Defining the Guardian Angel

NO Your Guardian Angel is NOT
a Shiny Vampire Named Edward

This blog post is a re-release of an old document of mine once titled ‘Defining the Guardian Angel.’

Originally I had written it for the Nascent Dawn, being an earlier manifestation of the Mystica Aeterna. At that time I was transitioning from the Golden Dawn towards more ancient Rosicrucian landmarks. It was an interesting period because I had just arrived to Germany and began my search of finding the hidden Rosicrucian Order in 2008 while living on the Rhineland. I had not yet encountered Frater Phosphorus from the Eler Ordo Rosae Aurea nor my mentor in Pansophia so some of my views have evolved since writing it.

The original intention of this document was to help the reader understand some aspects of Guardian Angel mysticism and still may prove useful for those interested. Posted here after a special request 🙂

Defining the Guardian Angel Through Rosicrucian Lore

‘Behold, I send an Angel before you, to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him, and obey His voice.’ Exodus 23: 20

According to most stories, starting from your birth you were assigned a Guardian Angel. At least once in your life you may have seen its influence. Its fundamental purpose is to reconcile your spirit to the All Father. That is why in Rosicrucian thought proper it is called the ‘Reconciler’ as an entity whose function is to appropriate all ceremonial workings towards spiritual Reintegration. A great task indeed!

It has guided you silently and perhaps once, out of nowhere you have heard a voice within speaking silently giving you advice. It spoke to you in wise words and gave you the sudden urge to take another direction. Its suggestion turned out to be a wise turning point. Our primitive ancestors called it the `Guardian Spirit’ and it remained with humankind buding our actions and leading us towards a higher evolution.

According to one Neo-Platonist named Plotinus he went so far as to say that until we aspire to become higher, and align with our Guardian Angels we were in fact nothing more than vegetables doing nothing more than ‘betreeing ourselves!’ He continued with: ‘We dare not keep ourselves set towards the sensuous principle, following the images of sense, or towards the merely vegetative, intent upon the gratifications of eating and procreation; our life must be pointed towards the Intellective, towards the Intellectual-Principle, towards God.’ This from ‘The Six Enneads 270CE.

Eventually the Greek philosophers became so intimately connected and heard its voice so often and so plainly that they considered this the primarytutelary spirit. To the Greeks it was known as the Daimon although Plotinus called it our Tutelary Spirit.

The philosopher Socrates said `The favour of the gods has given me a marvelous gift, which has never left me since my childhood. It is a voice which, when it makes itself heard, deters me from what I am about to do and never urges me on.” He shared its wisdom with others and allowed his friends to consult it upon some of their own personal matters, helping them as he did with the advice of his Guardian Angel.

What is the true order of this daimon that manifested itself to so many sages? Apuleius said `They are intermediary powers of a divine order. They fashion dreams and inspire sooth-sayers.’ Apollonius of Tyana obtained conversation with his daimon only after he put into practice the Hermetic principles. Maximus of Tyre said `they are inferior immortals, called gods of the second rank, placed between earth and heaven.”

The Golden Dawn ‘Man – Microcosm’ paper also reads ‘This Yechidah is at the same time the Higher Human Self and the Lower Genius, the God of the Man.’ However the Golden Dawn paper states that the Yechidah is not the Higher Genius itself but rather the part that higher potencies can touch upon man. Beings such as Angels and Archangels are therefore able eto communicate with us through this medium. It is our Lower Genius because ‘it is the only part of man which can touch All-potent forces. Behind Yechidah are Angelic and Archangelic Forces of which Yechidah is the manifestor. It is therefore the Lower Genius or Viceroy of the Higher Genius which is beyond, an Angel Mighty and Terrible. The Great Angel (Guardian Angel) is the Higher Genius, beyond which are the Archangelic and Divine.’[1]

Plotinus also indicates that above our own Guardian Angel is a greater hierarchy of Angels as well. He says ‘What, then, is the achieved Sage? -One whose actions are determined by the higher phase of the Soul.[2] It does not suffice to perfect virtue to have only this Spirit, equivalent in all men, as cooperator in the life; the acting force in the Sage is the Intellective Principle, his Divine Principle, which therefore is itself his Presiding Spirit or is guided by a Presiding Spirit of its own, no other than the very Divinity.’

This and the Golden Dawn fragment are quite important because it states that the Guardian Angel is the Higher Genius but that it is also separate from us. Thus we have a Lower Genius which is our own Higher Self, and a Higher Genius which is an outside Angelic figure. The Lower Genius in this Golden Dawn concept is our Kether and above that stands our Guardian Angel; above which are further angels and the hierarchy of angelic entities. It also means that the Higher Self is not the Guardian Angel as many mainstream teachers are suggesting!

