Holy Guardian Angel

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The Holy Guardian Angel is the "Silent Self", representitive of one’s truest divine nature. The term is equivilent with the Genius of the Golden Dawn, the Augoeides of Iamblichus, the Atman of Hinduism, and the Daemon of the gnostics. Even though the HGA is, in a sense, the “higher self”, it is often experienced as a separate being, independent from the adept. In the system of Thelema, the single most important goal is to consciously connect with one’s HGA, a process termed “Knowledge and Conversation.” By doing so, the magician becomes fully aware of his own True Will.

For Aleister Crowley, this event was the single most important goal of any adept:

It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magician is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. Once he has achieved this he must of course be left entirely in the hands of that Angel, who can be invariably and inevitably relied upon to lead him to the further great step—crossing of the Abyss and the attainment of the grade of Master of the Temple. (Magick Without Tears, Ch.83)

Table of contents

1 The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage

2 HGA and Black Magick

3 Methods of Achieving K&C

4 References

The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage

Crowley became aware of the book entitled The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage from George Cecil Jones, a member of the Golden Dawn. The book descibes the full procedure for “Knowledge and Conversation” and gave him the term "Holy Guardian Angel." Crowley sums up the book in The Equinox of the Gods:

The aspirant must have a house secure from observation and interference. In this house there must be an oratory with a window to the East, and a door to the North opening upon a terrace, at the end of which must be a lodge. He must have a Robe, Crown, Wand, Altar, Incense, Anointing Oil, and a Silver Lamen. The terrace and lodge must be strewn with fine sand. He withdraws himself gradually from human intercourse to devote himself more and more to prayer for the space of four months. He must then occupy two months in almost continuous prayer, speaking as little as possible to anybody. At the end of this period he invokes a being described as the Holy Guardian Angel, who appears to him (or to a child employed by him), and who will write in dew upon the Lamen, which is placed upon the Altar. The Oratory is filled with Divine Perfume not of the aspirant's kindling.

After a period of communion with the Angel, he summons the Four Great Princes of the Daemonic World, and forces them to swear obedience.

On the following day he calls forward and subdues the Eight Sub-Princes; and the day after that, the many Spirits serving these. These inferior Daemons, of whom four act as familiar spirits, then operate a collection of talismans for various purposes. Such is a brief account of the Operation described in the book.

This book clearly had a powerful impact on Crowley, who adopted its general terms and concepts, and applied it to his own system developed in the A.'.A.'. Moreover, he actually attempted the full procedure as descibed in the book, which resulted in the purchase of Boleskine House and his Abramelin Operation.

HGA and Black Magick

Crowley felt that attaining Knowledge and Conversation was so important, that he staked the claim that any other magical operation was, in a sense, evil. In Book 4 (Ch. 21) he explains:

As was said at the opening of the second chapter, the Single Supreme Ritual is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is the raising of the complete man in a vertical straight line...Any other operation is black magic...If the magician needs to perform any other operation than this, it is only lawful in so far as it is a necessary preliminary to That One Work.

He then softens his position somewhat:

There are, however many shades of grey. It is not every magician who is well armed with theory. Perhaps one such may invoke Jupiter, with the wish to heal others of their physical ills. This sort of thing is harmless, or almost so. It is not evil in itself. It arises from a defect of understanding. Until the Great Work has been performed, it is presumptuous for the magician to pretend to understand the universe, and dictate its policy.

Methods of Achieving K&C

Crowley said that the Abramelin proceedure was not the only way to achieve success in this endevour:

It is impossible to lay down precise rules by which a man may attain to the knowledge and conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel; for that is the particular secret of each one of us; as secret not to be told or even divined by any other, whatever his grade. It is the Holy of Holies, whereof each man is his own High Priest, and none knoweth the Name of his brother's God, or the Rite that invokes Him. (Book 4, "One Star in Sight")

Since the operation described in “Abramelin” is so complex and requires time and resources not available to most people, Crowley wanted to provide a more accessable method. While at the Abbey of Thelema in Italy, he wrote Liber Samekh (http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib800.html), a ritual designed specifically for attaining the Knowledge and Conversation with one’s HGA. In his notes to this ritual, Crowley sums up the key to success: “INVOKE OFTEN.”

He also explains, in more detail, the general mystical process of the ritual:

The Adept will be free to concentrate his deepest self, that part of him which unconsciously orders his true Will, upon the realization of his Holy Guardian Angel. The absence of his bodily, mental and astral consciousness is indeed cardinal to success, for it is their usurpation of his attention which has made him deaf to his Soul, and his preoccupation with their affairs that has prevented him from perceiving that Soul.

