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Subject: THE MAGUS
by Peter Carroll
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   As a master of magic the Adept has some abilty to change himself
and the reality which surrounds him at will.  The mark ofa Magus
however is that he is able to show other people how to change themselves
into whatever they desire through the discipline of magic.  There are
two main types of genuine Magus, the Apotheosis Magus and the Nemesis
Magus.  Additionally there is the Hierophant or pseudo-magus.  Each is
recognizable by the debris left in his wake.
  The Apotheosis Magus, sometimes known as the Harlequin, is typically
a master of internal disguise and often external disguise also.
Frequently a person of fallstaffian tastes and grand gestures, he often
distinguishes himself in a variety of human endeavors precisely because
he has attained the freedom to be anything at all.  Such freedom is often
won only after a tremendous personal struggle to repair the effects of a
difficult start in life.  The Apotheosis Magus teaches by encouraging
emulation and then often finally capping it with outrage.  His play, which
is often never consciously formulated, is to provide a role model for
emulation by his accoltes and perhaps later to drive them away and throw
them back on their own resources, the horizons of which have been expended
by the encounter.  The essential trick of the Apotheosis Magus is to
present magic as a source of boundless self confidence.  If he can convinc
e
his accolytes that they are magicians capable of anything such beliefs wil
l
tend to become self fullfilling.  The Apotheosis Magus implies this throug
h
the triumph of the will.
  The Nemesis Magus implies it by showing that nothing is true.  Both aim
to set the imagination free.  Both are exponents of a short and dangerous
path which is inevitably strewn with casualities and misunderstandings.
Yet this is considered to be a small price to pay if a few do win through
to a more effective self definition.
  The continual setbacks, reverses and dry periods to which the magical
tradition is habitually prone are due to the frequent appearance of the
Hierophant or pseudo-magus figure.  The Hierophant always presents himself
as an exponent representative of something greater than himself.  Out of
the multiple of roles, identities and behaviors that a person might adopt,
the Hierophant presents a single model as an ideal.  This is particularly
convenient for the Hierophant as he need not be a perfect example of his
own ideal although he must at least make a show of trying in public.
Additionally, as it is he who defines the ideal, it is comparatively easy
for him always to appear one step closer to it than his accolytes.
Of course most Hierophants are merely religious teachers who rarely
venture into esoterics because of the potentially immense costs of public
failure.   Yet there remains a depressingly long roll call of dishonor
for occult Hierophants or psuedo-magi.
  The Hierophant inevitably teaches a system of magic that he has either
assembled from pieces or inherited.  The most enduring systems are those
which are highly complicated, and of low magical effectiveness.  They
should furthermore be surrounded with hosts of petty exhortations.
  Aleister Crowley dabbled in the Hierophant mode but was a supreme
exponent of the Apotheosis Magus role.  Nobody of any potential adhered
to him for long but many were ejected to find their own path.
Crowley's writings are liberally salted with deliberate invitations to
emulation and hero worship and as equally peppered with devices designed
to repel.  However their effect has never been quite as reliable as the
presence of the magus himself was.
  The Apotheosis path is lonely, difficult and dangerous.  Such a magus
must be all things to all men and women.  As a matter of policy he may be
continually engaged in challenging the limits of what is socially acceptab
le.
He may have to resort to trickery to make himself seem large enough to
accomodate the totality of his followers' expectations of him.
Any true friendship prevents him exercising his life's function towards
any person with whom it is shared and there will be few of his peers with
whom he can be completely open.  He will get few thanks from society in
general for his efforts and perhaps only a grudging respect from those who
m
he touches.  The tangible rewards of this role are limited to those he can
extract form his temporary followers.  The Apotheosis Magus must be
continually alert to avoid the backlash from his own lifestyle and those
who have associated with him.  He must always be one step ahead of the
police raid.  He often comes to a bad end.  Notable magi operating in
this mode include Cagliostro, Giordano Bruno, Paracelsus, and Gudjieff.
  The Nemesis Magus is a rare figure in the generally positive esoteric
climate of the west.  In the east the role is more common.  The historical
Buddha with his rules and restrictions to provide accolytes with a slightl
y
new identity to adhere to.  Rules concerning clothing, sex, and diet are
particularly effective.  Such systems are indispensible to the Hierophant
in his ceaseless quest for followers.  The complexities of his systems
guarantees protracted tuition and its comparative magical ineffectiveness
ensures that few will be tempted to go freelance.  Such systems are design
ed
to create dependency.  New accolytes are always welcome in such systems no
matter how long their potential; for, in the absence of measurable progres
s
mere numbers at least provide some positive confirmation.  Heresy and
Schism always threaten the Hierophant's position and system.  Unrealistic
ideals and ineffectual means of attaining them will always attract critici
sm
and attempts at revisionism.  Yet if these can be avoided the Hierophant c
an
look forward to extensive rewards from his followers, the lucritive
commercialisation of his system, and maybe postumous deification for what
it's worth.
  Hierophantic magi frequently inherit the systems of the predecessors.
The Apotheosis Magus and the Nemesis Magus rarely have direct successors,
although Hierophants frequently appear on the scene afterwards and reduce
their works to a system. Pseudo magi outnumber the real thing by a large
margin.  It would be unseemly to mention any living examples for whilst
there is life there is hope of change; however, Blatavsky, MacGregor Mathe
rs,
Dion Fortune, and Franz Bardon provide examples of past occult Hierophants
.
  A single test serves to separate the true Magus from the Hierophant. The
false magus is never able to give a simple meaningful explanation of what
his teachings are supposed to do.  His justifications are invariably
verbose and tautological concatenations of indefinable terms.
  A host of petty Hierophants feast upon the debris of Crowley's work
without managing to enlarge themselves or their followers.  Austin Spare's
works however have been largely resistant to sytematisation and slavish
adherence for he left little that could be made into dogma.  Yet Crowley
and Spare between them exemplify the paradox facing the genuine magus.
Speak and be misunderstood or keep silent and be ignored.  Most, it
appears, have chosen to speak knowing that the tricks of the Hierophant
are an indispensible medium but that these tricks ultimately obscure the
message itself.  The hope is to blow some minds in the meantime.

Either
The Apotheosis of the Self
Or
The Nemisis of the Self
Will set the Kia soaring
But promulgation begets systematisation
And the Apotheosis
Of Somebody Elses Self
Is for suckers.
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