The Middle Pillar

by Israel Regardie

  Every man carries within him the eternal image of woman, not the image of this or that particular woman, but a definitive feminine image. This image is fundamentally unconscious, an hereditary factor of primordial origin engraved in the living organic system of the man, an imprint or “archetype” of all the ancestral experiences of the female, a deposit, as it were, of all the impressions ever made by woman.... Since this image is unconscious, it is always unconsciously projected upon the person of the beloved, and is one of the chief reasons for passionate attraction or aversion.19

  We must learn to discriminate between interior and exterior manifestation of the anima and animus, just as we must distinguish ourselves from our shadow. Whereas the conscious recognition of the shadow brings forth the knowledge of one’s own dark side as it relates to a person’s own sex, so does the recognition of the animus or anima provide the means for understanding the contrasexual portion of the psyche. It is precisely this lack of discrimination that leads a person to repeatedly seek out a certain kind of mate—a “bad boy” or “nasty girl” type who will inevitably treat them poorly. This is exactly how some individuals, in failing to differentiate between their own soul image (and secret inner desires) and a prospective mate, project the inner image outward and consequently fall into bad relationships time and time again. Sometimes the animus and anima can be symbolized by parental figures, leading some people to try to find a companion who resembles their father or mother in some way. While attempting to find “the perfect mate,” externalization of the soul image leads some to look outside of themselves for the perfection and beauty that lies within. This is true for most people who choose a mate who represents the subconscious portion of the psyche. And since no human mate can fit perfectly into the transferred image, after time the carrier of the projection displays his or her own character traits, resulting in frustration and discord in the relationship. If a person could only recognize the soul image within as a part of their own inner self, they would stop attributing their flaws to their mate and retract the projection. Any psychic energy that has been bound up in the projection would be freed for other, more progressive pursuits.

  The encounter with the soul image usually takes place later in life, after the dynamics of youth, reproduction, and the priorities of the outer world have been satiated. Confronting the soul image is an indication that the second half of one’s life has commenced. Once the contrasexual soul image has been brought to consciousness, however, it may not be possible to “lose ourselves completely” in the love of another, for we have now found the object of that love within us. This brings with it the realization that we are in fact complete within ourselves, and we do not need a slavish love to a projected illusion in order to prop us up. Instead we are enabled to develop a deeper love and a conscious devotion to our partner.

  The proper role of the soul image is that of the psychopomp, guiding the soul around impasses on its way toward spiritual transformation. It is the mediator between the conscious and the unconscious. Whereas the persona is the reconciler between the ego and the outer world, the soul image is the reconciler between the ego and inner world. Once fully realized and integrated, the soul image can bring incredible enrichment into consciousness and a vital expansion of the true self.

  Archetypes

  The third step in the process of individuation is the manifestation of archetypes. An archetype is an idea, mode of thought, or godform that has manifested from the inherited experiences of humankind—from the collective unconscious.

  The concept of the archetype... is derived from the repeated observation that, for instance, the myths and fairytales of world literature contain definite motifs which crop up everywhere. We meet these same motifs in the fantasies, dreams, deliria, and delusions of individuals living today. These typical images and associations are what I call archetypal ideas. The more vivid they are, the more they will be coloured by particularly strong feeling-tones...They impress, influence, and fascinate us. They have their origin in the archetype, which in itself is an irrepresentable, unconscious, pre-existent form that seems to be part of the inherited structure of the psyche and can therefore manifest itself spontaneously anywhere, at any time.20

  According to Jung, once the soul image has been integrated, next comes the manifestation of the major archetypes of spirit and matter. These include the “wise old man” as the spirit principle in man, and the “great mother” as the principle of matter (or nature) in woman. Here we are dealing with the primal roots of the psyche of either sex back to its origins, and the ancient god-forms from which they derive. Both the “wise old man” and the “great mother” can appear in a multitude of figures from all world mythologies. They are the sky gods, earth mothers, heroes, heroines, magicians, priests, priestesses, prophetesses, harvest gods, and fertility goddesses of all pantheons. These ancient archetypes are transcendent energies that can bring much wisdom and spiritual growth.

  Jung referred to archetypal figures of the psyche as “mana21 personalities.” This is a particular archetype or group of archetypes that the individual psyche most strongly expresses or manifests. A person who has mana is said to have power and influence over others, but also runs the risk of becoming self-centered and megalomaniacal. This is because these great universal archetypes produce a potent attraction which can in some instances entice the individual into identifying him or herself with the archetype, creating a type of self-aggrandizement or ego-inflation. Such is the path of many modern-day messiahs, self-appointed gurus, and power-mad spiritual leaders.