The effect of the Ritual has been

to keep them so busy with their own work that they cease to distract him;
to separate them so completely that his soul is stripped of its sheaths;
to arouse in him an enthusiasm so intense as to intoxicate and anaesthetize him, that he may not feel and resent the agony of this spiritual vivisection, just as bashful lovers get drunk on the wedding night, in order to brazen out the intensity of shame which so mysteriously coexists with their desire;
to concentrate the necessary spiritual forces from every element, and fling them simultaneously into the aspiration towards the Holy Guardian Angel; and
to attract the Angel by the vibration of the magical voice which invokes Him.

The method of the Ritual is thus manifold.

References

Crowley, Aleister. (1997). Magick: Book 4. 2nd ed. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
___. (1982). Magick Without Tears. Phoenix, AZ : Falcon Press

Retrieved from "http://thelemapedia.org/index.php/Holy_Guardian_Angel"

-{{stub}}
+The '''Holy Guardian Angel''' is the "Silent Self", representitive of one’s truest divine nature. The term is equivilent with the Genius of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn|Golden Dawn]], the Augoeides of [[Iamblichus]], the [[Atman]] of [[Hinduism]], and the Daemon of the [[gnosticism|gnostics]]. Even though the HGA is, in a sense, the “higher self”, it is often experienced as a separate being, independent from the adept. In the system of [[Thelema]], the single most important goal is to consciously connect with one’s HGA, a process termed “Knowledge and Conversation.” By doing so, the magician becomes fully aware of his own [[True Will]].
-'''The Augoeides'''
+For [[Aleister Crowley]], this event was the single most important goal of any adept:
-Lytton calls him Adonai in ‘Zanoni,’ and I often use this name in the note-books.
+:''It should never be forgotten for a single moment that the central and essential work of the Magician is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. Once he has achieved this he must of course be left entirely in the hands of that Angel, who can be invariably and inevitably relied upon to lead him to the further great step—crossing of the Abyss and the attainment of the grade of Master of the Temple.'' (Magick Without Tears, Ch.83)
-Abramelin calls him Holy Guardian Angel. I adopt this:
-.	Because Abramelin’s system is so simple and effective.
+==The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage==
-.	Because since all theories of the universe are absurd it is better to talk in the language of one which is patently absurd, so as to mortify the metaphysical man.
+Crowley became aware of the book entitled ''The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage'' from [[George Cecil Jones]], a member of the Golden Dawn. The book descibes the full procedure for “Knowledge and Conversation” and gave him the term "Holy Guardian Angel." Crowley sums up the book in ''The Equinox of the Gods:''
-.	Because a child can understand it.
+:''The aspirant must have a house secure from observation and interference. In this house there must be an oratory with a window to the East, and a door to the North opening upon a terrace, at the end of which must be a lodge. He must have a Robe, Crown, Wand, Altar, Incense, Anointing Oil, and a Silver Lamen. The terrace and lodge must be strewn with fine sand. He withdraws himself gradually from human intercourse to devote himself more and more to prayer for the space of four months. He must then occupy two months in almost continuous prayer, speaking as little as possible to anybody. At the end of this period he invokes a being described as the Holy Guardian Angel, who appears to him (or to a child employed by him), and who will write in dew upon the Lamen, which is placed upon the Altar. The Oratory is filled with Divine Perfume not of the aspirant's kindling.''
-Theosophists call him the Higher Self, Silent Watcher, or Great Master.
+:''After a period of communion with the Angel, he summons the Four Great Princes of the Daemonic World, and forces them to swear obedience.''
-The Golden Dawn calls him the Genius.
+:''On the following day he calls forward and subdues the Eight Sub-Princes; and the day after that, the many Spirits serving these. These inferior Daemons, of whom four act as familiar spirits, then operate a collection of talismans for various purposes. Such is a brief account of the Operation described in the book.''
-Gnostics say the Logos.
+This book clearly had a powerful impact on Crowley, who adopted its general terms and concepts, and applied it to his own system developed in the [[A.'.A.'.]] Moreover, he actually attempted the full procedure as descibed in the book, which resulted in the purchase of [[Boleskine House]] and his [[Abramelin Operation]].
-Egyptians say Asar Un-nefer.
+==HGA and Black Magick==
-Zoroaster talks about uniting all these symbols into the form of a
