Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the context of "Aleister Crowley"

A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in Ancient Judaism. In Christianity, the hierarchy of angels was extensively developed in the 5th century by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The theology of angels and tutelary spirits has undergone many changes since the 5th century. The belief is that guardian angels serve to protect whichever person God assigns them to. The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels is celebrated on 2 October.

The idea of a guardian angel is central to the 15th-century book The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage by Abraham of Worms, a German Cabalist. In 1897, this book was translated into English by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), a co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, who styled the guardian angel as the Holy Guardian Angel.

Wicca (English: /ˈwɪkə/), is a modern pagan, syncretic, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, developed in England during the first half of the 20th century, and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon ancient pagan and 20th-century Hermetic motifs for theological and ritual purposes. Doreen Valiente joined Gardner in the 1950s, further building Wicca's liturgical tradition of beliefs, principles, and practices, disseminated through published books as well as secret written and oral teachings passed along to initiates.

Many variations of the religion have grown and evolved over time, associated with a number of diverse lineages, sects, and denominations, referred to as traditions, each with its own organisational structure and level of centralisation. Given its broadly decentralised nature, disagreements arise over the boundaries that define Wicca. Some traditions, collectively referred to as British Traditional Wicca (BTW), strictly follow the initiatory lineage of Gardner and consider Wicca specific to similar traditions, excluding newer, eclectic traditions. Other traditions, as well as scholars of religion, apply Wicca as a broad term for a religion with denominations that differ on some key points but share core beliefs and practices.

Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires. Ceremonial magic is part of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.

The synonym magick is an archaic spelling of 'magic' used during the Renaissance, which was revived by Aleister Crowley to differentiate occult magic from stage magic. He defined it as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", including ordinary acts of will as well as ritual magic. Crowley wrote that "it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature". John Symonds and Kenneth Grant attach a deeper occult significance to this preference.

A divine embodiment or godform refers to the visualized appearance of the deity assumed in theurgical, tantric, and other mystical practices. This process of ritual embodiment is aimed at transforming the practitioner, aligning them with divine powers for spiritual ascent or transformation. The concept is found across diverse traditions, including Western esotericism, Eastern spirituality, and mysticism, where it serves as a method for achieving personal enlightenment, union with the divine, or other spiritual goals.

In Western esotericism, divine embodiment is most commonly associated with theurgy, particularly in the works of Neoplatonists like Iamblichus, where the practitioner assumes a divine form through ritual or meditation to transcend the material world and reach higher spiritual realms. This concept was influenced by ancient Greek practices of invoking gods and embodying divine forces, seen in both the public cults and private rituals. The idea was later adapted and expanded in Hermeticism, particularly through the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where practitioners would visualize themselves as deities to channel spiritual power.

Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918), born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist and member of the S.R.I.A. He is primarily known as one of the three founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial magic order of which offshoots still exist. He became so synonymous with the order that Golden Dawn scholar Israel Regardie observed in retrospect that "the Golden Dawn was MacGregor Mathers."

Hermetic Qabalah (from Hebrew קַבָּלָה (qabalah) 'reception, accounting') is a Western esoteric tradition involving mysticism and the occult. It is the underlying philosophy and framework for magical societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, has inspired esoteric Christian organizations such as the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, is a key element within the Thelemic orders, and is important to mystical-religious societies such as the Builders of the Adytum and the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.

Hermetic Qabalah arose from Christian Cabala, which itself was derived from Jewish Kabbalah, during the European Renaissance, becoming variously Esoteric Christian, non-Christian, or anti-Christian across its different schools in the modern era. It draws on a great many influences, most notably: Jewish Kabbalah, Western astrology, Alchemy, Pagan religions, especially Egyptian and Greco-Roman, Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, and the symbolism of the tarot. Hermetic Qabalah differs from the Jewish form in being a more syncretic system; however, it shares many concepts with Jewish Kabbalah.