The Tarot Grimoire

by Henry Ho

  This idea works because angels can be interpreted as being aspects of God interacting with the Universe. And so when we permute the Hebrew letters we are mixing different energies together to create an individual entity. That is how the angels were derived.

  So using the aforementioned method we can find any Qabalistic angel, be it an archangel, one of the Shemhamphorash, or you own HGA, lay out the relevant cards of the Major Arcana and then analyse or scry them to understand the angel.

  This actually works in reverse as well. You can actively permute the Hebrew letters in ways that suit your own purposes and “create” an angel. You don’t need to find an already established angel to help you with your troubles, or channel a new angel’s name.

  Say you want to create an organisation that is characterised by hard work and discipline, you can take the cards you feel are the most relevant to these characteristics. For example: the Hermit, Universe and Tower cards. Arrange the letters in a way that makes sense, in this case maybe PiTh. Then we add the suffix of AL or IH (el or ah). Then we have a name of the angel Pethael or Pethiah. You can invoke the angel to bless the organisation or become its patron saint.

  I would stick to three letters plus the suffix. I find that to have the right balance between simplicity and nuance to characterise angels. Of course feel free to have more or less letters. I find angels with longer names can be overly complex in nature.

  Another example: If you want an angel to help you get married you can take The Empress, Adjustment and Lust. Add the suffix “AL” and then you have the angel Daletael. Invoke the angel and ask for its help. The applications for this technique are endless. The only limit is your own imagination.

  Meeting the Holy Guardian Angel

  Attaining Knowledge and Conversation of the HGA is the central aim for most ceremonial magicians. The most widespread opinion is that it is a long and arduous process requiring a long period of isolation and prayer as outlined in the Abramelin Operation. The Bornless Ritual or Liber Samekh (Crowley’s version) is perhaps the most popular ritual to use for invoking the HGA.

  However that is specifically referring to the intimate connection that is K&C. Simply meeting the HGA is arguably a much easier process. In my opinion it is an important experience to have early on in your path in order to know what you are aiming for.

  To do this we are simply using the astral projection and applying it for the aim of meeting the HGA. Franz Bardon outlines his method in his first book Initiation into Hermetics.

  Rising upon the Planes

  Sit in a relaxed and comfortable position. Imagine your astral body flying straight up, out of your physical body, up into the air and into space. All the while mentally call out to your HGA with the intent of wanting to meet him/her. Eventually the angel will appear before you.

  Note the angel/guide’s appearance. Ask for its name and Hebrew spelling. This is useful later as you can enumerate it using gematria.

  Ask it for whatever guidance you need at the moment. And when you feel complete, thank the angel and descend back down into your physical body.

  Don’t take this meeting as definitive proof that it is your HGA, especially if it is your first time invoking it. You may or may not be tuned to the right “channel,” so to speak. It is really hard to tell whether you are discriminating too much or trusting too much. Ultimately the results will speak for themselves. Notice how your life changes after invoking your HGA. Does it change for the better? Did you get an inspiration for some creative project or a new direction in life?

  Other methods that Franz Bardon suggests for contacting one’s “genius” (in his words) are automatic writing and scrying magic mirrors. I personally cannot vouch for these as I haven’t tried them but if these methods are up your alley, check out his book and experiment. I highly recommend Franz Bardon’s system of magic for those who want to check out a different flavour of Western Magick to the Golden Dawn’s.

  Tarot Readings

  The word divination has its roots as meaning “contacting the divine.” In essence any form of divination can be a means of communication with any spiritual entity, including the HGA. The tarot is a great tool due to its great variety of symbols. However note that each spirit or entity tends to have a preference for certain mediums over others. Your HGA may prefer the tarot whilst another’s may favour the I Ching. However I am of the opinion that it is likely that the HGA is likely to prefer whatever method that you are most proficient at, although that is just my opinion. Experiment around and see which works best.

  To contact your HGA via divination, it is best to form some sort of prayer or invocation prior to shuffling the cards in order to tune in to the right frequency. Or you can think of it as dialling the HGA’s phone number. You can write your own, or use one that has been crafted for such a purpose.

