A fundamental metaphysical principle is the “Principle of Sufficient Reason”, that is, everything that comes into manifestation has an explanatory cause. The natural man believes he can explain the existence of something by its antecedent material causes, that is, solely in its horizontal dimension. The esoterist, on the other hand, knows that there is a vertical dimension.

So this is the question: How does the idea, or essence, of something become actual, or existent? Julius Evola, in his system of Magical Idealism, explains that it is Will that magically brings the idea of a thing into existence; in other words, the Will is the Sufficent Reason for the thing. Thus we see that it is the strongest wills that can manifest their ideas, visions, and projects in the “real” world.

Furthermore, Evola divides the Will into two categories: the spontaneious will and creative will. The former is unconscious, so it both deterministic and random like Schopenhauer’s depiction of the Will. This is the condition of the natural man, who is asleep to life. The awakened higher man uses his will consciously and with purpose.

Valentin Tomberg, in Covenant of the Heart breaks it down this way:

• Matter is concentrated Energy
• Energy is concentrated Will
• Thinking (the idea) and Feeling (intensity) underly Will

This is consistent with Swedenborg’s teaching that thought is transformative, though it is the intensity of the thought that determines the speed of transformation.