On this matter Plato also agrees it is a separate entity. These considerations are important because many Golden Dawn students mistake it for the Higher Self. However they are fundamentally two separate intellects. Plato also taught that a human receives it at his birth, and that it follows him in life and after death. He said it was `the Daimon which has received us as its portionment.’ In other words, in the divine hierarchies of Angels a special spirit has been attributed to you and charged with your welfare as its portionment, analogous to the guardian angel of Christianity.

Concerning the Christian view, that every person has a Guardian Angel has never been defined by the Church. It is not an article of faith. But the `mind of the church’ as Saint Jerome expresses, ‘acts according to its own ideas.’ He said `how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from birth an angel commissioned to guard it.’ In the middle ages the Guardian Angel went hand in hand with Catholicism. It was considered a `motherly’ entity with paternal qualities. This Rosicrucian element appears in Hebrews 1:14 `Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?’

The function of the guardian angel is to reconcile us with the divine as distinctly found in Rosicrucianism. In other words, where many cultures only pray to the Guardian Angel, Rosicrucianism makes it functional. It is not a cosmic concept, but a nessecary ingredient for Reconciliation, Reintegration and Regeneration.[3]

But, Apparently This is Your Dream Protector
A Gold Sparkly Shining Pale Dude

The Guardian Angel can be traced throughout all antiquity. Christians, Pagan Philosophers, and was held in awe among the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians and Chaldeans. Gnosticism was the eventual result of the melding cultures in Hellenistic Egypt. According to one brand of Gnosticism every Soul here on earth was like a spark and has an Angelic double in the fullness. This double is a kind of lesser Aeon, to whom that spark of Divine Light belongs. Using the language of classical philosophy, the Gnostics regarded the soul as a feminine being. It was the promised Bride to the masculine Angel above, each one waiting anxiously for the union.

Gnostic influences appear in the Rosicrucian method of gaining of Knowledge (gnosis) and Conversation implying kind of spiritual marriage as opposed to a normal conjuration. An Elu Cohen prayer reads `O Divine Spirit! Spirit of Strength, of Wisdom, and of Light! Powerful Being with whom I seek to associate in a most intimate way!’[4] Thus to some degree the Guardian Angel is an aspect of the Higher Self. But the Yechidah is the Lower Genius. The Angel is the Higher Genius and at the beginning they are separate entities until the Lower Genius and Higher Genius blend into one Angelic Human Being. Plotinus agrees they can merge saying ‘this exalts the Sage above the Intellectual Principle as possessing the Presiding Spirit, the Prior to the Intellectual Principle.’ In other words he may be exalted above his Lower Genius (Intellectual Principle) of his Yechidah and possess that angelic status which belongs to his Guardian Angel when he blends into the Divine.

Some important clues come from Agrippa’s descriptions. His chapters on the subject in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy (Book III, Ch. 20-22) begin to refine the concept of the Guardian Genius since its ancient conceptions. He goes into detail as seen in Plato’s Republic, and refers to it as the `Keeper of the Soul.’

Agrippa here presents a more elaborate schemata than Plato described. Aggrippa claims we have a `Threefold Keeper of Man.’ Here three separate angels seem to be appointed over us. The first and lowest is the `Angel of the Profession.’ The `Angel of Nativity is the second most important angel sent to guide and regulate our life. When we change professions the Angel of Profession changes. This angel is only secondary to our Angel of Nativity. One’s career will advance if the Angel of Profession is in sympathy with the astrological genius. However it will hinder your progress if the Angel of Profession is in conflict with the astrological impulses related to the other. Agrippa writes that the Angel of Nativity descends `from the disposition of the world, and from the circuits of the stars which were powerful in one’s nativity.’ Agrippa discusses at length the necessity of seeking out one’s Genius via astrology, and doing everything possible to make one’s life sympathetic with its nature. Included are instructions for finding the name of one’s two lower angels using your astrological birth-chart.[5] Let’s be clear, these angels are relatively unimportant compared to the Guardian Angel. Agrippa distinguishes the highest angel as above the others. His Keeper of the Soul is not defined by the stars and planets. It is simply above nature itself and above the zodiacal sphere. It is directly familiar with God. Agrippa claims Egypt as the origin for his Holy Daimon teaching. The usual horoscope related Genius traced itself instead from ancient Greece and Babylon.

