Willpower and the Forces that be.

[Snoopy]

Working with magic inevitably raises questions about willpower and free will — both of which, in my view, are fueled by forces that lie beyond ordinary perception. Throughout history, many occultists have arrived at similar conclusions. Aleister Crowley, for example, built an entire magical system around the primacy of will, encapsulated in his famous axiom: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." In this framework, will is not merely personal desire, but a cosmic directive — a force that aligns the practitioner with deeper currents of reality. Thelema, Hermeticism, and Chaos Magic all place will at the center of practice, essential for the success of certain initiatory systems and rituals and magical work.

• Techniques:
  • Visualization and concentration exercises to strengthen will.
  • Rituals designed to align personal will with cosmic forces.
  • Use of symbols (e.g., Tarot’s Magician card) to represent and activate will.
• Philosophical Insights:
  • Will is not just effort — it’s a metaphysical directive.
  • Imagination and belief amplify will’s power.
  • The Will must be purified of ego to become “True Will.”
• Practical Applications:
• Spellcasting, astral projection, and energy manipulation often rely on focused will.
• Will is seen as the bridge between thought and manifestation.

Willpower in the Left-Hand Path

The Left-Hand Path emphasizes:

• Self-Deification: Will is used to elevate the practitioner to godlike status. Instead of surrendering to divine will (as in the Right-Hand Path), the LHP seeks to become the source of power.
• Breaking Taboos: Will is tested and strengthened by transgressing societal, religious, or moral boundaries. This includes sex magick, ritual blasphemy, and symbolic inversion.
• Personal Sovereignty: The practitioner’s will is supreme. External authorities — gods, traditions, or moral codes — are rejected or reinterpreted.
• Magical Autonomy: Rituals are often designed to amplify personal will, not to petition higher beings. Chaos magicians, for example, use belief as a tool, not a truth.

Traditions that embody this include:

• LaVeyan Satanism: Will is the tool of rational self-interest and personal empowerment.
• Luciferianism: Will is the light-bringer, illuminating the path of inner ascent.
• Setianism: Will is the isolate consciousness that defies cosmic inertia.
• Chaos Magick: Will is fluid, adaptable, and used to bend reality through belief engineering.

Influencing the Will of Others

In occult theory, influencing others' will is possible through several mechanisms, from sigils, talismans, or even ritual to implant ideas or desires in others.

• Energetic Projection: Sending focused intent or emotion (often called “casting”) toward a target.
• Will as a Field: Some occultists view will as a vibrational force that interacts with others. A strong will can “overwrite” a weaker one. While LHP often embraces manipulation, advanced practitioners debate the ethics of influencing others without consent. Some argue that true mastery includes responsibility.
  • Austin Osman Spare: His concept of “Zos Kia Cultus” explores how belief and will shape reality — including others’ perceptions.
  • Peter J. Carroll: In Liber Null, he discusses how magical acts can alter probability and influence outcomes, including interpersonal ones.
  • Anton LaVey: Advocated for psychological manipulation as a form of “lesser magic,” using charm, seduction, and theatrics.

“To will is to act. To act is to shape. To shape is to rule — even if only in the shadows.”

 

[IllusiveOwl]

This is a very well-structured and practical explanation of a critical core concept in magic through many different perspectives, well done, mahamati!

I feel you've covered most of the written and factual basics, and all that's left is to flesh it out by sharing personal experiences / practices of cultivating / understandings of Will. I'll go ahead and share mine, hopefully others will do the same, and together we can all come to a more in-depth understanding of this incredibly important faculty.

From my understanding, Willpower isn't something people inherently have full access to, it has to be uncovered with awareness and practice. The average person has almost no power of Will at all, that's why advertising, blatant propaganda, and base human desires overtake the majority of us as a species. Our condition from birth is sleepy, for as long as we can remember we've been in motion, pushed around by our physical environment, by the actions of others, by our own thoughts, our desires, most people have no room to be anything but reactive to all these stimuli. I've seen many people who are nothing but reactionary, and never slow down or take a moment to breathe, it's just one thing to the next to the next, with conversation often being a bore, and they go on that way until they eventually die. Either way, a person in this sleepy condition wouldn't have access to the Will in any meaningful way, and would be at the mercy of those who do, as many are.

