Story To Tell

Most often the night-time is viewed as the time in which demons and monsters roam the earth. That is because Darkness and shadows are usually associated with evil aspects like demonic entities. It may be because the darkness has a sense of secretiveness and concealment to it. So mythologies portray darkness as a hideout powerful enough to conceal someone even from divine entities. But Jewish mythology talks about a heavenly being an archangel who rules over the night. The name of this archangel is Lailah and is described as a very gentle angel. The name Lailah itself has the meaning "night". It is said the name has the roots of the Hebrew word "Laylah" which means night. Lailah In The Bible The Hebrew Bible does not specifically mention the archangel by her name Lailah. Instead, the bible refers to the term night as if talking about a divine being. Because the name of the archangel Lailah also has the meaning ...

Leviathan, is one of the seven princes of hell, and rules over envy. In the demonic hierarchy, he is considered to be an arcdemon. In general, demons are portrait in a human demonic form with wings enabling them to fly. But Leviathan’s true form is said to be that of a sea monster. It is believed, that before life was created, it was only the ocean that covered the entire earth. With time, ocean gave birth to land, and then to every living creature on the planet. So ocean could be viewed as the heart of life. Even after many years, there are mysteries beneath the sea, that is yet to discover. It is believed, that these mysterious depths of the sea, is home for a sea serpent named Leviathan. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including The book of Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the Book of Amos. The apocryphal Book of Enoch also mention the existence of Leviathan. Some 19th century scholars interpreted it as large ...

The word archangel itself gives a vibe of goodness and holiness. Some even consider archangels to be saints, and would pray for them with hopes of guidance. But the archangel Samael does not reflect qualities of a holy and good heavenly being. The name Samael means the “poison of god”, or, “the venom of god”, or, “Blindness of God”. The archangel lives up for his name ‘Samael’, than to the qualities of an archangel. In Christianity, he is sometimes identified as a fallen angel, or the Satan himself, because his functions resemble so much to that of Satan. In some believes, he is not necessarily evil. They believe his functions are also benefit for the greater good. Such as eliminating sinners, is a way of doing good. Whether being an angel or a demon, Samael is most certainly a powerful figure. Those who believe him to be a demon, believes he’s an arcdemon. And those who believe him to be an angel, believes he’s an archangel. He rule over an inevitable cause of life, which no be...

Archangels are blessed with heavenly powers which enable them to perform miracles to a certain extend. The name Raphael translates to ‘God has healed’, which signifies his specialties in healing. He not only heal physically, but also mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. It’s not just humans Raphael look after, but also heals animals and the Earth. So people connect him to animal care and environmental efforts. He is venerated as Saint Raphael the Archangel. Not all branches of Abrahamic religions, consider the identification of Raphael to be canonical. Raphael is also mentioned in the Book of Tobit and in the non-biblical book of Enoch, both of which identify him as one of seven archangels. According to Tobit, he listens to the prayers of the righteous and heals the Earth from the misdeeds of the fallen angels, while according to Enoch, he is "set over all disease and every wound of the children of the people." In Enoch he binds the armies of Azazel and throws them i...

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, usually referred to as the Four Horsemen are figures in Christian faith, appearing in the New Testament's final book, Revelation, written by John of Patmos. They are also mentioned in the Old Testament's prophetic Book of Zechariah, and in the Book of Ezekiel, where they are named as punishments from God. Revelation 6, tells of a scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals and of a lamb who opens the first four of the seven seals. To Zechariah, they are described as "the ones whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth" causing it to rest quietly. Ezekiel lists them as "sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague." As in John's revelation, the first horseman is on a white horse, carrying a bow, and given a crown, riding forward as a figure of Conquest. Some also view this horseman as Christ, or the Antichrist. The second carries a sword and rides a red horse. He is the creator of War and ho...

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam could be considered as the three main religions, that place the most emphasis on the existence of angels. Major sacred texts of these religions, mention Archangel Michael by his name. When talking about archangels, to most of us, the angel that comes to mind is Archangel Michael. He is considered to be one of the most powerful and respected angels in god’s court. In Sura 2: 98, of the Quran, it is written, whoever is an enemy to God and His angels and His messengers and Jibrail and Mikhail, God Himself is an enemy to them. Many scriptures often refers to Michael as “a chief prince” and believed to assist the dying and accompany them to heaven. It is believed that at the hour of death, before the passing of the soul, many demons surround the dying person, trying to lure it to depths of the hell. At this moment, Michael descends from heaven, and gives each soul the chance to redeem itself, chasing away all the demons. His presenc...

