Angel

An angel is any immortal spiritual being who loyally serves Yahweh. Angels are completely and wholly devoted to carrying out the will of Yahweh, although they achieve this in different ways depending on their dedicated duties. They have a rigid and complex hierarchy divided by order, power, and closeness to Yahweh.

While all angels share the universal goals of obeying Yahweh, convincing more humans to worship Yahweh, and maintaining the existing influence Yahweh already holds over humanity, they take different approaches to achieve these things. The different roles of angels complement each other to produce a relatively efficient system of control and surveillance that sells the illusion of Yahweh's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.

Groups

There are several different orders of angels. Each order has its own distinct attributes and range of duties in the service of Yahweh, and all angels in a specific order share certain traits. Angels in the same order generally have a similar visual appearance and role, although specific angels within an order may be assigned to various duties within the general role domain of their order. While any angel of any order may have a relatively high or low degree of power, some orders are on average more powerful than others, and some orders contain more angels than others do.

The orders can be divided into three groups: attendant, intermediary, and delegate. Each group is defined by the interactions involved in its duties. Banishment methods are not required for attendant angels, and usually not for intermediary angels either, since interactions with humans are very rare. On the occasions that these angels have been reliably reported to interact with humans, they have nearly always approached servants of Yahweh, not those who reject him. Delegate angels do interact with humans, and Satano-Grigorist banishment methods have been developed for them.

Attendant angels

The attendant orders are the seraphim, the cherubim, and the ophanim. These angels always, or nearly always, remain in the direct company of Yahweh. They very rarely, if ever, interact with humans. Contact with other angels who are not of attendant orders is also rare, except for archangels, since they speak directly with Yahweh and encounter his attendants when doing so. Their roles generally involve praising Yahweh or guarding his spiritual space.

Intermediary angels

The intermediary orders are the the archai and the kyriotetes. Angels of intermediary orders very rarely interact with humans, but they also do not remain in the presence of Yahweh. They mainly interact with other angels and possibly other spirits. Their roles involve surveillance, management, and delegation of tasks to delegate orders.

Delegate angels

The delegate orders are the erelim, the hashmallim, the ishim (dynames), the memitim, and the malakhim. Angels of the delegate orders primarily serve to interact with humans or the material world in some way, and most of their interactions are with the angels who manage them or with humans. These are the angels who have the most influence on humans' lives, beliefs, and feelings, even though they are not as well known as the attendant orders.

Orders

All the orders of angels are profiled below.

Seraphim

Main article: Seraphim

The seraphim (singular: saraph) are an order of attendant angels whose main purpose is to worship Yahweh. They are tall, slender, roughly human-shaped, and have bright white skin that has an unnaturally smooth appearance unlike that of human skin. Their eyes are always open, completely white, and usually glowing. They have six white wings arranged into three pairs, of which the middle pair is the largest. They have no hair and appear visually sexless, with no indication of humanlike sexual characteristics. To show their humility and submission, they assume a certain pose, called the concealment pose, whenever they face Yahweh: the top pair of wings is brought around and crossed to cover the saraph's face, the middle pair is used for flight or folded if they are levitating, and the lower pair is brought around and crossed to cover the saraph's feet.

Seraphim almost never interact with humans or spiritual beings other than Yahweh and other attendant angels. They surround and accompany Yahweh, chanting “holy, holy, holy is Yahweh” or other obsequious praises. While their main function is simply to worship Yahweh, they do possess a significant amount of naphsha, which they give to Yahweh or other angels as needed to carry out Yahweh's will. They are some of the least independent and individualized angels, and they often lack a proper sense of self; they have trained themselves to function as a sort of hivemind solely dedicated to the worship of Yahweh. Many seraphim are probably nameless, and individuals are usually indistinguishable from each other — their appearances, behavior, and functions are nearly identical.

Cherubim

Main article: Cherubim

The cherubim (singular: cherub) are an order of attendant angels whose main purpose is to guard Yahweh and his immediate spiritual space. They all appear as chimeric creatures with parts from a mixture of different animals, but their appearances are more variable than those of most other orders. Most cherubim have four arms, two legs, and four heads or faces, though they may have four legs, 2-5 heads or faces, or, less commonly, varying numbers of other body parts. Their four heads or faces are most commonly as follows: one of a man, one of a bull, one of a lion, and one of an eagle. Feathered wings colored from yellow to golden-brown are usually attached to their arms in a manner like those of gliding dinosaurs or the Egyptian goddess Isis, a phenomenon that is unique among angelic forms. The arms themselves are humanlike but covered in fine feathers. They may have one pair of arm-wings and one pair of normal wings, and they may have wingless arms as well, but their hands are usually humanlike and unfeathered. Their legs are humanlike, but usually end in hooves rather than feet; less common variants end in talons or paws instead.

