20. Methods Of Defence IV-a

THERE are so many stories of the appearance of guardian angels at moments of crisis that even the most sceptical must admit that there is a case to be answered. There is a tradition in Devon that if Drake’s Drum, which is preserved at Buckland Abbey near Tavistock, is beaten in a time of crisis, Drake himself will return to lead the fleets of England. Newbolt has immortalised this legend in his famous poem. “Take my drum to Devon, hang et by the shore. Beat et when your powder’s runnin’ low. If the Dons sight Devon, I’ll quit the port of Heaven, And drum them up the Channel as we drummed them long ago.” The idea of the hero who returns to lead his people, the guardian angel that appears in times of crisis, is sealed deep in the hearts of all nations, and nothing will eradicate it. Innumerable instances were reported by the men returning from the trenches during the War. Let us again refer to the ancient wisdom of the Qabalah, that storehouse of occult knowledge. We learn here of the Good Angel and the Evil Angel of the soul of man who stand behind his right and left shoulder, the one tempting him, and the other inspiring him. Translate the Dark Angel into terms of modern thought and we have the Freudian subconsciousness. But the Freudians fail to realise that there is also a Bright Angel who stands behind the right shoulder of every man. This is the mystic superconsciousness or, in other words, the Higher Self, the Holy Guardian Angel whom Abramelin sought with such ardour and effort. We all know that, when caught off our guard, there comes a dark temptation from the depths of our lower selves, something atavistic stirs, and we think thoughts, or even do deeds, of which we would never have believed ourselves capable. We have heard the voice of the Dark Angel speaking. Equally in times of dire stress, when we have our backs to the wall and we are fighting for more than our physical lives, another Voice makes itself heard, the voice of the Bright Angel. I have never known this to occur when a man was fighting simply for his physical life. To those who see beyond the veil, death is no great evil; but in times of spiritual crisis, when the very self is being swept away, then it is that the cry of the soul is heard, and Something manifests out of the mists of the Unseen, manifests in a form that is comprehensible to the one who calls. Whether intense stress induces a temporary expansion of consciousness, a fugitive psychism, or whether a Being of its own volition passes through the veil and manifests, I do not know; there are never any details available of these incidents. They take place only in times of dire stress and go as swiftly as they came, leaving no trace except upon the soul. I maintain that even as the Lower Self can rise up in moments of temptation, so can the Higher Self descend in moments of spiritual crisis. It is the aim of the mystic to live exclusively in the Higher Self. It is the aim of the occultist to bring this Higher Self through into manifestation in brain consciousness, “In my flesh shall I see God.” Just as surely as the Lower Self can rise up and betray us to some horrible deed, so can the Higher Self come to the rescue, “terrible as an army with banners.” I have already told of the mysterious voice which instructed me how to extricate myself from grave psychic danger. Upon other occasions of stress and strain I have experienced a sudden expansion or shifting of the level of consciousness. The Higher Self has descended and taken control.