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eromai-blog1 · 7 years

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List of angelic choirs and hierarchy for writing and roleplaying, brought to you by Bella

Real talk and probably unpopular opinion: TV shows about angels and demons are entertaining, maybe (I wouldn't know,) but don’t really seem to adhere to the classic lore. This is a brief overview of the angel hierarchy with short descriptions. I might do a follow-up post that goes more in depth, but for now, have the basics. Even though there are some discrepancies among scholars and archivists, these are mostly agreed upon. (Note: Obviously you do not have to adhere to these with your characters, but guidelines/inspiration never hurts!)

The Spheres

There are three ranks, called spheres. Each sphere contains three choirs. Starting from the bottom:

Third sphere: Angels. These are the closest to humans and often are depicted as humanoid, sometimes even just humans with wings. They act as liaisons between the divine and the mundane. 'Guardian angels' sometimes fall under this umbrella, as do the angels that psychics and mediums call upon. Angels are the bottom ranks of the hierarchy.

Third sphere: Archangels. These are the messengers. Most famously, Gabriel delivered the message of Jesus' coming and conception to the Virgin Mother. They also act as commanders of legions and are in constant battle with demons. (Will cover the archangels more thoroughly in another post bc I love them.)

Third sphere: Principalities. These act as 'guardian angels,' but over entire cities and kings. They can be divided into two sections: administrators and assistants. Admins (as I will call them) guide the rulers and countries more firmly, while assistants are more of a supporting role to their charges. They usually have a crown and scepter and sometimes inspire art or science ideas. They are the highest ranked of the third sphere.

Second sphere: Powers. They are the nemesis of fallen angels and prevent them from overtaking the world. They also manage the movement of the planets and stars to make sure all that stuff stays in working order so God doesn't have to fuss with it. They are often shown in armor and with various forms of weaponry, like soldiers. They are also considered record keepers of human (and pre-human) history, and were designed specifically to be loyal only to God. A common speculation is that no Power has ever be cast out or fallen, due to this design of theirs (although some say Satan was a Power, so whatever, you do you.) They are the lowest ranked of the second sphere, but outrank the entire third sphere.

Second sphere: Virtues. These deliver blessing directly from god unto the earth and its inhabitants. These are often called 'miracles.' They bring courage and can help with acts of selfless heroism. They don't have a ton of lore about them, probably because you can only grant so many miracles before it becomes boring as shit. Some say they govern the elements of nature too (hippies, maybe) but that's more interesting than miracles to me, at least.

Second sphere: Dominions. They regulate all angels below them, from virtues to lower-rung angels. Basically the departmental managers. God (or Seraphim, as per God) gives them orders and they tel the lower ranks to which the orders apply. They very rarely bother to mingle with humans, since that's grunt work. Also probably my favorite design out of all the angels, since they look like tall hot humans with huge wings and glowing halos on their heads or sword hilts. After this, we get into the more Eldritch designs with the angels. Dominions are the highest ranked of the third and second spheres.

First sphere: Thrones. Literally just a wheel of eyes and fire. Some Christian theologians chickened out with this one a little and said they are actually elderly men listening adoringly to God's message, but I prefer the whole 'spinning wheels of flaming eyes' interpretation. They carry out God's big decisions directly. They are the lowest ranked of the first sphere, but still outrank even the dominions.

First sphere: Cherubim. They pull fiery chariots and carry God's throne. They have four wings covered in eyes and four faces (a man, a lion, an eagle, and an ox.) Literally terrifying to see. They were also assigned to guard the gates of Eden once Adam and Eve fucked up and got barred from it. NOT to be confused with the fat baby angels in art. Those are called putti.

First sphere: Seraphim. Highest ranked of all the angels and the closest to God. Basically God's hype men. Always singing songs about him and radiating pure light and shit. They balance and regulate all of the heavens. Some say they are made of light, some say they have six wings and cover their faces and feet with two pairs while using the last to fly.

Of the nine choirs, no one can seem to decide from where Satan fell. Some say he was a Seraph (along with Beelzebub,) some say he was a Cherub, maybe a Power, whatever. Azazel was also considered a cherub by some, but an archangel (lowercase A) by others. A lot of the specific angels are open to interpretation. Again, these are a loose guideline: if you feel you have a different source of information or you disagree with it, that’s totally fine! You do you.

#writing reference #chriist: i love your resource posts will u make one on angels?#me: gets drunk and does this #long post jesus h almighty #long post #v: ARCHANGEL ANAEL. { angels and demons }#feel free to reblog!#if u want

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