Jason Lotterhand Q & A on the Tarot key The Magician
Question from student: Jason, what is black magic?
That’s what most people are doing every day, all the time. We do what we damn well please. The Individual says, “I’ll do what I want, any way I can.” He’s not concerned with whether there is a God or whether his actions will affect other people. He’s only concerned with himself. That’s black magic.
And does it work?
Sure it works. Look around. Ambitious people who are not shall we say, enlightened philosophers, have specific goals and they stop at nothing to achieve those goals. But it’s a short-term proposition because coercion is always used in black magic. You force all the powers around you, whether they are people, elements, or inner powers. You make them obey you and when you do that, when you exert force, there is going to be a reaction. The egotism of the black magician is so great that he overlooks this well known feature of the law. He can’t imagine that there could be a reaction, but there always is and it can be fatal for him.
How can I protect myself from black magic?
The head of the Tree of Life is Goodwill. That’s the greatest protection you can have. It is impersonal and has no object. This includes harmlessness to all. The truth has always come through goodness. It has never come through someone who was ambitious. All great teachers have been people of goodwill.
Life is not destructive nor does it put itself down. Life supports itself. Ultimately, the Will-to-Good is Life’s own pleasure. Therefore, your own pleasure is your greatest goodness. Your true heart’s desire is always beneficial to others. This is why we affirm, in statement number one in the Pattern on the Trestleboard, “I am a center of expression for the Primal Will-to-Good, which eternally creates and sustains the universe.” When you say that and know it’s true, that’s the end of all your worries.
What do you think of the alchemists who wanted to make gold?
Outwardly, the alchemists were some of the most ambitious people the world has ever seen. Inwardly, however ALCHEMY is a search for spiritual experience. God is included in the basic premise. For instance, pictured in Jung’s book Psychology and Alchemy, God is shown as being right there in the alchemist’s laboratory. This means that if the alchemist can get God to work in what he’s doing, then all things become possible, including physical transformation. This is the spiritual approach to alchemy.
The average chemist believes that many things are impossible. When God is involved, that changes everything. The alchemist says, “If God can do it (and God can do anything), then by God’s grace, if I’m mindful of God, I can do it.” This is different from trial and error or manipulations. Like George Washington Carver, the alchemist is continually praying to God to tell him how to do it. We’re not smart enough to know what to do next. We have to be guided.
It’s just good sense to be humble about our capabilities and to ask for a little light. Within ourselves (that’s where to find the God we’ve been talking about), we have a lot of guidance, but not much on the personality level. If it were easy on the level of the personality, everybody would be fulfilled.