The Secret of Magical Power Donald Michael Kraig Recently I had a discussion with an acquaintance who claims (quite loudly, I might add) to be a magician. While this person does perform rituals regularly, the rites seem to have done little good—the person has been unable to establish a long-term relationship, has deep problems with personal economics and suffers from neurotic compulsive behaviors. Yet, this person is now teaching magic to others in an Order to which the person belongs. Well, if it is true that when the student is ready the teacher will appear, then it must also be true that when the student is ready to be ripped off, the person who will rip them off will appear. I do not mean to imply that this person is consciously out to deceive those students in some way, but that is the way it is working out. Part of the reason for this is that this person is a member of an occult group which has philosophical (if not actual) links to a Satanic organization (Michael Aquino's Temple of Set). Certain aspects of Satanic philosophy are part of this person's philosophy. The point I am going to deal with in this article is an aspect of this person's (and thus an aspect of Satanism's) notion of magical power. This person and I were discussing the idea of mysticism—uniting with the Divine—as one of the highest forms of magic. In Modern Magick I referred to this process as White Magick. In Liber Kaos, an important book on Chaos Magick (perhaps the newest magical system around) by one of its founders, Peter Carroll, it is termed High Magic. Carroll defines this as that which occurs when there is no separation between the magician and any form of consciousness he or she chooses to enter into. For most people, the portals of high magic open at a few peak moments in a lifetime. As the magician progresses through training, the momentum he or she acquires will force open the gates to the miraculous more often? Each magician must intuit the key to unleashing such powers (p. 160-161). Thus, the idea of what in the East is termed achieving Samadhi or Nirvana, is similar or identical to what I described as White Magick and what Chaos Magick terms High Magic. In all the descriptions of the joining with the Divine there is the idea of a type of power—much more in the nature of power over yourself rather than power over others. By surrendering and becoming part of something greater, you can tap into it and use that greater power. It is that word, surrender, which seems to have bothered my acquaintance (and thus, the Satanists). This disagreement—as it applies to magic—originally comes from the parent group of Aquino's Temple of Set, Anton LaVey's Church of Satan. The philosophy of materialism which pervades the Church of Satan claims that there is nothing beyond us (to them, Satan is an idea, not an entity). Therefore, it is impossible to unite with what is not there. So how can you get magical power? Through ritual and various practices the followers of this philosophy attempt to gather magical power within themselves. To them, the idea of mysticism is meaningless (How can you join with something that doesn't exist? How can there be power in something that doesn't exist?). That is why the person I was talking with told me (in more of a political polemic than anything with a real philosophical basis) that they did not even understand the meaning of mysticism anymore. So who is correct? Is there an incredible amount of power in White Magick or is that power imaginary and the only real power is that which can be held within? I think that a good way to look at this is by way of comparison. Who is stronger: the big, muscular bully who threatens to beat somebody up, or the person who calmly faces the bully down and does not let him have his way? The bully shows a lot of energy and uses it over others. The person who faced him has inner power and strength that allows them to stand up to the bully, a person who seems to have great force at his disposal. Thus, while both have power, the power of the bully is only superficial while the power of the other person is far deeper, longer lasting, and in the final analysis much stronger than anything the bully has to offer. The bully has strength and bluster, but uses it to cover up the truth—he is really scared that others might have more strength than he. He hopes that the bluster will prevent him from having to fight and carefully picks his battles only with those who are obviously weaker than him, continuing to give the impression of his strength. Cut me down and I will have more power than you can possibly imagine.
— Obi Wan Kanobi to Darth Vader in Star Wars And that's exactly what happened. By surrendering his physical body to Vader (Vader kills him), Obi Wan was able to join with the Divine (The Force). As a result of this link, he and Luke Skywalker—who, like people practicing White Magick, had made a partial link while still alive—were able to defeat both Vader and the evil Empire. Vader kept the power within and was superficially stronger than Obi Wan. Obi Wan, who had united with the Divine—The Force—was stronger in the long run. To me, simply gathering power within yourself is like putting a progressively larger engine in a sub-compact car. Soon, the vehicle hums with power. You feel that you can do anything. Just touch the gas pedal (do a simple ritual) and you fly forward (the ritual seems to succeed, especially if it is for a short-term effect). However, to keep up that power you must continue to feed the engine (do rituals to obtain power). More important, you eventually learn that your car can only use an engine of a certain maximum size. In short, there is a limit to your power. On the other hand, imagine becoming the captain of a fusion-powered space vehicle. By joining with a greater force—the vehicle—you can control that force without having to keep all that energy within you. You do not look like you have a great deal of energy because it's not within you—you merely control it. You do not have to show off like the bully because you know just how powerful you can be. Captain Picard does not have to be a bully because he knows how powerful the Enterprise is. Needless to say, the space vehicle has far more strength and power than a small car could possibly contain. The banal, materialistic, and poorly thought out magical philosophy of my acquaintance and the Satanists from which the philosophy was drawn shows its source in the if it feels good, do it,`60's (the era in which LaVey's Satanism was born). Or rather, it shows a superficial understanding of that if it feels good philosophy, ignoring the fact that the term feel relates to far more than mere physical enjoyment. I should point out that one of the character flaws found in some of those who follow the Satanic philosophy is an attitude of superiority and self-righteousness which leads to haughtiness. It is frequently true that people who take on this attitude may suffer from deep feelings of inferiority (this is known as a Napoleonic Complex). So remember the next time that you face such a person, where their philosophy comes from, its inherent flaws, and how they attempt to cover their inferiority by pompousness and belligerence. Try not to laugh. 1993, Donald Michael Kraig | 
