Feed: Angels A to Z - AggScore: 47.1

Angels-ZOROASTRIANISM

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In the history of religions,

Zoroastrianism has been an unusually efficacious
faith

, exercising an influence on the doctrines of other religions
disproportionate to the size of its following. The notion of angels
as agents of God (rather than as demigods) is but one of Zoroastrianism’s
legacy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Zoroastrianism was founded in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran)
in about 1000 B.C. (some sources say much earlier, others around 600
B.C.) by the prophet Zoroaster. It was the official religion of the area
until Alexander the Great’s conquest, after which it was later restored.
In the seventh century A.D., Islamic invaders took over the area, and
Zoroastrianism disappeared from the land of its
birth. A relatively small body of Zoroastrians,
who are called Parsees in the subcontinent, survive
in contemporary India, many in the Bombay
area.
The religion of Zoroaster is best known for
its dualism. The god of light and the upper
world, Ohrmazd or Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord),
and his angels are locked in a cosmic struggle
with the god of darkness and the lower world,
Angra Mainyu or Ahriman (Evil Spirit), and
his demons. Unlike Christianity, in which the
outcome of the war between God and the Devil
has already been decided, Zoroastrianism portrays
the struggle as more or less evenly
matched (although many strands of the tradition
would assert that Ahura Mazda’s triumph is
inevitable). Individual human beings are urged
to align themselves with the forces of light, and
are judged according to whether their good or
evil deeds predominate.
Eventually there will be a final battle
between good and evil, after which there will
be a general judgment in which everyone will
be put through an ordeal of fire (a river of molten metal), in which
good individuals will have their dross burned away and evil people
will be consumed. The souls of the blessed will be resurrected in
renewed physical bodies.
Many of the components of this vision of the end times—a final
battle between good and evil, judgment of the wicked, resurrection of
the dead, and so on—were adopted by Jewish apocalyptic thinkers.
From texts composed by these apocalypticists, such notions were
adopted into Christianity and Islam.
For reasons that are unclear, angels are often associated with religions
and religious movements that place a special stress on such
events expected to take place at the end of time (referred to as the
eschaton in Greek, from which we get the word eschatology).
It appears that Zoroaster set out to reform the preexisting religion
of Persia rather than to create a new religion. It is also clear that he
preached the centrality of one god, Ahura Mazda. The other divinities
of the earlier pantheon were reduced to the status of mere agents of
the supreme deity—that is, to angels. Also, some of the gods of the
original Indo-European pantheon were transformed into demons,
although this transformation may have resulted from factors completely
independent of the reforming activities of Zoroaster.
Chief among the Zoroastrian angels are the holy immortals (the
amesha spentas or ameshaspands). These beings are named after qualities
valued by Zoroastrians, such as Vohu Manah (Good Thought or
Good Sense) and Armaiti (Piety or Harmony). In a certain sense, the
amesha spentas are the archangels of the Zoroastrian religious system.
Corresponding to these archangels of light are agents of the evil Ahriman,
such as Druj (the Lie).
As Zoroastrianism developed, the number of celestial beings multiplied,
leading some observers to remark that the old polytheistic system
had unwittingly been revived in the later stages of this religious
tradition. At some point, a new class of angel, the yazatas, emerged.
They became so important that they seemed to eclipse Ahura Mazda
himself. Chief among the yazatas was Mithra, the god/angel of light.
Yet another group of angelic beings to emerge were the fravashi.
They seem to have originally been spirits of the ancestors, but gradually
developed into guardian spirits, both of human beings and of celestial
beings. Somewhat like the notion of Plato’s ideal forms, the
fravashi is the immortal part of the human being that remains in
heaven even when the individual is incarnate on the earth.

Angels-ZOPHIEL

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Zophiel (God’s Spy) is a spirit invoked in the prayer

of the Master of
the Art in Solomonic conjuration rites. He is also one of Michael’s two
chieftains. Milton mentions Zophiel in Paradise Lost as the one informing
the heavenly hosts of a further attack by the rebel crew, whereas in
Friedrich Klopstock’s The Messiah he represents “the herald of hell.”
The American poet Maria Del Occidente chose Zophiel as one of the
main characters of her book-length poem Zophiel, inspired by the story
contained in the apocryphal Book of Tobit. In this poem, Zophiel is a
fallen angel but retains traces of his original virtue and beauty.

