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FACE, ANGELS OF
THE-Also at times known as the angels of the presence, a
group of revered angels who appear in the rabbinic lore of the
Jews. Their exact number is unclear, but there were probably around
twelve of them. They are so honored because they enjoy the
incomparable honor of beholding the very face of God, residing ever
in the divine presence. They thus share in the beholding of the
so-called beatific vision. Among the angels of the face are
Michael, Uriel, Zagzagel, and the powerful Metatron.
-The collective name given to those angels who, for whatever
reason, chose to rebel against God and so "fall" from the ranks of
the heavenly host. The fallen angels have been called devils,
unclean spirits, demons, and denizens of the hoary underworld.
declared to reside in Gehenna, hell, the abyss, or the bottopless
pit. They are profound-some say unredeemable-enemies of the Lord
and all of his Creation, especially humanity. They struggle against
all that is holy, sacred, and good, seeking ever to corrupt the
innocent, destroy the beauty of the cosmos, plunge the universe
into chaos, and snuff out the perfect and unapproachable light of
God's love. One of the most common stories of how these angels fell
is that God informed the angels that he intended to create humanity
and that the angels should bow down before this new species. Some
of the angels would not do this, mainly Satan. His pride would not
permit his submissions or his apology to God. Joined by the other
angels , in some accounts to number nearly one-third of the entire
heavenly army, Satan launched a war against God. Losing this war he
was driven from heaven by Michael and the angels of light.
Following is a list of some of the fallen angels. They are, for the
most part, once belonged to the angelic choir:
Abigor-(grand duke of hell)
Adramelech-(president of the high council of demons)
Ahriman-(Persian devil)
Alastor-(the executioner)
Alocer-(commands thirty-six legions of demons)
Amducias-(grand duke of hell)
Amy-(demon hoping to return to heaven)
Antichrist-(the great enemy of humanity)
Ashtoreth-(appeared at Loudun in the seventeenth
century)
Asmodeus-(demon of lust and anger)
Azazel-(standard-bearer of hell)
Baalberith-(secretary of hell)
Balan-(a king of hell)
Baphomet-(bearded demon; supposedly worshipped by the
Knights Templar)
Beelzebub-(prince of hell)
Belphegor-(tempter)
Cagrino-(Gypsy demon)
Dagon-(Phoenician demon)
Devil-(the evil one)
Friar Rush-(a bartender in hell and tempter of monks)
Furfur-(count in hell)
Incubus-(seducer of women)
Keteb-(the noonday demon)
Leviathan-(a sea demon)
Lilith-(Adam's first wife and a fearsome demoness)
Lucifer-(the fallen light-bearer)
Malphas-(grand president of hell)
Mammon-(master of avarice)
Mephistopheles-(the tempter of Faust)
Nebiros-(fiels marshal of hell)
Old Scratch-(a form of the devil)
Rabdos-(the strangler)
Satan-(the great fallen angel)
Succubus-(seducer of men
Zaebos-(grand count of hell)
FEMALE ANGELS-Those angels who are held or honored
as females. While most scholars and theologians are of the view
that angels do not posess a specific gender owing to the fact that
they are entirely spiritual beings, there is a custop in some
cultures of naming some angels to be females. In Islamic lore,
female angels are called daughters of God, because of their
nearness to God and because they represent the female aspect of
Creation.
FIRE, ANGEL OF-An angel who has been given a number
of identifications and has been the source of inspiration both in
art and music.
FLAMES-A choir or order of angels that appears in a
certain aspect of Jewish lore. An angelic choir by the name of
flames is not normally counted among the traditionally accepted
orders of angels. They can perhaps be equated with one of the
recognized choirs of angels.
FOOD-The nourishment taken by angels. Although
entirely spiritual beings, angels have been the source of much
speculation by theologians and scholars as to what they might eat.
There has been nearly unanimous agreement among saints and experts,
based upon passages in the Bible, that angel food is the famous
sustenance from heaven. Manna. Manna is described in the Book of
Exodus.
FORCES-An angelic choir or order first identified by
the Greek theologian and doctor of the Church St. John of Damascus
(d.c.754). According to the saint, the forces are to be identified
with the choirs of powers and virtues and are only one of a variety
of alternative angelic choirs proposed over the centuries.
FOUR ANGELS-The name given to the four otherwise
nameless angels who appear in the Book of Revelation. These angels
are not to be confused with the angels of the four winds. Another
important group is that of the gathered four archangels, the four
leading figures of their choir and some of the most important
angelic princes both in angelology and in the grand scheme of
heaven.
FOUR WINDS, ANGELS OF THE-The name given to those
angels who guard over the four winds of the earth. The four are:
Raphael-(the west)
Gabriel-((the north)
Michael-(the east)
Uriel-(south, with the aid of Raphael).
FURNACE, ANGELS OF THE-The otherwise unnamed angel
who was sent to the aid of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who
were thrown into the furnace by the Babylonian king. This event is
recorded in the Old Testament Book of Daniel (3). While not named
in the Bible-and disappearing before any identification could be
made-the angel of the furnace has been called Emmanuel ("God is
with us") in Jewish lore.
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