Cherubim, like seraphim, almost never interact with humans or spiritual beings other than Yahweh and other attendant angels. Their complete duties are not entirely known, but they are known to act as guards of some sort, perhaps maintaining a defensive field of naphsha to protect Yahweh and his attendants from attacks. They do not act as guardian angels for humans or answer to human prayers for protection. They also provide praises to Yahweh, but this is not their primary function.

Ophanim

Main article: Ophanim

The ophanim (singular: ophan) are an order of attendant angels whose main purpose is not completely known, but appears to be related to praising Yahweh and supporting the seraphim in their duties. In apocrypha and Jewish folklore, they are said to act as the wheels of Yahweh's chariot or wheeled throne, though this is likely metaphorical. Ophanim are known for their strange, otherworldly appearance; the pop-culture trope of "biblically accurate angels" is mostly based on them. Their bodies are made up of several spinning concentric rings that rotate such that they would have a roughly spherical shape if they were wrapped tightly in a fabric sheet, but they can align these rings to become a flat disk of concentric rings. They appear to be made of a ceramic-like material or, less commonly, a metallic one. Eyes are inset in a single-file line around the entire outside of each ring. These angels may vary in size and eye color, and the eyes can share one color or have different colors. The number of rings can also vary: it is most often two, three, or four, but an upper limit is not known, and ophanim with only a single ring can also exist. They can be fully gold, fully white, or, more commonly, have various color patterns consisting of both gold and white, such as white with gold accents. Some ophanim additionally have a single giant eye floating in their center. Some Yahwist art symbolically depicts ophanim in humanoid form; it is not known if they can actually appear this way. Some have reported that ophanim can have wings. This has not been observed during the Grigorist Temple of Satanael's studies of angels, but it is possible that some do have wings.

It is said in some Jewish prayers that these angels face the seraphim as they praise Yahweh, although it is unclear how one could determine an ophan is facing in a certain direction, due to their radial symmetry. Some Satano-Grigorists have theorized that it may have to do with the gaze direction of their open eyes, or of the central eye of ophanim who have one.

Archai

Main article: Archai

The archai (singular: arché) are an order of intermediary angels whose main purpose is surveillance. They appear human-shaped with anywhere between one and five pairs of white wings. Their skin is white and covered in fine white feathers. They can have eyes all over their bodies, though the body parts on which these eyes occur may vary, and they are not always evenly distributed across the body. Their faces may have one, two, or more eyes.

Archai are highly perceptive and observant. They are used to monitor places and organizations, report significant events to Yahweh through his archangels, and order delegate angels to perform certain tasks as needed to maintain the cult of Yahweh. Higher-ranking archai may report directly to Yahweh, but they do not linger in his presence — they only deliver messages and take orders. An arché can be given a static assignment long-term. For example, one may be assigned to a prominent church; it would manage the church's delegate angel presence, monitor its level of productivity in relation to Yahweh's goals, and detect disruption, discontent, changes in naphsha, or the presence of other spirits. Archai are relatively scarce compared to the abundance of orders such as the malakhim and memitim.

Kyriotetes

Main article: Kyriotetes

The kyriotetes (singular: kyriotetos) are an order of intermediary angels whose main known purpose is to serve as mid-level managers of other angels, although they may also have other duties not yet known to the Temple. They appear similar to human males, but with four feathered wings, whose color may be white, yellowish, or dappled brown shades similar to those of many birds. They often hold a golden scepter in their right hand.

Kyriotetes have long been known in Satano-Grigorist angelology as managers of other angels, there are still significant gaps in knowledge regarding what exactly they do and what contexts they are employed in. Further investigation is necessary to uncover more about their roles and nature.

Erelim

Main article: Erelim

The erelim (singular: erel) are an order of delegate angels whose main purpose is to fight for conquest on behalf of Yahweh. They appear as strong and relatively masculine human males with a pair of large, broad wings, much larger than those of malakhim, which may be white or any color other than black. They are usually armored and bear weapons such as swords or spears.

