The Royal Art of Magic: 10 Forbidden Truths About Power

Title: The Magical Path: Power, Initiation, and the Regal Tradition
Tags: #Tradition #Magic #Initiation #Power #Evola

1. Magic as Superior Science – True magic transcends vulgar occultism, aligning with the ars regia—the royal art of spiritual dominion. It is not mere psychic manipulation but a path to primordial reintegration.
   
2. Spiritual Virility – The magus embodies spiritual masculinity: dominance, sovereignty, and detachment. Unlike passive mysticism, magic demands active mastery over forces, both inner and outer.
   
3. Power Attracts the Centered – Power seeks the initiate who has become an immovable axis—not the one who craves it. Desire for power scatters it; impassibility magnetizes it.
   
4. Dangers of the Powers – Powers are perilous. If the initiate’s inner resolve wavers, they consume him. Mastery requires unbroken tension—like a pillar unmoved by torrents.
   
5. Rejection of Powers is Absurd – Powers are intrinsic to the initiate’s metaphysical state, like nirvana. One does not “renounce” them—they are the chrism of his being.
   
6. The Misunderstood Magus – The profane imagines a magus as an ordinary man with added “powers.” In truth, the magus is a different order of being—his desires and interests are transfigured.
   
7. Magic vs. Technology – Modern technology mimics low magic: automatic, externalized effects. True magic is causal evidence, an emanation of the initiate’s unified being.
   
8. The Heroic and Regal Path – Magic aligns with the warrior-initiate tradition, not priestly contemplation. The “hero” (Hesiod’s demi-god) reclaims the divine state through action.
   
9. The Trial of Active Identity – Some traditions (e.g., Islamic esotericism, the Bhagavad Gita) teach that mastery over action is the test—transcending ecstatic passivity for sovereign manifestation.
   
10. Beyond Good and Evil – The adept’s actions stem from the invariable middle—neither “good” nor “evil,” but from the center, where opposites dissolve in the impersonal will.
    “Power is feminine: she obeys only him who does not seek her.”

On Magic and Its Powers

The term “magic” must be clarified beyond modern distortions—whether vulgar Anglo-Saxon pursuits of “personal magnetism” or the degraded forms of ancient ritualistic magic, which often amounted to mere manipulation of subtle forces for practical ends. However, limiting magic to these inferior expressions is shortsighted.

True magic aligns with higher initiatic traditions. The Persian Magi, for instance, were not mere sorcerers but bearers of a sacred science linked to power (mögen in Germanic roots). Even Christianity, while condemning “accursed” magic, retained the term magi for the three exalted figures at Christ’s birth—symbols of initiatic dignity. Renaissance Hermeticists like Cesare della Riviera spoke of magic as the art of restoring the primordial state, reopening the path to the “Tree of Life.” This is high magic, distinct from ceremonial theurgy or lower psychic operations.

Magic, in its pure form, is the ars regia—the royal art of spiritual dominion. It is experimental, active, and virile, opposed to passive mysticism or priestly mediation. The magus embodies the regal tradition, which surpasses the priestly in its direct connection to the divine. Ancient kings—Egyptian pharaohs, Roman pontifices maximi, Persian and Japanese emperors—were not mere rulers but living symbols of transcendent authority. The usurpation of such titles by priestly castes (as in Catholicism) marks a decline.

The magus does not seek power; power seeks him, drawn to his centered being, his impassible dominance. Power is feminine, requiring a masculine principle to command it. But this mastery is perilous: failure of inner resolve means being consumed by the very forces one sought to wield.

Powers are not toys for profane desires. The true magus is fundamentally different from ordinary men—his being transformed, his interests elevated beyond petty ambitions. What the vulgar mind imagines as “magical power” (wands, spells, instant effects) is a caricature. Real magic operates from a state of absolute knowledge-causality, where act and will are one.

Yet magical operations can serve as initiatic training—a “sport” of the spirit, forging discipline and control. Beyond this, the adept who has realized his essence may act impersonally, beyond good and evil, as an instrument of the “Center.” Such actions transcend human motives, reflecting the invariable middle where all oppositions dissolve.

Key Principles of Magical Power

1. Power Seeks the Worthy – Not pursued, but attracted by one who embodies centrality, hardness, and renunciation. Desire for power repels it; impassibility commands it.
   
2. The Danger of Powers – A lapse in resolve turns power against the wielder, reducing him below his former state.
   
3. Rejection of Powers is Absurd – Powers are intrinsic to initiatic dignity, like nirvana to the awakened. One may refrain from using them, but not “reject” their essence.
   
4. The Magus is Transformed – The possessor of true power is no longer an ordinary man; his desires align with his being, rendering vulgar ambitions meaningless.
   
5. Magic is Not Miraculous – True magic is causal, evident, and conscious—unlike the mechanical “wonders” of degenerate or technological pseudo-magic.
   
6. Magic as Initiatic Training – Lower operations can serve as discipline, but fixation on contingent effects is a deviation. The highest magic is action from the “Center,” beyond duality.
   

