Arrogance is a Poison
We all know that the presence of arrogance in someone's personality is a glaring indication that said person is not very far along the magical path. The purpose of this post isn't to state that this is the case, but to shed some light on why this is the case.
The simple reason is that how far along the magical path you are depends largely on how balanced you are, and arrogance is a major imbalance. There are other ways of looking at the issue though.
Bardon tells us that four qualities are needed for success in magic - knowledge, courage, volition, and silence. He calls these the four pillars of Solomon's temple, which represents the fully developed and realized magician. Arrogance is a sign that a person lacks at least two of those qualities - knowledge and courage. An arrogant person does not know his shortcomings, flaws, vices, and negative traits. Furthermore, an arrogant person does not have the courage to analyze himself, because somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that he will discover that he is not as perfect and infallible as he believes himself to be.
Arrogance is also a sign that a person lacks compassion. Compassion is a very important quality for magicians to have. That might sound like me moralizing, but consider that compassion is one of the qualities corresponding to Tiphereth, the sephirah associated with adepthood. Being truly compassionate toward others necessitates that we view others as equals. Arrogant people see others as inferiors.
Finally, arrogance is a sign that a person takes himself too seriously and therefore doesn't have a well-developed sense of humor. A sense of humor is essential when it comes to walking the magical path. The magical path is a path of learning, and failure is a fantastic teacher. You're probably going to fail quite a few times as you walk the path, and if you let those failures get to you, you're never going to survive. Learn to laugh with your failures, even the ones that seem to be a part of you. Don't take them too seriously, and in the case of the failures that seem to be a part of you, don't take yourself too seriously. Acknowledge them as teachers, and therefore true friends.
Those aren't the only three ways of coming to the conclusion that arrogance is an insidious poison that stunts magical development, but they're the three that make the most sense to me when it comes to reflecting back on my own arrogance and the negative impacts it's had on my advancement in the past. In a magical world where everyone is chasing after lofty-sounding ranks and titles, it is easy to forget just how dangerous arrogance really is, but if you are determined to become a magician, the universe will frequently hit you with lessons on the importance of humbleness, and some of those lessons are going to be hard. It's always better to learn sooner rather than later.
Be kind.
The simple reason is that how far along the magical path you are depends largely on how balanced you are, and arrogance is a major imbalance. There are other ways of looking at the issue though.
Bardon tells us that four qualities are needed for success in magic - knowledge, courage, volition, and silence. He calls these the four pillars of Solomon's temple, which represents the fully developed and realized magician. Arrogance is a sign that a person lacks at least two of those qualities - knowledge and courage. An arrogant person does not know his shortcomings, flaws, vices, and negative traits. Furthermore, an arrogant person does not have the courage to analyze himself, because somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that he will discover that he is not as perfect and infallible as he believes himself to be.
Arrogance is also a sign that a person lacks compassion. Compassion is a very important quality for magicians to have. That might sound like me moralizing, but consider that compassion is one of the qualities corresponding to Tiphereth, the sephirah associated with adepthood. Being truly compassionate toward others necessitates that we view others as equals. Arrogant people see others as inferiors.
Finally, arrogance is a sign that a person takes himself too seriously and therefore doesn't have a well-developed sense of humor. A sense of humor is essential when it comes to walking the magical path. The magical path is a path of learning, and failure is a fantastic teacher. You're probably going to fail quite a few times as you walk the path, and if you let those failures get to you, you're never going to survive. Learn to laugh with your failures, even the ones that seem to be a part of you. Don't take them too seriously, and in the case of the failures that seem to be a part of you, don't take yourself too seriously. Acknowledge them as teachers, and therefore true friends.
Those aren't the only three ways of coming to the conclusion that arrogance is an insidious poison that stunts magical development, but they're the three that make the most sense to me when it comes to reflecting back on my own arrogance and the negative impacts it's had on my advancement in the past. In a magical world where everyone is chasing after lofty-sounding ranks and titles, it is easy to forget just how dangerous arrogance really is, but if you are determined to become a magician, the universe will frequently hit you with lessons on the importance of humbleness, and some of those lessons are going to be hard. It's always better to learn sooner rather than later.
Be kind.
and the dark magician? many of them have great powers, wisdom, even help other people, maybe not as white magicians should do, but help ... arrogance at an acceptable level can be very useful ... it is the fatal arrogance for the Magician's advance and magical power?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I do not understand your question, and also do not know who you are referring to when you write "dark magicians."
Delete-... it is the fatal arrogance for the Magician's advance and magical power?
Delete-dark magicians: LHP
people who practice "black magic" and "white magic" alike
It appears I am not the best person to answer your question. I do not think in terms of "right hand path," "left hand path," "black magic," and "white magic."
DeleteWhen I use the word "magic," I do not refer to all systems of applied occultism/esotericism. What I consider to be genuine magical advancement is based on my work with Franz Bardon's system of magical training, and my own experiences and observations have made it clear to me that arrogance is in fact an impediment to magical advancement.
I do not believe in those terms either, but they are very "popular" to distinguish between magicians with a stifling moral and those who are freer of any kind of "moral"
DeleteI know the Bardon system, my question is, arrogance could not have a positive use? even the gods and entities have a certain arrogance
Ah, now I understand your question.
DeleteThere is no quality that isn't potentially useful in some circumstance, but this doesn't mean we shouldn't upgrade negative qualities into their purified, balanced, and positive counterparts. Confidence is a very useful quality. Arrogance is an unbalanced and impure form of confidence, so it sometimes provides similar benefits to confidence but with additional downsides. When you balance and purify arrogance into confidence, you get the benefits without the downsides. Similarly, aggressiveness can be balanced and purified into assertiveness. Selfishness can be balanced and purified into a healthy desire to take care of oneself.
Regardless of what gods one believes in or what the qualities of those gods are, everyone can benefit from improving themselves, and this means becoming more balanced and pure.
Arrogance is useful, cause when life will hit you for all the arrogance you put down here, you will finally learn your lesson and humble yourself for good.
ReplyDeleteI was very arrogant the first years of knowing Bardon, being with very high magicians, life made me meet a lot of mature people, I then took all that for granted.
Then, life just humbled me in the most harsh and profound way, I will never forget those lessons.
Take care Virgil.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Life is indeed a good teacher, and often compels us to learn, even when learning is hard or painful.
Delete