Source Text
G. I. Gurdjieff The Struggle of the Magicians Act One
Behind the houses are seen winding streets leading to the mountain houses, mosques, minarets, gardens, palaces, Christian churches, Hindu temples, and pagodas.
The White Magician enters. He is a tall well-built old man with a benign and pleasant face and a long white beard. He is dressed in a long white robe with broad sleeves and facings beneath which is seen a cream under-garment. On his feet are sandals. In his hand is a long staff with an ivory knob, and on his breast, hanging from a thick gold chain, is the symbol of the enneagram worked in precious stones.
The chief idea of the exposition is as follows: What is above is similar to what is below, and what is below is similar to what is above. Every unity is a cosmos. The laws which govern the Megalocosmos also govern the Macrocosmos, the Deuterocosmos, the Mesocosmos, the Tritocosmos and others, inclusively down to the Micro-cosmos. Having studied one cosmos, you will know all the others. The nearest cosmos of all for our study is the Tritocosmos, and for each one of us the nearest subject of study is oneself. Knowing oneself completely one will know all, even God, since men are created in his likeness. Having said this, the Magician slowly returns to his throne.
These ‘sacred dances’ are considered to be one of the principal subjects of study in all esoteric schools of the East, both in ancient times and at the present-day. The movements of which these dances consist have a double purpose; they express and contain a certain knowledge and, at the same time, they serve as a method of attaining a harmonious state of being. Combinations of these movements express different sensations, produce varying degrees of concentration of thought, create necessary efforts in different function and show the possible limits of individual force.
Act Three
Act Four The school of the Black Magician.
AI Summary
The Struggle of the Magicians by G. I. Gurdjieff presents key insights from the Gurdjieff tradition. The 7 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 7 are particularly representative.
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