+Crowley felt that attaining Knowledge and Conversation was so important, that he staked the claim that any other magical operation was, in a sense, evil. In ''Book 4'' (Ch. 21) he explains:
-Lion – see Chaldean Oracles.
-Anna Kingsford calls him Adonai (Clothed with the Sun). Buddhist call him Adi-Buddha – (says H.P.B.)
+:''As was said at the opening of the second chapter, the Single Supreme Ritual is the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. It is the raising of the complete man in a vertical straight line...Any other operation is black magic...If the magician needs to perform any other operation than this, it is only lawful in so far as it is a necessary preliminary to That One Work.''
-The Bhagavad-Gita calls him Vishnu (chapter xi.)
+He then softens his position somewhat:
-The Yi King calls him “The Great Person.”
+:''There are, however many shades of grey. It is not every magician who is well armed with theory. Perhaps one such may invoke Jupiter, with the wish to heal others of their physical ills. This sort of thing is harmless, or almost so. It is not evil in itself. It arises from a defect of understanding. Until the Great Work has been performed, it is presumptuous for the magician to pretend to understand the universe, and dictate its policy.''
-The Qabalah calls him Jechidah.
+==Methods of Achieving K&C==
-We also get metaphysical analyses of His nature, deeper and deeper according to the subtlety of the writer; for this vision – it is all one same phenomena, variously coloured by our varying Ruachs – is, I believe, the first and the last of all Spiritual Experience. For though He is attributed to Malkuth, and the Door of the Path of His overshadowing, He is also in Kether (Kether is in Malkuth, and Malkuth in Kether – “as above, so beneath”), and the End of the “Path of the Wise” is identitiy with Him.
+Crowley said that the Abramelin proceedure was not the only way to achieve success in this endevour:
-	So that while he is the Holy Guardian Angel, He is also Hua, and the Tao.
+:''It is impossible to lay down precise rules by which a man may attain to the knowledge and conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel; for that is the particular secret of each one of us; as secret not to be told or even divined by any other, whatever his grade. It is the Holy of Holies, whereof each man is his own High Priest, and none knoweth the Name of his brother's God, or the Rite that invokes Him.'' (Book 4, "One Star in Sight")
-	For since Intra Nobis Regnum deI all things are in Ourself, and all Spiritual Experience is a more or less complete Revelation of Him.
+Since the operation described in “Abramelin” is so complex and requires time and resources not available to most people, Crowley wanted to provide a more accessable method. While at the [[Abbey of Thelema]] in Italy, he wrote [http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib800.html Liber Samekh], a ritual designed specifically for attaining the Knowledge and Conversation with one’s HGA. In his notes to this ritual, Crowley sums up the key to success: “INVOKE OFTEN.”
-	Yet it is only in the Middle Pillar that His manifestation is in any way perfect.
+He also explains, in more detail, the general mystical process of the ritual:
-	The Augoeides invocation is the whole thing. Only it is so difficult; one goes along through all the fifty gates of Binah at once, more or less illuminated, more or less deluded. But the First and the Last is this Augoeides Invocation.
+:''The Adept will be free to concentrate his deepest self, that part of him which unconsciously orders his true Will, upon the realization of his Holy Guardian Angel. The absence of his bodily, mental and astral consciousness is indeed cardinal to success, for it is their usurpation of his attention which has made him deaf to his Soul, and his preoccupation with their affairs that has prevented him from perceiving that Soul.''
-- Equinox I:1,pp 159 -160
+:''The effect of the Ritual has been''
+:# ''to keep them so busy with their own work that they cease to distract him;''
+:# ''to separate them so completely that his soul is stripped of its sheaths;''
+:# ''to arouse in him an enthusiasm so intense as to intoxicate and anaesthetize him, that he may not feel and resent the agony of this spiritual vivisection, just as bashful lovers get drunk on the wedding night, in order to brazen out the intensity of shame which so mysteriously coexists with their desire;''
+:# ''to concentrate the necessary spiritual forces from every element, and fling them simultaneously into the aspiration towards the Holy Guardian Angel; and''
+:# ''to attract the Angel by the vibration of the magical voice which invokes Him.''
+:''The method of the Ritual is thus manifold.''
+==References==
+*Crowley, Aleister. (1997). Magick: Book 4. 2nd ed. York Beach, Me. : S. Weiser.
+*___. (1982). Magick Without Tears. Phoenix, AZ : Falcon Press
 [[Category:Thelema]]
 [[Category:Thelemic terms]]