Holy Guardian Angel

[introduction needed]

The Inner Work

Crowley was offered a revelation of a new aeon, a shift in the spiritual consciousness of humanity that paralleled the evolution of humanity in both development and endeavor. He referred to this as the "next step for humanity,"^[1] which aimed to elevate individuals to a new conscious awareness of their "own consecrated course, and [and to be] confidently ready to run it."^[2]

As Crowley wrote, "the supreme emancipation is the same in essence for all"—and it is crucial to emphasize this clearly and loudly. He continued, stating, "and for the first time in history it has been possible to present this free from confusion."^[3] Unfortunately, this clarity was not always achieved. Crowley’s decision to rely on metaphor and the absurd (his term) to convey the truth has impeded our ability to reach a broader audience. Instead of offering a straightforward process of supreme emancipation, we find ourselves catering to the immaturity of basement-dweller rebellion and, as Crowley would have labeled them, "drifting 'occultists.'"^[4] These individuals, clad in their cosplay regalia, echo an era when women were still fighting for the right to vote, blacks had just emerged from slavery in the civilized world, and two world wars loomed on the horizon.

We would rather flaunt pretend titles of royalty than engage in the tangible work of offering liberty in the streets. [This critique, though seemingly directed at OTO-styled individuals, applies to any insular in-group within occulture.]

Crowley left us extensive and explicit instructions, not mere clues. Despite his affinity for metaphors and absurdities, he laid out the path clearly. By his own admission, he was "for all practical purposes, totally ignorant" of "the dynamics of the formula of Horus."^[5] He believed that "The Book of the Law provides manifold instructions, mostly difficult, some seemingly almost impossible, but that is only in the eyes of one born and bred in the Old Aeon."^[6] It appears that many are so captivated by Crowley’s pride and prejudices "born and bred in the Old Aeon" that they cannot navigate the "manifold instructions" in the Book of the Law or Crowley’s other writings, despite their plain visibility. The notion that older is better simply because it is "tradition" or has "been around for 10,000 years" is nonsensical.

My disdain for metaphorical spooks under the bed is not rooted in disbelief in voices and visions "from the outer worlds." Rather, it stems from the distraction such focus creates from the Great Work that Crowley explicitly outlined as the "next step of humanity": the resolution of complexes, the making transparent the Khu, the understanding of one’s True Will, and becoming "conscious of his own consecrated course, and confidently ready to run it."^[7] This encompasses the science and art of magick, defined as "the Science of understanding oneself and one's conditions [and] the Art of applying that understanding in action."^[8]

Does this mean that pursuits such as spiritual experiences are worthless? Certainly not. Nor does it imply that these pursuits are less worthy than any other part of one’s personal Great Work. However, when these pursuits become the process, ignoring all other aspects, then we encounter a problem—a distraction. We face a scenario where the map overtakes the territory. Moreover, this represents a metaphor, an absurdity, overtaking the living, breathing, visceral process of the Great Work. We see individuals speaking of communing with "Gods" while forgetting that they are each the essence of Very God of Very God.

Yet, this is not the message most want to hear. They prefer to climb a metaphorical Tree of Life to demonstrate their achievements, seek titles and certificates, imagine spooks under the bed or on their shoulder, place duct tape circles on their floor, witness pens flying around the room, brandish impressive swords, and place naked women on altars. They want barbarous words.

The concept of inner work is deemed too flakey, too psychological. It might require them to confront real inner demons.

Furthermore, the erroneous belief that Thelema is not meant for the masses but only for the individual persists, echoing a sentiment of solitary and lonely individualism.

The truth is that this whole process, this entire Work, encompasses "the Banker, the Pugilist, the Biologist, the Poet, the Navvy, the Grocer, the Factory Girl, the Mathematician, the Stenographer, the Golfer, the Wife, the Consul"^[9] … and even you. It does not discriminate, play favorites, or take names. Thelema is for all. The Law is for all. [AL 1.34d] The phrasing here is purposeful; it does not state the Law is for each, but for all. This construction is deliberate, much like the chapter’s opening with the unveiling of the company of heaven [AL 1.2] before acknowledging that every man and every woman is a star [AL 1.3]. It recognizes the whole before the constituent parts.

