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Daily Reflection 1.28.21
Jan. 28th, 2021 08:06 am Sun Tzu tells us that there are three ways that a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army. I want to discuss each one individually over the next three days.
The first:
Now as I've said, most of us will not be commanding armies in the field any time soon. But this is relevant to us in a number of ways. Consider the following scenarios:
1. An inexperienced ceremonial magician invokes Jupiter to consecrate a wealth talisman while Jupiter is in Capricorn conjunct Saturn.
2. Upon getting involved in a fraternal lodge, a man agrees to a series of different commitments, despite the fact that he has a full time job and two kids at home.
3. A woman is planning a fancy dinner party and so asks her husband to clean up the house, unaware of the fact that he has lodge meetings all day.
4. Having read the various posts about spiritual warfare I've done here, a reader attempts to fill his mind with some spiritual writing. Unfortunately, he picks Proclus's Elements of Theology, even though he has no background at all in Neoplatonic thought. Lacking the necessary background concepts and vocabulary to understand the text, he quickly becomes board and frustrated, and ends up spending 3 hours looking at Reddit.
I hasten to add that the second two examples do not come from personal experience.
All of this should call us back to the first chapter-- as is often going to be the case as we continue. Remember that among the factors which determine victory are the conditions of the Heavens and the Earth. Another factor is the general himself, and among the virtues necessary for him to cultivate is knowledge.
Whatever we mean to undertake, whether it's a magical operation, a work of self-transformation, or even cleaning the living room, knowledge will ensure our success, and a lack of knowledge will defeat us.
In this case, we need to know what our forces, however we are defining them, can and cannot do, both in general and in this particular moment. I was just trying to clean up, and discovered that the vacuum cleaner's cord was too short to reach the other side of the room. If I order it to advance all day, it never will, until I get an extension cord. An army might be unable to advance because of a rainstorm, a mountain, or a larger enemy force in its path. All will halt its advance, but the proper method of response will be different in each case. The rainstorm will pass, the mountains can be avoided, the enemy force must be dealt with.
In our spiritual war, it would be very good if we could simply put down our computers, or phones, or whatever you're reading this on, invoke a suitable deity and go out and exorcise the United States of America. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. The advantages of Heaven are with the Enemy right now, in the form of a powerfully malevolent Uranus traversing Taurus and making war upon Saturn. Much of the psychic ground in the world at large is held by enemy forces, and in many places we will be unable to advance. That's not a call to despair by any means: In its own way it's a huge advantage, as it gives us something to work against. But we must work against it effectively, and that means keeping in mind what we can do and where, when and how we can do it.
The first:
By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
Now as I've said, most of us will not be commanding armies in the field any time soon. But this is relevant to us in a number of ways. Consider the following scenarios:
1. An inexperienced ceremonial magician invokes Jupiter to consecrate a wealth talisman while Jupiter is in Capricorn conjunct Saturn.
2. Upon getting involved in a fraternal lodge, a man agrees to a series of different commitments, despite the fact that he has a full time job and two kids at home.
3. A woman is planning a fancy dinner party and so asks her husband to clean up the house, unaware of the fact that he has lodge meetings all day.
4. Having read the various posts about spiritual warfare I've done here, a reader attempts to fill his mind with some spiritual writing. Unfortunately, he picks Proclus's Elements of Theology, even though he has no background at all in Neoplatonic thought. Lacking the necessary background concepts and vocabulary to understand the text, he quickly becomes board and frustrated, and ends up spending 3 hours looking at Reddit.
I hasten to add that the second two examples do not come from personal experience.
All of this should call us back to the first chapter-- as is often going to be the case as we continue. Remember that among the factors which determine victory are the conditions of the Heavens and the Earth. Another factor is the general himself, and among the virtues necessary for him to cultivate is knowledge.
Whatever we mean to undertake, whether it's a magical operation, a work of self-transformation, or even cleaning the living room, knowledge will ensure our success, and a lack of knowledge will defeat us.
In this case, we need to know what our forces, however we are defining them, can and cannot do, both in general and in this particular moment. I was just trying to clean up, and discovered that the vacuum cleaner's cord was too short to reach the other side of the room. If I order it to advance all day, it never will, until I get an extension cord. An army might be unable to advance because of a rainstorm, a mountain, or a larger enemy force in its path. All will halt its advance, but the proper method of response will be different in each case. The rainstorm will pass, the mountains can be avoided, the enemy force must be dealt with.
In our spiritual war, it would be very good if we could simply put down our computers, or phones, or whatever you're reading this on, invoke a suitable deity and go out and exorcise the United States of America. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. The advantages of Heaven are with the Enemy right now, in the form of a powerfully malevolent Uranus traversing Taurus and making war upon Saturn. Much of the psychic ground in the world at large is held by enemy forces, and in many places we will be unable to advance. That's not a call to despair by any means: In its own way it's a huge advantage, as it gives us something to work against. But we must work against it effectively, and that means keeping in mind what we can do and where, when and how we can do it.
