This is based on some magical work I have recently done. The Archangel of Binah is Tzaphqiel (sometimes spelled “Tzaphkiel”) whose name means (according to Davidson (1967) p366) “Knowledge of God.” Consequently, Tzaphqiel is thought of as the Recording Angel, and hence, the Qabalistic equivalent of the Keeper of the Akashic Records.
When one considers just how big the Akashic Records are, this implies that Tzaphqiel is a considerably bigger deal than one might be supposed. For example, she is the key to the sum total of all knowledge in general and one’s own past lives in particular. Therefore her influence is not just limited to “Binah-type things” but to a surprisingly large fund of expertise.
What does your HGA even do? What’s the point of connecting with it? Why would anybody even bother? If it’s for protection, why not just use protection magick? Anyways, super confused.
I remember when I first believed I made contact with my HGA.
Before then, I had been taking magick on faith. When the Angel appeared, it made me feel “ecstatic” in the literal sense. I realized now this was the first time where I had definitively experienced the presence of an angel.
This permanently and irrevocably altered the paradigm upon which I had framed my whole beliefs. In one moment I abandoned the psychological theory of magic, and instead believed that angels in particular and magic in general was in fact real. Before then I had been taking other people’s word for it, but now I knew.
As regards what you do with the HGA when you find it, the benefits are several. Communing with the HGA has by itself a benevolent healing effect. If this were not enough, I find that my HGA often gives me insights as to how to improve my spiritual practice. I do not share these with other people because I believe these are only meant for me and are only relevant to me, unless my HGA actually says they meant for other people, which is a rare event.
Then of course there is the Abramelin system which teaches that the HGA is necessary to summon and bind all the spirits by whom the practical effects of ceremonial magic are accomplished. moreover, the HGA enables one to innovate new forms of practical magic so that one is not bound to the magic of the past.
This is one of the things I always say: “There are no bad tarot cards, just bad tarot readers.” Really, it is the responsibility of the tarot reader to manage the expectations of the Querent. The tarot spread one uses is a choice: if the Tarot reader starts off by choosing to use a spread where there is supposedly only one possible outcome, then it is the Reader’s own stupid fault for when the reading ends in disappointment.
If however the Reader makes clear that the cards dealt represent alternatives or possibilities, and choses a tarot spread which reflects this, then the Querent will leave the session feeling that it was a worthwhile experience and they have gained valuable insights.
As to the Tarot cards which less-than-scrupulous readers leave in the box, the way I rationalise them is this:
The so-called “bad” tarot cards are Hazard Warning Signs.
If you were going about your daily business and saw a Hazard Warning Sign saying something like “Danger: Death!” You would obviously dislike the consequences of ignoring the sign, but you would regard the sign itself not as evil, but as Good – because it has helped save your life.
So it is with Tarot cards. If you ask “is it a good idea to do such and such?” and you turn over the 10 of Swords, I would answer: “No – unless you actually want to bring ruin and destruction upon yourself.”
Amongst positive sides to the cards to which the picture refers, I can think of the following:
Death. Refers to a metaphorical death such as the end of one thing and beginning of another. Also it refers to Scorpio and/or the eight house of one’s horoscope. Given that everyone dies, of old age if nothing else, it could just be talking about not the fact that you will die, but what happens when you do, such as inheritances.
10 of Swords. Because there is nothing worse than the 10 of Swords, everything that happens after it must by definition be better. If the 10 of Swords occurs in a position representing the past, it means the the worst is behind you.
The Tower. This means Destruction. But if the thing being destroyed is itself evil (e.g. what imprisons you or holds you back in life), then it’s actually good. It also could just mean the influence of the planet Mars, and all that that implies.
5 of Cups. Although this means loss or disappointment in love, in the RW version three cups are overturned, but two remain upright, showing that there is at least something that can be learned or salvaged from the experience. Also, like the 10 of Swords, if the 5 of Cups refers to something in the past…
I’m not saying the two are connected, but… I thought I’d just post my appreciation of my HGA, and Oriens and all his servant spirits, who rule over the Squares of Chapter XXVIII. 😊
Here in the United Kingdom, the government is conducting an inquiry into what were everyone’s experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, entitled Every Story Matters. As per the blurb on the front page:
Every Story Matters is your opportunity to help the UK Covid-19 Inquiry understand your experience of the pandemic.