The reality is that the current climate is not conducive to publishing a book devoid of spooks. People do not want to hear that Crowley’s system functions as intended. They prefer the narrative of Crowley indulging in his robes, wands, magic poetry books, and invisible spooks, prancing around like a fool, behaving with impunity. They believe enlightenment lies in emulating the Master’s path. Others, in contrast, revere Crowley as a sort of Kwisatz Haderach.

Neither extreme addresses the issue of how Thelema does the homeless dude in the street any good at all.

Personal Thoughts on the HGA

I’ve concluded—quite arbitrarily though not without some educated conjecture—the reason some are uncomfortable with Crowley’s formation of the Holy Guardian Angel as something interior to the individual (not to be confused with something internal to the individual) is because they need two superstitions: the first being a personal savior and the second being a power greater than themselves. In order for them to come to grips with the ideas that Crowley taught fairly consistently all his life, ideas that run parallel to the understanding of the psyche by the greatest minds of his time, and ideas that are specifically offered up in the Book of the Law, they have to give up their angel on the shoulder noise and stop following world teachers down the rabbit hole of avoidance. They have to face themselves in the mirror, first, before they can face that still, small voice reaching across the abyss from their very core. Does this mean that people have to stop believing in their shoulder gnomes or scrying out to their ascended masters to bolster their self-esteem? Of course not. But such beliefs aren't doing them any favors.

I’m going to throw this out here carefully and see if I can piss off a few traditionalist diehards. Method of Science, Aim of Religion, indeed. Tsk. Tsk.

Here it goes:

The majority of everything we know (assume?) about the Holy Guardian Angel comes from the perspective of the previous aeon.

That was it. Offended? No? Damn. I didn't try hard enough then.

In fact, for most people, everything they know comes from the perspective of the previous aeon. Even the name of this phenomena is a throwback to the old aeon. It is all based on the supplication of a Higher Power, the guilt-ridden need for a master "to save" the fallen sinner  the Bridegroom to redeem the Bride, to be reconciled with the Lord of one’s Life, to hand over sovereignty to the Almighty. The parallels are staggering and I could go on and on and on.

The metaphor of the Holy Guardian Angel was never chosen because of a literal Angel out there with a halo and wings sitting around with a harp ready to voice your "True Will™" once you’ve discovered him. Genderless, genderless: I know. I know.  Bridegroom, bride, all that various poetry. See? Metaphors, language, all that mess in which to get caught up and distracted from the reality of what’s going on there. The phenomena isn’t going to change, but our perception of the phenomena—like our perception of the universe around us—does change with the alteration of the aeon and the advancement of our spiritual evolution.

Crowley threw down enough hints to show that he "got it." And, in some places, he pretty much flat out says so in no uncertain terms that he’s dealing with language issues and metaphors and people shouldn’t take them literally—please don't make me pull out the quotes!

And yet so many still do.

To my knowledge, there has been no update to the concepts and symbols of the Angel since Crowley's time. All we have now is a Cult of the Angel. And the Cult of the Angel is all about telling people they can't know anything at all because it's all mysterious and individual. Yeeeessss, well, it is all mysterious and individual and it’s not at all. Individuals have been working through the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel for a thousand years (or more). And this is our "Next Step." People should be breaking out the K&C jam on the street corners. All right, maybe not on the street corners, but you get my drift. It’s not some back alley, secret initiatory, gimme-the-cool-handshake kind of mysterious process.

