I Want (to Become)

As we continue our study of Magickal alignment and the components required to establish a state of balance and co-creation the next steps are to examine the three core aspects of our being. Although each is distinct in its own work, all are co-dependent on the other to maintain our state as a functioning human being. Note that I did not designate between that state of functioning being whole and integrated or splintered and dysfunctional. These are the products of outcome in learning how to get the selves to communicate with one another and how much “sway” one may have over the other two or the two over a singular one.

This work of establishing effective communication is the work of a lifetime (s). The command of the Great Work to Know Thyself is the work of bringing all the bits and pieces of ourselves into collaboration with one another. So, let’s continue with the Middle Self, the place of yearning and the urge to create…..

The Middle Self
I Want (to Become)

The Middle/Emotional self more closely relates to the conscious/subconscious mind. This is 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 I possess this” and the subconscious feeds it the necessary fuel of “want and desire” that enlivens and creates connection to what we have acquired.  This is also the space of defining what I Want (to Become). The Middle Self serves as the point of union for the physical and the magickal to filter through, and synthesize what is needed from each to establish open and continual dialogue.

When we are engaging the Middle Self, we are connecting with the emotions that have evolved beyond the pure instinctual nature of the Lower Self and have now expanded into the realm of what could be. How we “feel” about the experience we have in this lifetime is the place of synthesis that is the Middle self.

The Lower Self focused on what we acquire and how that acquisition is attained. This primal need to have is drawn into the container of the Middle self and takes on new light as desire becomes informed by the process of the input of the Higher/Mental self that sorts and filters. As each is drawn into the other, what emerges is the product of the Middle self in the form of aspirations, hopes, dreams and the promise of potential.

If we wish to relate this self to the studies of Carl Jung and his work regarding individuation, archetypes and personality we could consider the Middle Self in these terms:

• The Self: The self is an archetype that represents the unification of the unconsciousness and consciousness of an individual. The creation of the self occurs through a process known as individuation, in which the various aspects of personality are integrated.

• The Persona: The persona is how we present ourselves to the world. The word “persona” is derived from a Latin word that literally means “mask.” It is not a literal mask, however. The persona represents all of the different social masks that we wear among different groups and situations. It acts to shield the ego from negative images. According to Jung, the persona may appear in dreams and take a number of different forms.

The Middle Self brings the thinking aspect to the balance of the Lower and Higher Selves. This is also the space of the conscience and responsive mind to that conscience. Often when we consider the definition of conscience we overlook the underlying striving of unification of the unconscious desires and the conscious actions that we choose. Moreover, these states of consciousness then define who we are in the world and the “persona” that we project versus the reality of what our true nature is the arising form the Lower Self of the desires that are instinctual.

 The Middle Self is typified by:

• Personality and Ego (serves as the point of interaction with others)
• Experience acted upon by emotion/will and intellect
• Includes the physical and etheric bodies

It is…..

The Waking Self– Moves in accord with outer and inner stimuli- storing experiences in the subconscious to be accessed in the Dream state or lifted up to the place of Memory

The Dreaming Self- Access to the sub-conscious to extract what will be brought to the state of memory and acted upon as such to make manifest

Part of the Astral that creates from the experiences gained. Sorts and analyzes

 The Middle Self makes full use of the Five Pars of SELF

Earth– The physical form to execute the actions and desire of the informed will

Air- The mind and development of intellect- problem solving- rationale

Fire- The will in discriminating and making decision

Water- The emotions that serve as filter, barrier or container for creative process

Spirit – The primal urge to return to the source of our being- the primal drive that sets us upon a spiritual path of seeking deeper understanding and knowledge and NOW with capacity to envision what and how the Spirit interacts and impacts all experience.

The Middle Self creates…

The Space of Human Experience, Desire and Creation and catalyzes the Sub-conscious as it flows into the Waking Self and becomes one of many points of integration.

From this perspective, the Great Work is that of Integration of the Lower and Middle Selves to be brought into Communication with and recognition of the Higher/Divine Self. These states of self-awareness bleed one into the other, continually informing our actions, thoughts and emotions, so it will appear as though there is conflict or redundancy in attribution. There is! And, it is precisely this redundancy and conflict that provides the irritation that sets into motion a dialogue between these selves towards purposeful action

Temptation, Desire and Will

I want to revisit these thoughts from our discussion of the Lower Self in the last post and complete another step of the equation as this energy arises in the emotional centers of the Middle Self….

What tempts us fuels our desire and from the desire to possess that source of temptation the will to take action is formed.

If we give consideration to the definition of the word – Tempt – we find these:

1. to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral.
   2. to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite:

The inference is one that this word evokes negativity and thus a temptation is negative and unacceptable. However if we also consider the etymology of the word, we find derivation from the Latin and its use in Middle English.

1175-1225; Middle English < Latin temptāre meaning to probe, feel, test, tempt

Temptation becomes the act of testing, probing and feeling our way through the experience of that object of temptation. Seeking deeper understanding and then engaging what we feel about that understanding are core precepts in spiritual growth and self-knowledge. Testing what we believe the results of that probing to be for their efficacy and use in our parameters is another tool of unlimited use in formulating what works magickally/spiritually and what is illusion and unproductive.

Repeating what I stated previously, now with a broader perspective of what Temptation is, reconsider this statement…

What tempts us fuels our desire and from the desire to possess that source of temptation the will to take action is formed.

Take this thought further and this is one of the keys to navigating the Lower Self, its desires and what tempts it to reveal itself, so that we become more desirous of knowing its true nature and using the gifts of its integration as part of our unified whole! “

An Exercise in Dreaming Our Reality:

Settle into the idea of your perception of yourself as being a creation of the dream of who you wish to be.

What is this dream you aspire towards?

Where and what are its fears?

Where is its place of reconciliation of what it knows of itself and what it wishes itself to be?

If this dream self were to move into the waking space of who you are, would it be different than what you imagine?

Now, allow these perceptions to arise from a place of instinctually knowing who you are.

How does this you differ from your imagined self? How is it similar?

What would this self achieve if informed by the instinctual you and the dreaming self?

What would be possible if both joined collaboratively into a space of being fully present and awake in the experience of who we truly are?

This is the promise of the Middle Self and its yearning to Become as these queries flow through our subconscious and move through the Waking Self.

Resources:
Year and a Day on the Wiccan Path: Lesson Seven-The Magickal SELF
Me, Myself and I

Next Post

The Higher SELF
I Will Become