Prudence

If you've been on Facebook lately, there's a good chance you've heard about the death of Wu Yongning. The story of his death, as well as the video of it, have gone somewhat viral on social media over the past few days. Stories about people willingly doing dangerous things and then dying are unfortunately common, which is why I felt the need to write this post.

Depending on your esoteric background, you may or may not be familiar with the concept of the four cardinal virtues - temperance, strength, justice, and prudence (carefulness). In his book Spiritual Alchemy, Robert Ambelain assigns these four virtues to the elements as follows.

Fire - Strength
Air - Justice
Water - Temperance
Earth - Prudence

You might notice that three of these four virtues (strength, justice, and temperance) are also the names of cards in the Major Arcana. The fourth virtue, prudence, is also reflected in one of the cards in the Major Arcana. Eliphas Levi gives the following description of the ninth card of the Major Arcana - the Hermit.

"The imagery shows a sage leaning on his staff, holding a lamp in front of him and enveloped completely in his cloak. The inscription is THE HERMIT because of his hooded cloak. His true name, however, is PRUDENCE, and he thus completes the four cardinal virtues."

Mouni Sadhu attribute three names to each card in the Major Arcana. One of the names he gives to the Hermit is Prudence. While discussing this name, Mouni Sadhu points out that nothing is certain in our world. Everything is given over to chance and probability. Therefore, in order to stay safe, we must be prudent (careful).

Levi also considers the Hermit card to reflect the essence and nature of initiation. The name of the chapter about the Hermit card in Dogma et Rituel de la Haute Magie is "Initiation." He spends most of the chapter discussing the qualities of an initiate and the benefits of initiation. Clearly, there is a profound connection between the concept of prudence and the concept of an initiation.

To be an initiate is to possess the quality of prudence/carefulness. As initiated magicians, we work to make the world a better place. It's difficult to make the world a better place if you're dead. There are many dangers out in the world. If you're not careful, you could very well end up dead.

Initiated magicians work to make those around them happy. There are people who are close to you who care about you and would be devastated if you died. Part of making those around you happy is to make sure you don't inflict unnecessary suffering upon them, and part of making sure you don't inflict unnecessary suffering upon them is to look after yourself so they have little reason to worry about you.

Since compassion is so important in magic, many magicians strive to be compassionate towards others. However, being compassionate also means being compassionate with yourself. That starts with being careful. Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger. Take measures to keep yourself safe and healthy.

In Step 1, Bardon gives the exercise of remaining present-minded. This exercise is more than just a way to improve your concentration so you can manipulate magical energies in a more focused manner. It's also a way of staying safe. You're much less likely to get into a car accident while driving if you're present-minded. You're much less likely to get hit by a car while walking across the street if you're present-minded. When it comes to staying safe, staying present-minded is a must.

Life is a precious gift. Don't throw it away by being reckless and putting yourself in danger for no good reason. Be present-minded so you can see and react to any of chance's attempts to steal this gift from you. Be careful. Remain safe.