With the advent of the new aeon, nothing shifted, nothing changed except our perspective, our lens by which we look out upon the universe. We still have the phenomena labelled Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. But many get stuck on the phrase, get stuck on the mythology of what the phrase has come to mean. Many miss that Crowley went on to say, "We should accept the Magical Hierarchy as a more or less convenient classification of the facts of the Universe as they are known to us; and as our knowledge and understanding of those facts increase, so should we endeavour to adjust our idea of what we mean by any symbol."^[10] Let me repeat that again: "and as our knowledge and understanding of those facts increase, so should we endeavour to adjust our idea of what we mean by any symbol." The symbol isn’t the phenomena; the symbol is the Angel.

We have increased our knowledge of the universe—"the facts of the Universe," as Crowley says—and yet we’re still playing with Victorianism and metaphors of the old aeon, solidifying them, "building a philosophical system upon it" that has very little to do with the phenomena itself and certainly nothing that is offered in the textual basis of our theology.

I believe I’ve finally come to a model that fits with the metaphysics of the Book of the Law, as explicated by the Prophet, and remains within the pattern of the Four Ordeals—but doesn't disavow the previous understanding of the Angel either. I’m not quite ready to throw it to the wolves, but it’s taken me a very long time to explore systems within systems and research everything I could find that was published openly about the phenomena itself. But I don’t think it’s all that difficult to explain in the end. It’s the beauty of the Book of the Law; that is, it has offered us a view of the universe that is both elegant and sophisticated without being so complex as to be overwhelming to the common mind with a little creative imagining.

The Aeon of Isis begins with the rise of writing, the rise of formal religion. Whatever we consider to be proto-aeonic [or an aeon(s) prior to that of Isis], we have to understand the rise and evolution of early Man.

One of the interesting comments by Crowley is that the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is "the raising of the complete man in a vertical straight line." When we look at early Man, we see a move to a vertical posture, a position that transcended the condition typical of our primate origins.

Being in a position of uprightness, of standing, is only maintained through a state of wakefulness. Stop here for a moment and consider that statement carefully. Suddenly, early Man found himself existentially in a state of spacial difference that also correlates to an evolution in individual and collective consciousness. There was now a reference point of Man as the center of up, down, left, right, all radiating from a central axis of consciousness. Man was the center of his experience, and religion followed suit by expounding upon this newly discovered axis in the only way that early consciousness could understand.

The foundation of the covenantal approach is that spirituality—this understanding of existential and essential communion—evolves through historical time as Man comes to a better conscious understanding of this existential axis and its essential alignment.

The metaphor of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel of the Aeon of Osiris is more than merely a vertical straight line up an imaginary model of comprehension. It is, literally, the first epistemological breakthrough in understanding of the existential uprightness of Man from his primitive origins reaching toward that essential nature that constitutes the evolution of the species.

One of the reasons why I have difficulty with a particular author is because of things like this in his book:

However, I make it perfectly clear that I cannot define exactly what the Holy Guardian Angel truly is. No one can.

If anyone attempts to declare specifically what the Holy Guardian Angel is, or should they pretend to know, one should be on guard, for that individual is at best deluded, or at worst, a fraud.

I wish I had a dime for every time someone defended his Christianity disguised as "A∴A∴ work." I mean, in these two sentences, he's flat out calling the Prophet deluded or a fraud.

I really think the A∴A∴ (or at least OTO’s branch of that group) should change it’s motto from "Method of Science, Aim of Religion," to "Method of Fear, Aim of Superstition."

I mean, even I can tell you specifically what the Holy Guardian Angel is. It's written down in black and white all over the place by Crowley himself. It's not like it's some deep, dark secret. But the Cult of the Angel would have you believe that it's some spooky, strange, alien-from-another-planet type creature that sits on your shoulder like a Roman Catholic conscience.

It’s the kind of rubbish that plagues the larger Thelemic community in any kind of progress.

Now can anyone tell you what manner the metaphor of the Holy Guardian Angel relates specifically to you in the universe? Of course not. But that’s entirely different than saying you can’t figure out what the HGA is directly. That’s nothing difficult.

