Quareia—The Initiate Module VI—Angels and Demons in Depth Lesson 8: The Holy Guardian Angel by Josephine McCarthy Quareia Welcome Welcome to this lesson of the Quareia curriculum. The Quareia takes a magical apprentice from the beginning of magic to the level of adeptship and beyond. The course has no superfluous text; there is no dressing, no padding—everything is in its place and everything within the course has a good reason to be there. For more information and all course modules please visit www.quareia.com So remember—in order for this course to work, it is wise to work with the lessons in sequence. If you don’t, it won’t work. Yours, Quareia—The Initiate Module VI—Angels and Demons in Depth Lesson 8: The Holy Guardian Angel “If thou shalt perfectly observe these rules, all the following Symbols and an infinitude of others will be granted unto thee by thy Holy Guardian Angel; thou thus living for the Honour and Glory of the True and only God, for thine own good, and that of thy neighbour. Let the Fear of God be ever before the eyes and the heart of him who shall possess this Divine Wisdom and Sacred Magic.” –– The Book of Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage The term Holy Guardian Angel is bandied about a lot in magic these days and people’s perception of what this being is and what it does varies wildly according to what magical books they have read. In Crowley’s early writings he refers to this as the higher self, which is not correct, but in his later years he wrote in a letter, which was later printed in a book (Magick Without Tears) this comment: He is not, let me say with emphasis, a mere abstraction from yourself; and that is why I have insisted rather heavily that the term “Higher Self” implies “a damnable heresy and a dangerous delusion.” — Letter on the Holy Guardian Angel Quareia—The Initiate: Module vi, Lesson 8 The biggest reason people want to connect with the HGA these days is to have ‘knowledge and conversation’ with it, and to have the power to ‘cross the Abyss’ and become a magus...yawn. As with all things these days there is an element of humanity that just wants things instant and easy, and to have something that will satisfy their curiosity or give them great power or status. Methods bandied about the internet to use for contact with your HGA range from the eye-wateringly complex and totally impractical to the downright silly. They all fall down on one basic point: control. You cannot control this being. They also make the mistake of trying to contact something when they have no idea of what it actually is. So let us look closely at this HGA, as understanding and stepping towards a relationship with this being is a phase in magical training akin to puberty...which is a stage you are now either approaching or are stepping into. What is the HGA? The HGA is an angelic being that is a separate and independent consciousness— and most certainly is not your higher self—yet the HGA is around and within you. The majority of people are not aware of this being, but it is there nevertheless. Not every culture has a concept of a guardian or companion angel: working within a culture which has a sense of balance, like Ma’at in Egypt for instance, voids the need for a conscious awareness of such a being. The HGA more or less operates on the dynamic of necessity—not only as far as its actions are concerned, but also whether or not its human needs to interact with it: most humans do not. In certain circumstances the monarch, high priest, and suchlike could benefit widely from inter- acting with their HGA. I am sure they had many different names for this being, and differing ideas of what it actually was. Magicians, once they get past a certain phase in their development, can benefit from an awareness of this being, and later from communion with it. It is difficult for modern magicians to get away from the notion that the HGA is their go-to assistant whom they can harass whenever they want. In fact this angel is a key being in a person’s pattern which 4 Quareia—The Initiate: Module vi, Lesson 8 works to its own agenda. You cannot begin to understand this profound entity in its depths until you move away from the idea of manipulation, harassment, and asking it stupid questions. It is important also to understand that a conscious connection with this being does not lead to crossing the Abyss and becoming a magus. In fact it is the other way round: reaching the phase of development that necessitates crossing the Abyss is also the point at which communion with the HGA comes into force. One does not trigger the other; rather they become active in the life of a magician when the time is right and the training/maturity is in place. One of the major stepping stones for a magician or a priest or priestess is first to know that the HGA is a constant companion with you as you walk through life. The second stepping stone (for a magician) is to learn how to listen to the HGA. By learning to listen we learn how to walk our path actively through our magical life with the help—and the limitations—placed on us by the HGA. Forcing conversation with such a being is folly: such a wish comes from an immature and overcontrolling part of us. That immaturity itself is a barrier to communion with this being. We want to know, but in reality we rarely understand what we actually need to know—and what we do not need to know. Once more we are back to necessity versus want. The HGA is a companion on the Path. As an angel of Malkuth, the physical and human kingdom, this being, like every other being of the Earth, has combinations of qualities and powers. Angels whose roots are deeper in the realm of creation have very specific powers, elements, actions, and roles. But angelic beings rooted in the physical world are like us in that they are combinations of elements, powers, etc. The HGA has elements of the Sandalphon, the Companion. It also has the power of bridging, as well as wielding a dynamic that you have come across in your lessons where it has been described by the term Sword of Damocles. They also have elements of the Light Bearer, the Grindstone, and Restriction, all of which are angelic components of creation. We too have all these power dynamics within us as created physical beings, and in reflection of that, so too does the HGA. They are with us from conception until death, and one of the roles of a magician, if they are ever to tread the paths of the Deep Mysteries, is to know the presence of this being and to be able to listen to it. 5 Quareia—The Initiate: Module vi, Lesson 8 What is contact with the HGA? In magic in general, contact with the HGA is presented as visionary or ritualised communication via sigils, and sometimes through automatic writing. In all of those cases, which can be used, you run a very real risk of holding ‘conversation’ with something else other than the HGA. Using such methods to true effect takes a very skilled and focused adept who truly knows themselves as well as all the various beings in the inner worlds by way of direct experience. Even then, such methods provide a worse quality contact than the deepest form of connection possible. True contact with the HGA is always tricky, as there is so much else around us. The journey of such communion takes a lifetime of successes and mistakes—which is in fact part of the individual magician’s development process. When a magician reaches out for contact, even with other beings, the quality of the contact relies on the magician truly knowing themselves, and also truly knowing the variety of independent beings that are always around them in one form or another. Knowing yourself, when it comes to the issue of contact, means knowing what is your own voice, your own wants and needs, and knowing what is not you. This is truly tough, as you never quite reach the skill of truly knowing yourself completely: it is a lifelong process of evolution and maturity. Even the most skilled adept can fool themselves if the stakes are high enough. But slowly, over time, you do come to realise your various inner voices, your own inner senses and instincts, and also that which is deeper and more profound: the voice of your HGA. The understanding of that deeper, profound voice comes along with the understanding of the HGA’s purpose, not your own purpose. The other common problem with reaching for connection with this being in communion is the host of other beings constantly swarming round the magician, and recognising their influences, agendas, and so forth. When you use vision for such connection, success depends on the your practical visionary skill and experience: the more beings you have worked with, and the greater variety of beings whose presence you have been in, gives you an understanding of who is who and what is what. When you call out magically for contact with the HGA, being in a well-tuned magical space will mostly filter out the parasites, but it will still not really focus you in on the HGA.