The pandemic affected every single person in the UK and, in many cases, continues to have a lasting impact on lives. Every one of our experiences is unique and this is your opportunity to share the impact it had on you, and your life, with the Inquiry.
Every story shared with us will be used to shape the Inquiry’s investigations and help us to learn lessons for the future. Stories will be collated, analysed and turned into themed reports, which will be submitted into each relevant investigation as evidence. The reports will be anonymised.
It therefore occurs to the Sumner Family Brain Cell that I have an important story to tell, and not just because I’ve written a book about it. I have therefore decided to tell the British Government about my experiences attempting the Abramelin Operation in 2020. At worst, it will provide whichever low-paid civil service employee is employed to read all these entries half-an-hour of amusement in between the monotony of the same-old same-old “I was stuck in my house, watching Netflix, deteriorating, etc tec ect.”
At best, it will cause the Government to pay more attention to the importance of a spiritual practice in maintaining self-esteem and mental health in a time of practice. I cannot conceal that I was motivated by plugging my book in all of this.
Anywho, if you live in the UK, I recommend you take a look at this survey yourself as you may find you want to contribute your own story.
I try to stick as close to the grimoire as possible: in any case I am a traditionalist when it comes to ceremonial magick. Typically, when working with the Goetia I would go about it as follows.
Ritual Bath (“Asperges me…” etc);
The ritual putting on of the vestments;
Banishing rituals (LBRP / LBRH) to clear the space);
The Preliminary invocation of the Goetia AKA the Bornless Ritual;
Vibrating all the Hebrew names inscribed around and within the magic circle: my rationale being that they’re not there for decoration, they’re actually telling you what to invoke.
Pentagram and Hexagram rituals directed at the Triangle of Art. The Pentagram ritual for the Zodiacal forces of the decan over which the Spirit rules; and the Hexagram for the Planet corresponding to its rank (e.g. King = Sun, etc).
The First Conjuration only. The first conjuration sounds like a dignified request from Magician to Spirit. However, the subsequent conjurations make the Magician sound whiny and insecure, so I avoid them on principle, and quite honestly I’ve never felt tempted to try to use them.
The Welcome Unto The Spirit.
The talky-bit where I specify what I want the spirit to do, and get it to agree to do so.
Licence to Depart.
Banishing rituals again, to close down the space after the Spirit has gone.
From Reddit: “How is a pagan supposes (sic) to do the abramelin?”
By the power of Metaphor.
You go into it assuming that “YHVH,” “Tzebaoth” and “Adonai” are all metaphors for whichever god(dess) that you do worship, so that when you invoke them you are really invoking your patron deity by another name.
Dion Fortune
Remember, Dion Fortune once said that all gods are but one God, and all goddesses are one Goddess. Indeed, the Hermetic Qabalah was formulated so that people of different religions could all share in one magical tradition: participants were actively expected to translate the, for example, Egyptian symbolism they encountered in a Golden Dawn ceremony into concepts that made sense to them in the context of their own religion, via the Qabalah.
The modern fancy that you have to stay within the ghetto of your own religion, no matter what, goes against the history of why the western magical tradition was created in the first place.
From Reddit: Are ceremonial magic rituals such as the Abramelin acceptable in Gnosticism?
One of the most popular rites used to invoke the Holy Guardian Angel as part of the Abramelin process – viz., The Bornless Ritual – is an actual Gnostic Ritual. Certain key words and phrases in the ritual only make sense if understood from a Gnostic context, the most obvious one I can think of being the line, “I am He, the grace of the world.”
The original Greek is η χάρις του αιώνος – “He Charis Ton Aionos” i.e. the Grace of the Aeon. Quite aside from the point being that the “world” referred to in the ritual is the Pleroma or spiritual world, not the material one, “Charis” is a title in Valentinian Gnosticism for the consort of the first aeon (the same word crops up throughout other systems of Gnosticism).
One Abramelin practitioner told me he believed the Holy Guardian Angel was a messenger from the Pleroma to the individual – like a “personal Logos,” if you will – but I digress.
Psalm 91 is a traditional prayer for divine protection: indeed, in folk magic traditions it is recommended as a way of seeing off evil influences such as (alleged) black magic. So I would suggest praying this Psalm whilst feeling gratitude to God that He will send His Angels to ward you from all evil influences.
Otherwise there are other protective rituals in existence, such as the good old Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (google it if you’re not sure what this is).
