Further Thoughts on the Almuten Figuris and Personal Daemon

After discussing concepts like the almuten figuris, the guardian daemon, and the planet associated with the guardian daemon in a recent post, I recognized that there were some further issues that the article hadn’t mentioned. These issues included how the information about the guardian daemon indicated by the almuten might be too personal to share widely, the place of the almuten in the context of the greater natal chart, how it should be harmonized with other guardian daemon techniques, Platonist views on the personal daemon, and how it relies upon perspective.

 

Some Believe It Is Too Personal to Share

There is a line of thinking that suggests the almuten is personal to an individual and should be kept private. The reason for this is that the almuten relates to one’s guardian daemon or one’s higher self, depending on the perspective. Because of this connection, any information regarding the planet and name of the guardian daemon is sacred and holy. It should be treated with a great deal of respect and deference. As such, in some people’s views, sharing the planet or guardian daemon’s name with other people is unholy and disrespectful of cosmic laws. Though this view is held in some quarters, there are other perspectives. Some people have an opposite view that having openness with the sharing of the planet of the guardian daemon is not a problem. They see no reason to stick to secrecy on the issue. In this view, secrecy around the sharing of this information is just a matter of personal preference. On top of these two views, there are fears around the issue. One thing that some people believe is that the sharing of the information can reveal a vulnerability. There are worries that it can open one up to magical attacks, curses, and the like. A counter-argument is that while any personal traits that someone has can be used against them, including their name, image, natal chart, and so on, it’s also true that the guardian daemon is sent from higher levels with a special purpose and likely can’t be messed with by human magicians. Either way, once a person learns their own almuten or that of other individuals, these are issues they should be aware of.

 

The Almuten Has Its Own Role in the Context of the Horoscopic Chart, One That Is Different from the Lot of Spirit, Ascendant Ruler, and Midheaven Ruler

Traditional astrology has many key points in a natal chart. These important points include the ascendant, midheaven, Lot of Fortune, and Lot of Spirit. Given that these points are supposed to tell a lot about a person’s identity, character, career and reputation, and the focus of their mental activity, the function of the almuten as the planet of the guardian daemon doesn’t seem to have a place. There is confusion about what it means and how it should be understood with all of these other points. It can be seen from how it is mentioned in the Picatrix that it somewhat overlaps with the ascendant, ascendant ruler, midheaven, and midheaven ruler in a person’s life, as it shares some of the characteristics of both points and their respective rulers. It relates to the individual, and how they correspond with the world, especially in a way that relates to their mental activity or what they do. Their individual identities and characters are related to the ascendant and ascendant ruler,  their mental activity to the Lot of Spirit, and what they do, how they are seen, and their careers are largely related to the midheaven and its ruler, generally speaking.

From what I’ve noticed, it is similar to a pervading archetype that all of ones own’s perspectives, goals, and aspirations will be filtered through. At any point in life, an individual will be influenced by the planetary archetype of the guardian daemon. So, it has an extra-positional quality to it. The breadth of the planetary archetype of the chart ruler is possibly more consistent over the course of life than other points in a person’s natal chart. 

 

The Information Gained from Astrological Techniques Can Be Blended with Other Methods 

To a skeptical mind, there are reasons to doubt the astrological techniques for finding the planet and name of a person’s guardian daemon. Some ancient authorities didn’t believe astrology could tell the planet of the guardian daemon or its name. There were also differing opinions on how it was calculated, which means that any one person could have multiple competing almutens. Additionally, the ancient allusion to techniques and the existence of modern ones means that astrology isn’t the only method for determining the guardian daemon’s planet and name. For all of these reasons, it might be good to work with other methods if one is truly curious about their guardian daemon. The astrological techniques can be combined with the methods written about by Patrick Dunn¹ or Robert Zoller² to figure out the important information regarding the guardian daemon. The planet and name can be verified through rituals, meditation, and contemplation. In my opinion, if one is truly interested in knowing about their guardian daemon, they will investigate it more with the inclusion of other methods. Astrology can be harmonized with other ways.

 

Platonist Views on the Personal(Guardian) Daemon

The views of some central Platonist figures on the personal daemon are important to understanding the concept. Plotinus saw the “personal daimon as a guiding spirit who is hierarchically above the level at which a human life is being lived, serving as both a guide and aspiration.”¹ Proclus says the following about the personal daemon: “The daimon alone moves all, governs all, orders all our affairs. For it perfects the reason, moderates passions, inspires nature, maintains the body, provides the accidentals, fulfills the decrees of fate and bestows gifts from providence; and this one being is king of all that is in us and all that has to do with us, steering our whole life.”² 

 

It’s All A Matter of Perspective

There are different forms of astrology that have similar starting points but huge differences in methodologies. These include Vedic astrology, Uranian astrology, horoscopic astrology and its variety of systems of house division, and so forth. There are the systematic differences that come from dealing with traditional planets or the outer planets, which are a big difference between traditional and modern astrology. One thing to think about is that none of these systems are totally universal, at least from the perspective of a viewer. They are systems that work when one adopts the perspective of the system. They can sometimes be wrong, or be missing elements. They might indicate things that don’t activate. Regardless of all the considerations, if one uses one system of determining the chart ruler and treats it with absolute certainty, that is a matter of their personal choice. We can be mindful that if only using astrology to determine aspects of the guardian daemon, that it is a matter of perspective authoritative and therefore not totally universal. 

 

Other Resources on These Concepts

The internet has other materials on the almuten and guardian daemon. Ryhan Butler shared some guardian daemon related posts from the Digital Ambler site with his supporters recently. In the posts, Sam Block shares how to do the Perfect Nature ritual from the Picatrix in four articles, which can be connected to after reading this summary “Communion of Perfect Nature” which includes links to the articles in the series. There is also an online calculator, but it doesn’t include the correct way of identifying the triplicity rulers so the result would have to be tweaked if it is used, especially to have it calculated in one of the more common methods in contemporary times. 

 

 

Another article about these topics can be found at this link, The Almuten Figuris, Some Additional Personal Insights.

 

 

 

 

Notes

1. Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum, The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influences, Brill Academic Publishing, November 15, 2015. (265)
2. Proclus, On Alcibiades, I, 78.1-6 (Westerink), trans. Dorian Gieseler, The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influences, Brill Academic Publishing, November 15, 2015.(246)

 

Bibliography

1. Patrick Dunn, The Practical Art of Divine Magic: Contemporary and Ancient Techniques of Divine Theurgy, Llewelyn Publications, August 8 2015.
2. Robert Zoller, Angels.
3. Greenbaum, Dorian Gieseler, The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influences, Brill Academic Publishing, November 15, 2015. 

 

Photo Credits

1. A man walks in a gritty urban environment with his guardian angel watching. Photo by Midjourney. Prompt: a Roman Guardian daemon colorful above a man in work clothes. Username: @david.k9
2. A Romanesque guardian daemon stands in a building. Photo by Midjourney. Prompt: a Roman Guardian daemon colorful above a man in work clothes. Username: @david.k9