What is the Magickal Self?

Author: Robin Fennelly

The building of the magickal personality brings us to something else; each one of us has the actor within him or her. As Shakespeare put it, so beautifully and poetically:

All the world’s a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
and one man in his time plays many parts.”

The Magickal Self acts as the interface and point of transition from the mundane world to the spiritual realms. It is you, in your higher form of vibration that will more closely match the rhythms of the other worlds you are transiting. It is the trained you that as you progress along the Path also grows and expands to encompass more of knowledge and experience you have gained and reflect it back so that it may be recognizable and usable in your magickal workings.

The form your Magickal Self takes will vary in accord with your energetic changes as you move forward in your work and study. For some, they see themselves in a physical shape and form, although it will not resemble their physical coloring, build or stature at all. For others, this form may more easily take a geometric shape that holds the more highly refined state of their energy. In either case, as the physical form is densest in matter that shape will most likely not be the form taken as there is the need for a more refined energy within the astral realms. Whatever form this Magickal Self may take it is recognizable by you because it still remains your consciousness; just in its spiritual form such as:

Younger Self, Talking Self, and Higher Self
In The Feri Tradition: Sticky One, Shining Body, and Sacred Dove
Hebrew/Qabalistic: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, Yechida
Generically in the Metaphysical Paths: Lower Self, Middle Self, Higher Self and Spiritually Evolved Self.

For our purposes we will be working with the three designations of Lower Self, Middle Self, Higher SELF and The Spiritual (or Evolved) SELF.

Lower/Physical Self: I Have
The Lower Self (Lower Mental) is our primal instinctual nature. This is the physical body we inhabit and the conscious self that responds and reacts to stimuli in the physical world through our senses and tactile abilities. This is our place of foundation and the place from which we concretely and tangibly build the world around ourselves. The Lower or physical self obeys the laws of time and because of its density in energy the laws of space and its place within it as well.

Middle/Emotional Self: I Want (to Become)
The Middle self more closely relates to the subconscious mind. The place of dreams and aspirations; of emotions and feelings. We Feel rather than thinking our way through this world. This is the first place of desire and the catalyst that yearns to become more than we are and can experience in the physical self. The Lower Self says “I Have or possess this” and the subconscious feeds it the “want and desire” that enlivens and creates connection to what we have acquired.

Higher/Mental SELF: I Will Become
The Higher Mental self is the super or Higher conscious self. It knows the results of the subconscious desire working upon the conscious mind and has transcended to a place of “knowing it will be”. This Higher Self has developed a state of “awareness” and from that awareness evolves the Higher Will. It is not the will of baser ego, but instead the Will to create, to manifest to exist. This is the part of Self that is not confined by the bounds of linear time and space.

The Spiritual SELF (The Divine Spark) : I AM
The Spiritual SELF is the continued contact and communication with the impulse of the Divine. There is no longer a need to Have or possess. There is no desire for anything for it is all and at once formed and formless. It is the realization that there is no separateness, only union and synthesis from which all other states of form emanate. It is the Divine Spark that is contained within us all and moves with us as we pass from lifetime to lifetime.

The way in which these parts of self interact when creating and calling forth the Magickal Self are multifold. Each is dependent and interdependent upon the other for forming, coalescing and finally birthing that magickal being that is inherent within us all. The subconscious generates the desire to shape and form the appropriate interface that will allow for movement and access to the higher planes. The conscious self, having been stimulated by the subconscious begins the work of creating the shape and image that magickal form will take.

If you have a firmly established Magickal Persona, this process usually occurs at the point of putting on your ritual grab, a sacred amulet or ring. It intensifies and builds in substance as you enter sacred space. And, once the circle is cast, the quarters called and the energy of the ritual space changes its vibration and intensity the Magickal Self comes forth more fully to begin the work at hand. As the conscious self seeks the contact of the Higher consciousness (Higher Mental) this form begins to interact with the energies and planes that are being accessed in the ritual.

If you are just beginning the process, every ritual, every magickal working that is done with focus and intent will strengthen and bring into greater substance that Magickal Self. In those rare moments, when all the parts of self are in alignment and balance with each other the consciousness rises to a place of opening to the Spiritual SELF, sometimes called the Holy Guardian Angel. This of course, is the ultimate goal and is not something easily attained. This contact usually comes through the subconscious mind rather than the conscious waking mind; and can be likened to a brief flash of brilliant light where you are completely at one with the Universe, its mysteries and its source. These moments are quite rare and even with diligent practice towards that end they occur in their own way in their own time (often lifetimes) , if at all.

So what is the importance of knowing about these various selves? And, what does that have to do with a Magickal Self?

Use this analogy and think on what it truly means: As we develop our Magickal Self the physical being becomes something like a cocoon. Time passes and the affects of weather and all manner of outer influence go unnoticed by what is being transmuted within. Eventually, and at just the precise moment in time there is movement within the cocoon- from which the “lightness and grace” of an ephemeral butterfly (or the Magickal SELF) emerges, a completely different form from its original with access to different sets of skill and understanding of other worlds. Its world is different from that of its former state as a caterpillar. It is through a similar state of metamorphosis that each time the call to the Magickal Self is issued the potential for a more enlivened and more refined state of being is held. And as we move through these new worlds, we are as the butterfly, transformed and empowered to soar towards our Divine nature.

Footnotes:
Online Course: A Year and A Day on the Wiccan Path. R.Fennelly

Lord of Lights: The Path of Initiation in the Western Mysteries. W. E. Butler

Quote by William Shakespeare