מלאך אלהים
Fat little cherubim [sic] and nonsensical names with -el appended to them have always made me suspicious of angelology.
For some forgotten reason, I decided to learn about the Jewish understanding of angels and so, early this year, I read David Cooper's Invoking Angels.
Since I occasionally come across angel names that are obviously invented, and other times must resort to the painstaking process of referring to a Hebrew dictionary, my primary interest in reading this book was to learn which angels really derive from Jewish, holy texts.
Now I do have a list that includes some "real" angels.
Angels:
Zagzagael - to polish or make transparent; making something transparent so that God can be seen; the angel of the burning bush
Dubiel - angel of the Persians
Gezardiya - angel of everything in the eastern direction
Pesagniyah - angel of everything in the southern direction
Petahyah - angel of everything in the northern direction
Zebuliel - angel of everything in the western direction
Kafziel & Hizkiel - chief angels under Gabriel
Zophiel & Zadkiel - chief angels under Michael
Yahoel/Metatron/Enoch/Sar HaPanim - the breath of God; aka Sar HaPanim, the prince of the presence; aka Metatron from either the Greek meta-thronos, one who serves behind the throne, or from metator, meaning guide; temporarily took the form of a human named Enoch (who kept the Book of Adam and Moses' staff) and then ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire pulled by horses of flame as described in the Book of Enoch
Sandalphon (Elijah) - from root of the word for 'face' (pon/panim) and means 'stillborn embryo not yet distinguishable, implying matter in the process of becoming a recognizable face; rules legions of angels and the highest (7th) level of the heavens; Sandalphon weaves all prayers into a crown for God (Metatron handles the response to prayers); the primary intermediary between heaven and earth, between emptiness and form, between source and creation; the medium through which prayer is communicated from below to above; took human form as Eliyahu (Elijah) and also left the human realm in a fiery chariot; Elijah often reappears and will continue until human consciousness is transformed into messianic consciousness; peacemaker; fighter for justice; often portrayed as a beggar in rags
Michael - [he mentions Michael's name with the other three archangels, but tells us little more]
Gavriel - man of God, or courage/strength of God; left hand of God-- justice and punishment; destroyed Sdom and Amarah; in charge of the moon where dwell souls not yet bound to physical bodies; assistant [?] to the Angel of Death
Uriel - light of God; messenger to Noah; may be the same as Raziel; rules all heavenly luminaries; primary guide through darkest places; carries light of mercy and truth; stands in front of the throne of God
Raphael - dedicated to healing humans, the earth, all the earth's creatures; defended God's decision to create humans; friendliest and most accomodating intermediary between humans and the multitude of angels in various realms
the Shechinah - the Presence of God [glance through a book at the library recently-- author may have been Kugel-- that proposed that biblical meetings with malachim were actually understood as encounters with God]; Matrona, great mother of all realms
Nuriel - carries a different light than Uriel; Nuriel's light represents the harsh severity of justice and payment in kind for one's deeds
Although I did learn a few other things from the book, it was mostly Judaism-lite, so to speak. There are only ten biblical references in the book and I can think of several that weren't mentioned-- and I'm not particularly literate. I'm also aware that the Mishnah and Talmud discuss angels, but he barely references those texts. What about later texts?
Notes:
p. 5 "...The archangel prayer [I assume he means the bedtime sh'ma] is one of the most powerful ways to cultivate a kind of intimacy with the angelic realm."
p. 11 Angels seldom argue with God and "even the 'fallen angels...' still need God's permission to act."
p. 17 Types of angels - messengers, ministers, accusers, guardians, archangels, teachers, assistants...
There are angels for everything in the universe, short-lived angels and eternal angels such as the Ofanim, Seraphim, Hayyot (e.g. Michael, Gavriel, Raphael, Uriel)
Additional, eternal, heavenly figures - Metatron, Sandalphon, Elijah [later in the book Elijah and Sandalphon are conflated]
p. 18 Every person has a guarding angel and an angel of destiny [it wasn't clear if they are one and the same]
One's guardian angel speaks to one's soul during sleep
p. 19 "Every movement of the universe is an utterance of God and is accompanied by a new angel"
"Everything we see or experience is actually an angel covering or containing a divine spark within it... everything we engage in is actually an expression of God."
Angels act only as intermediaries or messengers of God
p. 20 Enoch and Elijah became angels
p. 21 The yetzer hatov and yetzer hara (good and bad inclinations) are angels.
