Limitless

No, this is not a blog about the 2011 film, or the follow-up 2015 television series.

I guess, though you could say those fictional entertainments share one thing with what I am about to say.  That is that none of us is using even a fraction of the power we have within us.

I am not talking about the unused fraction of our brains though, a fraction that is often stated to be nine tenths.  Particularly because most scientists would completely disagree that we only use 10% of our brain.  Those scientists say that we do actually use all of our brain, but that there is a lot of deliberate redundancy there.  So, depending on exactly where in the brain you do this, you may be able to cut out one part of the brain and still not lose any mental capacity.

I am not talking about the brain, which is physical, but I AM talking about the mind, which is not physical.  Some believe the mind is entirely based in the brain and is simply our experience of electrical activity in the brain.  I do not believe this.  I believe our mind is a spark of the Divine mind.  The power of the entire universe is within the mind.  It would be difficult to imagine this if the mind were simply electrical activity in the brain, as there would be clear physical limits.  If you believe you have no soul and when this life is extinguished so are you, then you may continue to believe that your mind is contained within the brain, and is in fact just a reflection of the electrical impulses passing through the brain.  But if, like me, you believe there is more to life than this, then you also believe that some part of you, whether you call it your mind, your soul, your spirit, or all three, is not constrained by the physical limits of the brain.  It is no big step from that belief to a belief that there is a Universal mind, which is limitless.

Jung touched on this a little when he wrote about the collective unconscious.  Our conscious mind is only the surface of a vast unconscious mind.  The conscious mind seems to be individual and separate, but the collective unconscious is what it says - collective.  It belongs to all of us.  Within it are "archetytpes", or universal symbols we all recognize and to which we all react in a similar way.  In some societies those archetypes are expressed as the gods, with a lower case "g".  Followers of the monotheist semitic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) either do not believe in these "gods", or believe they are evil, but this is really a misunderstanding of what they really are - archetypes.

Think of this collective unconscious as an ocean.  You can dive deeper and deeper in this ocean.  The deeper you dive the wider you find it becomes.  At shallower depths it may encompass only the unconscious mind of one part of mankind, but as you go deeper it includes the unconscious mind of the entire human race throughout the whole of time.  Eventually, if you were able to keep diving, you would find yourself face to face with God, not "gods".  Because in its entirety it IS God.

I have used the word God here, but if you prefer you can call it the Universe.  It is the collective unconscious of the Universe.  The entire power of the Universe is here.  And "here" is the depths of your unconscious mind.

Intellectually this is not something you can "know".  There is no scientific proof I can give you, because this kind of thinking is not subject to scientific proof.  You can neither prove this to be right nor to be wrong.  But it is something you can intuitively know.  Not through study, but just through convincement.  It is something that you will just "know" when you are ready for that knowledge.  An article such as this may bring you to that state, not through logical analysis, but rather as a catalyst.

When you know that the entire power of the Universe is deep within your mind (your mind, not your brain!) you will also know that you really are limitless.  Not like Eddie Morra in the film "Limitless"; despite the title he was still limited to a degree.  But the power of the Universe has no limits at all.  The Universe is limitless - and so are you!

Ceremonial Magic

If you came to this article looking for a magical ritual you can take away and use as is, I am afraid you will be sorely disappointed.  My purpose here is to give any non practising magicians just a little idea of what is involved.

Firstly, for my Christian and Muslim friends I want to dispel the notion that ceremonial magic is a form of idolatory, or even of black magic.  In its purest form it is neither, although the beliefs of some magicians may come close to what may be described as a form of idolatory, and a black magician may well use a distorted form of ceremonial magic.

Another word for ceremonial magic is "theurgy".  A ceremonial magician may also therefore be called a "theurgist".  I will use these terms for brevity.

A theurgist recognizes that there are many different powers "out there".  Some theurgists will view them as personal gods, and therefore would attract the ire of Christians and Muslims alike.  Others will view them much more as Jungian archetypes.  My own view is that the distinction is rather academic, although I would perhaps veer closer to the archetype than personal god view.

Those who have not studied theurgy in any depth may view these "powers" as nonsense, yet at the same time fear any invocation or evocation of them.  Ignorance usually results in fear, so I guess this should not really surprise me.  I am not going to attempt to "convert" those who refuse to believe.  I believe, and am happy to share my belief with those who wish to understand.  Is there any need for fear?  Well, if someone is going to try playing with forces they do not understand, yes there is.  Not because we are talking about devils or evil spirits, but for the same reason you should fear electricity if you are thinking of playing with some powerful electric black box when you know nothing about what is in it or how it works.  Electricity is not evil, but it can still kill you if you use it in the wrong way.

Another great misunderstanding about theurgy is the idea that a god, spirit, or other power is being harnessed purely for the purpose of achieving some material gain.  That should not be the aim of the ceremony at all, although it may nevertheless result in such a gain.

Returning to the Jungian concept, you could view the purpose of theurgy as an individuation process.  Creating a proper balance of all the powers that are there whether we like it or not, by working one by one with each power, integrating each of the archetypes properly into our true self.  The theurgist does this by focusing on one power so completely that this power materializes.  In a very real sense, the theurgist now "owns" this power.  Yet the power itself is something far greater than anyone who has not studied this subject could ever imagine.  Once one power has been properly invoked in this way, the theurgist moves onto the next, until eventually he or she has incorporated all the powers, or archetypes, and (using a term from another discipline) achieves samadhi.  Purists will probably criticize me for mixing terms from very different disciplines in this way, but to me it sums it up perfectly.

If you wanted to achieve individuation in the traditional psychotherapeutic manner this is not something you could achieve by yourself.  You would have to surrender yourself totally to another person.  It would also probably cost you a lot of money!  A theurgist does not surrender himself or herself to any other person.  Also, no money should change hands for the ceremonies themselves - although if you are going to do this properly (and it would be very dangerous to try doing it any other way!) you will need to invest a lot of time, energy, and probably money too assembing all the right magical implements.  When I undertook my first magical ceremony as a teenager I invested many long evenings searching for exactly the right branch to create my magic wand - and then had to time the cutting of the branch to the right astrological alignments.

If this brief introduction has ignited a spark of interest, I encourage you to study some of the masters (and mistresses) of the ancient theurgical art.  I suggest you go back to before the current fad of "new age" beliefs, as these have often corrupted the original pure teachings.  Search for works by Dion Fortune, Israel Regardie or Mouni Sadhu.

As a start, try "The Tree of Life" by Israel Regardie, "Theurgy" by Mouni Sadhu, and "The Training & Work of an Initiate" by Dion Fortune.  And when you have soaked up the wisdom in those three books, you will be ready to acquire the full training and rituals of the Golden Dawn.  Only then will you be ready to start on the great task of theurgy yourself.

PS, the above links are all US sources.  If you prefer UK sources, here are more links:

• The Tree of Life
• Theurgy
• The Training & Work of an Initiate
• The Golden Dawn