  An inflated consciousness is always egocentric and conscious of nothing but its own existence. It is incapable of learning from the past, incapable of understanding contemporary events, and incapable of drawing right conclusions about future. It is hypnotized by itself and therefore cannot be argued with. It inevitably dooms itself to calamities that must strike it dead.22

  All of us surrender to such arrogance during this process of individuation, however, the creative energies that are stimulated in the psyche by the appearance of archetypes can be fully accessed only after one has humbly acquired the ability to discern the difference between him or her self and them. On the road to self-growth, we must not mistake personal insights into our own inner workings as messages from God to his new chosen prophet. We must work to clarify our relationship to spirit and nature as represented by the gods/archetypes. These potent and eternal forces are a part our our psyche that are meant to empower and inspire us. Magicians regard archetypes as various forms or images of divinity that teach us about ourselves and our place in the divine universe. The conscious recognition of the psychic elements that comprise the mana personality archetype brings the first real sense of authentic individuality.

  Accessing Archetypes

  Although textbooks on psychology provide few examples of archetypes for the reader to explore, various textbooks on magic are often replete with such prototype figures. Many are readily found in the cards of the tarot. Meditation on these images, as well as a host of tarot exercises that can be found in such books as Madonna Compton’s Archetypes on the Tree of Life, Gareth Knight’s Tarot and Magic, Paul Foster Case’s Book of Tokens, or our own book The New Golden Dawn Ritual Tarot, can be used to identify and connect with various archetypes that inhabit the psyche.

  Several archetypes, in the form of gods and goddesses, are correlated to the spheres on the Tree of Life, according to their nature and characteristics. War and fire gods are assigned to Geburah, goddesses of love and pleasure to Netzach, etc. A small selection of deities from several pantheons are listed in Chapter Ten. Meditation on these figures can aid in understanding the archetypal beings that one may encounter in the process toward true self-awareness.

  It is important that the student not fall into the trap of the psychologization of magic23 that is a result of misunderstanding Jung’s theories. To the pop “psycholo-occultist” the archetypes, deities, and symbols are simply creations of the human mind—they have
no existence beyond the individual human being. Pop psychology sometimes gives the impression that humans create, work with, and discard archetypes as easily as an old pair of shoes, in a kind of superficial mental role-playing game. This view does not do Jung’s theory justice, since archetypes exist eternally and independently of any individual. To truly understand this, one must be willing to accept the spiritual (magical) side of human existence—we are part of a cosmic ecosystem, so to speak.

  Self-Realization

  Throughout the process of individualization, unconscious content has been gradually raised into consciousness. Combined with the dissolution of the persona and the decrease in the sovereign power of the conscious mind, this new awareness brings with it a state of psychic imbalance. Magicians refer to this time as “the dark night of the soul.” This intentionally created imbalance works to remove any mental impediments which stand in the way of further psychic growth. If the conscious mind is able to absorb and develop the psychic content emerging from the subconscious, then this state of balance induces the independent, intuitive activity of the unconscious to create a new equilibrium and the result, as Jung put it, is “the victory over the collective psyche.” Then and only then is the median between the conscious and the unconscious to be found. This is the archetypal image of the self, and self-realization is the final step on the path of individuation.

  The emergence of the self is a transformation of the psyche which involves a whole new outlook toward life. This is no easy process. Primal impulses from the subconscious will still assail us, but no longer will we totally identify ourselves with them, or flee from them. We must do our best to understand them, and we should not let the resulting tension between the waking consciousness and the unconscious process disturb our daily routine in any way. Our ability to withstand this tension and persevere through a state of psychic imbalance is what will lead us to a new psychic equipoise.

  Consciousness and unconsciousness complement each other to form the greater principle of the self. Not only is the self at the center of these two halves of the psyche, it is also the circumference which surrounds them. According to Jung, the only content of the self that we can know is the individuated ego. Endeavoring to know more, we run into the boundaries of our own knowledge. The self is transcendental. It can only be felt and experienced—never wholly understood by the rational mind.

  It ‘is strange to us and yet so near, wholly ourselves and yet unknowable , a virtual center of mysterious constitution.... The beginnings of our whole psychic life seem to be inextricably rooted in this point, and all our highest and ultimate purposes seem to be striving toward it. This paradox is unavoidable, as always when we try to define something that lies beyond the bourn of our understanding.... ’24

  It is obvious that Jung is bordering on the mystical here. Jungian psychology differs from other systems in that it presents ethical objectives that have much in common with magical goals. The discovery of the self might well be described as the completion of the Great Work, or the creation of the Philosophers’ Stone. The expansion of consciousness, through the elevation of heretofore unconscious material, is a form of spiritual illumination. This does not mean that the individual who experiences illumination or self-realization will spend the rest of his days in blissful meditation, but rather that he will gradually gain a more true understanding of himself and his connection to the divine.

  The goal of Jungian psychology is the creation of psychic wholeness. It is not by any stretch of the imagination limited to the treatment of mental illness. Treatment today is often sought out to cure a feeling of pointlessness or to find new purpose and direction in life. As we approach the twenty-first century, humanity is besieged by a collective neurosis and spiritual erosion. But the cure will not be found in adherence to rigid church dogmas or cold, detached methods of psychology. Countering the disorientation of modem humanity will require a combination of spiritual awareness, mystical experience, fundamental ethics, and sound psychotherapies. A method for self-realization which encompasses magic and psychology, such as the Middle Pillar exercise, is part of the answer.