Angels-ZOHAR

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The Zohar, or Sefer ha-zohar, meaning “The Book of Splendor

,” is considered
the central work in Jewish mysticism, as well as the most influential
work of the Cabala. Its compilation is attributed to Shim’on bar
Yoh’ai, although its true author is Mosheh de Leon (1240–1305), a
Castilian cabalist who wrote it during the last third of the thirteenth
century. The Zohar joined the Bible and Talmud in the triad of the
most sacred books of Judaism.
The Zohar was written mostly in Aramaic and presents an elaborate
mystical system that considerably influenced the later evolution
of Jewish mysticism through its mythical conceptions on cabalistic
theosophy. Mosheh de Leon wrote the main part of the Zohar, which
circulated in manuscript and was published in 1558 in Mantua and
Cremona, whereas the rest was written by a later anonymous cabalist
early in the fourteenth century. The latter part differs from the first
both in style and in its cabalistic concepts.
The Zohar presents five central myths: the myth of the cosmogonical
process, the initial evolvement of the ten sefiroth from the eternal
Godhead; the myth of the dynamic interrelationship within the realm
of the Divine emanations; the sexual symbolic myth of the relationship
between the masculine and feminine elements in the Divine world, the
latter represented by the Shekinah; the myth of the struggle between
the holy Divine realm on the right and the evil system on the left; the
messianic myth and the apocalyptic description of the redemption.
Jewish mysticism has given considerable consideration to angels,
grouping them into categories such as angels of severe judgment and
angels of mercy, as well as evil and ministering angels. Like other mystical
texts, the Zohar assigns specific heavenly roles to angels and
arranges them into various hierarchies: these angels, representing
spiritual powers of the finest and ethereal substance, may assume
human form or may appear as spirits when they execute their missions
on earth. Furthermore, according to the Zohar, the good angels came
into being on the first day of Creation and enjoy eternal life, whereas
the others, who rebelled against God and were consumed by fire, were
created on the second day of Creation. The angels live in the seven
heavenly halls, the heikhalot, and a special hall is set aside for a certain
type of angel that mourns the destruction of the Temple.
According to the Zohar, every human comes into the world with
a good angel and a bad one, and when he dies, he is met by angels of
peace or destruction depending upon his deeds on earth. Angels know
the future of mankind, which is made known in heaven by a herald. In
addition, every day angels are sent to Earth with special missions:
some serve the human body, whereas others serve the soul. According
to the Zohar the first encounter between the angels and man took
place when the mysterious Book of Heaven was handed to Adam
through Raziel, Hadraniel, and Raphael.

Angels-ZODIAC (ANGELS OF THE)

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The zodiac (literally, “circle of animals,” from the Greek zoion, living
being, figure), is the name given to the imaginary circular zone of the
heavens in which the Sun, Moon, and planets have their orbits. Because
the orbits of the planets in the solar system all lie within approximately
the same geometric plane, from any position within the system all of the
heavenly bodies appear to move across the face of the same set of constellations.
The zodiac is divided into twelve astrological signs associated
with the twelve constellations—Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo,
Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
The notion of the zodiac is very ancient, with roots in the early
citied cultures of Mesopotamia. The first twelve-sign zodiacs were
named after the gods of these cultures. The Greeks adopted astrology
from the Babylonians, and the Romans, in turn, adopted it from the
Greeks. These peoples renamed the signs of the Babylonian zodiac in
terms of their own mythologies, which is why the familiar zodiac of
the contemporary West bears names from Mediterranean mythology.
The notion of a twelve-fold division derives from the lunar cycle (the
orbital cycle of the Moon around the Earth), which the Moon completes
twelve times per year.
Because various gods have traditionally been associated with the
signs of the zodiac, it seems natural to suggest a possible correlation
between angels and the zodiac. The connection is also a natural one to
make because angels and astrological signs are both located primarily in
the celestial realm. It was thus almost inevitable that angels came to be
associated with the zodiac. The traditional correlations are as follows:
Sign Angel
Aries Malahidael or Machidiel
Taurus Asmodel
Gemini Ambriel
Cancer Muriel
Leo Verchiel
Virgo Hamaliel
Libra Zuriel or Uriel
Scorpio Barbiel
Sagittarius Advachiel or Adnachiel
Capricorn Hanael
Aquarius Cambiel or Gabriel
Pisces Barchiel
Many Judaic beliefs about astrology and angels were derived from
Chaldean and Egyptian sources. The names of many of the angels were
manufactured from the nature of their assignments in an almost atavistic
regression to a pagan pantheon that assigned gods and goddesses for
almost every natural force. The number of these became so vast in the
apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature that the rabbis believed they
posed a threat to Judaic monothesism and so condemned all of the
writing in this genre. Because such writings were suppressed, little
information regarding the nature of these angels survives today.