  “I invoke thee, IAO, that thou wilt send HRU, the great angel that is set over the operation of this secret wisdom, to lay his hand invisibly on these consecrated cards of art, that thereby we may obtain true knowledge of hidden things, to the glory of thine ineffable name, Amen[24].”

  This is the invocation written for the OOTK spread itself. IAO is a divine name of Tiphareth, which represents our solar centre. HRU is said to be Horus. As a solar deity as well as the Lord of the Aeon in Thelema, he is said to be a stand-in for everyone’s HGA.

  My personal experience is that he is his own personality, although he has given me some great readings that were clear, concise and insightful. However the feeling I get is very different from when I use the first section of the Bornless Rite as an invocation before readings. HRU feels distinctly more fiery and masculine than my HGA. My readings from him feel like a soldier’s report. But HRU can still be very informative about the nature of one’s HGA if you were to ask him to facilitate the contact.

  Bornless Rite Section A

  “Thee I invoke, the Bornless One.

  Thee, that didst create the Earth and the Heavens.

  Thee, that didst create the Night and the Day,

  Thee, that didst create the Darkness and the Light.

  Thou art ASAR UN-NEFER (“Myself made Perfect”); whom no man hath seen at any time.

  Thou art IA-BESZ (“the Truth in Matter”).

  Thou art IA-APOPHRASZ (“the Truth in Motion”).

  Thou hast distinguished between the Just and the Unjust.

  Thou didst make the Female and the Male.

  Thou didst produce the Seed and the Fruit.

  Thou didst form Men to love one another and to hate one another.

  I am (insert magickal name) Thy Prophet, unto Whom Thou didst commit Thy Mysteries, the ceremonies of KHEM[25].”

  This is the first section of Liber Samekh, Crowley’s version of the Bornless Rite. Using this prayer you can contact your HGA directly for a reading.

  Whilst formal scripted invocations such as these are useful, they are by no means necessary. The key to all prayers come from the heart of man. Your fiery aspiration towards the highest is all that is necessary. As long as you are reaching out to your Beloved with all your heart then contact will be achieved.

  I would suggest using the First or Fifth Operations for this divination, whichever you feel comfortable. The purpose is simply to understand the nature of your HGA. Pay attention in particular to the unaspected cards in this reading. I would suggest you be very thorough in examining every aspect of the spread. Every stack should be analysed, experiment with card counting and pairing from all sorts of different cards. Of course the focus should be around the significator. I would recommend that you spend days if not weeks to interpret and record this reading.

  My experience

  I first contacted my HGA when pathworking the Death card. I got the idea from shamanism, where aspirants go through a ritual death and rebirth to be initiated into the vocation. I also noticed that the path of Nun, attributed to the Death card, is situated between Tiphareth and Netzach. In other words this is the archetypal experience that people go th
rough towards achieving K&C.

  This guided meditation can facilitate your first meeting with your HGA:

  Ritual Death and Rebirth

  Sit in a comfortable and relaxed position with the Death card of your chosen deck in front of you. Stare at it until it is affixed in your mind, and then close your eyes. Picture the card as an imaginary door in front of you, and step through.

  Take in your surroundings. It should relate to the scene in the card you chose. Eventually you should meet the incarnation of Death as depicted in the card.

  Tell Death you are ready, and as soon as you finish your sentence it will promptly kill you without delay.

  Feel your spirit body leave your imaginary “physical” body. It rises up in the air as it ascends into the light. Once there you will meet your HGA. Take note of how you are feeling. Is there an unparalleled sense of peace and joy? That is a sign that this is truly your HGA.

  As suggested before, ask for its name and Hebrew spelling for enumerating after the vision. Spend some time to get to know your angel.

  When you are ready, see the two of you becoming one in a ceremonial marriage. In a sense your HGA will be possessing you and inhabiting your head permanently. K&C is said to be a crowning ceremony. Where Tiphareth is the head, and Kether is the crown, K&C can be seen as getting your head in the right place.

  When you are finished, visualise the Death card as a door again, and pass through it back to your physical body.

