Angels of the Elements

Evocative practice shows that the use of certain ministerial energies to work with elemental forces is extremely effective: to purify and activate the elements one calls the Archangels who “govern” those elements — Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel — and their corresponding angelic choirs.

It is important for the adept to clearly understand the nature of these spirits’ influence on the elemental forces.

We have said more than once that the very concept of angels arises when one considers the descent of the Spirit into its differentiated aspects — that is, when one contemplates the process of Creation.

The task of all angelic hierarchies is the descent of the Creative Will and the condensation of its field of action.

The angelic worlds — Briah and Yetzirah — are stages in the gradual densification of the screen on which the cosmic drama of the Absolute’s self-knowledge is played out.

It is important to understand that the formation and structuring of materiality is carried out by Free spirits — gods and humans. Angels merely congeal, solidifying the spirit and creating the principle of materiality itself in varying degrees of density.

Note that similar activity is performed by other “ministering” beings, in particular some groups of the Grey spirits of the Interworld.

In fact, the activity of angels comes down to two primary manifestations: formation in matter of corresponding possibilities — that is, the densification of the creative will — and, on the other hand, the opposition to demonic forces seeking to destroy energy-matter conglomerates in order to extract the Light within them.

It is in this sense that angelic forces influence objects — planets, elements, colors, and other sephirotic lines of correspondence.

Thus, when it is said, for example, Michael “governs” the fiery element, it is meant that the forces of this Archangel create the material conditions for the manifestation of the element of fire.

An angel does not create salamanders, does not build the city of Phineas, does not create light or heat.

It merely materializes being so that a possibility arises within it for the material manifestation of the activity of ascent.

Gabriel bears the fire: the fire of the manifestation of the creative forces of Yesod. Raphael also bears fire — the fiery power of movement — and with Uriel — the fire of the all-unifying power. Yet it is Michael, by his solar-harmonizing influences, who creates in matter the tendency to shine, burn, and give warmth — the inclination to receive the Fire.

Accordingly, when a Magus calls Michael, he invokes a power that prepares matter to receive the Fire, and that also purifies the fiery principle of demonic influences.

It is very important to understand where the “authority” of each power begins and ends. For example, Michael, belonging to the world of Creation, creates the basic possibility for the manifestation of fire, while the concrete material conditions necessary for the formation of fire are created by the Choir Bnei Elohim, which belongs to the world of formation. It is also important to remember that the purest manifestations of Fire are governed by the angel Aral, who creates in matter the possibility of ascent. Michael, however, creates the possibility for the manifestation of the fiery principle — a broader phenomenon in how it manifests and in creative complexity.

Thus, by clearly understanding the spheres in which powers operate, a Magus can apply them more effectively precisely where their activity is greatest, and not expect them to be competent in spheres beyond their capacities.