#erelim

[lampfacedstudios]

He’s done and he has a name now! Erelim, after a class of angels associated with death or tragedy. Is he an angel? Demon? idk.

Despite his name and hellish appearance, he’s yet another one of my “chill monster” characters. I don’t have much of a feel for what his personality may be beyond that just yet.

[fuvkin-feral-kins]

Utterly delusional, dreaming of a Heaven that doesn't even exist

[agreenroad]

Hierarchy Of Angels In Heaven Listed; Archangels Named - Gabriel, Selaphiel, Michael, Uriel, Raphael, Ishim, Ophanim, Hashmallim, Erelim, Barachiel

How many angels might be living in Heaven? How many archangels might be in Heaven, serving God? What might the hierarchy of angels in Heaven look like? Depending On Christian or Jewish Denomination, There Are 3 To 8 Archangels Serving God Wikipedia; “Synaxis of the Archangel Michael (Собор Архистратига Михаила). An Eastern Orthodox Church icon of the “Seven Archangels.” From left to…

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

Thinking about that AU that randomly struck me awhile back where Christine Dae is only half wrong about what “the Angel of Music” is.

That doesn’t make it any better.

[rufousnoctuary]

twinz

[halemerry]

Alright, I've had a few people ask for this now so time to take a break from the big draft I’m writing to dig a little deeper on angel rankings in relation to Crowley.

Before we get into it I want to preface this by saying I am not a religious scholar. Like many of us I have a complicated relationship with religion and as a result this stuff was a long time special interest of mine but, as always, take it with a grain of salt.

To be frank, even if I was an expert, I think it’s also important to keep in mind that the Good Omens angel hierarchy has already taken some liberties on its own. It hasn’t been shy about reinterpreting things to suit its needs or about pulling from various sources to establish its own lore. It's definitely its own beast and there's no guarantee the universe operates the same rules that have become the most popular ones.

That all being said, let's get cracking.

So in canon we actually don't know that much about angelic rank. Before season two we knew there were Principalities and Archangels and that's about it. This season decides to give us a little more information. Muriel is a Scrivener (likely they'd fall under the general Angel category) and then we get a nod to Thrones and Dominions being a thing. We also learn there are orders/classes of various ranks.

With the exception of Scrivener which isn't a traditional rank at all as far as I can tell, these ideas all fit under the traditional Christian angel hierarchy.

The most influential version of this hierarchy comes mostly from Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite's De Coelesti Hierarchia (On Celestial Hierarchy). He divides angels into three Spheres, with three Orders within each Sphere. The Lowest Sphere contains the orders Angels, archangels (different from Good Omen's Archangels who are at the top of the food chain so to speak), and Principalities. The Middle Sphere contains the orders Powers, Virtues, and Dominions. And then the Highest Sphere contains Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim.

Now onto the angel that would become Crowley.

Thanks to us witnessing Crowley opening a document only accessible to Dominions and above, we can eliminate the lower half of these rankings.

This leaves us with Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim and the Good Omen’s version of Archangel.

Dominions are tied to things like regulation. Their job is to keep passions in check and deliver justice and judgment (to be frank these last two are in some capacity apply to most rankings of angel), They’re built to keep ranks beneath them organized and optimize their performances. They’re organizers. They’re functionally middle management and are sometimes known as Lordships. They’re also occasionally tied to the set of angels that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. 

The really only thing that even kind of suits him here in my opinion is the interacting with lower ranks bit but the vibe doesn't seem quite right with that. Crowley as we know him is not even really a leader even in his own schemes and has a tendency to rely on his considerable talent at improvisation and quite frequently on the cues Aziraphale tends to send him. (We get a stellar example of this dynamic actively in play in Episode 2 this Season). We also know now that the angel in question tended to work alone. He seemed baffled by the concept of Earth, as if it had been a long time since he’d had a check in with Head Office. 

So Thrones are what people tend to think of when you say the phrase Biblically Accurate Angel. They're the wheels with a bunch of eyeballs. They contemplate the power of God and have, you guessed it, ties to justice and judgment but in a more contemplative sort of way. They are associated with peace and submission, except for when they are sometimes also associated with the erelim - a ranking in the Jewish Hierarchy that tends to be more of a warrior class. They're maybe most famously associated with being a part of the chariot that moves God's throne around. They live where material form begins to take shape and are tasked with maintaining cosmic harmony.

Honestly I don't mind this for Crowley. That last bit especially sounds close to what we see him doing. And there's something very fun to me about a former Throne going off and getting himself a big gaudy throne. I’ll admit I have a hard time associating him with something so passive and again I feel like it doesn't quite fit how out of the loop he was about Earth, but this is probably the second favorite option of mine here.

If Thrones are the wheels of God’s Throne then the Cherubim are the ones making those wheels turn. They’re often represented as pushing Thrones about and attending God directly. Their job is to magnify God’s glory and serve as representatives of God’s power. They also, notably, were thought to be the superhumanly strong guards tasked with the protection of Eden.

