Psychopomps

I tend to view these as our guides into the deeper recesses of the mind. Since there's no proof of an afterlife, what else would they be?

There is an Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso within us, more profound than anything Virgil encountered. And whichever dominates becomes the theme of our life. We may traverse these inner landscapes with the aid of Psychopomps, whether we create them, call them, or attract them.

Augoeides and Choronzon: A Love Story

In the ever-perpetuated myth of "the one true will", no two names or figures are so shamelessly dropped as Augoeides (pronounced ah-GAY-dees) and Choronzon (kor-un-ZON).

Augoeides is loosely translated from Greek into English and means "shining one", a reference to a heavenly and luminous god-form which is thought to individually link each man and woman to Heaven, thus providing an assistant to the Magician in identifying and attaining his or her true will. Crowley identified this term with The Holy Gaurdian Angel, and this definition has for some time been an accepted bit of dogma within much of the western tradition. The term is synonymous with Daemon and the Hindu term "Atman".

This concept of Augoeides which Crowley helped popularize, but which dates back to the dawn of Greek philosophy, could be likened to the angel on our right shoulder which calls to us through our notions of "higher self" and other abstract concepts which I personally disregard.

Choronzon, on the other hand, or should I say left shoulder represents either a trap of self deciet which the Magician may wander into, or a tool of ego-testing which the Magician makes use of to refine himself at some point.

Choronzon is classically identified as a malignant and shape-shifting demon, and Crowley identified it as "the dweller in the Abyss" and assigned it to Daath on the Tree of Life (Daath will be written on later), that unseen sephiroth which lies above Tiphereth and below Kether. Accounts on the exact nature of Choronzon vary, as well as descriptions of appearance and function, all lending to a great deal of excitement among occultists. Occultists, being a generally dry lot, are not easily roused, so this is no small feat. Consequently Choronzon earns respect in my hierarchy of symbols, and I personally assign him a unique definition of Augoeides' counterpart.

The two figures could be seen as basically different views of the same concept, when placed in a loosely psychological context. Both are useful in identifying or determining where one stands in the chosen paradigm.

Augoeides could be seen as the "Right-Hand path escort" to Choronzon's "Left-Hand path escort" function. I believe the two are essentially the same, lovers inextricably entwined, to make use of a romantic cliche.

Note: Peter J. Carroll's Liber Null and Psychonaut has a very interesting take on both the HGA and Choronzon in pages 164-167, similar to my own, and certainly it influenced my view. However, he does not seem to view Choronzon as a useful phenomenon, where I do. I cannot over-recommend Carroll's book, both for content and style.

Invocation Dangers to Selves

"I believe there are many selves within us; that we are all cases of multiple personality-though generally unafflicted with the amnesia which is the hallmark of clinical manifestations of this condition. Sanity is a state in which our component selves love and trust each other and are prepared to let each other assume control as circumstances demand." Peter J. Carroll

This is probably an oversimplification, but generally correct. It is more accurate than the oft-heard mystical rhetoric which generally goes: "the self is an illusion", often an opener for some lecture on uniting with the "Divine", as it is assumed by said mystic that all IS the "Divine", and thus any distinction is but an illusion. If someone gives you that line, reach down and remove your shoe, swing it upside their head, and ask them if that felt like an illusion. A digression, I know...

The context of the sub-chapter from which the above quote is taken deals with the subject of invocation from the perspective of a Chaoist, or, perhaps simply from the perspective of Mr.Carroll. In particular, the dangers of invoking for the purpose of strengthening a particular self, as there is the danger of that self or adopted form overwhelming the others and causing a (sometimes drastic) narrowing of the personality and perspective at best, or eventual schizophrenia at worst.

Seem far-fetched? Watch someone who makes a drastic recovery from drug or alcohol addiction, only to devote their life to the service of God, or Jesus Christ, or Allah. They will generally become more stable people in the outset, since they have strengthened a personality through a particular godform which helps them achieve the goal of sobriety. But once they realize they've kicked the addiction, they typically carry that ladder with them everywhere they go (if they're generally successful in maintaining sobriety) in fear they will fall off the wagon if they abandon God or whoever, and along with that particular god comes the associated baggage and conflicted and sometimes unnecessary moral modifiers. Not to say there's anything terrible about this, as they're no longer destroying their health and bankrupting their families. But it illustrates a point: one can become dependent on an adopted symbol, whether knowingly or unknowingly, and at the expense of previously useful selves.