Angels-ZAGZAGEL

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Zagzagel is the angel of the burning

bush who figured prominently in
the life of Moses. Moses “led the flock along the side of the wilderness
and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in the flame of a burning bush” (Exod. 3:1,2). Zagzagel
was Moses’ tutor and was one of the three angels who accompanied the
soul of Moses to heaven. Zagzagel is also a teacher of angels who speaks
seventy languages. He is the chief guard of the fourth heaven, although
he is said to reside in the seventh heaven, the abode of God.

Angels-ZADKIEL

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The name Zadkiel (also Tzadkiel or Zidekiel, among other variant
spellings) means “the righteousness of God.”

Zadkiel is an angel with
several different identities

, depending on the reference source. In A
Theological Discourse of Angels, by Benjamin Camfield, Zadkiel is the
angel of Jupiter, because he is ruler of the sign of the zodiac of that
planet. According to the Zohar (Numbers 154A), Zadkiel is one of
two chieftains who assist Michael when the archangel goes into battle.
Zadkiel is also said to be a co-chief of the order of shinanim (along
with Gabriel) and one of the nine rulers of heaven, as well as one the
seven archangels presiding next to God. In rabbinic works, Zadkiel is
“the angel of benevolence, mercy, memory, and chief of the order of
dominions” (Davidson, p. 324). But perhaps the most common identity
of Zadkiel is the one presented in the Bible, where he prevents
Abraham from sacrificing his young son Isaac to God.

Angels-Yazatas

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The prophet Zoroaster was the reformer who transformed Persian
polytheism into the first monotheism. Although little is known about
the old Persian polytheism, apparently some of the old gods were
demoted and retained as angels in Zoroaster’s synthesis.
The struggle between good and evil occupies center stage in the
Zoroastrian worldview. The god of light and the upper world,
Ohrmazd or Ahura Mazda (Wide Lord), and his angels are locked in a
cosmic struggle with the god of darkness and the lower world, Angra
Mainyu or Ahriman (Evil Spirit), and his demons.
The oldest angels in the Zoroastrian system are the six (sometimes
seven) holy immortals, often identified as archangels. The holy
immortals play an important role in the foundation of the faith,
revealing the true religion to Zoroaster in a series of visions. As
Zoroastrianism developed, the number of celestial beings multiplied,
leading some observers to remark that the old polytheistic system had
unwittingly been revived in the later stages of this religious tradition.
At some point, a new class of angel, the yazatas (“worshipful
ones”), emerged. They became so important that they seemed to
eclipse Ahura Mazda himself. Chief among the yazatas was Mithra,
the god/angel of light and truth, the mediator between earth and
heaven, as well as the preserver and judge of this world. Other new
angels, some of them transparently former gods of the old Indo-European
pantheon, were Haoma, angel of the sacred intoxicant; Vata (or
Vayu), who rules the winds; and Verethragna, the Persian equivalent
of the Indian god Indra.

Angels-WORMWOOD

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Wormwood (meaning “bitterness”) is an angel described in Rev.
8:10–11. This account of the end of the world tells how John of Patmos
first had visions of the impending disaster. To begin with, God is
seated on his throne in heaven holding a scroll kept closed with seven
seals that no one can open except for a seven-eyed, seven-horned
lamb (Christ). With each opening of a seal some cataclysmic event
occurs on the earth.
First there is the release of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse:
War, Famine, Death, and Civil Conflict. This is followed by martyrs
calling out for justice, then an earthquake on Earth while the Sun
turns black and the Moon red. When the seventh and last seal is
opened, Wormwood appears: “. . . a great star fell from heaven, blazing
like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the fountains of
water. The name of the star is Wormwood.” On Earth Wormwood
causes the death of many mortals by poisoning the rivers and waters.
Wormwood is also referred to in a work of fiction by C. S. Lewis
entitled The Screwtape Letters. The letters are addressed to Wormwood,
who is the nephew of Screwtape (an important official in His
Satanic Majesty’s “Lowerarchy”). Wormwood himself is characterized
by Lewis as “a sort of junior devil on earth.”

