Seven years in magic, or How the animal mind system deceives humanity

I would like to share my experience of learning the so-called “magic tradition”. This should be especially interesting for those familiar with such terms as the assemblage point, the awareness centre, lucid dreams, karmic knots, the Sephirot Tree, arcana, conduct of energies, varnas, chakras, fireballs, stalking, personal history, places of power, and so on. To give readers at least a general view of this “tradition”, I will have to describe certain major points and subtleties.

Since my early childhood, as far as I remember myself I was drawn to everything mystical, esoteric and inexplicable. I felt something was wrong with this world and mostly saw it in dark colours. The world appeared unjust, and it seemed to me everything should be otherwise. The only place I found to hide myself from such a mess were childish illusions: I invented my own illusory worlds and “lived” in them. What if those worlds, those fantasies could be made a reality? What lies behind the verge of human understanding? Nowadays, magic tradition and magic as such attract many people. The original cause of this is human craving for knowledge, i.e. that very call from our soul which shows us a way like a beacon, but consciousness skilfully turns this inner impulse into a desire of secret power. Or somebody gets pulled into magic because he or she is simply lonely. Yet again, why?

While studying at the 7^th grade of secondary school, I took a great interest in astral manifestations and lucid dreams. Then, after numerous persistent attempts, being satisfied with the results, I started to desire more and became interested in the then popular emerging field of extrasensory perception, vision of energies and development of other latent human abilities. I read a lot of books, practiced certain techniques, but wasn’t satisfied with the results. I lacked a step-by-step scheme of development and a person who would be knowledgeable in all such things. Eventually, in my search I encountered a school of magic where descriptions of what they taught were more than satisfactory for my curiosity.

As a matter of fact, most of the present-day big schools or orders in the magic tradition evolved from several persons, and if we delve deeper into this that was probably a single person. Generally speaking, all those schools represent a worldview system that contains grains of numerous teachings, esoteric trends and practices intended to develop and enhance consciousness as well as to achieve certain financial objectives. Those who studied at one or another school usually open their own branches or schools, adding their personal experience and mental understanding. There is often a strict hierarchical system, a step-by-step training program, and a series of initiations and magic sacraments in the astral space (right in the room or online). The system basically offers everything you desire: extrasensory perception, healing, fast fulfilment of wishes, and various ways of influence on the world up to becoming a “God-man” – the 4^th-rank magician who has raised his or her consciousness to the 7^th Sahasrara chakra (if we draw an analogy, this is as if entry into the 7^th dimension). At that, the main point is development of one’s consciousness, otherwise all the aforesaid is unachievable. Moreover, there is differentiation of schools and magicians between dark and light ones: the former develop solely for their own ego and influence over the world, simply parasitizing on others, while the latter strive to help others to evolve (in which way and for which purposes is another issue). There is a certain scheme, a line of levels of consciousness development by chakras (e.g. rank 1 – psychic, Anahata chakra, rank 2 – healer, Vishuddha chakra, rank 3 – fighting magician, rank 4 – as described above). All this certainly attracts people a great deal due to mysteriousness, prospects of consciousness development, “superabilities”, and secret power. By the way, not everyone is admitted, and teachers / instructors usually make sure that a person would not get off his or her rocker because of the sense of self-importance, for when it happens it’s quite serious, and I observed such situations more than once.

In some schools they immediately start teaching extrasensory perception, in others they give an expanded worldview base, practices on feeling and accumulation of energies, on concentration of attention, which all leads to entry into an altered state of consciousness. In my case, I was given certain moral foundations, for the school was “light” and adhered to the “do no harm” principle. I studied with a group of other people year by year, stage by stage, and just like in every school we had progress assessments and participated in training of younger disciples. The atmosphere in our school was closer to a family one, which is usually quite attractive for people. As for rituals, they were limited to room energy cleansing by means of candles, prayers and herbal incenses.

Since I was interested in everything of the magic field, I endeavoured not to be taken up with that only school, but examined other schools, read many books on diverse trends, movements, religions, channelling, etc., i.e. everything that resounded with my inner need of self-development. I talked with the so-called magicians many of whom kept diaries, so there was a good ground for me to study; there were real cases and examples of how people developed their consciousness, of the structures of various schools and the character of their leaders. All that helped me to dispel illusions, including those associated with anyone’s authority. Thus, grain by grain I collected an integral worldview and found common roots in diverse information which sometimes was way too contradictory. At that point almost my whole time was devoted to intake of information and mastering of practices, no matter where I was. Everything seemed to be all right: I learnt to diagnose by photographs, developed extrasensory perception, etc. Consciousness drew those achievements in the bright light, with attractive prospects of secret power. Yet, once I had certain tangible results, I lost interest in that stuff and felt disappointed. Just like every earthly desire, those prospects seemed to be a knockout in the beginning, but eventually turned into an empty cup slaking no thirst. I wanted more. “More” meant the healing rank, and consciousness whispered, “Don’t you want to help people? So far you have only given advices, now you will be able to cure.” However, the further it went the more questions arose: what is all this needed for when I don’t have true happiness? What’s the point if all these abilities are as empty as all other material desires? And where does a desire to possess superabilities actually originate from?