Erelim view themselves as honorable holy paladins, knights who conquer souls and slay dissenters for their lord. Because of this paladin complex, they are not deterred by threats, but they are vulnerable to being mocked and seen as insignificant. They seek glory, even though they ultimately give all praise and credit to Yahweh. Some of the best-known archangels, such as Michael, are erelim; they are very popular with Yahwists for protection from "evil" and for spiritual warfare. The army of incarnated angels that was sent to exterminate the nephilim and allied mutūma after the Great Flood (which resulted in the Brazen War) was mostly composed of erelim.

Hashmallim

Main article: Hashmallim

The hashmallim (singular: hashmal) are an order of delegate angels. Their purpose remains poorly understood. They are known to be sent by Yahweh to guide or shepherd his people, especially during major events, and they have also been known to attach to individual Satanists or occultists and stealthily wear down their mood, confuse their mind, and stagnate their spiritual growth. They have at least two possible forms. One form is of a strange creature comparable to amber or made of amber in some way, although the details are unclear; this form is very rarely seen. They make efforts to avoid showing their amber form to anyone other than Yahweh or possibly other important figures. The other form, which they are much more commonly seen in, is of an elemental spirit: a cloud, mass, or whirling pillar of flame, smoke, water, ice, steam, or rarely shadow. This mass may be amorphous, or it may take a form resembling an extreme weather formation like a hurricane or tornado, or it may take other shapes. The fire type is the variety of hashmal most commonly observed by Satano-Grigorists. It is not known if they are able to change their "element."

Ishim

Main article: Ishim

The ishim (singular: ish) or dynames (singular: dynamis) are an order of delegate angels whose main purposes are to grant requests made by Yahwists through prayer, perform miracles, and absorb and transfer naphsha. They have two forms. In their first form, they appear as human males with a pair of white wings and glowing white eyes like those of seraphim. In their second form, they appear just like ordinary human males. In this wingless human form, they sometimes, but not always, have six fingers.

Ishim are adept handlers of naphsha, which is why they are used to answer prayers, influence things, and demonstrate feats of divine power. They also serve to collect naphsha offered up by Yahweh's worshippers and distribute it as needed — the sharing of naphsha between angels and Yahweh is vital to keep the system functioning. They have been used as messengers to speak to Yahweh's prophets and saints as well. They comprised some of the angels sent to incarnate on earth after the Great Flood, and those who were sent participated in the Brazen War. The popular archangels who are not erelim are mostly ishim: Gabriel and Raphael are examples.

It was once thought that ishim and dynames were two separate angelic orders, and this is reflected by older Satano-Grigorist resources on the topic. However, after further research, the Temple determined that they are the same order.

Memitim

Main article: Memitim

The memitim (singular: memit) are an order of delegate angels with a range of duties involving punishment, temptation, torment, destruction, deception, and death. They are shapeshifters and can appear in any form, a rare trait that they incidentally share with Satanael, although he has no relation to them. It is not known whether they have specific forms they favor more when they are in a "resting" state (not actively performing a task or mission), but the memit archangel Samael is known to frequently appear as a twelve-winged humanoid angel with a sword.

Memitim induce negative feelings in humans, such as fear, misery, hopelessness, and irrational disgust toward their faith (if it is not Yahwist). They provide negative reinforcement as a complement to the positive reinforcement provided by malakhim. They target Yahwists as well as Satanists in different ways. When memitim target Yahwists, they may pose as "demons," tormenting a Yahwist who has been doubting or losing faith; the goal is to alienate them from the "other side," isolate them, and terrify them until they flee into the arms of Yahweh for "deliverance." When the desperate victim seeks help from Yahweh and becomes more pious, the attacks stop, and they conclude that they were being attacked by demons and that Yahweh has delivered them. This very effectively increases the victim's zeal for Yahweh and their willingness to preach; miraculous deliverance stories tend to be quite convincing. Alternatively, these angels may simply target a Yahwist who is starting to doubt their faith by making them feel panic, dread, or disgust when they question Yahwism, think of other religions in a positive light, or research other religions. This method is usually paired with concurrent efforts of malakhim to induce feelings of warmth, safety, and belonging when they do Yahweh's will, praise him, or trust in him. When memitim attack non-Yahwists, they often employ similar tactics, but lean on threats more heavily. They may also impersonate their victim's own gods and declare that they have forsaken or abandoned the victim, or that the victim has transgressed and offended the god in some unforgivable way. They have even been known to impersonate deceased loved ones and emotionally manipulate the victim by claiming that hell is real, that the victim will go to hell, and that they will never see their loved one again if they do not convert to a Yahwist religion.