Archangels are spiritual beings who serve god, by fulfilling certain tasks assigned to them. In most cases, each archangel represent a certain attribute and are welcomed to god’s court. They also have the power above other angels who answer to them. Archangel Uriel is considered as the angel of wisdom. The angel is said to be carrying a flaming sword, that burns with god’s truth. Uriel will slice the darkness cause by lies and illusions with his sword, and light it with god’s truth. The name Uriel means ‘the god is my light’, which I believe perfectly aligns with the role of bringing light of truth, to where there is confusion. In the Second Book of Esdras, it is mentioned how god tasked archangel Uriel to answer many questions prophet Ezra had. Uriel talk to Ezra through a series of visions. When Ezra was in Babylon, he ask god why he keeps Israelites in misery, if god is just. We can see in the way Uriel answer him that there is rage. Uriel begins by telling Ezra t...

A war that took place in heaven between angels and a dragon and his fellow angels is described in the book of revelations. It is said, the archangel Michael and his angels defeated the great dragon and his fellow angels and cast them out of heaven. Some believe this dragon refers to Lucifer, the most beautiful creation made by God. He was much more beautiful and perfect in every way than the other angels and eventually he got arrogant about it His pride made him to question his creator and everything around him and believed himself to be different from other angels. He believed that god is flawed and he is the only perfect being in the entire universe. He convinced many of the angels in heaven to accept his beliefs of God and his perfection. God showed immense interest in humankind and even created them in a way that is similar to him. God even ordered the angels to bow before mankind, which is something Lucifer never agreed to. Lucifer considered humans to be far flawed than god,...

It’s understandable that even angels have a sort of a hierarchy and the archangels sit at the zenith of this hierarchy. They have the greater power and authority over other angels. With different ranks the appearance of the angels differ, such as the number of wings and faces. Different believes have introduced different number of ranks. For example, Judaism introduces ten ranks, Christianity describes nine ranks. Islamic religion does not directly introduce the levels but some scholars believe there are fourteen levels in the angelic hierarchy. The highest ranking angels are called "archangels" were the term is mostly associated with the abrahamic religions. But beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of religious traditions. The term archangel itself is not found in the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Old Testament, or in the greek New Testament. It only occurs in Thessalonians 1 and the epistle of Jude, where it is used when mentioning the arc...

Archangel Gabriel appears across several major religious texts, both canonical and non-canonical where he adopts similar roles which mainly revolves around conveying God’s message. For this very reason, he is often referred to as the Messenger of God. The name Gabriel means “God is my strength”. He serves as an interpreter between God and mankind. In the Abrahamic religions, Gabriel, is the first archangel described in the Hebrew Bible. Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of Israel, defending its people against the angels of the other nations. The Gospel of Luke relates the stories of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively. Many Christian traditions including Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism revere Gabriel as a saint. He serves as the patron saint of journalists, teachers, clergy people, diplomats, ambassadors, and postal workers. Sometimes he i...

Baal, or Báal, is a god worshipped in many ancient Middle Eastern communities, especially among the Canaanites. He was considered a fertility deity and the most important god in the Canaanite pantheon. So he is considered as the Canaanite equivalent of Zeus , of the Greek pantheon. In fact, some theorize that it was Baal, who evolved to be Zeus of the Greek pantheon. So in Canaanite mythology, Baal is considered the ruler of heavens, as well as a god of the sun, rain, thunder, fertility, and agriculture. But mostly, Baal is worshiped as the god of fertility and hence was responsible for bringing rain and fertility to the land to flourish the crops. Specifically, Canaanites related Baal with Rain and Dew, and were given the title the lord of Rain and Dew. This is because rain-and dew are the two forms of moisture that were crucial to fertile the soil in Canaan. Baal is associated with the bull; this is because in Canaanite mythology, a bull represents st...

The story of the origin, mentioned in the Hebrew bible, talks about how god himself created a group of divine beings, who are known as angels, to carry out his commands. Each angel was given a specific task and was granted heavenly powers to fulfill this task in the name of god. Even though the holy bible doesn’t talk about any human being risen to the angelic status, “Metatron” is believed to be an angel who was once a human. It could be said that Metatron is one of the only two angels, who was first a human being and was then elevated to the angelic status. The other archangel is “the archangel Sandalphon”, who is believed to be the prophet Elijah. Even though the Hebrew bible makes no mention of Metatron, texts such as the Talmud, the Aggadah, and the mystical Kabbalistic texts, talk about the existence of this divine entity. Metatron is mainly identified to serve as the celestial scribe. He records the affairs and deeds of humans in the universe's great archive known as “the G...