The Ego and the Daemon
In the next article, I am going to deal with a topic about which I feel there is a lot of ignorance, little clear information, and it is a topic that produces confusion all the time, especially in those who want to follow the Left-Hand Path or want to practice Draconian Magic. Why these concepts are not clear, I do not know, perhaps because of ignorance of those who speak of the subject or because of simple stupidity, but I do not find another explanation on the matter. However, we are not here to discover the reasons why what is done elsewhere is done but to read about these two interesting and central concepts on the path.
The first thing we must do is go to the origin of things, which allows us to be clear about where they come from, which then allows us to take a position or be able to experiment with the subject. The idea of the Ego comes from Psychology. It is well developed in Freudian Psychoanalysis. Not being a psychologist I do not want to get into an area that is not mine, but we must understand that this takes force there, not in magic per se. It happens that psychological theories, especially what Jung has exposed, became very fashionable, and is part, in one way or another, of magic itself. The problem is that many times you do not delve into anything, you read very light and you go out to talk, which in the end produces confusion and thus we drag concepts and ideas that we are not clear about.
Now, what is the Ego? To define it clearly and easily, it is your SELF, which is made up of many things, your childhood, your education, your family, your friends, society, your beliefs, that is, everything that has happened to you has influenced in a way or another to the development of your Ego. It can be seen as the mask of your external personality, the one with which we relate to the outside world. In other words, it is the one who defines you in part as a person.
What’s wrong with this? Nothing, specifically within magic. What happens is that the most orthodox schools of the Right-Hand Path consider that those elements of the Self that bind us to material reality make us suffer and are the main obstacle to spiritual development, and the evolution of the spirit. If we take the Tree of Life as an initiatory scheme, the lowest sphere is Malkuth, the earth, where we are and everything that is here makes us suffer, therefore, the magician of the Right-Hand goes on a path of ascension and acquiring different virtues of the Sephiroth. In this way, the spirit is purified, the Ego is dissolving, and that magician becomes something more «pure» until reaching Kether and achieving the virtue of God.
All this explanation comes from the fact that one day it began to become fashionable that on the Left-Path, the dissolution and destruction of the Ego is something that must be done to be able to work with all this, and of course, this includes working with the Qlipoth. To all these characters who divulge this, I would ask: where did they get this from? First, destroying our Ego is the same as saying let’s kill something of ourselves, let’s seek self-destruction, in a word, let’s annihilate who we are. This is not part of the Left-Path, the one that raises the search for personal power, here we do not see the earth as something bad, something that must be left behind, that must be destroyed. I don’t want to become the next Buddha, and I don’t think those who read me either. What is wrong with the earth? What’s wrong with enjoying sex freely? What’s wrong with enjoying culinary delights? What is wrong with traveling, walking, having friends, and enjoying this reality? In my opinion nothing, but if someone wants something else, or wants to be a martyr, and feels that they have to deny everything that is here, perhaps they should think of another path.
In the inexperience or stupidity of some, people mix everything and do a hybrid thing, which has no basis in anything and distribute it on the Internet as a great truth. What’s more, they use it as an attack or insult. «You have Ego» they have told me, yes, like everyone else, and it is something natural, it is part of who I am. Then, the Ego would be the I, the personality mask of your day to day, there is nothing wrong with this, you do not have to seek to destroy it, but to understand it. In any case, if there is something about yourself that you do not like or feel that you want to change, find a way to transmute this, but do not seek your destruction, but it is not that you will be doing something wise, it will be something stupid, and the stupidity has no cure.
Something similar happens with the Daemon as with the Ego, there is a lot of obscurantisms, the definitions are vague, they are not understood and when the subject is touched, it seems that we are talking about inventing a spaceship that takes us for a walk to Pluto. Again, I am not in a position to know the reasons for this, although I find that the mystery makes it more interesting for some people or organizations. Each magical school of thought has its vision of what the Daemon is and what is not and how we come to have contact or assume it in our lives, here I will give my version and what for me it is, based on my personal experience. Feel free to disagree and have your own.
The Daemon is not a mystical being, he is not your patron divinity, nor is he a being that is beyond your mind. The Daemon is your magical alter ego, your other Self, a personality built from a series of elements that are given as you go along your path. A priori this may sound a bit shocking, especially if you have been reading about the subject, but you have to be clear. When we start with magic, at some point we must choose what will be our magic name, this is the first step for the birth of our Daemon, the one that has a name is what begins to give it identity, when we take our first initiation in The Draconian Current begins to forge this alter ego with greater force, and where everything begins.
This new personality is gaining power with each ritual that we are doing, we are giving it a form, for example when in a ritual we say: «My magic name» we are assuming that alter ego at that moment, that gives it power and strength. As we move forward this is getting more and more powerful.
Although like everything in magic, developing an alter ego is not risk-free, because when it gains strength and power, the Ego and the Alter Ego intersect, mix, and yes, one influences the other. As always, the key here is balance. Some people live more with the mask of the alter ego than their ego, and that is not entirely a good thing. In my opinion, if I am going to have a coffee with someone I don’t know, I introduce myself for who I am in worldly reality, that is to say: «My pleasure, I’m Damián» I do not introduce myself as: «My pleasure, I’m Daemon Barzai» and this is simple, first for the world I am Damián, then and in the moments that it has to be like that I am Daemon Barzai. I know it sounds like someone with a split personality, and as I’m writing this I’m funny, but that’s how it works. Once I put on my ritual robe, light the candles on my altar, and start my rituals, I leave my Ego behind to give full passage to my Alter Ego, which is the one who is in control of that moment. The same happens to me when I write about magic, or at any other time that if it is related to something magical. Balance is essential, and we must be able to separate one personality from the other. To understand even more, if I am having lunch with my family, they do not want to talk with Daemon Barzai, they want to talk and eat with Damián, therefore, I do not wear my magic mask all the time, there are occasions, there are moments, there are places. This balance is what can allow you to have a healthy life, and a full spirituality, without delusions, without idiocy, without obscurantism.
Daemon Barzai