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Choronzon is a hypothetical demonic entity. It is associated with the tenth Aethyr in the system of Enochian Magic devised by John Dee, and is the Guardian of the Abyss in the magickal system(s) developed by Aleister Crowley. It is experienced 'astrally,' or through trained, controlled visualization -- analagous to an induced, vivid, conscious dream.
As with all such entities, it does not exist in an objective, physical sense, yet it is experienced spontaneously and in similar ways by many witnesses, and can, as such, be seen as 'real.' Choronzon appears as a being external to the witness, with its own volition. It is coextensive with the 'lurker on the threshold' in several narrative traditions.
In Crowley's system, Choronzon represents the internal chaos experienced when the ego confronts a higher mode of being which, the ego feels, threatens its destruction. It is the bargaining and trickery of the ego trying (desperately) to retain control of the self.
Its appearance as a strange, demonic entity can be seen as a matter of perspective. In experiencing the so-called Abyss, one may suddenly and jarringly identify with a part of oneself that is not the ego, yet find oneself drawn back toward ordinary consciousness through what seems like demonic (and external) threats and manipulation -- through words and sleights that are not (are no longer) one's own. Choronzon is, in a sense, one's normal mind, at a distance.
Choronzon can be psychologically dangerous to encounter as an external 'entity,' because it has perfect knowledge of one's hurts and terrors, and in a sense personifies them. But Choronzon is also, in a sense, that part of us that we normally think of as our 'self,' which guards and takes care of us in the world through its vigilance. The terror of losing that part is a quite real and understandable terror, and we can think of Choronzon, so-called, as being in horror of losing us as well -- of letting go of the control that keeps and protects, and being 'nobody.'
The astral experience of the Abyss is a pageant of that, and an arena in which opposed parts of the self can contend and damage each other.
Yet despite Choronzon's apparent agitation, the crossing of the 'Abyss' does not destroy the ego or any part of the self. It is the ego's watchfulness and fear of abandonment that makes that seem to be the case.
Choronzon appears in Neil Gaiman's Sandman, as a demon who has taken possession of Dream's mask. He duels with Dream in an odd verbal battle, where each names a form to counter each other's previous. In the end, Choronzon names Anti-Life, the destroyer of all things, but is defeated when Dream names hope.
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