The regal and magical path is one of virile spirituality, opposed to priestly passivity. It restores the primordial tradition—where the king was god, the magus was sovereign, and power was the natural attribute of the awakened Self.

The Left-Hand Path: Transmutation of the Negative

Unlike ascetic traditions that reject intoxication and sexuality, the Left-Hand Path (Vāmācāra) seeks to transform the dissolutive into the liberative. Ordinary indulgence in sex and wine weakens the spirit, but the vīra—possessing inner detachment (virya)—uses these very forces to dissolve tamas (inertia) and catalyze transcendence.

Title: The Satanic and the Counter-Initiation in Modern Times
Tags: #Crowley #Satanism #CounterInitiation #Tradition #Magic #Subversion

1. Satanism as Peripheral Phenomenon – Modern satanism is often a sensationalist distortion, lacking traditional roots, serving as an outlet for rebellious or degenerate impulses rather than genuine esoteric knowledge.
   
2. Theological Dualism vs. Metaphysical Unity – Unlike the moral dualism of Christianity (God vs. Satan), true Tradition recognizes a higher metaphysical unity where destructive forces (e.g., Shiva) are integrated into the divine order.
   
3. Perversion, Not Mere Destruction – The essence of satanism lies not in destruction but in blasphemy, sacrilege, and the deliberate inversion of sacred forms (e.g., black masses parodying Catholic rites).
   
4. Involuntary Evocations – Degenerate modern practices (e.g., chaotic rituals, drug-induced states) risk unleashing lower forces, leading to possession or psychological disintegration (e.g., Manson “family”).
   
5. Historical Cases of Demonic Possession – Figures like Gilles de Rais exemplify sudden demonic infiltration, where an individual becomes a vessel for dark forces, later collapsing into remorse once the invasion subsides.
   
6. Sex as a Magical Force – While sex can be a vehicle for transcendence (Tantra), in satanism, it degenerates into profane excess, stripped of ritual discipline and turned into a tool for degradation.
   
7. LaVey’s Bourgeois Satanism – Anton LaVey’s “Church of Satan” reduces satanism to a banal inversion of Christian morality, mixing Nietzschean individualism with theatricality but lacking genuine metaphysical depth.
   
8. Crowley: Between Magic and Satanism – Though Crowley adopted satanic imagery (e.g., “The Great Beast 666”), his system was fundamentally initiatic, aiming at magical mastery rather than pure inversion. His use of sex and drugs followed esoteric, not hedonistic, principles.
   
9. The Left-Hand Path’s Dangers – The “Left-Hand Path” (e.g., Tantric vāmācāra) can lead to transcendence but requires extreme qualification; without it, the practitioner risks being overwhelmed by unleashed chaotic forces.
   
10. Counter-Initiation and Subversion – Modern satanism reflects the broader work of counter-initiation: dissolving traditional forms to activate a formless, chaotic substrate, opposing the sacred order of true Tradition.
    Conclusion: True esotericism transcends moral dualism; satanism, in its modern forms, is largely a degenerate parody, either a psychological rebellion or a dangerous flirtation with forces that the unprepared cannot master.

To properly understand modern satanism, we must first define the “satanic.” In the Western tradition, Satan represents the “adversary” and the “principle of Evil,” but this dualism is not absolute. A higher metaphysical principle transcends the opposition between a moralized God and his antithesis, embracing both creation and destruction, light and darkness—as seen in the Hindu Trimūrti (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva). Thus, Satan, as a purely destructive force, could be reintegrated into a broader divine dialectic.

True satanism, however, is not merely about destruction but perversion—deliberate blasphemy, sacrilege, and contamination. This distinguishes it from simple black magic or sorcery, which may pursue immoral ends without necessarily invoking satanic forces. Historical examples, such as Gilles de Rais, illustrate sudden demonic possession, where an individual becomes a vessel for dark forces, only to collapse into remorse once the possession ends.

Modern satanism often lacks depth, degenerating into sensationalism. Groups like LaVey’s “Church of Satan” reduce satanism to a crude inversion of Christian morality, celebrating hedonism and strength while stripping away any transcendent dimension. This is not true satanism but a banal neo-paganism, devoid of genuine metaphysical tension.

A more serious case is that of Aleister Crowley, whose “Thelema” doctrine went beyond mere provocation. Crowley’s system—centered on the “True Will,” the divine nature of the individual (“Every man and every woman is a star”), and the magical use of sex and drugs—retained an initiatic core. His rituals, though often theatrical, sought contact with higher (or lower) forces, distinguishing his path from mere decadence. However, the risks were severe: those unprepared for such encounters faced disintegration, while the qualified could harness these forces for transcendence.

Ultimately, satanism’s danger lies in its potential to unleash chaotic, subversive energies—whether through blasphemous inversion (the black mass) or misguided magical practice. The true initiatic path, by contrast, seeks to master these forces, not succumb to them. Crowley’s legacy, though ambiguous, points toward this higher possibility, even as it flirts with the abyss.

