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Wilhelm Reich, the Ego, Orgasm and Crowley

A comparison of Reich, Jung, Lowen and Crowley on libido, will and the release of inner tension. From the Lust card of the Thoth Tarot to the role of conscious ritual, breath and bodily grounding in magical practice.

Человек и величественный лев идут рядом по тёмной земле в золотом и индиговом свете, символизируя соединение силы желания и сознательной воли

In Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, the trump corresponding to the traditional Strength card is called Lust.

It is sometimes interpreted as the striving of Libido, in Freud’s sense, towards the Divine.

For Reich, the theory of orgasm comes down to balancing the energy of Libido (Freud) and the Will to Power. Power is seen as the highest point of the Ego.

Now recall The Book of the Law: “Love is the law, love under will.”

Is that not the kind of balance Reich spoke of?

And remember that for Jung, Libido means any psychic energy, not just sexual energy. Likewise, for Alexander Lowen, Reich’s student, energy is not exclusively a matter of orgasm.

What is on the card? Orgasm. In the pursuit of the Ego’s highest goal. That is if we read it through Reich.

But if this energy need not be sexual, how should we understand it? The energy of life is trapped within your complexes (sexual freedom is a metaphor here). Free yourself from this inner constriction, and you will arrive at balance.

Life energy can manifest in any form. If you struggle to realise yourself in life despite there being no physical obstacles, that is energy held back. Releasing it gives you the impulse to achieve something. And you don’t need “sex magick” for this: a modified Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is enough.

Here is some more food for thought: where Crowley drew his ideas from, and how they find parallels in esotericism.

And look at what I do in my online sessions. Unfortunately, it is impossible to engage the physical plane fully online, and that would improve the process. That is why I experiment with wax (grounding) and breathing (contact).

There you have the practical application of High Magic: awakening the Soul through conscious ritual. That is Theurgy, not merely prayer.



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