Biblically, memitim have been used to commit the mass murder of firstborn children, to torment Job and other prominent figures, and to possess a prophet of an enemy nation and lie through his mouth, among other uses. Some apocrypha contain further elaboration of their duties.

Memitim are numerous and are very commonly encountered by Satano-Grigorists, although the impact of their attacks decreases as their target becomes more experienced, knowledgeable, and comfortable in their Satanic faith. Memit attacks are especially common and effective against beginners and those who struggle with residue or trauma from being Yahwist in the past.

Malakhim

Main article: Malakhim

The malakhim (singular: malakh) are an order of delegate angels whose main purpose is to induce positive feelings to lure humans closer to Yahweh. They resemble slender and slightly effeminate young men, appearing about sixteen to nineteen years of age, with a pair of delicate-looking white feathered wings. They usually have blond hair and wear white clothing.

Malakhim provide positive reinforcement as a complement to the negative reinforcement provided by memitim. Malakhim with a relatively low degree of power are very abundant. They are largely responsible for the sense of warmth and belonging often felt by the attendees of Yahwist places of worship, and when Yahwists describe feeling the "love of God," they are unknowingly describing the influence of malakhim. When they work together with memitim, they draw the victim toward Yahweh while the memit causes them to flee from what they believe is an enemy of Yahweh. They are found in high numbers around churches and other places of Yahwist worship, and they sometimes target new Satanists or occultists with unwanted thoughts and feelings of positivity toward Yahweh. Most malakhim are easily banished with some training and experience.

Archangels

Most of the angels whose names are commonly known by humans are archangels, the most prominent and powerful of the angels. They may belong to any of the angelic orders. These angels are typically granted the privilege of coming before Yahweh and directly speaking to him, even when they belong to an order that does not generally report directly to Yahweh. They are responsible for informing Yahweh of significant things that lesser angels wish to convey to him and for relaying Yahweh's commands to other angels through a chain of subordinates. Usually, they relay commands to their own order, but they may also issue commands to angels of other orders at their discretion.

While some people claim to interact directly with archangels, this is in reality extremely rare, since they are so well-known and their attention is highly demanded. When invoked by humans, they usually send a subordinate to act as their proxy, and these proxy angels sometimes claim to be the archangel himself. The temporary assumption of the archangel's identity by his proxy serves several purposes, including convincing the human that they have experienced the presence of a far more powerful and memorable being than they actually have. Humans tend to be motivated by this, which increases their zeal for Yahwism or angelatry.

Angelic attacks

Satano-Grigorists believe that delegate angels may actively approach non-Yahwists, especially Satanists and demonolators, to attempt to influence them away from their religion and toward Yahweh, or to impede their religious journey. These incidents are known as angelic attacks. Angelic intervention is unwanted by Satano-Grigorists, so it is still considered an attack even when it is not explicitly hostile (for example, a malakh attempting to induce unwelcome positive feelings about Yahweh).

Protection

Satano-Grigorists have several methods of protection against angelic attacks. One common protective action is to pray to the Watcher Batu'il, who is associated with houses and homes. The person seeking protection invokes Batu'il and asks him to raise up his walls around them and his roof above their head, to keep any intruding spirit from entering their space, and to let their spiritual space be as a home to them: secure and peaceful. Other protection prayers and rites also exist, ranging from simple and easy to elaborate and ceremonial. Some of these methods are specific to angels, but others may be used (perhaps with slight modifications) to protect against any sort of spirit that may wish to attack the practitioner.

While these methods are useful for immediate protection, the Grigorist Temple of Satanael teaches that the best way to protect oneself from angelic attacks in the long term is to focus on self-work and maintain a good connection with Satanael and the Watchers. Angels are thought to primarily target mental vulnerabilities — such as personal insecurities, past trauma, or emotional instability — and spiritual vulnerabilities, such as a lack of experience with certain practices or a poor ability to secure one's naphsha. Putting in the effort to repair these weak points is therefore the best way to shut out angelic attacks and decrease their impact.

The Temple also teaches that it is important to maintain a balance in one's perception of angelic attacks. It is useful to be aware that angelic attacks can happen, and it is necessary to be able to notice when they are actively happening, but one must avoid falling into a state of fear. Constantly worrying about angelic attacks will not only increase vulnerability to them, but also degrade one's spiritual life and mental health even when no angels are present. Angels may deliberately try to induce this anxiety in their victims, but it is also often caused simply by the maladaptive tendencies of the human mind. The Temple teaches its members to always remember that they are sovereign over themselves and that the power of their Will can overcome that of an angel attempting to influence them, so there is no need to live in fear.

