Angelics Part 2

So, where was I? Ah yes – angels.

Who are the big names and what are they usually associated with? If you pick up an angel dictionary or a book on Angelology, they’re cram packed with hundreds of ‘angel names’ and what they do. It’s interesting to see that many (though not all) angel names end in ‘-el’ – why is that? 

El is one of the names of God. I could say it’s Hebrew but there are those who could argue it stems from a proto-Hebraic language or even the language of the angels themselves that humanity spoke before the Tower of Babel was destroyed and the language of man confused (but that’s another story entirely – I’ll try to keep on topic). Having ‘-el’ at the beginning or end of the name denotes a reference in some way to God or being ‘of God’, ‘from God’, or a function of God. 

You may dislike the idea that angelics stem from God or gods that perhaps you don’t believe in even though you do believe in angels and that’s okay. There’s always a way around these things but for the moment I’ll get back to...

There aren’t just individual angels bouncing around them there heavens – oh no. For many traditions there isn’t even just one heaven – heavenly realms – plural. Shamayyim – Hebrew often translated as heaven is actually a plural meaning heavens (Deut 10:14 – heaven of heavens, highest heavens). Paul speaks of the third heaven in the New Testament (2Cor 2:12). The Gnostics speak of many aeons surrounding the planetary realms before getting anywhere close to the Treasury of Light. Within these layers of intelligence there are Orders of angels with specific functions.

Open for your interpretation is the possibility of billions upon zillions of intelligences that are entirely aside to the whole angelic buzz that’s going on for the traditionalist. The Father's House has many rooms and all that. Think pantheons, Rome, Greece, Norse and Celtic gods and goddesses? In the Old Testament we’re told to have no other gods but God. Why, what were the choices? But ahem, I digress and wanting to avoid a stoning… moving along…

There are realms of angels with precise energy signatures (after all that’s what a name is, isn’t it?) and then there are the guys that hightailed out of heaven on Lucifer’s coat tails. The fallen angels, often times referred to as demons, we met in Mary’s post the other week.

The most commonly recognized Orders – Hashmalim, Malachim, Seraphim, Cherubim, Elim, Ishim, Ophanim, Hyos Ha Koidesh, the Twenty-Four Elders (not a conclusive list) – overseeing everything from inspiring music and art to ruling and security; bringing down fire, communication and my favourite – singing – yay for the party in the heavens. 

Then we have the Michaels, Gabriels, Uriels, Raphaels, not just one Archangel but whole hosts of angelics operating within that vibration, busying themselves with protecting and healing, announcing and bringing forth, uh…stuff. Throw in all the other angelics you can think of and that’s one hell (oops – heaven) of a gathering.

This fabulous rendering of Michael binding Lucifer (and oh the plot bunnies that throws up) by Guido Reni shows an androgynous beauty and whoa – that is some tight and well-crafted body armour he’s got on there – leather, Lycra or Kevlar? He’s famous in certain scriptures for standing up for humanity, for binding Satan/Lucifer and generally being an all-round good guy.

Now Lucifer, here’s an interesting character. The most beautiful of the heavenly beings, the Morning Star, (not looking very pretty in the picture above mind you), cast into the fiery pit because he didn’t like the new kid on the block, Adam. Not quite how it went but artistic license and all that. Actually, for those of you that like to delve a little into the old scrolls I recommend digging out a copy of The Apocalypse of Moses and The Slavonic Adam and Eve. They are both Apochryphal/Pseudepigraphal and are sometimes lumped together as The Books of Adam and Eve. The texts give an expanded version of the rebellion in the heavens over the creation of the Adam/Adam Kadmon (depending on personal interpretation). If you delve into the Books of Enoch the Prophet, you’ll even find a list of some of the fallen angels that set up an alternative creation with Lucifer in order to whisper quietly in humanities ear. 

Angels. You gotta love ’em and to each of us they have a particular meaning or none at all. And what a muse they make. Good boys, bad boys, never sure which way to hedge their bets boys. And girls, of course. Or maybe not. Asexual, pansexual, anything you want sexual, angels can do it and be it all and there is no shortage of authors exploring their own interpretations of heavens, hells, angels and demons.

Perhaps you have a favourite or one that really didn’t work for you at all? I’ve certainly come across books that fall into both camps. I keep thinking that one day I’ll write about angels but there’s something about solidifying them into words that doesn’t gel with my muse. I’m happy to leave it to the many authors that do it well and let the closest I come to the concept be Reeve, my paralemptor. 

And boy is he going to have fun when he tries out the human life…and all to sample the taste of lurve.

The Angelics

I was asked to participate in a pole the other day. Which would I rather date – a vampire, an angel or a fallen angel. It got me to thinking. Angels get a pretty raw deal in the world of man. So what are they?

Angel – from the Greek ἄγγελος (angelos) –  messenger/announcer. Messenger of what, sent by whom? Do we include the Town Crier and the UPS guy? Are all angels the same? That’s like asking if all radios are the same, or all TV’s. 

Archangel, fallen angel, guardian angel, just plain ole angel… can a person be an angel or do they have to be disembodied? Are they sent by God/gods/goddess/et al or freelancing? Where do they live, how do they interact with humans – if they can at all? And…if an angel is fallen, where did he/she fall from? What about gender, do they have one or are they androgynous?  

I’ve read tons of information, (mostly for work *sigh) much of it contradictive. The beauty of fiction, as opposed to my day job of having to argue points of reference to back up conclusions, is that we (the writer) can make up the rules and as long as we’re consistent, we get away with it – yay. But is it still important to have some basis in the familiar concepts our readers associate with angels? 

