Lion & Serpent - Sekhet-Maat Lodge

Working with Archetypes and Deities:
Possession and Equilibration (part 2 of 2)
Frater Harmateus
The previous discussion has significant implications for the concept of equilibration.
In magick, the word is usually defined as a bringing into balance or
equilibrium of certain forces, energies, or elements. If archetypal possession is
allowed to occur, then the psyche is not in equilibrium at that particular moment.
All of the energies of the psyche are swept up in the drive of that one archetype
to express itself through the individual. So, when I speak of equilibration as the
desired state, I am referring to equilibration over time, not a steady, continual
state of equilibrium or balance. One might term such a thing as longitudinal
equilibration. In addition, there is the issue of balancing different energetic
forces in the psyche. Each archetype brings with it unique gis as well as risks.
No one archetype, regardless of how complex and multi-faceted it may be,
can guide us to the place Crowley (1990) so eloquently describes in The Book of
the Balance. To achieve this equilibration we must work with many archetypes
over the course of a lifetime and perhaps go into, and most certainly come out
of, a variety of archetypal possessions. Each archetype, however, seeks only to
express its own nature through the individual. Moreover, archetypes themselves
are not inherently balanced, as they are insular distillates of different aspects of
human experience. Let me give an analogy with which most students of magick
will be familiar. As humans, we are thought to contain all four elements in our
being: fire, water, air and earth. We seek to balance these elements in the self
because when the elements are in balance, Spirit manifests. Now if we compare
our nature to that of the elemental spirits—salamanders, undines, sylphs, and
gnomes—it is clear that only we are capable of elemental balance. Elementals by
their very nature contain only one element. Each elemental is absorbed only in its
own nature, is aware only of its own nature. It is up to us to achieve this elemental
balance within ourselves. Furthermore, it is ridiculous to expect help from
the elemental spirits in this maer, or even to expect that they will recognize the
value of this as a goal, as it is simply not part of their universe. It is much the
same with the archetypes. Each archetype has no inclination to share the human
vehicle of expression. There does not appear to be any evidence for some kind of
archetypal “co-op” where the different archetypes “time share” the human vessel
for the greater good of all. Once the archetype takes the wheel and starts driving,
this process continues until either the archetypal energies are spent, or the person
says, “Enough,” and takes back the wheel. Let me elaborate upon this second
outcome.
In psychotherapy, there is a lot of work on what is called boundary seing, or
limit seing. Anyone who has raised children, or has run a magickal lodge/oasis/
camp, will know what I mean. As a therapist you aempt to help people to set
realistic and appropriate boundaries with others and themselves, be consistent,
follow through, etc. Most of the same principles apply to working with archetypes.
If people cannot set boundaries in their relationships with others or with
themselves, then they are apt to have problems with archetypal possession. There
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