Banishment

A variety of methods have been developed by Satano-Grigorists to banish angels. The approach to banishment is often specific to the order of angel being banished, since each kind of angel behaves differently and has unique vulnerabilities. As with protection, techniques for banishment can range from simple prayers to intricate rituals.

Satano-Grigorist banishment methods often incorporate reinforcement of one's own power, invocations to Satanael and/or specific Watchers, and direct address of the angel, usually to insult it. Reinforcement of the Self is important because angels stand against the individuation, fulfillment, and elevation of the Self. This is also why Satanael is the most commonly invoked deity in angelic banishments: he is considered to be the God of the Self, and his nature is inherently repulsive to beings who seek to crush the Self.

Methods such as battle visualization and physical movements are often used to aid in banishment. These actions assist in the effective use of naphsha as a weapon against the offending angel(s).

In Yahwism

Angels are viewed by Yahwists as benevolent beings created by Yahweh to serve him. Worship of them is forbidden, but the Apostolic branches of Christianity (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Oriental Orthodoxy) recognize them as saints who can be venerated and prayed to for intercession, just as human saints can. Protestant Christians are often less willing to invoke saints and angels in prayer, with some considering it to be idolatry. Many Yahwists believe that angels intervene in humans' daily lives. Catholics and some other Yahwists believe that every human has a guardian angel assigned to them, to protect them and guide them throughout their life. Some Yahwists believe that angels secretly walk the earth among humans, citing parts of the Bible in which incarnate angels are used to test humans to see if they will do the "right" thing when asked to help a stranger.

While angels are a prominent part of Yahwist beliefs, it is surprisingly uncommon for them to explore the deeper study and classification of angels. Yahwist angelology systems do exist, however; medieval Catholics produced some angelological material, as did Jewish rabbis. Yahwist angelology systems agree with the Satano-Grigorist system on the premise that angels are divided into orders, which are called "choirs" by some Christian angelologists, but they may disagree on the number and exact identity of the orders. Some Yahwist systems classify archangels as an actual order,

Angelatry

Angelatry, also called angelolatry, is a loosely defined term for any spiritual tradition or practice that honors, invokes, or worships angels but cannot be categorized as a traditional form of Yahwism. Angelatrous belief and practice systems are usually highly individuated and may exhibit major differences from each other and from Yahwism proper. Modern angelatry can be influenced by New Age spirituality, Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, or other forms of Western occultism, such as John Dee's system of "Enochian" magic.

To many modern angelators, angels are not servants of Yahweh, but of some nebulous monistic "Source" entity. They may be reimagined through a New Age lens as "high-vibrational entities," "benevolent higher intelligences," or "forces of the Universe that represent goodness," removing Yahweh from the picture altogether. Eclectic neopagans may incorporate angels into their custom-picked personal pantheon. Occultists who work with angels alongside other beings, such as pagan gods or even LHP-aligned spirits such as Satanael and the Goetic demons, may claim that the incompatibility of certain spirits is merely a human invention born from the projection of human tribalism onto divine beings, or that it is perfectly reasonable to worship both angels and demons as long as they are not invoked at the same time. This eclectic mixing of angelatry with neopaganism and other occultism has become increasingly common in recent times.

Angelators often characterize ideas about angels that they disagree with as being introduced by human error or deliberate misinformation campaigns driven by human corruption. It is not uncommon for them to blame the Catholic Church for these supposed alterations of the truth, even though records of angels' loyalty to Yahweh and hostility to all non-Yahwist belief systems predate Christianity by thousands of years.

Actual involvement of angels

The worship of angels, as opposed to their mere invocation and veneration, is forbidden by Yahwism due to the prohibition on worshipping any being other than Yahweh. Angelatry in itself is therefore undesirable to Yahweh, especially in New Age forms that display a high degree of divergence from the Yahwist conception of angels. However, in the long term, angelatry benefits Yahweh: it provides a small additional stream of naphsha for him to collect, but more importantly, it frequently serves as a stepping stone to actual Yahwism — especially Christianity. Many occultists who would never convert directly to Christianity are much more willing to explore angelatry. Once they become interested in angels and welcome them into their spiritual practices, angelic influence nudges them away from other beings, and they become much more likely to convert to some form of Yahwism, even if it is a slightly deviant one such as esoteric Christianity. Yahweh therefore allows his angels to actively engage with these practitioners, even those who do not presently worship him.

See also

• Yahweh
• Spirit
• Saint