Plotinus introduces an interesting concept that goes beyond Agrippa. According to him humans have an evolutionary scale that is climbed in every incarnation. In his reincarnation theory we are also attributed a different and higher Guardian Angel than the last every time we ascend in this cosmic ladder throughout our incarnations.[6] He says ‘But how does this spirit come to be the determinant of our fate? It is not when the life is ended that it conducts us here or there; it operates during the lifetime; when we cease to live, our death hands over to another principle this energy of our own personal cycle. That principle of the new birth strives to gain control, and if it succeeds it also lives and itself, in turn, possesses a guiding spirit which is its next higher. If on the contrary it is weighed down by the developed evil in the character, the spirit of the previous life pays the penalty: the evil-liver loses cosmic grade because during his life the active principle of his being took the tilt towards the brute by force of affinity. If, on the contrary, the Man is able to follow the leading of his higher Spirit, he rises: he lives that Spirit; that noblest part of himself to which he is being led becomes sovereign in his life; this made his own, he works for the next above until he has attained the height.’[7]

In the Operation of Invoking the Guardian Angel only the Highest Genius is attracted. In Kabbalistic theory we are like fallen spirits. We reside on the earth plane known as the fourth world of Assiah on the Tree of Life. In this hierarchy the H.G.A exist in Yetzirah just above us. The angel is personally attributed to us. It is celestial rather than terrestrial, such as those other entities dealt with in the Abramelin all belong. This being such that when the Sage aligns to his True Will-and-HGA he then establishes himself in-part into the hierarchy of angels himself.

An example could be made of a planetary hierarchy. Particularly those associated with a planetary kamea. The rank and file of a planetary force is: Godname, Archangel, Angel, Intelligence, Spirit and Demon. In standard order these beings operate one below the other like in Jacobs ladder. The Godname is the divine radiance of the sphere or planetary region. All commands are issued therefrom. The Archangel on the other hand is like the General of an army. He takes the orders of the God archetype and issues them down to the legions of the choirs of angels. He is an expert and captures the full capabilities of the planetary force but has many helpers which can be commanded to manage each task efficiently. A planetary force under the Archangel is ruled by one Angel. Under him exists many angels, spirits and intelligences related to the planets kamea. Think of this being as the Commander under the military’s General. From this Commander are further sent more directions and precise orders to be carried out as the intentions distribute, begin to take form towards action and the task become more specific. The legion of Angels in the Chiore becomes the active soldier-like force but they have the Intelligence set over them like a Platoon Leader. Essentially the Intelligence will do all the thinking and make sure the work is carried out appropriately because his soldiers are workers only. At this level the Angels are are merely active forces and just do what they are told to do like good Soldiers do.

In this scheme of things the Holy Guardian Angel equates directly to the Angel ruling over the planet. You on the other hand become the Intelligence of the divine hierarchy. The Angel is the Higher Genius and your Yechidah is your Lower Genius according to the ‘Man – Microcosm’ Golden Dawn paper. The Lower Genius in fact is your mode of communication and link to all higher Angelic forces. It is your Angel to some extent and obtains the commands from the Guardian Angel above it. Beyond your Guardian Angel is the multitude of Angelic hierarchies that through your adapted Guardian Angel eyes you may encounter.

The command given down rank is your True Will and true purpose in life. It is the purpose of your being! If you choose to follow that command you re-align to the hierarchy and become a co-worker. At the same time while it may offer your True Will the magician is still left with his own free will to choose to either follow its guidance or to ignore it. The Guardian Angel is not a dominant force on us but only an advisor. Plotinus says ‘so that if the acting force is that of men of the sense-life, the Tutelary Spirit is the Rational Being, while if we live by that Rational Being, our Tutelary Spirit is the still higher Being, not directly operative but assenting to the working principle of man. The words “You shall yourselves choose” are true, then; for by our life we elect our own loftier.’[8]

The Rosicrucian united under his/her Angel, has re-integrated into the Hierarchy of Beings and becomes a Physical Agent of God. This is because your True Will is also in harmony with God’s Will aka the Unfolding Plan. You are left to concentrate on manifesting this True Will in the real world. In Reintegration, at least according to the Abramelin, you are given many familiar earth bound spirits which are placed under you like those entities under the planetary Intelligence. By aligning to the Guardian Angel you have essentially re-inserted yourself into the Hierarchy and are a part of the Angelic Ladder. Suddenly you are under your Angel but above the earth bound and astral spirits. This is the first level of Rosicrucian initiation, there are three Renovations, this is the first adn the three are called properly Reconciliation, Reintegration & Regeneration.