THE ANGELIC HIERARCHY
(christian angelology)
SPHERE 1
the first sphere is the highest, and it consists of the only three choirs in direct contact with god (in christian belief).
SERAPHIM
("burning ones")
the seraphim are the highest angels. they help to protect god's throne.
a seraph has six wings; two to fly, two to cover their face, and two to cover their feet. a seraph also has many, many eyes. (this makes me curious as to what their field of vision is like, but that's a musing for another time.)
CHERUBIM
the cherubim also help to protect god's throne. in the garden of eden, they supposedly guarded the tree of life as well.
a cherub has four heads; one is human, and the others are ox, lion, and eagle. revelations describes them as having six wings, but the most common depiction shows four wings covered with eyes. they have lion bodies and ox hooves.
it's been thought that satan was a cherub before falling.
THRONES
(or elders)
thrones are a tricky choir to describe; accounts of them are wildly different from book to book, person to person. that, and they're often confused with ophanim, of the jewish angelic hierarchy. many are also confused by their distinct difference from other celestial beings. i personally mix beliefs; i believe them to be ophanim in appearance, but their purpose is similar to the 24 elders of revelations.
that is to say, they are burning wheels covered in eyes, who present human prayers to god. they also seem to have a strong connection to cherubim.
SPHERE 2
the second sphere is more closely connected to the material world, and they have more control over the universe.
DOMINONS
(or lordships)
dominions are sort of the supervisors; they give orders to lower angels. they rarely make contact with humans.
they look very similar to the traditional depiction of an angel. they appear as beautiful humans with two wings, but they're separated from other angels by an orb of light, usually on a scepter or the hilt of their sword.
VIRTUES
(or strongholds)
angels of blessings and miracles. some sources say, though, that they control the movements of heavenly bodies. this is what i personally believe, but some people attribute this to powers instead.
POWERS
(or authorities)
warrior angels who fight against evil. depicted in full armor and with weapons. i don't usually draw full armor on my powers, because it would be difficult to work around the wings. i usually draw light armor, using more of a jointed frame on the edges of the wings for protection.
SPHERE 3
the third sphere consists of the angels in direct contact with humanity- they are mostly messengers.
PRINCIPALITIES
(or rulers, or princedoms)
these are the guardian angels- they guide and protect individual people or groups. this can include an entire country, or one church. they're shown wearing a crown and carrying a scepter.
ARCHANGELS
("chief angels")
archangels are the highest messengers. this is confusing, though, because Archangels, with a capital A, can also refer to the seven seraphim who are above all other angels. the seven Archangels are thought to guide and protect countries, though it's incredibly unclear which. the Archangel michael is believed to protect israel.
ANGELS
now these are the ones everyone thinks of- they're the most active messengers, and they're personal guardian angels. some believe they only guard one human during their existence, but i personally believe they take on a new human after the last has died.
SUMMARY
so yeah, there's a basic explanation of the entire angelic hierarchy. this took me, christ, something like 45 minutes, because i was skimming multiple websites and compiling everything, and organizing this, and then putting my personal beliefs in there, and checking everything for accuracy, and- i mean, basically, i'm really dedicated to teaching people about angels.
this is only CHRISTIAN ANGELOLOGY- every religion has their own hierarchy and their own beliefs about angels, but i enjoy christian angelology most, so just about everything i say about angels comes from christianity. i'm actually not christian though! and if you have a specific religion you'd like me to research for more information about angels, i'm totally open to that. just let me know! i love doing this so much. i hope you learned something from this!
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