Angels-WISDOM LITERATURE

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Post-biblical, or wisdom literature, usually depicts angels as independent
beings, who are distinguishable by name and distinctive trait. An
interest in the nature and individual character of the angels developed
with the belief that the mysteries related to the end of days and man’s
future could be discovered only through the intermediary of angels.
This was the main assumption of wisdom literature, which viewed revelation
as corroboration of the validity of existing doctrines, rather
than the point of departure for the acquisition of knowledge.
The Jews, who had become familiar with many of the old Babylonian
myths through the wisdom of the Chaldeans, sought to ascribe
many of the old Babylonian tales about gods and heroes to the world
of angels in order to avoid contradiction with the monotheistic character
of Judaism. Thus, various sources ascribe the wisdom of Enoch,
Abraham, and Noah to their intimate knowledge of the world of
angels and their communication with it. Pagan magic and demonology,
as well as pagan literature, where angels usually appear in the company
of pagan gods, also had a considerable influence on Jewish doctrine
of angels.
Jewish doctrine of angels was not evenly embraced among the
various cultures of the Jewish people, but rather was secretly acquired
by a narrow circle of the specially initiated, such as, for example, the
secret societies of the Essenes, among whom it found its widest distribution,
and the Qumran sect.
Post-biblical literature divided angels into several classes that provided
particular services. For instance, in the book of Daniel (8:16;
9:21), the angel Gabriel is defined as an interpreter of Daniel’s vision.
Similarly, other angels appear as interpreters of symbolic visions in
later apocalyptic writings.
The archangels, a group of seven angels who head the world of
angels, are also mentioned in various sources, where they are generally
described as dwelling in the proximity of God and in charge of tasks of
special significance for world history. Another group of four angels,
designated as “the angels of the Presence,” are mentioned in Enoch, in
the Book of Adam and Eve, and in rabbinic literature, as having the
important role in the punishment of the fallen angels.
Fallen angels, in particular, are frequently mentioned in post-biblical
literature. The earliest report of fallen angels can be found in the
Book of Enoch. Their story also appears in the Book of Jubilees, where
fallen angels are said to have descended to earth to instruct mankind
how to order society, but when they arrived on earth they were
seduced by the daughters of men. However, there are several other
versions of the legend of the fallen angels, such as those contained in
Talmudic sources.
Among other groups of angels mentioned in post-biblical literature
are the seventy “princes of the people” appointed over each of the
seventy peoples of earth; the “guardian angels,” who seem to have
been a religious concept common to the entire Semitic world, and
whose function is to be on guard before God at all times and to supervise
the actions of man.
According to post-biblical literature, the major function of angels
is to offer praise to God, although their function as intermediaries
between God and man is also important. Some sources mention the
angels’ role as intercessor, pleading for man before God. Good angels
also appear in opposition to evil angels who act as prosecutors before
the throne of God. In Sefer ha-Razim, angels are used for purposes of
magic, and the names of the angels, when coupled with those of Greek
gods and magic phrases are considered efficacious for incantations.
Many sources stress the imperfect nature of angels, who are not
regarded as omniscient, but rather as incapable of answering questions
put to them. No unbridgeable gulf is supposed to exist between the
material world and the world of angels, and it is believed, as mentioned
in the Book of Enoch, that some righteous men could be transformed
into angels. Israel, known as Jacob, is declared to be “the
archangel of the power of the Lord” (Origen, Commentary to John,
11, 84, 15), and the people of Israel as a whole, are regarded as being
equal to angels and, consequently, under the protection of God himself
(Jub. 15:27ff.).

Angels-WINGS

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Wings, which are the most distinctive angelic symbol, are emblematic
of spirit, power, and swiftness. The portrayal of angels with wings was
common throughout the entire Middle Ages, a reflection of the
accepted Christian idea of angels as winged beings. (Scripture, however,
says nothing about angels having wings.) The earliest winged
angels in Christendom appear during the rule of Constantine, the first
Christian emperor of Rome. The first representations of winged angels
bear a striking resemblance to Nike, Greek goddess of victory, who
undoubtedly provided a model for Christian artists.
The figure of the winged angel evolved during the fourth century,
soon crystallizing into a formula and remaining common until the
sixth century, after which it came into its own again in Carolingian
art and the Romanesque art of Italy and southern France. It was foreign
to Gothic art, although it became common again in Italy during
the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries.
Seraphim and cherubim are usually represented as disembodied
heads with one, two, or three pairs of wings, symbolizing purity of spirit
informed by love and intelligence. The head is an emblem of the
soul, love, and knowledge, whereas the wings have the conventional
significance already mentioned. This is a very ancient way of representing
the two highest orders of angels, whose faces are very human,
thoughtful, and mature in the earliest instances, gradually becoming
more childlike in order to express innocence. They later degenerated
into small infant heads with little wings folded under the chin.
The bodies of the angels of Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa,
end in delicate wings instead of legs. Other depictions have wings fade
into a cloudy vapor, or burst into flames, as in one of Raphael’s frescoes
in the Vatican, where the hair, wings, and limbs of cherubs end in
glowing flames. Wings were used not only by Christian artists but also
by the artists of ancient Egypt, Babylon, Nineveh, and Etruria as symbols
of might, majesty, and divine beauty.
Why bird wings should have been taken to represent the spirit is
not difficult to understand. To the ancients, birds must have been
viewed as marvelous creatures—animals who could shake themselves
loose from the earth and float aloft in the invisible medium of the air,
an environment much like that of the spirit world. It is but a short
step from seeing winged animals as travelers of the air to imagining
winged angels as travelers of the spirit realm.

