Liber Magnum Opus
by Peter J. Carroll, from The Magic of Thanateros, 1978
The magician’s most important invocation is that of his genius, daemon, true will or Augoides. This operation is classically known as attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. The Augoides may be defined as the most perfect vehicle of Kia on the plane of duality. As the avatar of Kia on earth the Augoides represents the true will, the raison d’etre of the magician, his purpose in existing.
The discovery of one’s real nature of genius may be difficult and fraught with danger since a false identification leads to madness and obsession. The operation of obtaining the Knowledge and Conversation is usually a lengthy one. The magician is attempting a progressive metamorphosis, a complete overhaul of his entire existence. Yet he has to seek the blueprint for his reborn self as he goes along. He is seeking his purpose in being alive. Life is less the meaningless accident it seems. Kia has manifested these particular conditions of duality for some purpose.
The genius or Augoides has often been likened to the sun as the light of the Earth. The sun was never venerated for itself but as a symbol of the secret radiance of Tao which illuminates the Universe. It is from an examination of the ways of the Tao that some idea of the general nature of the genius may be gleaned. It may seem foolish to look for qualities in Tao when, as the origin of all things, there can be nothing which is not Tao. Yet if there is not part of me which is not god, what is the origin of my dissatisfaction … God? Dissatisfaction arises when phenomena have become so complex that they have evolved into positions of antagonism. The acts and artefacts of man are often ugly because they are forced, contrived and excessive. There is nothing which is not Tao but there is much which has been moved far from the source. The agent of its removal is invariably the meddling mind of man. It is a sad paradox that human ingenuity is the instrument which creates dissatisfaction by the act of trying to overcome it. It is this ingenuity which created ego and imagined dissatisfaction in the first place. Everywhere unleashed ingenuity fails to satisfy and men cry out for wisdom imagining it lost. But there is wisdom in the way a river flows, in the way a plant grows and even in the way a hill stands. There is wisdom in the way an animal takes its prey. The Universe is performing its True Will all the time.
Unlike other invocations the genius is not something added to oneself, rather it is a stripping away of excess to reveal the god within. We already contain all we need for existence. We need only abandon the falsity and trivia we have acquired.
The magician drops all actions which result in stress, worry, anxiety, friction, rancour, guilt, craving, remorse and regret; such emotions are always symptomatic of unnecessary forcing. Yet he gives free expression to every mood, whim and emotion which arises not from forcing or past oppression for these are an expression of his nature. Not being at war with himself his actions have a peculiar style, grace and effectiveness. All but the most twisted are instinctively attracted to him. Living in the knowledge that nothing can really be taken from him he is free to act without fear. If his nature takes him onto the battlefield he fights without anger or lust of result and not without humour.
Laughter he seeks in all things for it is the finest statement of that non/attachment - non/disinterestedness which allows him to be in this world but not of this world. He takes delight in the ordinary and natural, rejecting the involutions of frivolous artifice, the posturings of formal elegance or affected mood. He has no need of artificial entertainment and sees no point in exciting himself for the sake of it. A craftsman of existence is he. Perceiving in everything a twinkling of Tao, a smile crossing his lips in recognition rising perhaps to laughter in delight of some new method by which the infinite conceals and reveals itself. Following the ways of the Tao he is assisted by the momentum of the Universe and seems possessed of amazing luck. Aware of the fact that the worst has already happened to him, that he is dead and living in Hell, he lets nothing disturb him but lets every action be a science, an art and a religious gesture, a reflection of Tao.
Following is an invocation which can be used on a daily basis for achieving the Knowledge and Conversaton.
Directly on awakening, preferably with the sun, the initiate goes to the place of invocation. Figuring to himself as he goeth that being born anew each day brings with it the chance of a greater rebirth. Is it today that he has awoken to perfection? First he banishes the Temple of the Mind by ritual or pratyahara. Then he takes to himself some token or symbol or name to represent the Augoides as a vehicle of the genius of Kia in Tao. This he may well change during the course of the Great Work as his aspiration begins to move him. Next he formulates his aspirations in what manner he will, humbling himself in prayer or exalting himself in loud proclamation as his need be. The best form of this invocation is spoken spontaneously from the heart and if halting at first will elaborate and improve itself with time. The ritual may be concluded with an aspiration to the wisdom of silence by dhyana on the symbol of the Great Work or by formulating the body illuminated by the divine white brilliance in the minds eye. Periodically, longer forms of gnostic exaltation may be employed to conclude the ritual.
Then the initiate goeth forth to live in the way that he hath willed.
At the end of the day there should be an accounting and fresh resolution. Though every day be a catalogue of failure there can be no sin or guilt for magic is the raising of the whole man in perfect balance to the power of infinity and such feelings make that balancing act more difficult.
The ultimate step is the surrender of the Augoides as one crosses the abyss into the realm of nonduality or Tao and union with Kia. If the magician retain any tendencies or contain any unresolved complexes, in other words, if his Genius is not in perfect manifestation, disaster awaits. The life force flows directly into the remaining scraps of ego and bloats them into various grotesque monsters variously known as the demon Choronzon. Some magicians attempting a premature leap have failed to banish this demon and gone spectacularly insane as a result.