When you’re performing angelic magick, each angel has particular strengths, so you want to find the right angel to help with your request. In The 72 Angels of Magick (originally published as Magickal Angels and The Greater Magickal Angels) there are descriptions of the angels’ primary powers and instructions on how to choose the right angel for the result you want. Despite this, the question I get asked most often is, ‘What angel should I use for…?’
At one point the book contained a line saying, ‘Please don’t write to me and ask,’ but still the questions came. This is understandable, because nobody wants to put in eleven days of angelic work only to find out they could have worked with a more suitable angel. In this article, I will offer additional guidance on choosing the right angel.
I point out that it is extremely important to choose the angel for yourself. There are many good reasons for this, not the least of which is that I won’t always be available. This year, I plan to take two months off work, which means I won’t be answering questions on a daily basis, and years from now I won’t be around at all. With that in mind, it makes sense to develop a way to find the best angel for you, rather than relying on an external source. Also, nobody else can know your problem as well as you do. No matter how much information you provide to me or anybody else, you know your needs in a way that an outsider never can.
If choosing an angel for yourself is so important, why do I only list several powers for each angel? I give the angel’s name, and I list between two and five powers that give the best impression of the range and style of workings that the angel responds to. I could list more, but it is precisely because magickal workers need to develop the skill of understanding and perceiving angels, that I don’t add any more detail. Gaining an intuition about angels, and sensing how they can help you, is an important part of making or maintaining contact.
That’s not to say you can’t use the book exactly as written. If you want, you can look at the descriptions, use what’s there and you’ll get results. There’s more detail than you’d think at first glance, and I will go into that later. But what if you want a result that isn’t listed precisely? That’s when you need to work out which angel might be best, by using a mix of common sense and intuition.
In the book I describe a technique for choosing an angel in the chapter called The Act of Choosing. It contains general advice about breaking down your problem, as well as instructions for a brief ritual that can help you to perceive the angel’s power. I point this out only because I know that many readers skip that chapter, only to find out later that it is the key to solving the riddle of their problem.
When searching for the right angel, don’t underestimate the brief descriptions that are given in the book. Although short, they give many clues about the angels’ qualities. Imagine, for example, that you have a troublesome boss who is causing you grief at work through subtle and passive bullying. Your first job is to decide what result you want. Do you want to silence your boss from making cruel remarks, bring general peace to the workplace, be seen in a better light or find a better job? Only when you know the result you want can you make a reasoned decision.
Let’s say that you’ve decided you want to have more authority over your boss, to ensure there is no workplace bullying. There is no obvious description in either book that says, Overcome A Difficult Boss. When you look through the descriptions, though, you might notice that the very first angel is Vehuiah, who is said to be able to:
Carry Out A Difficult Task
Strengthen Your Will
Obtain Esteem
It doesn’t take much intuition to work out that this angel would be able to strengthen your sense of self and your willpower, when faced with the difficulty of an aggressive boss. Compare this to an angel who can create passionate sex, bring calm between lovers, attract love and ensure fidelity. It’s fairly obvious which angel you should be calling on.
Beneath those descriptions there are even more clues. You are told that the angel is ‘ideal for tasks that are wearing you out’, as well as offering benefits ‘when you feel your willpower is fading’. There is also a detail suggesting that this angel helps when you want to increase your esteem, and have that esteem perceived by others. So although there is nothing that says, ‘Overcome A Difficult Boss’, reading with an open mind shows you that the required powers are available.
If in doubt, you can always ask the angel. Instead of going through a full eleven-day ritual, make contact on any day, using the ritual as described, and instead of requesting a result, ask if the angel can give you a sign or a sense of intuition, so you can know if that angel will help with your specific problem. In this case you might say, ‘I call on thee, powerful Vehuiah, who has the power to bring willpower, esteem and to conquer difficult tasks. Guide me to know whether you can help me build esteem and willpower to overcome my difficult boss.’
You may sense an immediate response from the angel, in the form of intuition or even the sense of a presence. If you feel this, know that the angel is responding positively. If you feel or sense nothing, do not assume the angel has ignored you. Instead, remain aware of your intuition (without actively looking for signs) for several days. You may notice omens, signs and other jolts of intuition that tell you whether or not to work with this particular angel.
Choosing the right angel is important, but you don’t have to be too precise. So long as you find an angel that works in the general area you are looking at, you should get results. You will also find that some angels work better for you than others, and it’s wise to keep working with those that have helped you before. They don’t get tired of you asking, so it’s better to make a firm choice and ask boldly, than to spend to much time wondering whether or not you’ve chosen well.
