If a peasant rose up every morning at two or three o'clock and went a long distance from home to gather a sprig of the same herb before the rising of the sun, he would be able to perform a great number of prodigies by merely carrying this herb upon his person, for it would be the sign of his will, and in virtue thereof would be all that he required it to become in the interest of his desires.
- Éliphas Lévi,
Training & Developing the Will
“The word "asceticism" comes from the Greek askesis, which literally means "athletic exercise." Crowley's method is one option, and it works, but it's also true that any willed action does the same thing. You can deliberately give yourself a habit, for example, get it established, and then stop doing it -- you learn from both stages of the process. You can also set yourself some wholly arbitrary task -- for example, decide that you will be at some specific street corner a dozen miles away from your home at 11:36 am this coming Sunday, and keep the appointment to the minute. All this trains the will and gives you the capacity to accomplish magical action in the world.” - John Micheal Greer”
Harnessing the Power of the Will
"Nothing can resist the will of man when he knows what is true and wills what is good." "The will of a just man is the Will of God Himself and the Law of Nature."
- Eliphas Levi
The Human Will is a divine creative force
- *“The Will Accomplishes Everything, Which It Does Not Desire”
"Nothing can resist the will of man when he knows what is true and wills what is good." "The will of a just man is the Will of God Himself and the Law of Nature."
“Everything is possible to him who wills only what is true! Rest in Nature, study, know, then dare; dare to will, dare to act and be silent!”
"A chain of iron is less difficult to break than a chain of flowers."
“To will well, to will long, to will always, but never to lust after anything, such is the secret of power….”
- Éliphas Lévi
Man can be modified by habit, which becomes, according to the proverb, a second nature in him. Through persevering and graduated gymnastics, the strengths and the agility of the body develop or create themselves in astonishing proportion. It is the same with the powers of the soul. Do you want to reign over yourselves and others? Learn how to will. The human will realized by action is like a cannonball that never recoils before an obstacle. When launched violently, it goes through it, or it enters it and loses itself within it; however, if it goes on with patience and perseverance, it is never lost, it is like the wave that always returns and ends up wearing away the iron
- Levi, High Magic
"What is the first thing to be done?" Believe in your power, then act. "But how act?" Rise daily at the same hour, and that early; bathe at a spring before daybreak, and in all seasons; never wear soiled clothes: wash them yourself at need; practise voluntary privations, that you may be better able to bear those which come without seeking: then silence every desire which is foreign to the fulfilment of the Great Work....
- Éliphas Lévi,