Most of us would have to admit we wouldn’t recognize an angel if it bit us on the bottom. So how does one recognize that it’s – er – an angel we’re dealing with? I mean - do you know your order of angels and their hierarchies? On the grounds of better-be-safe-than-sorry, maybe it’s time you got the whole angel thing down pat in your mind … just in case, you understand.
Firstly, the Angels are organized into several orders, or Angelic Choirs. There are three Hierarchies, Spheres or Triads of angels, with each Hierarchy containing three Orders or Choirs. In descending order of power, these were:
First Hierarchy: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones [or Ophanim]
Second Hierarchy: Principalities, Virtues, Powers
Third Hierarchy: Dominions, Archangels, Angels
During the Middle Ages, many other schema were proposed, some drawing on and expanding on Pseudo-Dionysius, others suggesting completely different classifications but don’t heed them, the revisionists.
We’re all familiar with the lower orders because these are the ones certain people come into contact with but what of the ones you never see up there? The angels of the first sphere were thought to serve as heavenly counsellors.
Seraphim: There are four of them surrounding G-d's throne, where they shine eternally from love and zeal.
Cherubim: The Cherubim (singular "Cherub") are beyond the throne of G-d; they are the guardians of light and of the stars. They have four wings. They also have four faces, one of man, ox, lion and eagle. Cherubim are considered the elect beings, for the purpose of protection.
Thrones: The Ophanim are the companion angels of the planets. Also, they have been described as a wheel intersected by another wheel. One to move forward and back, the other to move side to side. These wheels are then dotted with innumerable eyes.
Now, I can’t see why it can't be so. In fact, I can believe anything, however improbable it might seem, just as Sherlock Holmes could plus the other side also believes in these things. Ask any 32nd degree Mason about it or failing that, ask Osiris.
For the atheists and rationalists out there – you can’t prove beyond doubt they don’t exist, can you; and proof is very important to you guys, isn’t it? On the other hand, there are ample indicators which keep coming back from time to time, that something's going on up there.
Perhaps we should just take the classic atheistic position, put the head in the sand and say angels don’t exist. Period.
Firstly, the Angels are organized into several orders, or Angelic Choirs. There are three Hierarchies, Spheres or Triads of angels, with each Hierarchy containing three Orders or Choirs. In descending order of power, these were:
First Hierarchy: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones [or Ophanim]
Second Hierarchy: Principalities, Virtues, Powers
Third Hierarchy: Dominions, Archangels, Angels
During the Middle Ages, many other schema were proposed, some drawing on and expanding on Pseudo-Dionysius, others suggesting completely different classifications but don’t heed them, the revisionists.
We’re all familiar with the lower orders because these are the ones certain people come into contact with but what of the ones you never see up there? The angels of the first sphere were thought to serve as heavenly counsellors.
Seraphim: There are four of them surrounding G-d's throne, where they shine eternally from love and zeal.
Cherubim: The Cherubim (singular "Cherub") are beyond the throne of G-d; they are the guardians of light and of the stars. They have four wings. They also have four faces, one of man, ox, lion and eagle. Cherubim are considered the elect beings, for the purpose of protection.
Thrones: The Ophanim are the companion angels of the planets. Also, they have been described as a wheel intersected by another wheel. One to move forward and back, the other to move side to side. These wheels are then dotted with innumerable eyes.
Now, I can’t see why it can't be so. In fact, I can believe anything, however improbable it might seem, just as Sherlock Holmes could plus the other side also believes in these things. Ask any 32nd degree Mason about it or failing that, ask Osiris.
For the atheists and rationalists out there – you can’t prove beyond doubt they don’t exist, can you; and proof is very important to you guys, isn’t it? On the other hand, there are ample indicators which keep coming back from time to time, that something's going on up there.
Perhaps we should just take the classic atheistic position, put the head in the sand and say angels don’t exist. Period.
It's not that i don't believe in them, it's more that I've never seen parquet flooring designed for a pin head.
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