Because of this we get a very old piece of theory: that Aziraphale was a Cherub who had been demoted. I’ve gone through phases with this theory but I definitely think it’s at a minimum fun to consider. And though I'm hesitant to take any Amazon promotional materials too seriously during the strike, there's a post here they've made recently that refers to Aziraphale as such.

Partially because this theory is so old and so rooted in the lexicon of my headspace for this media, I don't like this for the angel who would become Crowley particularly well. Superhuman strength feels weird in regards to him, as does situating him as a guard of Eden. And even if that line from season 2 where Crowley talks to Beelzebub about scaring that cherubs was talking about young angels and not literal cherubs, it seems like a weird phrasing for someone who was once the other kind of cherub to use. I like this better than Dominions but not nearly as much as Thrones.

Now Seraphim are a little unique. Their primary job tends to get framed as singing praise to God. They seat themselves around God's throne and sing holy, holy, holy at God. Several interpretations of them argue that they are different from angels entirely and only got grouped in with them in later texts like De Coelesti Hierarchia. They purify Isaiah in a vision he has and have strong associations with smoke and heat. They're tied to clarity and purifying via fire and occasionally are thought to help keep the world in order. Interestingly enough the word Seraph comes from saraph which means to burn and Seraphim can be translated as the fiery ones or those who kindle. Saraph is also used in certain contexts to describe a fiery flying serpent.

Now I’ll admit the Seraphim theory was always one of my favorites. If the show hadn’t recently been adding more ticks to the Archangel column I think I’d still probably be in this camp. There's the obvious bits that tie in here like the fire and snake imagery associated with both. But I can't help but to think of how often we get Crowley implying that just maybe God intended what they'd done to be the right thing. Or that scene where Crowley prays on the throne in season 1. He hangs off of it instead of sitting and begs God to not destroy them. It's an echo of a twist on what a Seraph would do in Heaven.

Now that just leaves us the Archangels. I won’t reiterate my other meta other than to link it here, but I do think the show at the very least wants us to consider this as a possibility.

In my opinion? Seraph and Archangel sit near the top of the metaphorical likelihood scale. I'd then follow this up with the Throne, then the Cherub, then the Dominion in order. But who knows! Half the fun of Good Omens is it doesn't always play by the traditional rules. And honestly there's something fun in never having an answer here. After all, no matter where he started, Crowley is Crowley now and that's the way it should be.

[talonabraxas]

Archangel Zaphkiel ♄ 'Alchemist of Life' Talon Abraxas

In the hierarchy of angels, Zaphkiel is chief of the order of thrones and one of the 9 angels that rule Heaven; also one of the 7 archangels. He can watch people when they need to make important decisions and when they need to put them into words for others. If they are unsure of the words, he will help them to make the message more clear. The leader of the Erelim, he is associated with the planet Saturn.

The Grimoire of Armadel says that Zaphkiel teaches the functions and abilities of the fallen angels while they were still in Heaven. He also can tell the magician information about the fallen angels such as their places of habitation and how they were created.

According to Johann Georg Faust, Zaphkiel appears on Saturday morning at 1am, 3am, and 8am, then again in the night at 9pm and 12pm. He is in a human form surrounded by many other spirits. Its magical image is "A man like brilliant bronze, clothed in a Robe of white linen, holding an Inkstand in his hand."

The Archangel Zaphkiel

[crank3ii]

doodle of that one winged angel guy ultrakill oc uhh...

named him Erelim bc why not ngl- i wanna develop his weapon more since this was a quick concept suishuasuh

[magnetothemagnificent]

Hello, I have a question about "biblically accurate angels" that I was hoping to hear your opinion on.

At this point it's been made clear that the entire concept of "biblically accurate angels" is antisemitic and ignorant of the actual origin and context of those specific depictions of angels, and I'm just wondering what you think would be the most respectful way for non-Jewish people to address the issue.

What I mean by that is, do you think non-Jewish people should just stop trying to depict angels in that way because there is no way to do so respectfully, and should stop even trying to talk about "biblically accurate angels" at all because they just don't know what they're talking about anyway.

Or do you think that maybe if people educated themselves enough and came up with a less offensive way to refer to those depictions of angels then they could potentially engage with the concept respectfully?

I ask because my fiance is very enamored with the whole idea of "biblically accurate angels" and I'm just trying to figure out if I should tell him to completely drop it because it's antisemitic, or if I should try and find some resources for him to actually learn about how those depictions of angels fit into Jewish beliefs. He watched a video about "biblically accurate angels" made by W*ndigoon one time and I just worry that it's given him an incredibly skewed and innacurate understanding of the subject.