  The Symbol of Unity

  The psyche that has received the benefits of self-realization is expressed in a glyph called the uniting symbol. This is a symbol which portrays the union of all parts of the psyche, yet its synthesis transcends all of its separate components. It represents the restored equilibrium between the conscious and the unconscious. The uniting symbol portrays a balanced psychological state that we wish to achieve. In Eastern societies, the uniting symbol often takes the form of a drawing called a mandala, or “magic circle,” said to be a balanced glyph of the cosmos. The most important uniting symbol in the West is the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

  Reich and His Theories

  Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957) studied medicine and Freudian analysis at Vienna University. He spent two years doing postgraduate work under Professor Wagner-Jauregg. It was during this time that he formulated two of his most recognized theories. The first was the concept of “physiological armoring”—muscular tension or physical rigidity that had the same effect as a neurosis, that is, it serves as a mechanism for the repression of unwanted psychic content. The second is the idea that schizophrenia is a “bottling up” of energy within the autonomic nervous system.

  Reich believed that psychic problems caused muscular tension and any successful therapy had to treat both sides of the disturbance—mind and body. His remedy was to develop a psycho-analytical treatment combined with deep, often painful, massage which would break down the physical armament, and in turn liberate the psyche from the neurosis.25 This represented an assault on the psychic problem by using physical manipulation. He called his method of treatment vegetotherapy, or as it is sometimes known as “non-verbal psychotherapy.” The goal of this treatment was not simply to relax the muscles, but to bypass all verbal or intellectual defense mechanisms, to reconnect the exterior ego with the interior reality, and release that material which was being repressed.

  In 1936 Reich began a series of experiments that resulted in his theory of orgone energy. This was a type of life force energy that Reich thought was vital to good health and which permeated all life. Some have compared it to the “astral light” of ceremonial magicians. Reich thought that muscular tension blocked the free flow of orgone energy in human beings—and that his vegetotherapy liberated the flow of orgone.

  His research got him into trouble, both in Nazi Germany and later in the U.S. where he built a machine that was said to extract orgone from the atmosphere and project it into the human body. Nevertheless, the theories of Reich are thought by many people to be an important conjunction between psychotherapy and magic.

  Transpersonal Psychology

  Coinciding with an interest in magic, today there is also increased attention being paid to transpersonal or depth psychology, a trend initiated by Jung and and further examined by psychologists such as Roberto Assagioli (1888-1975). The word transpersonal means that which transcends the personal or the individual. Transpersonal psychology takes a more spiritual approach to the human dilemma, and does not reject the idea of the soul—rather, it embraces it. A true system of transpersonal psychology must examine the highest aspects of the unconscious and take a philosophical as well as pragmatic approach to human evolution.

  Seeing that psychoanalysis was an incomplete system, Assagioli developed his own form of therapy and called it psychosynthesis. Psychosynthesis accepts the idea of the soul, the libido, and the imagination as essential aspects of the human being. It also includes the use of symbolism and allegory to initiate alchemical change and psychic integration.

  May I emphasize the fact that the elements and functions, coming from the superconscious, such as aesthetic, ethical, religious experiences, intuition, inspiration, states of mystical consciousness, are factual, are real in the pragmatic sense...because they are effective...producing changes both in the inner and the outer world. Therefore they are amenable to observat
ion and experimentation, through the use of the scientific method in ways suited to their nature; also they can be influenced and utilized through psycho-spiritual techniques.26

  Assagioli defined the parts of the psyche (see Figure 6, p. 126) as:

  1. The Collective Unconscious, a surrounding psychic “membrane” which permits constant and active interchange between all parts of the psyche and with the general psychic environment. It is the common primordial symbols, images, and metaphors of all humanity—the part of the soul that is shared. Archetypes of the collective unconscious include extremely primordial god images such as the Mesopotamian Apsu and the Greek Chaos.

  2. The Higher Self27 or the true transpersonal self which is above and is unaffected by the thoughts from the mind-stream or the sensations of the body. It is that pure consciousness, the core of the self, that underlies all other aspects and functions of the psyche as well. All personal energy and consciousness issues from this source. Archetypes of the higher self include omnipotent sky gods such as the Babylonian Marduk, the Greek Zeus, and the Hebrew Yahweh.

  3. The Conscious Self or “I” is the ego or point of self-awareness.It is the seat of personal identity that we organize our field of awareness around. Its function is to coordinate the vast amount of interior and exterior information that we acquire and to act as a intermediary between our internal and external realities. Experience is processed by the ego through various functions such as the emotions, the senses, the intellect, and the imagination. To carry out these duties, the ego relies on discrimination, reason, and certain defense mechanisms that often conflict with other aspects of the psyche, sometimes posing obstacles to growth and healing. Archetypes of the ego include all deities who have “walked between the worlds” of life and death (conscious and subconscious), such as the Sumerian Inanna and the Egyptian Osiris.