A little Angelic Hierarchy for you all:
* First Sphere - heavenly guardians of God's throne
o Seraphim - serve as the caretakers of God's throne and continuously shout praises. The name Seraphim means "the burning ones." They have six wings; two covering their faces, two covering their bodies, and two with which they fly.
o Cherubim - They have four faces: one of each a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle. The ox-face is considered the "true face", the ox's face is called a cherub's face. They have four conjoined wings covered with eyes, and they have ox's feet.
Cherubim are considered the elect beings for the purpose of protection. Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and the throne of God
o Thrones - They are elders, also known as the Erelim or Ophanim, a class of celestial beings. They are living symbols of God's justice and authority, and have as one of their symbols the throne.
They are unusual looking even compared to the other celestial beings; They appear as a beryl-coloured wheel-within-a-wheel, their rims covered with hundreds of eyes.
* Second Sphere - heavenly governors
o Dominions - also known as the Hashmallim, hold the task of regulating the duties of lower angels. It is only with extreme rarity that the angelic lords make themselves physically known to mortals. They are also the angels who preside over nations.
The Dominions are believed to look like divinely beautiful humans with a pair of feathered wings, much like the common representation of Angels, but they may be distinguished from other groups by wielding orbs of light fastened to the heads of their sceptres or on the pommel of their swords.
o Virtues - Their primary duty is to supervise the movements of the heavenly bodies in order to ensure that the cosmos remains in order. They are presented as the celestial Choir, and the theological conception of these highest beings appears to describe the same high Order in touch with God.
o Powers - The bearers of conscience and the keepers of history. They are also the warrior angels created to be completely loyal to God. Their duty is to oversee the distribution of power among humankind, hence their name. These celestial beings appear to collaborate, in power and authority with the Principalities.
* Third Sphere - heavenly messengers and soldiers
o Principalities - shown wearing a crown and carrying a sceptre. Their duty also is said to be to carry out the orders given to them by the Dominions and bequeath blessings to the material world. Their task is to oversee groups of people. As beings related to the world of the germinal ideas, they are said to inspire living things to many things such as art or science. These celestial beings appear to collaborate, in power and authority with the Powers
o Archangels - chief angels. It derives from the Greek archō, meaning to be first in rank or power; and aggělǒs which means messenger. This suggests that they are the highest ranking
angels. They (The Seven Archangels) are said to be the guardian angels of nations and countries, and are concerned with the issues and events surrounding these, including politics, military matters, commerce and trade.
o Angels - the lowest order of the angels, and the most recognized. They are the ones most concerned with the affairs of living things. Within the category of the angels, there are many different kinds, with different functions. The angels are sent as messengers to humankind.
Some notes I'd like to point out is that Despite many people thinking that Archangels are the highest ranking of all the angels in heaven, they are in fact only the highest ranking of the class of Angels. Seraphim are in fact those of highest rank among ALL the angels.
Also this ranking system is used in hell replacing God with Satan and Angels with Demons. Do that not strike you as a bit odd...
Anyways hope that clears some things up.
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