Daily Reflection 2.1.21
Feb. 1st, 2021 08:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readoldthings Sun Tzu tells us that the third way that a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army is
Probably the best way to illustrate this point is to think of any time you've ever been in charge of a group of people, however small, for whatever purpose. You learn quickly that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. One person is a workhorse behind the scenes, but freezes up if they have too many eyes on them; another is incapable of self-starting, but will work hard at any task where you lay out the details for them; a third can talk to anyone in the room and have them eating out of their hand, but if you leave them alone in a room with a computer they'll spend 7 hours staring at Facebook and 30 minutes frantically trying to get something done.
Very often in our daily goals, our team consists of ourselves, and the different components of our psyche. Here, too, the lesson applies. I have a lot of energy in the morning, lose steam in the afternoon, and pick up again around 5:00. I try to do anything that requires my mind in the morning. I know I don't have much energy in the afternoons, so I try to schedule things for then that I can do while zoning out. Tai chi and writing before noon; housework, cooking and grocery shopping (in other words, anything I can do while listening to a podcast) after 1.
In magical operations, we very often have a team, though most of its members aren't incarnate beings. And here, too, we need to employ our teammembers with discrimination. One doesn't invoke a spirit of Venus to get a job, a fire elemental for emotional stability, or a virgin martyr saint to get laid.
Both of the foregoing points apply to the spiritual warfare. I know, for myself, there are times when I'm especially susceptible to psychic attack. This is when to avoid social media, political podcasts, or spending time in crowds or in energetically unhealthy places. Similarly, when working with spirits or gods on these matters, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about things. This might be obvious, but if you're hoping to avoid demonic obsession, Goetic magic is not for you. But there might be other powers who are good in and of themselves who are not for you, either. Some deities simply aren't interested in human affairs, or in areas outside their particular purview. I personally have relationships with both Christian saints and Welsh Druid deities because I find it very difficult to hear the saints' voices in the woods or the gods' voices in the city! And of course, there are particular powers who specialize in spiritual warfare, like St. Michael the Archangel. Some will work with you if you're not a member of their particular tradition, but others will not, and you need to know what you're doing before invoking them.
3. By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
Probably the best way to illustrate this point is to think of any time you've ever been in charge of a group of people, however small, for whatever purpose. You learn quickly that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. One person is a workhorse behind the scenes, but freezes up if they have too many eyes on them; another is incapable of self-starting, but will work hard at any task where you lay out the details for them; a third can talk to anyone in the room and have them eating out of their hand, but if you leave them alone in a room with a computer they'll spend 7 hours staring at Facebook and 30 minutes frantically trying to get something done.
Very often in our daily goals, our team consists of ourselves, and the different components of our psyche. Here, too, the lesson applies. I have a lot of energy in the morning, lose steam in the afternoon, and pick up again around 5:00. I try to do anything that requires my mind in the morning. I know I don't have much energy in the afternoons, so I try to schedule things for then that I can do while zoning out. Tai chi and writing before noon; housework, cooking and grocery shopping (in other words, anything I can do while listening to a podcast) after 1.
In magical operations, we very often have a team, though most of its members aren't incarnate beings. And here, too, we need to employ our teammembers with discrimination. One doesn't invoke a spirit of Venus to get a job, a fire elemental for emotional stability, or a virgin martyr saint to get laid.
Both of the foregoing points apply to the spiritual warfare. I know, for myself, there are times when I'm especially susceptible to psychic attack. This is when to avoid social media, political podcasts, or spending time in crowds or in energetically unhealthy places. Similarly, when working with spirits or gods on these matters, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about things. This might be obvious, but if you're hoping to avoid demonic obsession, Goetic magic is not for you. But there might be other powers who are good in and of themselves who are not for you, either. Some deities simply aren't interested in human affairs, or in areas outside their particular purview. I personally have relationships with both Christian saints and Welsh Druid deities because I find it very difficult to hear the saints' voices in the woods or the gods' voices in the city! And of course, there are particular powers who specialize in spiritual warfare, like St. Michael the Archangel. Some will work with you if you're not a member of their particular tradition, but others will not, and you need to know what you're doing before invoking them.
