Yesterday I was conversing with another female initiate and we briefly discussed the mental fortitude required for some magic. I mentioned the Work requires a certain level of grit and resilience. These are universal concepts that can be applied to any objective, but especially in magic. I wanted to take a moment to briefly bring something forth about the warrior spirit and even the Tao in magic. Even these ideas are not strictly applied towards the magical path, as I will cover fluidity shortly, but tools to work with.

A warrior spirit has the ability to rise to the occasion. To stand strongly and bravely against adversaries, whether they originate within or without. A warrior spirit applies their will power and chutzpah towards their aims. A warrior spirit is prepared and intelligent. Trained and skilled. When cut down, the warrior spirit stands back up and continues to fight. A warrior spirit knows that even if they may lose a battle, they have not lost the war, and will continue with the next sunrise. A warrior spirit can stand surrounded by the unknown and discern their way forward.

Likewise, in magic, an initiate may find themselves in the metaphorical battlefield. If we look at the history of mankind, there can be extensive periods of war and many years of peace. In your own life, you may have times of plenty, and times where your inner kingdom is called to arms. Within your own domain, cultivating your warrior abilities is crucial to success. You may not always be wielding your sword, but you need the ability to fight at a moment’s notice. One battle cry my teacher taught me is Always Be Prepared. Even if your inner warrior self is currently but a serf, you can guide his development to become a squire then a knight. He may become bruised and severly wounded in training, but we are only defeated when we accept defeat. Sometimes we need a mentor to point out we are holding the sword wrong or to teach us advanced foot stepping techniques. Sometimes it is only in the heat of war we discover what we’re made of and whether we succeed or fail.

This warrior spirit allows a student of the mysteries to meet the challenges of the Great Work. Yet, with cultivation and refinement the warrior spirit also pays heed to the unspoken ways of the Tao. There are moments to observe and not act. Times where things must run their course without intervention. Discernment that rash actions result in undesired outcomes. Moments where the warrior understands that to let the opponent have a small victory now prevents a larger catastrophe later. The knowledge of larger forces one must work with and not against, sometimes leading to the fulfillment of one’s strategy and other times knowing to abandon your strategy and quickly adapt in order to stay in harmony with the Tao.

From this, one can then draw conclusions about the interplay between the yin and yang, male and female, electric and magnetic as a marriage between the warrior self and the Tao.