  Final Words

  When I first performed this pathworking I wondered if I had attained K&C. Later I concluded that that was not the case. My current opinion is that the experience is more in line with what is called the Vision of the HGA. It is the moment of first contact. This was when I first consciously perceived my HGA and received its name.

  As a beginner on the magickal path I was under the impression that we start off with zero knowledge of the HGA until we get to Adeptus Minor, and then bang! Full K&C. The heavy emphasis and drama that writers ascribe to the experience gives readers this erroneous impression. It is easy to assume then that any contact at all is K&C.

  In reality the Great Work is a gradual growing intimacy with the HGA where full K&C is the climax. Some Adepts have stated that the experience was so intense that they could physically see or hear a spirit interacting with them. Whereas for others it was nothing so dramatic. Everyone’s mileage varies.

  I think I struggled for more than a year before accepting that this entity really is my HGA. I was on my own and had no real way to confirm whether my experiences were valid or if I’m just deluding myself. I maintained a healthy scepticism because of this, for fear of jumping to conclusions ahead of myself.

  It was some time after the publication of my book that I looked back at my diary and realised that I had gotten the inspiration for my first book a few days after that pathworking! I started writing it soon after. I took this as proof and confirmation that the entity I had contact was indeed my HGA. It is the guide that is helping me with my life’s work through inner promptings.

  Ever since I have been noting chance events that facilitated my learning that I have attributed my HGA. Pay attention to synchronistic events. There are periods in my life where I see my HGA’s number all over the place!

  If you are doing this working during a low point in your life, chances are you will experience a turning point. This is one of many signs that the HGA is working its magick in your life, and a confirmation that the entity is indeed your HGA.

  The question you should be constantly asking yourself is whether your life changes for the better? This is not to say that the process of change itself is without pain. You have to consider after coming out the other end of the fire if you are in a better place than you were before. Does your life feel like it has more purpose and meaning after this contact?

  As always, life is full of ups and downs and the Great Work is no exception. There will always be periods of lows after the highs. Bear in mind that it is normal to feel like you are going back and forth and in circles on the path. Persist and you will get through.

  May all aspirants attain K&C from the Great Work!

  * * *

  [1] Henceforth I will be using the abbreviation “OOTK” to refer to the Opening of the Key spread.

  [2] All the citations in this book serve as proof of this statement.

  [3] Regardie, The Golden Dawn, volume 9 pg. 33

  [4] Crowley, The Book of Thoth, Appendix A

  [5] Note here that I apply elemental dignities to discover relationship between the card and its placement. Does it like being where it is?

  [6] Regardie, The Golden Dawn, volume 9 pg. 52

  [7] I will elaborate on this later in this book, in the chapter “Catalysts of Change.”

  [8] The Bornless One is another title for the HGA.

  [9] I didn’t end up doing any of these. Through various events I got the urge to perform the Bornless Rite on a daily basis, and it was this ritual that changed things up for me. The Bornless Rite can be seen as a ritual of fiery devotion towards one’s HGA. So it performed that function. Sometimes your inner urgings will lead you to the right courses of action, and thus the direction you desire.

  [10] Regardie, The Golden Dawn, volume 9 pg. 36

  [11] Crowley, The Book of Thoth, Appendix A

  [12] Crowley, The Book of Thoth, Appendix A

  [13] Regardie, The Golden Dawn, volume 9 pg. 45

  [14] Crowley, The Book of Thoth, Appendix A

  [15] And I don’t disagree. I just think that the mind is the main component to all magick.

  [16] Bardon, Initiation into Hermetics.

  [17] I don’t know why, but this image works really well for me.

  [18] The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram does much more than this but banishing is its most common use.

  [19] Shoemaker, Living Thelema, pg. 59

  [20] Japanese temples require you to ritually wash your hands before entering a temple or ritual space such as a tea ceremony room.

  [21] Penczac, Magick of Reiki, pg. 32

  [22] http://www.holistic-lightworker.co.uk/

  [23] Some would argue that Shemhamphorash didn’t either. Their astrological attributions were tacked onto the original system of Jewish Mysticism by Western Magicians later in their development.

  [24] Crowley, Book of Thoth, Appendix A

  [25] Crowley, Liber Samekh