--- In solomonic@yahoogroups.com, "Fr. R. O." <frredactumopus@...> wrote:

> I am in complete agreement with you about the nature of the HGA.
>
> I think I've traced the concept of the nativity angel, or Genius, or
agatha
> daimon at least as far as the Corpus Hermeticum, which was written in
> hellenistic Egypt between 100 and 300 AD.

I think the concept is also described by Plato in "The Republic." He
describes a soon-to-be-born soul actually choosing it's Nativity Angel
from among the stars before it is born.

Of course Plato would be at the foundation of all of this, right? :)

> Later, this was where Abraham
> received instruction on the Sacred Magick from Abramelin. That time
period
> was the crucible that produced most of the neo-platonic, gnostic,
and other
> emanationist philosophies that have since melded together into the
modern
> WMT, including the concept of the HGA.

You got it! I belive that Gnosticism, especially, is at the heart of
the Abramelin operation. (Notice my uber-Gnostic description of the
HGA as "half Sophia, half Christos.") After I completed the Abramelin
Rite, Gnosticism was one of the things my Guardian Angel was most
serious about teaching me.

> I hadn't thought of the nativity angel as being "bound" to the stars or
> fate, per se. I had assumed it was more like the stars served as an
> annunciation of the name of the spirit, sort of like the Star of
Bethlehem
> was the annunciator of the birth of Christ.

Perhaps "bound" can be interpreted in different ways. What I mean is
that the Nativity Angel is the *embodiment* of all the aspects of your
natal chart. Thus, he represents your Fate (another term for what one
sees in a horoscope) as it is outlined in the stars.

Meanwhile the HGA descends from beyond the Zodiacal Barrier, and has
no connection whatsoever to any star or any aspect of your natal chart.

In the Gnostic context, the Nativity Angel is an Archon, while the HGA
is an Aeon from the Pleroma. A true Sethian Gnostic would run hard
and fast *away* from the Nativity Angel, but would seek out the HGA.
Later, Agrippa suggested that the NA and the HGA were two "keepers of
the soul" who work together- or are aspects of a greater whole.

Then, of course, there are all sorts of OTHER Guardian Angels you can
contact. The Pauline Arts has you contact the Angel who rules the
ascending degree of your natal chart. You could do the same for the
Angels of your Sun Sign, Moon Sign, the day your were born, etc, etc,
etc.

One of these years I intend to contact the two Shem haMephoresh Angels
that govern my Sun Sign - and/or those that govern my Ascending Sign.
Fun fun fun!!!

> If you're right about the nature of the
Genius/agathadaimon,/nativity angel,
> it certainly throws a sizeable monkey in my wrench. I don't suppose you
> could ask your HGA?

LOL That's where a lot of this came from in the first place. Backed
up by solid research, of course (like finding the NA in Plato's
Republic, Gnostic studies, Agrippa studies, etc etc).

> I've invested a lot of work into this theory, and I'd
> really like to find out I'm right, and not chasing a wild tangent
that looks
> right and ends nowhere. I can't trust myself to hear a truth I don't
want to
> accept right now.

:( I'm sorry to go tossing monkey wrenches at you! Although it
sounds like you're on the right track. There is just that difference
between the NA and HGA to consider.

> Is there a grimoiric or Solomonic text that discusses the nativity angel
> being bound to the stars and fate that would help defeat my stubborn
nature?

Agrippa's "Book III", chapter 22, "That There is a Threefold Keeper of
Man, and From Whence Each of Them Proceed":

"The [Holy Guardian Angel] is one, according to the doctrine of the
Egyptians, assigned to the rational soul, not from the stars or
planets, but from a supernatural cause, from God himself, the
president of [Angels], being universal, above nature... Also by the
aid of this [Angel] we may avoid the maglignity of a fate..."

In the above we see: The doctrine of the HGA comes from "the
Egyptians" (which would mean the Gnostics, not phaoronic priests).
The HGA is not "from the stars or planets", coming instead from the
"super-natural" or "above nature" (another Gnostic reference- to the
Pleroma). And, lastly, that the HGA means to help us *avoid* Fate.
Then Agrippa goes into the Nativity Angel:

"Now the [Angel] of the Nativity, which is called the Genius, doth
here descend from the disposition of the world, and from the circuits
of the stars, which were powerful in his nativity. [...] This being
the executor, and keeper of the life... helps a man to that very
office, to which the celestials have deputed him, being born."

In the above, we find: The NA, or Genius, descends quite directly
from the stars and planets of the nativity. His job, unlike the HGA,
is to maintain and bring about one's Fate as spelled out in the stars.
(And though I didn't quote it, Agrippa also includes a description of
the NA that appears taken right out of Plato's Republic. Though Tyson
found a reference to the same in Iamblichus.)

Agrippa then goes on to suggest a third Angel Guardian- the Angel of
the Profession, which also comes from the stars (of your nativity).
This may be the case, but I suspect that the Angel of the Profession
is very closely related (or even one and the same) with the Nativity
Angel.

> I'm thinking at the very least the nativity angel would be an aspect
of the
> HGA.

Agrippa suggests that the HGA, NA and AoP are three aspects of a
greater whole. I think there is room for this theory, when we get
into the interconnectedness of the Universe and all. But, in
practice, each Angel is distinct- with its own personality and its own
function in your life.

LVX
Aaron "Wrench the Monkey" Leitch