Magic Circle How To

Part Three

Dear Magician,
Welcome to the third part of how to build a powerful
magic circle.

In Magical traditions across the world, special attention

is paid to the four cardinal directions. This is a cross
cultural constant, wherein not infrequently are also
associated certain entities.

These are awakened through a series of magical names

of power directing consciousness from one step to
another, thus establishing a relationship between all of
them.

These powerful magical names should provide an

equally strong link throughout the stages of inner
manifestation.

These sacred names and attributes of the rulers of the

quarters can be quite different depending on the culture
or the mystery system. One of the most effective, with a
track record spanning a century and a half, is the
magical system of the Golden Dawn.
Our Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram leaves little doubt
that the most practical concepts for any Western
Magician are those of the four Archangels; Rafael,
Mikael, Gabriel, and Auriel.
These are very well established by time and tradition,
and have the proper characteristics entirely in keeping
with our culture and ethnological lifestyle.

As far as Initiates are concerned, each Archangel

corresponds to specific energies that correspond with
certain desired manifestations.

Initiates are therefore responsible for building up their

inner selves through the special exercises learned in the
study of the Golden Dawn system.

The Archangels have major roles to play and fulfill

specific functions in the construction and expansion of
the universe.

Each one is a major heading as it were, under which all

other allied aspects of awareness and properties and
actions may be grouped into.

As familiar figures as these four Archangels are to many

people, it may be useful to remind people of their
idiosyncrasies again right now.
Rafael

Rafael is the healer of God and he typifies the useful

enthusiasm and proactive discipline we need in order to
make necessary spiritual progress.

He is the rising of the inner light in humankind, and

heals the damage and the pains and injuries that we
encounter in circumstances in life and in our eagerness
to follow where he ultimately leads us.

It is important to note that when we use the term he or

she in the spiritual sense we are talking about energy.

In the physical sense, there are positive, negative and

neutral. In the spiritual sense gender is only a reference
to energy.

Rafael personifies a natural curiosity and desire to gain

knowledge in general about all things.

To a certain extent he is like Hermes as a leader of

souls and instructor of the mind.

The major symbol attributed to Rafael is the caduceus

wand in the Golden Dawn system.

Michaell

Michael the God-like stands in full midday splendor, a

familiar figure in warrior type armor. He is commonly
pictured with a spear or a sword stepping on a
conquered Demon or evil monster.

Michael depicts the power of light over darkness and is

known as the right hand of God. This is his natural
position in the universe and its order. He is the right-
hand angel who tells us what we should be doing, while
his colleague on our left, Auriel warms us what not to
do.

Michael appointed himself as the mediator of mankind

before the throne of God. He promised to stand by even
in the worst of times for the worst of mortals as long as
he could detect the slightest good in them. Michael is
therefore the champion of the universe over chaos, and
we can definitely consider him a solar angel.

It is Michael who cures human diseases arising from

unbalance and disorder of natural forces. He typifies our
inherent longing be right in every way. If we ever
achieve any degree of such an objective it would only
come through his help. Michael's key symbol is the
sword or the spear.

Gabriel

Gabriel is known as the potency of God. Gabriel is the

fertility figure who triumphs over death through potency
and the strength of love. Gabriel personifies compassion
and feeling, tenderness and strength combined.

Gabriel's key symbol is the cup with all its significance.

Gabriel is visualized usually with chestnut hair, amber
eyes, and a friendly and sympathetic voice, together
with a completely congenial disposition.

Wearing blue robes with orange accents, Gabriel

typifies the great need of loving and being loved, the
desire of conviviality and also the deepest necessity for
true spiritual sustenance, without which we might as
well not live at all. Gabriel directs attention to the moral
as distinct from the intellectual side of the mysteries,
and therefore presides over the companionship that
should prevail in every circle.

Gabriel's element being water, he is a pervasive

Archangel, cooling hotheadedness, soothing irritations,
and generally dissolving most difficulties capable of
solution by such means.

Auriel

Archangel Auriel's robes are sombre. Being aligned with

winter and midnight, blacks, dark browns, gray, and
earthly tones are his colors, yet lightened by the sparkle
of frost, the shining of stars and brilliant moonlight.

He is represented as a kindly elder and also can be

envisioned with graying black hair and a beard if you
like, with dark eyes and a deep deliberate voice.

Auriel is very much an angel of light. He is the light

shining in darkness, that the darkness didn't understand
yet couldn't extinguish.

Consciousness in unconsciousness, knowledge and

ignorance, being and non-existance. Auriel is the light of
experience and wisdom, shining brightly in the dark
womb of the eternal mother. He typifies the seed of light
that manifests in us as living beings in which we be a
from life to life that it may grow ever brighter until it
becomes a sun of its own system.

Auriel is associated with all tolerance, wisdom and

development that should come with your experience of
life and death.

Watch your inbox for the fourth and final part of this
Magic Circle series, coming soon!