Considering that the Christian tradition of angels does include descriptions similar to those in Ezekiel, I don't think there's anything wrong with depicting angels in this way if you're not Jewish. My issue is with the "fandomization" of angels and the term "Biblically Accurate Angels". I wish people would stop treating them like Eldritch horror monsters, because they're beings people actually believe in. They're not cryptids, they're sacred. If you're going to talk about them, I'd rather the term "Ezekelian Angels" be used, or "Non-humanoid". And yeah from the little I know about W*******on, and of course their highly inappropriate channel name, they're not exactly the best source to get respectful, accurate information about other cultures and belief systems.

If your partner is interested in the theology of angels and their different interpretations, then he should look to Jewish sources on angels and the actual history of them and their depictions. If your partner can learn to not treat angels like cryptids or fantasy monsters, and can learn to treat those who believe in them respectfully, as well as be well-versed in the actual source material, then there's nothing wrong with him being interested in them.

However, if he's not Jewish, he shouldn't be learning about the angelic hierchy and their spiritual attributes in depth, the Mercava, or the Sefirot, as those are deeply embedded in Kabbalah, which is absolutely off-limits to non-Jews and requires a high level of learnedness, even if you're Jewish.

Some basic articles below about angels in Judaism:

Best of luck with your partner!

[denofimagination-blog]

Erelim Bodyguards, personal bodyguard of Astorath.

We are a miniature painting studio. If you need painting, converting, sculpting, assembling, LED lights - literally anything regarding the hobby, don’t hesitate - simply contact us via service@denofimagination.com

[mahpusluk]

Çıkalım meydan yerine Erelim Ali sırrına Can-ü başı Hak yoluna Koyamazsın demedim mi Demedim mi demedim mi Gönül sana söylemedim mi Can-ü başı Hak yoluna Koyamazsın demedim mi? Tutki Ali'den miras kaldı zülfikar, Sende Ali'nin yüreği yoksa neye yarar zülfikar.

[studentofetherium]

Magical girl OC designs

so to start these are all rkgk because i was committed to using one maker for all of these (this one) so it lacked some things i wanted to do but these are all mostly on point for what i intended

first of all, Yui Yamamoto aka Cherubim Pink. she's fine and everything is fine

Arisa Saijou aka Erelim Blue who has the most simple design of the group unintentionally (ideally art of her would also feature her wheelchair in some capacity, but it's what it's)

Junna Nakajima aka Hashmallim Yellow. if there was an option for smoking she would be smoking

Eru Ihaventcomeupwithalastnameyet aka Ophanim Purple. btw she's like 4'8"

Yuu Haruno aka Seraphim Red. the token boy

and finally, Hikari and Midori Katsuragi, aka Hayyot Green. the plural ones

[andromedaexists]

so instead of working this morning like i should be i've been doing research into angels and angelic beings from scripture...

gotta say tho, thank god i have amazing Jewish friends to guide me through my research because holy shit is it hard to find anything. like, you look up angels in the Tanakh and that's just too broad of a search, the Tanakh covers too much. But then, I am not educated enough (yet) to know specifically where within the Tanakh to look for angels and their depictions, and if you aren't careful you start to get articles about "Biblically Accurate Angels" (which I have a whole ass thing against)

then, Then, I have to be careful about where I do get my sources because a lot of talk about angels in the Jewish sphere is within closed mystical practices and I would never want to encroach where I am not welcome as a goy

I think i've figured out at least a few scripture locations for angel depictions (Ezekiel has Ophanim, Seraphim, Cherubim, Chayot, and I think Erelim; Daniel has Ishim; 1 Kings has Cherubim) but I still have quite a few to go (Chashmalim, Malachim, Elohim, and B’Nei Elohim)

I guess all this to say: I am desperately trying to stay in my lane while conducting this research, but if you see me accidentally step over a line please tell me. I am really just trying my darndest and I love to study, but sometimes the hunger for knowledge makes you blind to where you need to stop

[oluncesevemezsen]

Ben yaralıyım bey,senin aksine gönlüm hep seni aradı.Ya sabır demem için bir adamsın işte gel erelim kerevetine ne olursun!..

[rufousnoctuary]

icons

[soulsxng]

Hierarchy of Angels in Heaven

Forgot to post this the other day, so I'm gonna do that before it happens again--

The different titles in each "tier" are considered equals. The biggest difference is essentially just what job/duties they're usually asked to oversee. For example, Ophanim/Galgalim are typically better suited to leadership roles dealing with administration/ambassador (out of realm) type tasks, while Thrones are typically better suited to leadership roles dealing with more guardian/organization (in realm) type tasks. Both are considered titles that denote a higher leadership role, they just focus on different things.

Ruling tier (Sometimes called the Elohim when referred to as a group):

Hariphim

Seraphim

Archangels

"Highest" tier (Sometimes called the Erelim when referred to as a group):

Ophanim/Galgalim

Thrones

"Middle" tier (Sometimes called the Hashmalim when referred to as a group):

Virtues

Dominions

Cherubim

"Lowest" tier (Sometimes called the Malakim when referred to as a group):

Powers

Principalities

"Guardian" Angels