Life

Life has probably more to do with philosophy than with magick. However, the subject does have its place in magick as well. Because, if nothing else, the way you look at life have much to say for the way you use, or don't use, magick.

Life always ends with death. Nothing lives forever. Even stars die. But one question is whether death is final, or if there is something after. That, however, will not be discussed here.

So many people fill their lives with emptiness. They walk through their lives, without really seeing the beauty around them. Their purpose is no more than survival, though they are not aware of it.

How many people walk through life, working with something they don't really care about, and having lost track of what is really important?

How many people do anything to stay alive, although their life may not be very attractive?

People forget that life should be measured in quality, not quantity. To live a full life, to enjoy the small things and the great things both, that is something to strive for.

Every living being is important, and has its place in the World. Every animal has a purpose, though it may not benefit the humans. But that is something we so easily forget, that this world is not ours to rule and to do with as we please, but something to cherish, to care for, to serve, and to love.

So, there is a difference between life and existence. Existence is to breathe, to eat and drink, sleep, and work. Existence is when you have no purpose in life.

Life is when you learn to cherish a moment of beauty, or intimacy. Life is when you value it so highly that you can give it up for something you believe in.

But if this is true, then animals don't live, they just exist. In one way, that is true. But still, animals are often more aware of what is going on around them than humans are. They live more fully in the time they live.

And humans learn to cherish life. We learn that taking life is wrong. But is it so? To kill without reason, yes that would be wrong. To kill because you enjoy it, yes that would be wrong. But to kill for living, that is the way of Nature.

To protect Nature, one must realize that there should be a balance. To protect life isn't always the right thing to do. To protect the balance is, however, important.

Everything is linked to something else. A predator keeps the prey healthy, and strong. So, it serves a purpose. To remove the predator, is to weaken the prey.

So it is also with humans. To remove the dangers and the challenges of life, is to weaken the race.

Does this mean we should encourage lawlessness and the right of the strongest? No. Because in humans, there is another aspect; compassion.

To protect the weak among us, that is one of the strengths of the humans. So to turn on the weak and leave them to fend for themselves would ruin one of the good things in humankind. However, to protect ordinary people by too many laws and rules and protections will only achieve that they don't learn to think for themselves. With no danger, why should they bother to care for the consequences?

An important part of life is instincts. We humans are losing this, bit by bit. We forget how to feel, we forget how to listen to our spirit. We try removing every danger from this world, thus removing fear. But fear is a part of what we are. We cannot evolve without something to fear. By fearing, we strive to improve, and thus, we evolve.

And emotions are linked together with life; fear, love, happiness, sorrow, and every other emotion we have. These are what make us truly live. Without these, we could be machines.

Magick and instincts are closely related. The counterpart of emotions is reason. Reason and magick does not go well together. However, instincts will be neccessary if you want to succeed. You will need to listen to your soul, and to know what path you wish to follow.

If you don't live, you'll easily lose track of what you want. Straying from a path is easy, getting back is not. And by not truly living, it will be difficult, even impossible, to know if you're getting closer to a goal or not.

What set of values can you have if you don't live? If you can't enjoy a moment of beauty for beauty's own sake, your life will lack something important. And without this ability, your magick will be flawed.

Back