Time is fleeting, so one must be fast to do all sorts of good and be firm in intention to save one’s Soul. (AllatRa by A. Novykh)

Let me describe a similar common picture that was observed in diaries of some “magicians” and my own records. It was tilting at windmills. “I discovered a karmic knot or attachment (due to…, because of…), and I eliminated it.” “There appeared to be an energy block, and I unblocked it.” Etcetera, etcetera… “A man looked at me askance. He might have put an evil curse on me.” There were plenty of suspicions: somebody attacked in the astral space, and I caught cold “because of those attacks”; if I failed in some affair, something or somebody external was to blame; if a person seated oneself apart from me in public transport that meant “I conducted the right energy and influenced him”. “There I saw somebody’s aura or energy thread on the wall.” “I had a dream which probably predicted something.” “I felt somebody’s invisible presence and set a block against it.” “I eliminated another attachment and started having fast progress in career”. Etcetera, etcetera… I diagnosed numerous photos, performed many practices, “improved myself” down to paranoia. This is how a human being gets trapped in a game of consciousness where the animal mind system will draw everything one likes, including “superabilities”, so that he or she would invest further more attention into material or subtle material things, into his or her pride, into the mortal. At that, attention is vital energy given to humanity for the fusion of Personality with the Soul.

The purpose and objective of the animal nature is to distract a person by different means from the main thing – spiritual development, and to catch one’s attention on one’s “weak sports”. The ways the animal nature attacks are diverse, but there are common elements. Such traps are always based on selfishness in one or another form, or masochism as mental self-reproach or self-pity, or narcissism, i.e. self-admiration. These are the two major extremes of the animal nature. (AllatRa by A. Novykh)

So, in the course of my experiences and practices the following logical questions arose: 

• How can you help others when you fail to help yourself? How can a person sinking in the swamp of illusions help others?

• What does helping oneself mean? This means to become truly happy in the eternal sense, to get rid of illusions, while becoming happy means to gain liberation from desires, from the lower Self and egoism, i.e. to achieve what is mentioned in all teachings, even in the magic tradition. Yet, why is this communicated as hardly achievable?
• Why the so-called “tough magicians” who seek development do not seek such an obvious and understandable goal as Liberation? After all, one can spend entire life on development of one or another latent ability, accumulation of energy or expansion of consciousness. But what is the point of all that?
• They say you will achieve liberation in the next life, or that it’s so hard to achieve it that you need many lives for this. Yet, who gives a guarantee you’ll have another life? Say, In Hinduism as one of teachings describing the reincarnation phenomenon they give no guarantees that in the next life a person will be a human being again; one may be incarnated as a worm, and what’s then?
• Why don’t we remember and experience our previous lives just like we remember and experience our current life? Will one have the knowledge in the next life as necessary to achieve Liberation, Paradise, or Nirvana?
• Finally, the main question is who prevents a human being from getting liberated. Who says you won’t make it or it’s not what you want? Who says it’s neither important nor the main human goal? And why do people endeavour to avoid this question, even those who are seemingly preoccupied with self-development?

It turns out that consciousness, ego or the animal nature inside a human being carries him or her away from the main point. Pride prevents one from seeing the situation from a broader perspective. All-seeing magicians are presumably supposed to see the truth, but in fact they see only what the animal mind system allows them to see.

Everything seems to be all right. One develops consciousness, improves oneself, participates in dark retreats, eliminates the sense of self-importance, avoids listening to demonic programs, stops inner dialogues, eliminates bad habits, practices yoga, maintains the power of will and attention, performs energy practices. Well, many also want to switch to prana nutrition so as to spend less energy on food digestion and believe they should certainly tell others about this. Generally speaking, people do everything to accumulate more energy, to become “energy giants”, and this is supposed to elevate their consciousness to the highest level. Furthermore, while developing this way, it is excellent to deliver lectures, earn money for them, travel around various countries and places of power, stay in felicity, and be “different than everyone”. This is how consciousness reasons and distracts humanity from the right path via subtle tricks and substitutions.

Yet, where is Love, where is God?

If a person is honest with oneself, if he or she is indeed searching, he or she will always find a single grain of truth, even under a heap of weeds generated by the mind.

Let me finish this article with an extract from the program CONSCIOUSNESS AND PERSONALITY: FROM THE INEVITABLY DEAD TO THE ETERNALLY ALIVE…

And with a famous quote:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

Prepared by Libra (St. Petersburg, Russia)