If we take a good action, the yetzer hatov gains strength.
"When we pay attention to small details... the dozens and dozens of possibilities to empower the harmonies of the yetzer hatov, we find our lives moving with greater ease and less complication... we find ourselves more in balance with life." [I find this naive and simplistic; it takes months to get a body in shape and it must take at least as much time and effort to get the sould "in shape."]
p. 22-23 "It is never too late to begin nurturing the good inclination... one notices very quickly the results of intentional activities to raise consciousness... the yetzer hatov becomes a 'happy' angel... the not-good angel does not want to succeed, it wants to be won over by good deeds." [On the other hand, I rather like this naive assumption that the universe wants what's best for us.]
p. 23 Demonic forces are subservient to forces of good and can be made into allies.
At the heart of everything there is a spark of the Divine.
Gabriel is the leader of the yetzer hatov angels.
Samael is the leader of the yetzer hara angels; he was also the Serpent in Eden, the father of Cain [?!], and the tempter of Abraham.
p. 24 "The inner experience of our own tendencies reveals the inclinations of our own personal angels." [Thank goodness! That means I can blame my flaws on my guardian angel. Pah-leeease!]
p. 37 The Essenes were Jewish mystics and had an elaborate systems of guardian angels represented as heavenly princes.
p. 67 "Deuteronomy refers to God as The Name" (HaShem) [Deuteronomy? Really! Unfortunately, he doesn't provde a citation]
The book has a CD of guided meditations. It could have been very useful if it had been done well. The first meditation includes instructions for guided meditation which should have been a separate track. Furthermore those instruction are many times longer than the actual meditation. Needless to say, I'll never listen to track one again.
During the second meditation, Rabbi Cooper interrupts the meditation many times to say that you might not be able to do the meditation because of this or that problem-- which took me out of the meditation that I wasn't having any trouble with before his interruptions.
Eventually, I'll listen to the third and fourth meditations, but I'm not in any hurry.
* * * *
Biblical References:
Gen 18:24-32
Gen 22:11-12
Gen 24:40
Gen 28:12-16
Gen 31:11-13
Gen 32:2
Gen 32:26
Deuteronomy (somewhere in that book)
1 Kings 17
Mal 3:23
Psalm 91:11-12
You can find an online translation of the Hebrew Bible here.
~
For some forgotten reason, I decided to learn about the Jewish understanding of angels and so, early this year, I read David Cooper's Invoking Angels.
Since I occasionally come across angel names that are obviously invented, and other times must resort to the painstaking process of referring to a Hebrew dictionary, my primary interest in reading this book was to learn which angels really derive from Jewish, holy texts.
Now I do have a list that includes some "real" angels.
Angels:
Zagzagael - to polish or make transparent; making something transparent so that God can be seen; the angel of the burning bush
Dubiel - angel of the Persians
Gezardiya - angel of everything in the eastern direction
Pesagniyah - angel of everything in the southern direction
Petahyah - angel of everything in the northern direction
Zebuliel - angel of everything in the western direction
Kafziel & Hizkiel - chief angels under Gabriel
Zophiel & Zadkiel - chief angels under Michael
Yahoel/Metatron/Enoch/Sar HaPanim - the breath of God; aka Sar HaPanim, the prince of the presence; aka Metatron from either the Greek meta-thronos, one who serves behind the throne, or from metator, meaning guide; temporarily took the form of a human named Enoch (who kept the Book of Adam and Moses' staff) and then ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire pulled by horses of flame as described in the Book of Enoch
Sandalphon (Elijah) - from root of the word for 'face' (pon/panim) and means 'stillborn embryo not yet distinguishable, implying matter in the process of becoming a recognizable face; rules legions of angels and the highest (7th) level of the heavens; Sandalphon weaves all prayers into a crown for God (Metatron handles the response to prayers); the primary intermediary between heaven and earth, between emptiness and form, between source and creation; the medium through which prayer is communicated from below to above; took human form as Eliyahu (Elijah) and also left the human realm in a fiery chariot; Elijah often reappears and will continue until human consciousness is transformed into messianic consciousness; peacemaker; fighter for justice; often portrayed as a beggar in rags
Michael - [he mentions Michael's name with the other three archangels, but tells us little more]
Gavriel - man of God, or courage/strength of God; left hand of God-- justice and punishment; destroyed Sdom and Amarah; in charge of the moon where dwell souls not yet bound to physical bodies; assistant [?] to the Angel of Death
Uriel - light of God; messenger to Noah; may be the same as Raziel; rules all heavenly luminaries; primary guide through darkest places; carries light of mercy and truth; stands in front of the throne of God
Raphael - dedicated to healing humans, the earth, all the earth's creatures; defended God's decision to create humans; friendliest and most accomodating intermediary between humans and the multitude of angels in various realms
the Shechinah - the Presence of God [glance through a book at the library recently-- author may have been Kugel-- that proposed that biblical meetings with malachim were actually understood as encounters with God]; Matrona, great mother of all realms
Nuriel - carries a different light than Uriel; Nuriel's light represents the harsh severity of justice and payment in kind for one's deeds
Although I did learn a few other things from the book, it was mostly Judaism-lite, so to speak. There are only ten biblical references in the book and I can think of several that weren't mentioned-- and I'm not particularly literate. I'm also aware that the Mishnah and Talmud discuss angels, but he barely references those texts. What about later texts?