To Hammersmith in London yesterday evening where, disguising myself as a human being, I attended the London premiere of Shen Yun. The venue – which rock fans of a certain age will remember as the old Hammersmith Odeon – was sold out. Hence anyone with tickets going there should arrive in good time, as the queue to get in snaked all the way round the building and back down Queen Caroline Street.
Anywho: Shen Yun is a world-renowned performing arts company that showcases traditional Chinese culture through music, dance, and storytelling. The company (which is actually based in New York) was founded in 2006 by a group of Chinese artists who wanted to revive the ancient traditions of their homeland and share them with the world.
Now I could talk about Shen Yun’s stunning visuals, intricate choreography, and powerful storytelling; and that the company’s dancers, musicians, and singers are all highly trained professionals who bring their passion and dedication to every performance. I could even talk about the colourful and elaborate costumes worn by the dancers, as well as how the The company’s orchestra combines traditional Chinese instruments with Western classical instruments to create a unique and captivating sound.
However, this being an esoteric blog, I am going to talk about the Magick of the thing. Despite the fact that this show transports the audience to another time and place, and gives them a glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of China, this show will never play in Beijing – or anywhere in (mainland) China itself, for that matter. What’s more, if Chinese intelligence thought to photograph everyone going into the venue last night (or just stolen the credit card details from the booking agency), that means that there are now 5,000 people added to their list of people not welcome in their country.
The reason being is that Shen Yun is quite blatantly aligned with the Falun Dafa movement which has been banned in China, and whose supporters have not only been arrested but have been executed and even (it is alleged) have had their organs harvested.
This can come as an unexpected shock to someone coming to watch the show. First is a dance sequence representing heavenly beings coming to Earth; then there is traditional “Water Sleeves” dancing; then there is a choreographed interpretation of one of the episodes of “Journey to the West” (better know to people my age as the classic BBC2 series Monkey); etc. Then, all of a sudden there is a dance interpretation of Falun Dafa practitioners being harassed, beaten, executed and reaped in modern China. Oh look! And here’s a song about God and the spiritual path of Falun Dafa overcoming the ways of Godlessness and materiality! Then more historical dancing and re-telling of folk tales and so forth.
Incidentally, you may be asking, what’s the big deal about Falun Dafa? I shall digress by stating I myself once attended a couple of Falun Dafa sessions. I didn’t continue it, as they were held on the other side of town and I found it difficult to attend on a regular basis. However, based on my limited experience I would say that Falun Dafa’s nearest analogues are Qigong and Yoga. I found each session to be typically ¾ Qigong-like exercises, and ¼ yoga meditation. Now if you’re thinking at this point, “But there’s nothing wrong with either Yoga or Qigong,” you would of course be absolutely right: but, bizarrely, the Chinese Government took against it, claiming it to be a subversive movement, and banned it. Woe betide you if you sit down in a park in China and try to adopt a sneaky lotus position!
This can get you arrested (and worse) in China.
Anyway, back to last night’s show: the point about the political content of the evening was not to dwell on the suffering, but to offer an optimistic vision of the eventual triumph of Good over Evil: that the influence of Heaven will be re-established in this world, Falun Dafa will be instrumental in healing this planet in general, and the people in it in particular, and that the souls of all those who have suffered so far will be apotheosised and take their rightful place in the celestial realms. As I sat staring at this spectacle, I thought: “This is quite blatant Ritual Magick.”
Let’s face it: there is music, dance, drama, impressive visuals – all with the express aim of manifesting Shen Yun’s spiritual vision. This is most evident in the finale of the evening, which imagines Falun Dafa ultimately succeeding: a traditional magical technique of imagining the end-result as already happening, reinforced by the power of strong aesthetics and emotions.
In conclusion, if you are going to see this, I wish you well and I hope you enjoy it. If you haven’t got tickets, although I was told the run is now sold-out, I did observe people trying to get tickets on the night, so there may be a chance for you.
Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance
Shen Yun is playing in London until April 22nd. For details of this and other shows in cities worldwide, please visit the official website.
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Oriens Appreciation Post
Well, well, well! News today that public sector workers in the UK have been offered a pay-rise of 6%, which the Unions are willing to accept. And this right after I deployed an Abramelin word-square (see above) !
I’m not saying the two are connected, but… I thought I’d just post my appreciation of my HGA, and Oriens and all his servant spirits, who rule over the Squares of Chapter XXVIII. 😊
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