This article is about the Hermetic Qabalah Foundation course. The course is presented in the book, Hermetic Qabalah Foundation—Complete Course. Those wishing to begin a Probationership with the O∴ A∴ may work the Foundation as a preliminary course of study and practice.
The Hermetic Qabalah Foundation is the best place to begin for those who desire a thorough grounding in magick. Here is the Qabalah in theory and practice. The course takes one year to complete.
There is in reality no such thing as a beginner’s course in magick. The ancient Egyptians did not have one set of hieroglyphs for novices and another set for priest-kings; they are all the same hieroglyphs. The Hermetic Qabalah Foundation was written and structured in such a way as to teach the novice how to make their way through the labyrinth of symbolism that pervades the subject. The course also serves the purpose of enabling the student that is properly prepared a chance to forge the necessary inner-plane contacts. If a master of magick were to work their way through the same course, they would not be wasting one minute of their time, for they would work it to their own level of ability and knowledge.
Hermetic Qabalah Foundation: Holy Guardian Angel
The primary objective of the Great Work is the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. The Angel can be regarded as a ‘divine lover’ in so far as such knowledge is the most complete consummation within the field of human experience. Qabalistically, the union takes place in Tiphereth, the heart of the Tree of Life. This then becomes the seat of the True Will or True Self. In the normal state of affairs, Tiphereth is merely the place of the human ego, which has usurped the position of its True Ruler, Prince and King. The mundane chakra attributed to Tiphereth—its physical vehicle in the cosmos—is the Sun. The symbol used for this star is a circle with a point in the centre.
The circle with a point in the centre is also the symbol of Kether concentrated from the infinite Ain Soph Aur. As Kether is in Malkuth and Malkuth is in Kether, the Vision of the Holy Guardian Angel is attributed to Malkuth on the Tree. On the path of initiation, as opposed to that of religious exotericism, the Holy Guardian Angel informs the person while they are in the corporeal state—the Great Work is not something that is postponed until an after-life.
Notes
1. From Hermetic Qabalah Foundation—Complete Course, pp. 38.
© Oliver St. John, 2018, 2022
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