Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) · 32 of 123 · tr. A.E. Waite
6. The Medium And Mediator-a
TWO things, as we have shown, are necessary for the acquisition of magical power - the emancipation of will from servitude and its instruction in the art of domination.
The sovereign will is represented in our symbols by the Woman who crushes the serpent's head and by the radiant angel who restrains and constrains the dragon with lance and heel.
In this place let us affirm without evasion that the Great Magical Agent - the double current of light, the living and astral fire of the earth - was represented by the serpent with the head of an ox, goat or dog, in ancient theogonies.
It is the dual serpent of the caduceus, the old serpent of Genesis, but it is also the brazen serpent of Moses, twined about the Tau, that is, the generating lingam.
It is, moreover, the Goat of the Sabbath and the Baphomet of the Templars; it is the Hyle of the Gnostics; it is the double tail of the serpent which forms the legs of the solar cock of Abraxas.
In fine, it is the devil of M.
Eudes de Mirville and is really that blind force which souls must overcome if they would be freed from the chains of earth; for, unless their will can detach them from this fatal attraction, they will be absorbed in the current by the force which produced them, and will return to the central and eternal fire.
The whole magical work consists therefore in our liberation from the folds of the ancient serpent, then in setting foot upon its head and leading it where we will.
“I will give thee all the kingdoms of the earth, if thou wilt fall down and adore me,” said this serpent in the evangelical mythos.
The initiate should make answer: “I will not kneel to thee, but thou shalt crouch at my feet; nothing shalt thou give me, but I will make use of thee, and will take that which I need, for I am thy lord and master” - a reply which, in a veiled manner, is contained in that of the Saviour.
We have said that there is no personal devil.
It is a misdirected force, as the name indicates.
An odic or magnetic current, formed by a chain of perverse wills, constitutes this evil spirit, which the Gospel calls legion, and this it is which precipitated the swine into the sea - another allegory of the attraction exercised on beings of inferior instincts by blind forces that can be put in operation by error and evil will.
This symbol may be compared with that of the comrades of Ulysses transformed into swine by the sorceress Circe.
Remark what was done by Ulysses to preserve himself and deliver his associates: he refused the cup of the enchantress and commanded her with the sword.
Circe is Nature, with all her delights and allurements: we must overcome her in order to enjoy.
Such is the significance of the Homeric fable, for the poems of Homer, those true sacred books of ancient Hellas, contain all the mysteries of high Eastern initiation.
The natural medium is therefore the ever active and ever seducing serpent of idle wills, which we must withstand by continual subjugation.
Amorous, gluttonous, passionate, or idle magicians are impossible monstrosities.
The Magus thinks and wills; he loves nothing with desire; he rejects nothing in passion.
The latter word signifies a passive state, and the Magus is invariably active, invariably victorious.
The attainment of this realization is the crux of the transcendent sciences: so when the Magus accomplishes his own creation, the Great work is fulfilled, at least as concerns cause and instrument.
The Great Agent or natural mediator of human omnipotence cannot be overcome or directed save by an extra-natural mediator, which is an emancipated will.
The transformation of base substance — outer matter or the inner soul — into a purified, perfected, or 'gold' state; the magnum opus as both laboratory practice and spiritual allegory.
References to the 'Great work' and the Magus accomplishing his 'own creation' align with alchemical transformation of the self.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The text defines the 'Great Magical Agent' specifically as the 'double current of light, the living and astral fire of the earth,' which serves as the medium for magic.
The Stoic and Plotinian doctrine that all parts of the cosmos are bound by hidden affinities, so that a movement in one part resonates through the whole; the metaphysical basis for astrology, magic, and divination.
The text describes an 'odic or magnetic current' and 'attraction exercised on beings,' suggesting a resonant connection between forces.
Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.
The text explicitly states there is no personal devil, defining it instead as a 'misdirected force' or 'blind force,' aligning with the doctrine of evil as privation or distortion rather than substance.
The doctrine that human volition, cultivated by discipline and emancipated from passion and servitude, is the primary instrument of magical operation — will confirmed by persistent acts acquires causal power over self, others, and nature; distinct from faith and from mere desire.
The passage centers on the 'emancipation of will' and 'sovereign will' as the necessary condition for magical power and liberation from natural forces. [Merged from sovereign_will per operator decision 2026-07-15.]
The maintenance of a state of cleanliness—physical, moral, or spiritual—required for encounter with the divine.
The text asserts that 'amorous, gluttonous, passionate, or idle magicians are impossible monstrosities,' implying a requirement for moral and spiritual purity.