ARCHANGELS
Beyond
the angels are the beings we are used to calling the archangels,they
tend the larger arenas of human endeavor. These beings are
from a different family from the angels. There are many different
kinds of archangels in this larger family. The four we are
most familiar with are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel.
MICHAEL (Archangel):
Michael
is surely the best known of the archangels. Michael is acknowledged
by all three Western sacred traditions. He is believed to
appeared to Moses as the fire in the burning bush, and to
have rescued Daniel and his friends from the lions' den.
To
Christians, he's the angel who informed Mary of her approaching
death.
Islamic
lore tells us that his wings are the color of 'green emerald
and are covered with saffron hairs, each of them containing
a million faces and mouths and as many tongues which, in a
million dialects, implore the pardon of Allah.'
In
the Dead Sea Scrolls Michael emerges as the 'Prince of Light'
fighting a war against the Sons of Darkness in which he leads
the angelic battle against the legion of the fallen angel,
Belial.
Michael
is the protector of the Christian Church, guardian angel of
Israel, and commander-in-chief of God's angel armies. He led
them during a war in heaven in which Satan and his fallen
angels were driven out of the clouds.
Even
though he lives in the seventh heaven. Christian art and iconography
shows Michael with a sword or with a scale weighing the souls
of the dead.
GABRIEL (Archangel):
Gabriel
seems to be our most frequent visitor from the higher realms.
He astonished Mary, and her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John
the Baptist, with the pronouncements concerning the births
of their respective sons.
To
the followers of Islam, Gabriel is the Spirit of Truth who
dictated the Koran to Mohammed.
In
Jewish legend it was Gabriel who parted the waters of the
Red Sea so that the Hebrews could escape from the Pharaoh's
soldiers.
According
to court testimony of the time, it was Gabriel who came to
Joan of Arc and inspired her to go to the aid of the dauphin
(the eldest son of the king of France).
Gabriel's
apparent ongoing interest in this planet is most probably
due to his function as heavenly awakener, the angel of vibratory
transformation.
Gabriel in Hebrew means 'man of God', and is seen as God's
messenger.
Described
as a human figure with long hair and multi-colored wings and
often seen holding a scepter or lily.
RAPHAEL
(Archangel):
Raphael
is perhaps the most endearing of all the angels, and the one
most frequently depicted in Western art. His image is featured
on the canvases of such masters as Botticelli, Titian, and
Rembrandt. He appears to be the high archangel charged with
healing the Earth. Raphael is the travelers guide, guardian
of youth. The ruler of the second heaven shows up in Christian
paintings carrying a pilgrim's stick, a wallet and a fish.
The poet Milton has Raphael eating supper with Adam and Eve
in Eden.
Raphael's career seems to be peppered with medical missions.
He healed the pain of circumcision for Abraham as the old
man had not had the procedure done when he was young.
Raphael
was then sent by God to cure poor Jacob's thigh after he'd
bee n roughed up by Samael. And it's also claimed that Raphael
gave Noah a much-prized 'medical book' after the flood. There's
a legend that when Solomon prayed to God for aid in building
the great temple in Jerusalem, Raphael personally delivered
the gift of a magic ring with the power to subdue all demons.
It was with this 'slave labor' that the Hebrew king completed
the construction. Raphael has also been called 'a guide in
hell,' which after all is where healing is needed the most.
URIEL (Archangel):
Uriel
is ranked variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the Sun,
flame of God, presider over Hades and, in his best-known role,
as the Archangel of Salvation.
Like
Metatron, Uriel is said to be one of the angels of the Presence,
a most high posting since only the highest voltage angels
can sustain the presence of God. Uriel is thought to have
been
"the spirit who stood at the gate of the lost Eden with the
fiery sword."
The
Book of Enoch tells us that it was Uriel who was sent by God
to warn Noah of the impending flood, and elsewhere it is written
that he disclosed the mysteries of the heavenly arcana to
Ezra, and that he also led Abraham out of Ur in the Chaldean
region.
Some
have claimed that the divine art of alchemy was brought down
to Earth by Uriel, and that it was also this angel who gave
the Kabbalah, the Hebrew mystic tradition, to humankind.
More
articles on Angels
(Angels
& Angelic Guidance)
(What
are Angels)
(Angel
Protection & Cleansing)
(Angels - origin,nature
and purpose)
(Angels & The
Angelic Realm)
Don't Forget The Angels
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