MAGICK AND
PSYCHOLOGY

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By David Cherubim
(Frater Aurora Aureae)
Copyright © 1996 e.v.
The Order of the
Thelemic Golden Dawn.

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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

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To properly understand and apply the creative principles of the Magick Art demands a fundamental and practical comprehension of the scientific principles of Psychology. This especially applies to the magical field of initiation, where ignorance of the basic psychological laws of life can lead to catastrophic conditions. Without a basic and authentic understanding of the principles of Psychology, the Great Work can in no manner be genuinely realized. For the basis of the Great Work is Equilibrium, and the essential function of Psychology, when properly applied to the Science and Art of Magick, is to discipline the mind in the Way of Mental Equilibrium. The enlightened application of certain fundamental principles of Jungian Psychology in particular fulfills this essential function.

Let us, for instance, consider the nature of the Jungian psychological concepts of the Anima and Animus which symbolize certain factors operative within the psyche of an individual or the constituents of his or her own nature. The Animus is said to be the Soul of a Woman and the Anima is said to be the Soul of a Man. It is also said that in man the Anima is unconscious and in woman the Animus is unconscious, and that the Animus is in contact with the external world and the Anima is in contact with the internal world. The Animus is Consciousness or the so-called Masculine Self, and the Anima is Subconsciousness or the so-called Feminine Self.

In Occult Psychology, the primary object of the Great Work is to unite the Subconsciousness and Consciousness or Anima and Animus. It is the making of the consciousness unconscious and the unconsciousness conscious. It is the blending of the two aspects of the human psyche, the unification of the two psychological opposites which constitute the primary elements of the self, and it is the total integration of the self. Animus and Anima should, and ultimately must, merge into One, loosing their fragmentary and temporal natures and identities in a greater identity and nature which is above and beyond all duality and also eternal in kind. Yet such is, of course, easier said than done.

To accomplish this important work of Mental Equilibrium requires genuine and earnest self-awareness, and, above all, self-discipline. These, of course, depend upon the spiritual force of initiation, or the birth of self-insight and will-power. With these two weapons of spiritual creativity, genuine progress can be made in this Great Work of Equilibrium. Without them, there is simply no hope. Self-insight demands ruthless self-analysis and acceptance of oneself, and will-power requires the relentless determination to eliminate from oneself all elements hostile to oneself, and to develop and synthesize all those parts of oneself which are essential to this important work of attaining Mental Equilibrium. If the Magician is truly sincere about Magick and the Great Work, and is willing to give it his or her all, then let him or her first advance to an actual stage of psychological balance, creating a true foundation upon which to build the Pyramid of Initiation, neglecting no imbalance in the self, but equilibrating all parts of the self, giving birth to the divine realization of the True Self that is perfectly equilibrated in the Center of it all.

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Love is the law, love under will