How, then, would someone starting out in this state gain Will? From what I know, the best method is by developing awareness. Insight, meditation, contemplation, this quest for self-understanding and reflection frees up space in a person's existence and opens gaps of true life within the cycle of reactions. Rather than just "following their gut" or "acting on emotions", or just "Acting impulsively" a person critically looks at what is going on within them, at the nature of their thoughts, at the position of their being within the context of their local, societal, global, and cosmic existence. Once person begins to "be aware" of themselves, they are ripe for beginning the path of development.

You have outlined many of the basic practices for "strengthening" the Will; concentration and intentional exercises, rituals, and symbols that speak deeply to our unconscious through archetypal symbols. I find the word "awakening" to be more apt when talking about the Magical development of the Will, because it's already inherently there, it's just wrapped in many layers of sleepy ignorance and can't get through our ego. Our starting condition was sleepy, and even once we become self aware, it's easy to fall back asleep into the mechanical and rote habitual lifestyle we awoke out of, so it's a process of gradual awakening of the Will.

Disciplines and the arts are a great way to access the Will without any esoteric knowledge, psychology mistakenly calls it "The Flow State", but truly this wonderful mode of being is just our Will acting at a higher capacity than the Ego. I've personally found the practice of reading & painting great for cultivating the Will. From my experience rituals have the same effect as "sudden illumination" moments, where profound and deep life-changing understanding is gained, then a few days later.... you've returned to your normal state of consciousness and habitual lifestyle. The metaphor of salt & water is good here, as the more salt you pour in water, eventually it will stop dissolving and solid salt crystals will remain there permanently, achieving permanent change in the individual over time and progressive initiation. As a Jungian and Joseph Campbell fan, I am fascinated with the shared symbology us humans express collectively. Because of this shared symbology, certain timeless messages and understandings can be passed down to us through complex images, the Tarot was a perfect example you've given, though there's plenty shared through subtext in ancient mysths, stories, religious texts, and even as modern-day spiritual warfare in media, where spiritual truths are hidden under the guise of standard programming. All philosophical, theological, theosophical, mystic, and artistic literature can fall under this last practice as well, as it's just one Will communicating with another Will.

Philosophically speaking, I believe the Will transcends both this physical plane, the mind and the ego complex it's constructed. I don't think "Purification" of the ego is the right way to phrase it, I believe the degree to which our physical and psychological vehicles are attuned to our Will is the degree to which we are awakened Magi. I also believe that this Will is the very divine spark which gives us Life, agency, and power. While being without individuality or identity in its own right, Will is what we are at our deepest core. Perhaps this is all happening because our sparks of Will wish to individuate? Or our Will just belongs to a single, great Collective Will? Who can say.

When it comes to magical application, the thing that makes it actual magic is the use of Will, everything else is either self-gaslighting, delusion, pure luck, or placebo. The Will is able to find things which resonate with it and allow it to be channeled, this can be through certain techniques, thought-patterns, tools, or practices, there's a myriad out there and not all of them will work for you because they were not meant to channel your will that is why there are so many different grimoires out there, a Mage makes their own grimoire based on the things that work for their own individual Will. Beliefs play into this, some beliefs motivate the Will more than others, many create their own altogether.

As a day-to-day mundane experience, I exercise and use my Will to overcome any thoughts that aren't accurate or useful to me, this may sound like a small and simple accomplishment, but there are many people who live life with "chronic Anxiety" or "Depression" because they cannot escape the orbit of their own thoughts in this way. Disconnecting from my thoughts, I am able to see the sensations within me (emotions) that give rise to these thoughts and understand them in a more in-depth way than my analyzation software (mind) is capable of. Using Will, I am able to direct my focus with unflinching devotion, like a sword or laser-pointer, to empty myself entirely to better absorb information free of pre-conceived distracting beliefs, or accomplish a task in complete Shoshin.

