18 July (Fire) Liber LXV, 4:17-18
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17. Then the scribe took note, and was glad. But Adonai had no fear of the Magician and his play. For it was Adonai who had taught all his tricks to the Magician.
18. And the Magister entered into the play of the Magician. When the Magician laughed he laughed; all as a man should do. -
17. Then the scribe took note, and was glad. But Adonai had no fear of the Magician and his play. For it was Adonai who had taught all his tricks to the Magician.
This passage recalls an acting class I taught that was based on Caryl Churchill's play Cloud 9. In the play Ms Churchill indicates the kind of person who is supposed to play each part: for example, she specifies that a young, African-American woman is to play the part of a middle aged, white, South African man who is both a bigot and a pedophile.
All the characters in the play are unsavory from a psychic health and moralistic point of view. What was interesting in terms of working with the young actors in the class was my attempt to convince them it was not their job to judge the characters. They didn't want to play the roles they were assigned because they disliked the kind of people the characters gave shape to. The whole, deep understanding that it was only a play, and that the characters were only fictions, and that, when all was said and done it was only about acting technique, this was lost on them.
18. And the Magister entered into the play of the Magician. When the Magician laughed he laughed; all as a man should do.
Accomplished actors are eager to play characters that are flawed and complex. In fact, they are really the only characters worth playing.
Beyond my metaphor of the actor is a lot having to do with various elements on the Tree of Life, and the significance of these elements in terms of levels of consciousness, and mystical states, and transcendent relationships. But this may be the least important aspect of the text. Whereas the understanding that there is a universal principle at work here applicable to all understandings at any stage is perhaps the most important thing to appreciate—illusion is not illusion if you understand it for what it is, then it becomes an opportunity to deliver a master performance, all as a man should do.
Love and Will