### How Power Feeds the Shadow "_power—real power—doesn’t just amplify the sacred. It amplifies everything_" "_Magick doesn’t discriminate. It’s not a moral force. It’s a tool. And when you pull in chi, or spiritus, or call down a planetary current, it doesn’t just fill the parts of you that you want to grow. It fills all of you. Every chamber. Every crack._" "_The energy doesn’t lie. It just flows. And if you’re not aware of the structures it’s pouring into, you may be reinforcing the very illusions you’re trying to transcend._" "_You’ll notice this in subtle ways at first. A little more self-importance. A sharper edge to your online posts. The creeping belief that you’re further along than others._" ### On Humility and Discipline "_No one makes it far in magick without eventually encountering this shadow. And the ones who do make it far? They’re the ones who learn to bow. Not to external gods, but to the Work itself. They understand that the more power you channel, the more [responsibility](./responsibility) you carry—not just in the world, but within yourself._" "_That’s why [grounding](./grounding) practices—zazen, martial arts, daily service, kaizen—aren’t optional._" "_And more than anything, that’s why watching yourself is part of the path. Notice your tone. Your impulse to correct. The part of you that feels insulted when someone doesn’t recognize your insight. These aren’t flaws to be ashamed of—they’re signals. They show you where the energy is leaking into ego instead of soul._" "_The more energy you gather, the more discipline you need to hold it. And not just discipline of action, but discipline of identity. Because if you let the ego grab hold of the power, it’ll hijack the whole operation. You’ll still be practicing. You’ll still be invoking. But you’ll be doing it for the wrong self._" ### On Real Power "_Real power doesn’t need volume. When the ritual becomes a performance, the audience is the ego._" "_The paradox of real power is that the more you embody it, the less you need to display it. Magick, when done properly, doesn’t make you larger—it makes you lighter. It dissolves the layers of ego that cling to recognition and replaces them with something deeper: [presence](./presence). [Compassion](./compassion). Stillness. The kind of authority that doesn’t shout because it doesn’t need to._" ### 10 Signs Your Magick Is Feeding the Wrong Self "_1. You start believing you’re more advanced than others._" "_2. You correct others more than you correct yourself._" "_3. You feel attacked when your path isn’t recognized._" "_4. You speak sacred names louder than you listen._" "_5. You justify cruelty in the name of “truth.”_" "_6. You feel inflated after ritual—but agitated in life._" "_7. You can’t go a day without broadcasting your practice._" "_8. You react harshly to being challenged._" "_9. You feel a growing divide between your inner life and outer behavior._" "_10. You forget that the highest magick is invisible._"

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Fear

Judgment

Fear of Outshining