Magic and Initiatic Realization in the Modern World

Beyond theosophical, anthroposophical, and neo-mystical spiritualisms, certain modern currents exhibit a tendency toward the supernatural with an initiatic and magical character. However, deviations abound, particularly when coupled with an “occultist” attitude—marked by obscurantism, pretentious mystery, and an affectation of authority. True esotericism demands discipline, not theatrical secrecy.

Magic manifests in two forms:
1. Operative Magic – A science of directing subtle forces behind phenomenal reality, transcending mediumistic or parapsychological phenomena. It involves conscious manipulation of hidden laws governing both psyche and external nature.
2. High Magic (Theurgy) – A spiritual attitude emphasizing virile self-mastery, opposing passive mysticism. It seeks an ascending transcendence, forging an immortal, sovereign individuality beyond the mortal “I.”

Gurdjieff and the Crisis of the Modern “Machine-Man”
Gurdjieff’s teaching centers on the realization that ordinary man is a “machine,” governed by automatisms, living in a state of “waking sleep.” True being lies not in the ephemeral “personality” (a mask shaped by external influences) but in the “essence”—the latent, transcendent core. His methods, often brutal, aimed at shocking disciples into awakening, though risks of psychological disintegration were high.

The Magical Path: Immortality Through Self-Integration
Kremmerz, Meyrink, and Lévi emphasize a realist approach: spiritual truth must be known, not believed. Their doctrine posits that immortality is not given but achieved—through the crystallization of an incorruptible “spiritual body,” forged by stripping away the illusory layers of the “historical I.” This requires:
– Conscious Neutrality – Detachment from instinctive reactions, emotions, and collective psychic residues.
– Active Regression – Dissolving successive psychic strata until reaching the pre-individual, primordial state—the threshold of true “awakening.”
– Magical Integration – The liberated consciousness no longer perceives “gods” or “spirits” as external entities but recognizes them as manifestations of its own transcendent nature.

The Dangers of Ceremonial Magic
While ceremonial rites can produce visions or effects, they risk reinforcing illusion: the practitioner mistakes evoked forces for independent beings, perpetuating duality rather than achieving integration. True magic demands direct mastery, not intermediaries.

The Modern Crisis and the Elite Path
Today’s world, obsessed with power yet devoid of true spirituality, is hostile to initiatic realization. The modern “will to power” is Luciferian—a profane distortion of the magical ideal. Authentic theurgy belongs to the very few, those capable of absolute self-transcendence.

The primordial tradition endures, but its path is barred to the mediocre. As the Gospel says, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence—and only the violent (in spirit) shall take it by force.

Metaphysical part:

On the Left-Hand Path

To understand the nature of Divinity and its relation to the world, two paths may be followed: the deductive and the inductive.

The deductive path begins with an a priori conception of Divinity, derived from revelation or dogma, and seeks to reconcile it with worldly reality. This approach encounters difficulties when Divinity is conceived in moral terms—as a benevolent Creator, God of light and love—since the world undeniably contains darkness and suffering. Theodicy, as seen in Leibniz’s assertion that this is “the best of all possible worlds,” attempts to resolve these contradictions but remains limited by its moral framework.

Marcion took the inductive path, reasoning from the world’s nature back to the Divine. If God is wise, good, and omnipotent, the existence of evil forces a choice: either God is not omnipotent, not wise, or not good. The Marquis de Sade radicalized this view, positing a malevolent God, with evil as the dominant cosmic principle—leading to an inverted ethics where vice aligns with divine will.

These antinomies arise from rigid moral dualism rather than ontological understanding. The Orient offers a broader perspective: a Supreme Principle transcending all opposites (coincidentia oppositorum), exemplified in Hinduism’s triune Divinity—Brahmā (creation), Vishnu (preservation), and Shiva (destruction). This inductive approach acknowledges the full spectrum of existence.

Here, the Right-Hand Path (aligned with Brahmā and Vishnu) affirms tradition, law (Dharma), and sacralized order. The Left-Hand Path (Vāmācāra), under Shiva (or his Śakti, like Kālī), embraces detachment, dissolution of norms (adharma), and transcendence through destruction—not chaos for its own sake, but as a means to surpass the finite.

The Left-Hand Path is not nihilism; its destructiveness serves liberation. In the Bhagavad-Gītā, the “supreme form” of Divinity manifests as a crushing force, urging Arjuna to embody transcendence beyond mortal weakness. Similarly, Left-Hand practices—including ritualized transgression—dissolve conditioned forms to evoke the formless. Sexual rites, for instance, are not hedonistic but alchemical, using “corrosive waters” to shatter limitations (love = death).

Yet this path risks degradation. Liberating the “formless” (the demonic, in the pre-Christian sense) can lead to possession if not guided by transcendence. Authentic Left-Hand traditions, however, are not solitary rebellions but structured initiatory systems under gurus, where the adept is tempered by higher knowledge. The danger lies in stagnation at the destructive phase, mistaking dissolution for the end rather than the passage to what lies beyond.

Thus, the Left-Hand Path’s legitimacy rests on its orientation toward transcendence—destruction as ascent, not descent into the abyss.