AMATEUR ANGELOLOGIST

 

 

METATRON

 

I recently bought Doreen Virtue's book, Archangels 101 due to my interest in Angelology (the study of angels and angelic beings).  I haven't read the book yet but am planning to do so very shortly in the future.

In case you don't know about Metatron (in the pic above), he has two legends attached to his origin.  

The first is that he is the Jewish patriarch Enoch as mentioned in the book of Genesis that was taken to heaven by God due to his righteousness (it is thought he never died but was literally taken to heaven bodily while alive) and then transformed into the "Chancellor" and "Scribe" of Heaven (as in, he keeps The Book of Life) and is known in some Jewish belief as the "Lesser Yahweh" (Yahweh being the Jewish name of God) and the geometric shape above his head is known as "Metatron's Cube".  In Greek, the words "meta thronan" mean "Behind the Throne" so it is possible that Metatron's name is of Greek origin and was adopted to describe this heavenly being whose place is behind the very throne of God.

The second legend is that he was the angel Hadraniel (which means "Majesty of God") and he delivered the decisive blow (along with his twin brother Illaniel, both were said to be standard-bearers in Michael's angelic legions) to Lucifer just as Lucifer was about to strike a fatal blow to Michael during Lucifer's rebellion in heaven against God (supposedly taking place on the second day of creation).  And due to his valor, Hadraniel was transformed into Metatron (so transformation is shared by both legends) along with his twin brother who was transformed into Sandalphon (the leader of the heavenly choirs continually praising God and said to be, in all sources, Metratron's twin).

Just as Metatron was said to be Enoch, it is also said that Sandalphon, his twin, was the prophet Elijah who was also taken up to heaven and didn't die and then was transformed into Sandalphon.  The theory comes full circle as many believe that Enoch and Elijah will be returned to Earth as the two witnesses that are mentioned in Revelation during the tribulation or end times and that they will be martyred (as it says in Revelation), lie dead in the streets of Jerusalem for three days and then miraculously will be raised from the dead and ascend into heaven. (Hey, don't look at me like that - that's what the good book says)

Metatron and Sandalphon are also accorded special titles in the heavenly hierarchy as Metatron is known as the Supernal and Sandalphon is known as the Illumination and are counted among the 12 Angels of the Presence along with Michael and Phanuel (which means "Face of God" and could be the original legend for the voice of God - not Metatron like in that Kevin Smith movie, Dogma).

Lucifer (whose original angelic name was Sammael which means "Severity of God" before his fall where he served as the Angel of Death (later to be assumed by the Archangel Sariel (also known as Saraquel) in Christian lore or Azrael in Islamic lore) and the chief accuser to God (kind of like a prosecutor of angelic wrongdoing) or more commonly known as "Satan" (which means accuser or adversary).  Lucifer is said to have been the ruler of the fifth heaven known as Mathey and said to be the "Southern Seat of God" (whatever that means) (in angelic lore, there are seven heavens, or rather, seven layers of heaven) and he was served by two million angels, most of which turned with him and fought against God and therefore fell with him in his defeat (Sandalphon is now said to be the ruler of the fifth heaven).

Here is a pic of Lucifer:

Lucifer (which means "Light-Bringer" and "Morning Star") was aided by another archangel named Barachiel. It is also a legend that when Barachiel fell with Lucifer he then changed his name to Beelzebub, which means "Lord of the Flies", and became the Prince of Hell (he was also known as Baraqijel or Barakel and was identified as one of the Nephilim - the fallen angels mentioned in the book of Genesis) 

In the beginning, before Lucifer's rebellion, there were 12 archangels - Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Zadkiel, Jophiel, Barbiel, Jehudiel, Jeremiel, and the aforementioned Sammael (Satan) and Barachiel.  After the war in heaven that number was decreased to seven archangels as God established a new hierarchy of the angel "choirs", as they are known, into the seven heavenly hosts (seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, and angels) but no one knows exactly who the seven archangels are as the sources vary but the first four are always mentioned in every list of archangels.

One of the things I love about Angelology is the art that angels inspire.

Here is some other art work of the four main Archangels:

MICHAEL

"HE WHO IS LIKE GOD"

 

GABRIEL

 "THE STRENGTH OF GOD"

 

RAPHAEL

 "GOD HEALS"

 

URIEL

 "THE FIRE OF GOD"