Some branches of magic dangle the candy of ‘knowing your guardian angel’ better known as ‘knowledge of and conversation with your holy guardian angel’. Aspirants are told that once you achieve this, you will then go on to cross the abyss (a very misunderstood term) and become an all powerful master. The aspirant is then given a long drawn out and complicated ritualised method of achieving this wondrous ideal. As if it could be so simple… follow recipe, plug into angel, get powerful. Pah.This reductionist view has become a typical feature in modern magic. People want to be powerful, they want to know their ‘purpose’, they want to know how to bend the universe to their will. If they follow set steps like a well choreographed dance, they will get it all.This particular aspect of magic more than any other, throws a spotlight on the chronic misunderstanding of the deeper mysteries and how to engage them through magic. The way our minds are formed through education and society these days leads us to believe that if we follow action A it will lead to result B. Everything is reduced to cause and effect. Magic just does not work that way.

Is there a Holy Guardian Angel? Yes, there is. Can you, in effect, force that connection through long drawn out rituals actions? No. All that is happening is the ritual actions create a pattern that triggers a request. But if the receiver, the magician, is not ready for such contact it will not happen. What can happen at best is that the pattern created via the ritual actions creates an open door for contact and any other being that feels like it will step in and chat away happily with you. The magician needs ‘ears to hear and eyes to see’ and getting to that magical state can be a long drawn out process, or it can happen in childhood. It is not a connection that can be forced by ritual action. Some people who are not magicians have deep connection with this being and do not realise it. Many magicians who have jumped through all the prescribed steps will never achieve it: it is about who you are, your own unique deep connection with Divinity and your ability to think/feel like a river – a river does not rush from A to B in a predictable straight line… it meanders, races, stills, pushes boundaries, and swirls.

Magic in its truest sense is about learning who you are, what you are, your connection to everything around you and most importantly your connection to everything that is Divine, and then being able to consciously engage with that connection. As you come to know yourself, the angel moves closer, guides, warns, reveals and is sometimes silent. It is within you and all around you, all the time. It is the threshold that allows you to manifest, the boundary keeper and the bridge between your substance and your Divine spark.

How you operate within magic will to some extend define how it connects and communicates with you. If you use mainly externalised magic (rituals, seals, sigils, invocations) then the angelic being will be present in your external world and will attempt to communicate with you through external means. Over the millennia magical writings have hinted at these external means without explicitly pointing them out. This is for good reason, as each individual experiences this contact in a unique way and also to avoid being too explicit: each magician must find the contact for themselves as part of their development.

If the magician uses the imagination in their magic, in the form of visionary work, then often the angelic being will present itself through visions and visionary interfaces as well as external means. It becomes a deeper connection simply because magic in its fullness is a combination of outer ritual and inner visionary connection: they are two sides of the same coin.

Will conscious connection with this being bring about ‘adeptship’ and ‘mastership’ ? No, it is the reverse. Through becoming adept at the various magical disciplines the contact with the guardian angel is a natural progression, it is not a goal to be strived for. It happens quietly, and often takes a while for the magician to realise what it is they are connecting with: often you come to a stage where you realise this angelic being has been an active guardian through every step you have taken in life. It does not suddenly appear after a ritual, it is always there. They key is knowing it is always there and opening a conscious dialogue.

That contact does not make you all powerful or give you access to great knowledge, rather it is a companion who suggests, points the way or simply observes your process. They nudge you, allow you small peeks into greater things but ultimately it is up to you to recognise these signposts and act accordingly. It is collaboration between the magician and the angel which can develop into a powerful working relationship. They do not give you knowledge, they point the way for you to find it for yourself.

The Grindstone By Cassandra Beanland

One of the greatest wisdoms that the guardian angel can guide you to is the understanding of trust: trust in the universal Divine consciousness, trust in the beings around you, trust in the pattern of your life and trust in yourself. When we first start walking the magical path, we want to control everything, to bend life to be easier and better for ourselves. This expresses itself by the magician doing rituals to protect himself, to better his circumstances, to get justice.. just about everything. As the magician matures, he or she begins to understand that there are certain things that we do not have to control and do for ourselves – if we are doing what we are supposed to be doing, then some of the lesser issues (protection, sustenance etc) are taken care of.

Look upon the guardian angel as a manager: they can ensure you have what you need to do your job so long as you are actually doing ‘your magical job’, whatever job that may be. If you are simply trundling down the magical path as a consumer or tourist, then such dynamic does not happen. You are essentially on your own.

In the early parts of the magical path, you are expected to more or less do everything for yourself, so that you learn skills, gain experience, and thus gain wisdom from direct experience.

Later, as you engage your magical knowledge in service of some sort, then the details are taken care of to allow you energy and time to do your work. It is around this phase that the contact with your guardian angel opens out and becomes a more conscious communion. Quiet advice is given, it is up to you to take it or not. It is also a phase whereby the magician learns what not to ask for or about: there are certain things our bodies are not designed to take and asking your guardian angel, for example, to show you the face of G-D is quite likely to put you in an early grave. The guardian will oblige, and your life winks out.

This all goes back to the maxim I bang on about so much: magic is not rules and recipes… magic is strange, beautiful, unpredictable, unfathomable, powerful, Divine, dangerous and wonderful. It cannot be housed, boxed, organised or controlled, however much people may think it can.

So if you want to connect with your Holy Guardian Angel, throw away the numerous books that outline various rituals and disciplines to get you there (that will not work) and each morning be still for a moment, be quiet, and thank your guardian angel for being there and tell them that you wish to learn. Carry on whatever magical path you are on, and pay attention: the quiet but powerful voice will at some point, when you are able to understand the communion, begin to speak back. You will feel them, you will ‘taste’ their presence within and all around you, you will become aware of them gently guiding you on your path or abruptly blocking you from a dangerous route. They will begin to talk back to you. If your call is to truly learn, then that call will be answered… not in your time frame, but in the right time frame. Over the years the relationship will slowly deepen, become profound and you will learn to trust, to have faith, and to feel the breath of G-d upon your face. Then and only then will the veils be pulled back one by one.

So you may not become an ippissipotamus, but you will become whole.

A blog post that went up the same day as this post, which is very pertinent to this subject matter, can be found on My Occult Circle, the best magical blog I have come across and written by a true adept. You can view that post at http://www.myoccultcircle.com/blog/faith-is-the-foundation