I think it helps. It makes me smile when you see a reviewer make the comment ‘requires you to suspend belief to follow the plotline’ – um, you’re reading about paranormal creatures, suspension of belief is a given on some level. At the same time, it’s a valid point. We can only push the boundaries of our world so much before we cross the line and ask too much of the reader by carving out such a complex system or world that it becomes the story, overwhelming the characters. 

I also find that when it comes to most paradudes people are happy to chalk up myths and folklore to overexcited morphemes and phonemes or an explosion of phosphene geometries in a well poked eye. But angels…for some reason they touch people on a deeper level. Maybe you’ve had an angelic experience yourself or know someone that has.

 

 Mind you, for fifty quid, I can attend a workshop down the road that will teach me to talk to angels directly, and for a hundred they’ll throw in a tour of one of the lower heaven realms and a certificate of authenticity to prove to everyone else I’ve been. That's okay, as long as I get to go with this guy <<<<<<< You don’t get that with vampires or werewolves – not in my part of the world anyway.

In my next post, I’ll have a look at some of the angels from religion, mythology and fiction but for now, I’d like to hear about yours. How do you like your angels? Sexy for sure, but are they winged, bodied, ethereal, naughty, pure, tricksters? And what do they do – or do you prefer finding that out to be part of the story?

One of my current WIP’s has an MC, Reeve, whose role it is to guide human souls through the death threshold and into the next world.  Is he an angelic? Some would say yes, but he isn’t a messenger and he doesn’t announce anything. In Gnosticism, he is paralemptor (Greek) – receiver of souls. Have a look at this excerpt – what label would you give Reeve? 

They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before you. To this, I can attest.  What they don’t tell you is how, and maybe, more importantly why.

Years... some have less than others, some only moments, yet in a split second every one of them presents in startling clarity, existent outside of time, hanging beyond space. Magnificent.

That’s my job. I throw the mental switch that allows it to happen at just the right moment. Too soon and you risk insanity, too late and the moment is lost forever.

A review is only powerful when seen through the mind’s eye of the personality that lived it. There have been experiments to try to understand this; to understand why we can’t begin after consciousness passes the generally recognised point of no return. When the ties of the body drop so does the impact of events. In other words, it no longer hurts like a bitch or brings those sweet tears of joy.

Of course, some do return. That’s my job too, allowing the return trip. Are there rules? Of course. Do I follow them? Absolutely… apart from when I don’t.

‘Reeve, what in the blazes are you doing?’

‘Sorry sir, I didn’t see you there.’

‘You’re not supposed to. How can I check up on you if you know I’m here?’

‘Uhm.’

‘For goodness sake don’t stare at me. Put the man out of his misery.’

‘Eh? Oh…’ I flick the yellow globe hanging in the space before me and see Marcus Denby Jr go limp. It’s a shame. I liked Marcus. His review was damned good entertainment. Damning for sure – the guy had truly lived. It was like scenes from an action movie the people watch.

‘I want you in my office at the end of your shift.’

‘Yes sir, sorry sir.’

Harim wafts from the room, shaking his head. He despairs of me I know, but what can I do? I have a soft spot for these little ones in pain, the remorse that bites into their souls when they witness the hurt they’ve inflicted, often without realising. Nobody tells them that at the end they will feel every emotion they’ve elicited in another through that person’s eyes. Marcus Denby Jr has inflicted a lot of pain, a lot of anguish and a lot of downright pleasure. If only he’d known at the time maybe…

Sod it. I’m letting him go back. I want to see what he’ll do with his new insight into humanity. I look at Marcus, the empty body slumped in the chair, wrists and ankles bloody from the ropes. The song of his soul sings to me from the holding pen around the dead flesh – he’s still hurting. His review has kicked into stage two. Some people call it the Bardo – a state in between where one chooses what comes next. I only have a few more seconds before he’s seen too much to return, maybe he already has.

Steadfast. Just do it.

I flick the red globe and the body of Marcus Denby Jr gasps, drawing deep, burning breaths into his broken body. This won’t do. I reach for the blue globe and squeeze just a little. His captors, already pressed back against the walls of the iron cell at the impossibility of the dead man breathing before them, bolt for the door as a gentle blue mist caresses and heals.

‘It’s time to live again Marcus,’ I whispered. ‘This time maybe you’ll do it wisely.’

My mouth falls open as he looks right at me, his head pressing against what should be an invisible hand – my invisible hand that’s holding his face.

‘Will I though, Reeve?’ he said, choking back his tears. ‘Do I know how?’

Casey K. Cox ~ The Review

Now I couldn’t help but include this little titbit of information direct from Wikipedia. 

In the US, a 2008 survey by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion, published by TIME Magazine which polled 1,700 respondents, found that 55 percent of Americans, including one in five of those who say they are not religious, believe that they have been protected by a guardian angel during their life. An August 2007 Pew poll found that 68 percent of Americans believe that "angels and demons are active in the world" and according to four different polls conducted in 2009, a greater percentage of Americans believe in angels (55%) than those who believe in global warming (36%).

Wiki goes on to say ‘Teen Belief in the Supernatural poll in 1994, 76% of 508 teenagers (aged 13–17) believe in angels, a greater percentage than those who believe in astrology, ESP, ghosts, witchcraft, clairvoyance, Bigfoot, and vampires’. Those figures may well have changed since the latest vampire/shifter craze took off. Has the interest in the paranormal taken off across the board or just in these currently popular sub-genres? Maybe as writers, our job is to mix it up a bit and bring the whole host of supernatural and preternatural creatures to bear on an unsuspecting world. 

Oh, the power… rarrrr ;)