Commentary on the Opus Magicum

Those who are involved in preliminary practices aimed at achieving “detachment” need to realize that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, they must expect the appearance of intermediate negative stages, characterized by a suspension of “spontaneous” activity. These are partial manifestations of what constitutes the Hermetic black (nigredo) state, and in general, the critical point of “initiatic death.” However, the plane to which I now turn is that of the individual faculties.

Let us take the case of a person who is used to creative writing. Writing, in most cases, is not something that depends entirely on us. We all know how many times, when trying to come up with some ideas, we just sat there, unable to write anything, while, on the contrary, when sitting at the desk with an empty head, we may have experienced the flow of creative energy that takes us even farther than where we originally intended to go. This margin of grace is found just about everywhere in the course of ordinary life, during which human beings receive more gifts than they realize.

When taking up initiatic techniques, it may happen that a person’s spontaneous faculty of writing will gradually disappear or become diminished; a certain state of inner rigidity may occur, resulting in the inability to write anything at all. This is the dead point. But as long as one does not give up, remains calm, and proceeds, one will notice a gradual reemergence of the lost or diminished faculty. At this point this faculty may acquire another meaning and the person may really claim it as his own. He will master it, and be able to exercise it at any time, at will, unlike the previous state. Moreover, when writing, there will no longer be a sort of waiting for something to come from outside, followed by identification, a hesitation, an attempt to follow some direction until a new “inspiration” and the production of thought-associations set in. Instead of all this, an active lucidity will preside over the entire process.

The same is true for other faculties: it is a suspension and then a reactivation truly from within, from the substance of the Self. Everything that the Self received as a gift from “nature” in the form of spontaneity at first abandons the Self, but then returns as something that really belongs to its substance. Thus, analogous modifications may also be manifested for thought in general. A particular instance of this concerns memory. Very often one reaches a point where remembering one’s self is virtually impossible. But then a new form of memory sets in, which is no longer mechanical or accidental as the ordinary one was. Another characteristic instance is that of the spoken word. It is not as though one becomes mute: but to express oneself with words becomes difficult; the words are blocked from within. However, the word that returns from beyond the dead end is almost another type of word: it is a word that reflects something of the character of the living word or magical word. Even from a physical perspective, Yoga treatises mention a clearing and the assuming of another tone and strength in one’s voice, as a result of following certain practices.

One should not fail to realize all this, especially in order to avoid judging the negative states in the wrong light, so as not to be alarmed and discouraged.

I will add that this phenomenology occurs above all in an autonomous discipline, which is pursued in the context of ordinary life, without the intervention of proper ritual practices.