct its lightning for his own dark purpose is a popular traditional image of fantasy fiction, yet it is also an effective symbol for an internal process that takes place in the Quest for self-mastery and transformation. The clouds and storms of my mind and body are not me, but they are energies I can use to shape my Subjective Universe (and thru it the Objective universe) according to my conscious will. To the extent that I have achieved true self-knowledge and mastery, I can call up different passions and thoughts (powers) from my depths and heights without fear of being overwhelmed by them. I do this because I am the architect of my consciousness, and the sculptor of my Being. “I” am that wizard on the mountain peak at the Center of my psychocosm, calling up different monsters and mysteries so that I might make them more conscious and, putting them under my direction, increase the sheer realm of my Being.
I am not just the directing power within my consciousness. I also become those energies that I extend my conscious direction to. To direct the forces within me is not to control them totally and utterly. To hypothetically reduce them to complete control is to achieve a stasis that does not end my struggle, but rather turns it against me. Shiva does not enslave Shakti, He seduces Her with His own invincible implacability. That I effectively direct the action of fierce tigers that can turn on me and maul me at any time is my power, not my wasted “command” of slaves that have no will of their own. Magical power, like all power, is a Dance with partners that I consciously lead from a position of sustained superiority, not a song and dance routine with robots I have reduced to absolute subservience. Where is the power without tension and struggle?
-Werbinox
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home