Notes:
p. 5 "...The archangel prayer [I assume he means the bedtime sh'ma] is one of the most powerful ways to cultivate a kind of intimacy with the angelic realm."
p. 11 Angels seldom argue with God and "even the 'fallen angels...' still need God's permission to act."
p. 17 Types of angels - messengers, ministers, accusers, guardians, archangels, teachers, assistants...
There are angels for everything in the universe, short-lived angels and eternal angels such as the Ofanim, Seraphim, Hayyot (e.g. Michael, Gavriel, Raphael, Uriel)
Additional, eternal, heavenly figures - Metatron, Sandalphon, Elijah [later in the book Elijah and Sandalphon are conflated]
p. 18 Every person has a guarding angel and an angel of destiny [it wasn't clear if they are one and the same]
One's guardian angel speaks to one's soul during sleep
p. 19 "Every movement of the universe is an utterance of God and is accompanied by a new angel"
"Everything we see or experience is actually an angel covering or containing a divine spark within it... everything we engage in is actually an expression of God."
Angels act only as intermediaries or messengers of God
p. 20 Enoch and Elijah became angels
p. 21 The yetzer hatov and yetzer hara (good and bad inclinations) are angels.
If we take a good action, the yetzer hatov gains strength.
"When we pay attention to small details... the dozens and dozens of possibilities to empower the harmonies of the yetzer hatov, we find our lives moving with greater ease and less complication... we find ourselves more in balance with life." [I find this naive and simplistic; it takes months to get a body in shape and it must take at least as much time and effort to get the sould "in shape."]
p. 22-23 "It is never too late to begin nurturing the good inclination... one notices very quickly the results of intentional activities to raise consciousness... the yetzer hatov becomes a 'happy' angel... the not-good angel does not want to succeed, it wants to be won over by good deeds." [On the other hand, I rather like this naive assumption that the universe wants what's best for us.]
p. 23 Demonic forces are subservient to forces of good and can be made into allies.
At the heart of everything there is a spark of the Divine.
Gabriel is the leader of the yetzer hatov angels.
Samael is the leader of the yetzer hara angels; he was also the Serpent in Eden, the father of Cain [?!], and the tempter of Abraham.
p. 24 "The inner experience of our own tendencies reveals the inclinations of our own personal angels." [Thank goodness! That means I can blame my flaws on my guardian angel. Pah-leeease!]
p. 37 The Essenes were Jewish mystics and had an elaborate systems of guardian angels represented as heavenly princes.
p. 67 "Deuteronomy refers to God as The Name" (HaShem) [Deuteronomy? Really! Unfortunately, he doesn't provde a citation]
The book has a CD of guided meditations. It could have been very useful if it had been done well. The first meditation includes instructions for guided meditation which should have been a separate track. Furthermore those instruction are many times longer than the actual meditation. Needless to say, I'll never listen to track one again.
During the second meditation, Rabbi Cooper interrupts the meditation many times to say that you might not be able to do the meditation because of this or that problem-- which took me out of the meditation that I wasn't having any trouble with before his interruptions.
Eventually, I'll listen to the third and fourth meditations, but I'm not in any hurry.
* * * *
Biblical References:
Gen 18:24-32
Gen 22:11-12
Gen 24:40
Gen 28:12-16
Gen 31:11-13
Gen 32:2
Gen 32:26
Deuteronomy (somewhere in that book)
1 Kings 17
Mal 3:23
Psalm 91:11-12
You can find an online translation of the Hebrew Bible here.
~