HGA

In Ritual magick, The Holy Guardian Angel or HGA represents one'shigher genius, or divine self. The phrase comes from the fourteenthcentury grimoire The Sacred Magick of Abramelin the Mage, and is mostcommonly employed in Thelema, where it is considered the ultimategoal of all operations.

"HGA represents one's higher genius, or divine self."

HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL

When magi speak of "the knowledge and conversation of the HolyGuardian Angel," they refer to that particular manifestation ofspirit which is their own experience. The principle is the same,whether it is the great Aumakua of the Hawaiian Hunas or thevisitation of the Archangel Gabriel for someone in our culture. Thepurpose of M/magic(k) is not worship, but transformation. And thepurpose in evoking the Holy Guardian Angel is to obtain informationthat is essential to the work of transformation.


The purpose of M/magic(k) is not worship, but transformation.


Holy Guardian Angel

Within the system of Thelema founded by Aleister Crowley in 1904, theHoly Guardian Angel is the "Silent Self", representative of one'struest divine nature.In occultism, the term is so widely known HGA has become a commonabbreviation even in non-English-speaking countries. The concept isequivalent to the Genius of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,the Augoeides of Iamblichus, the Atman of Hinduism, and the Daemon ofthe gnostics. Crowley borrowed the concept from the Grimoire "TheSacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage".
AtmanThis is a disambiguation page for the term atman (or atma). It is afundamental concept to both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions, oftenroughly translated as self, soul, or ego.

Atman (Buddhism)Atman is a Sanskrit word, normally translated as 'soul' or 'self'(also ego).

In Buddhism, the concept of Atman is the primeconsequence of ignorance, – itself the cause of all misery - thefoundation of Samsara itself.

In a number of sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, as well as in certainBuddhist Tantras, however, the term "Atman" is used in a dual sense,in some instances denoting the impermanent, mundane ego (attachmentto which needs to be overcome), and on other occasions explicitlyreferring to the ultimately real, pure, blissful Self of the Buddhain the state of Nirvana, a Selfhood stated to be unchanging,unshakeably firm, and eternal within all beings (see MahayanaMahaparinirvana Sutra).

Atman (Hinduism)
Beginning with Vedantic Hindu philosophy, the Âtman — Sanskrit(masculine nominative singular: Âtmâ) is regarded as an underlyingmetaphysical self. It is first seen in its current Hindu usage in theUpanishads, some of which date back to 1000 BCE. The word "Atman"(pronounced in Sanskrit like "Atma") is interpreted by some schoolsas the "Main Essence" of man, as his Highest Self. "A" in this wordis a negative particle. One popular, albeit apocryphal, etymology hasit that the 'tma' of "atma" "Tma" means "darkness" in light of theword "tamas" – "darkness, ignorance or inertia", "spiritualdarkness" – has the same root. Therefore "A-tma" or "Atman"means "opposite to darkness", "shining".

Some believe that individual "personal" souls exist as Maya only, andthink of an ultimate âtman (synonymous in this sense with brahman) asthe all-pervading soul of the universe: the universal life-principle,the animator of all organisms, and the world-soul. This view is of asort of panentheism (not pantheism) and thus is sometimes not equatedwith the single creator God of monotheism.
It is a fundamental concept to both the Hindu and Buddhisttraditions, often roughly translated as self, soul, or ego.
In the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis, the Tree of Knowledge of Goodand Evil was the tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden from whichGod forbade Adam and Eve to eat. The other tree in the middle of thegarden was the Tree of Life. Nothing is said in Genesis about whetheror not they were permitted to eat from the tree of life, but sincethe Bible says "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eatof it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surelydie.", we know they were allowed to eat from the tree of life. WhenAdam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the tree, after beingtempted by a serpent, they became knowledgeable of their sin, andwere punished by God by being banished from the garden and forced tosurvive through agriculture "by the sweat of [their] brow". Beingbanished from Eden meant they would lose access to the tree of lifeand therefore were condemned to die. Gen 3:22 "The man has now becomelike one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed toreach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, andlive forever." (NIV)

The Tree of Life, in the Book of Genesis, is a tree whose fruit giveseverlasting life, i.e. immortality. After eating of the Tree ofKnowledge of good and evil, the story goes, Adam and Eve are exiledfrom the Garden of Eden. Fearing Adam and Eve will also eat of thetree of life and become immortal, God sets angels to guard theentrance to the Garden.

In the story, the serpent had tempted Eve into partaking of the Fruitof Knowledge by promising they would become as wise and powerful asGod. The unstated but implied moral is variously interpreted as God'sanger at their decision, God's fear that they will harm the Tree ofLife, God's fear that the Tree of Life will harm them, or God's fearof the serpent's influence. These are of course not contradictory.