Attuning myself to my Will, I have made myself a more authentic and affectatious Magician, Citizen, and Individual.

in my view, are fueled by forces that lie beyond ordinary perception.

I would like to hear you elaborate further on this.

 

[HoldAll]

I don't really believe that willpower can be cultivated as an abstract, neutral force that can be used for just about anything, and the same goes for the way the term 'energy' is often used within the occult context - I'd like to quote a statement here I recently made (I don't want to link to it because it's such a long-ass post):

I must say that I'm not happy with the way energy is frequently talked about in occult circles or books in general. I think the way energy is raised also determines for what purposes it can be harnessed; it's not a neutral force like electricity that can be produced in any old way and then used for powering every contraption under the sun.

Mutatis mutandis, the same goes for willpower. You might have a strong will in connection with goals you really care about but may be weak in other respects. I don't think willpower is a mental muscle that can be employed to overcome any obstacle you might care to mention. However, it would be interesting to find out whether it's possible to cultivate willpower in a genuinely abstract sense after all since there are enviable people who are disciplined across the board and no matter what they're doing, taking on every single task in life as a diligent professional would without requiring much in the way of motivation. Most of us, however, will require an incentive, be it the stick, the carrot, or both.

There is a file called "Thelema Exercises v0.2" (can be easily found on annas-archive.org) that is exclusively about training the will; there is also Frater Akenu's "Magickal Curriculum" (the mega link in the forum Library is dead, can't remember where I got it from) in which he gives some very simple willpower exercises:

30 minutes rule

This is my favorite training method. Good old Czech Magick .

1. Are you hungry? Wait 30 minutes before eating

2. Are you thirsty? Drink in 30 minutes

The question is whether increases in willpower achieved by such methods can be seamlessy translated into other spheres of life as well. Will your newly acquired ability of fasting for several days, for example, help you eliminate each and bad habit you may have, e.g. procrastinating or being an inveterate flake or slacker? Is it possible to turn into an entirely different person regardless of your current mentality, however it came to be?

 

[a5a5a9]

There is a file called "Thelema Exercises v0.2" (can be easily found on annas-archive.org) that is exclusively about training the will; there is also Frater Akenu's "Magickal Curriculum" (the mega link in the forum Library is dead, can't remember where I got it from) in which he gives some very simple willpower exercises:

30 minutes rule

This is my favorite training method. Good old Czech Magick .

1. Are you hungry? Wait 30 minutes before eating

2. Are you thirsty? Drink in 30 minutes

The question is whether increases in willpower achieved by such methods can be seamlessy translated into other spheres of life as well. Will your newly acquired ability of fasting for several days, for example, help you eliminate each and bad habit you may have, e.g. procrastinating or being an inveterate flake or slacker? Is it possible to turn into an entirely different person regardless of your current mentality, however it came to be?

Those type of exercises are called within the 4th Way, Conscious Suffering exercises. And their purpose is to create Hidrogens , which are units of Energy, which over time the coagulate to create Bodies of Energy .

 

[FireBorn]

So reading the brilliant takes so far, I’m sitting here challenging myself to step up and write out how I see it, and my experience with it.


First: “Will” is a very Thelemic term, and I get it. It belongs there in popular culture. Fair enough. For myself, I use the word Fire. Probably the same thing (we’ve all got different terms for the same current — it’s kind of hilarious).

My Fire is my Will, my consciousness, my spirit. To me, those are all the same thing. Not determination, not desire, not “want.” My Fire is my drive, the true me, my frequency. Yeah Frequency is the best analogy.

When I dial into my own frequency, I can then use that resonance to connect with specific spirits (demon, angel, deity, doesn’t matter). Those spirits then teach me how to reach the Current/Source/whatever term you prefer. That, to me, is the entire point. Meditation is just the vehicle we use to enter trance, trance is how we reach the spirits, and the spirits show us the path into the Current.

And here’s the kicker: when we align our Fire with the Current, we don’t just “go with the flow” — we choose destiny. Alignment isn’t theory. It’s frequency locked to action — and that’s when magick stops being abstract and starts reshaping reality.