He goes on to say, "The same applies to those who chatter shamelessly in public trying to impress others with their spiritual attainment, by talking about 'my Angel this' or 'my Angel that'—as casually as they might discuss a new film or any other profane matter. For those who have truly attained to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Angel, silence on the matter comes natural; the living experience is a profound and Holy thing. It is shielded under the shadow of the Wings, protected from profane eyes beneath the Rose and the Cross."

While I certainly think that the nomenclature of "my Angel" is outmoded and a bit too flamboyant for the 21st century, the idea that you are supposed to hide your understanding of your Will is ludicrous. That’s not to say that disclosure is necessary or even reasonable in many situations (or ever). That’s not my point here. But to think that your Will is somehow "a profound and Holy thing" is pure superstition. It is personal, absolutely. It is unique, yes—in a manner of speaking. But there is nothing sacred about knowing your Will and doing it.

If anything, the above quotes provide any reader with all they need to know about this "World Teacher."

A metaphoric description that has often been used is that self is the conductor of the orchestra, Self the composer of the piece, and of course, the orchestra is the many parts [of the personalities], playing a powerful and unique piece of music, in harmony, under direction of self, in service of the inspiration of the Self. This, of course, is on a good day. The orchestra may sound like a group of contentious, angry, confused adolescents given loud musical instruments, while self naps and Self moans.^[11]

This may be one of the most profound examples I’ve ever seen of the delineation between the HGA, the self, and the tendencies, traits, and tracks of the personality of the manifested individual. I’m stealing it. Uh .. with attribution, of course.

I finally figured out why I keep fighting the metaphor of the HGA so hard. It's pathetic, for starters. It's just a metaphor, second of all. And it belongs squarely in the Old Aeon.

Wait. What?

Now, keep in mind that I don't mind continuing to use the nomenclature of the HGA because it's burned into the consciousness of Thelema at this point.

This formula [IAO], although now superseded by that of Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child, remains valid for those who have not yet assimilated the point of view of the Law of Thelema.^[12]

That is a footnote about that particular formula.

Are you aware of the "essence" of the "ceremonial self-initiation" of this formula? Quoting Crowley again: "A ceremonial self-initiation may be constructed with advantage on this formula [of IAO]. The essence of it consists in robing yourself as a king, then stripping and slaying yourself, and rising from that death to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel."

Think about that carefully and the implications of it.

The formula of IAO is the formula of basically everything up to and including the experience of the HGA. And all of that is of the Old Aeon but still "valid for those who have not yet assimilated the point of view of the Law of Thelema." Need your metaphorical HGA? No problem. Just keep in mind what Aeon you’re working from.

How do we know that many people have not actually made it past the Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel and inaccurately claimed K&C? They are still operating under either (a) the "Planet of the HGA’s" assumptions and/or (b) the assumption that true/pure will and .. wait for it .. free will are identical. They continue to operate under the interpretation of "Do whatever the fuck I want" is identical to "Do what thou wilt" while (usually unintentionally) duplicitously says that the latter has nothing to do with the former.

The first spiritual crisis of the individual—the Angel—is the birthright of each individual. Our job—if one might say that we have a humanitarian job to perform—is to open the door to the path of the Awakened for those around us. For those who recognize the knowledge and conversation of the Angel is personal and unique for each individual also grasp that there is, indeed, a path itself in the first place. We do not dictate how one will walk that path, only that the path is available to anyone that wishes to walk it. Those that desire to remain in ignorance are certainly free to do so. But we are given the directive to make available the Law to all people. "Then they shall chance to abide in this bliss or no; it is no odds" [AL 3.39].

However, we also know that the mere application of the Law in daily life is enough to set one on that path leading to the Angel. In short, each one of us is the beacon and light to the ultimate spiritual freedom of all humanity. It’s as simple as that.

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Canons of Thelemic Philosophy & Religion © 1996-2024 by Qui Vident.

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