Angels-WATCHERS (GRIGORI)

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According to Jewish legend, the grigori (watchers)
are a superior order of angels whose proper
place is either the third or the fifth heaven.
They are said to look like human beings (except much larger), never
sleep, and are forever silent. While there are both good and bad grigori,
most extant lore revolves around the evil watchers who fell from
grace after copulating with human women.
The story of the grigori is detailed in several scriptural apocalyptic
books. Chief among these are the Book of Enoch and the Book of
Jubilees. A fragment of this tale was incorporated into a brief passage
in the book of Genesis (6:2), where it states that the “sons of God saw
that the daughters of men were fair and they took to wife such of them
as they chose.” Traditionally, “sons of God” was taken to indicate
angels, although later churchmen rejected the idea that angels could
have intercourse with human beings.
As outlined in Gustave Davidson’s Dictionary of Angels individual
watchers were responsible for certain activities on earth:
1. Armaros: taught men the resolving of enchantments
2. Araquiel (Arakiel): taught men the signs of the earth
3. Azazel: taught men to make knives, swords, and shields, and to
devise ornaments and cosmetics
4. Baraqijal (Baraqel): taught men astrology
5. Ezequeel (Ezekeel): taught men the knowledge of the clouds
6. Gadreel: introduced weapons of war
7. Kokabel (Kawkabel): taught the science of constellations
8. Penemue: instructed mankind in writing and taught children
the “bitter and sweet, and the secrets of wisdom”
9. Sariel: taught men the course of the moon
10. Semjaza: taught men enchantments, root-cutting, etc.
11. Shamshiel: taught men the signs of the sun

Angels-War in Heaven

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The earliest account of rebelling angels is contained in the apocryphal
Book of the Secrets of Enoch. According to Christian legend, there was
a great battle fought at the beginning of time between good angels,
who supported God, and the rebel angels, who supported Satan’s
attempt to take God’s place. It is believed that this tremendous battle
took place on the second day of Creation.
God created all angels with the free will to choose between good
and evil. Further, it was believed, that for some he strengthened with
the Grace to pursue good, while the other faction, equally strong, had
the greater leaning toward lesser pursuits. When this group sinned, a
war broke out, with the archangel Michael at the helm of the good
angels and Lucifer as leader of the legions of darkness. The Mont St.
Michel on the Norman coast is the eternal monument to the victorious
leader of the hosts of heaven in the war against the rebel angel.
When Lucifer left heaven, it was said that he took with him onethird
of the celestial residents. A few church fathers, however,
believed that not all of the followers of Lucifer were thrown with their
rebel chief into hell, rather a number of them were left on Earth in
order to tempt man. It has been suggested that these angels maintained
a neutral position in the rivalry, and that God gave them the
opportunity to choose Earth as their home.
According to Origen, there were also some “doubtful angels” who
were uncertain whether or not to take the side of God or Lucifer. It
was from these hesitant and irresolute creatures
that humans are thought to have originated.
In literature, the most significant story
about the War in Heaven can be found in John
Milton’s multi-volume Paradise Lost, in which
an arrogant Satan leads rebelling angels against
the faithful who defend the Mount of God in
heaven. When he is thrown out of heaven,
Satan eventually corrupts the first humans as
revenge.

Angels-VOODOO

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Voodoo (also vodoun or vodun) is a religion that originated in Haiti
in the late 1700s. The precursor of voodoo was the religion of the Fon
people of West Africa who were brought as slaves to Haiti. Voodoo
means “spirit” in the Fon language. In Haiti the Fon systems of veneration
of the spirits came in contact with other African religious traditions
and French Catholicism to produce what we call voodoo. It has
spread via emigration to New Orleans, Louisiana, and other major
cities in the United States, most notably New York City.
The central religious activity of voodoo involves possession of
devotees by a number of African deities. In ceremonies led by a priest,
each possessed individual enacts a highly specific ritual performance
involving dance, song, and speech appropriate to the particular possessing
deity. Possession is directed toward healing, warding off evil,
and bringing good or evil fortune.
Voodoo postulates a complex and extensive pantheon of divinities
that are referred to as loas or mystères. A supreme being who created
the world, called the Gran Met, is acknowledged, although he is
too distant from the world to be worshiped. Voodoo focuses instead on
the more immediate divinities, serving the loa in return for favors for
their devotees. As with African tradition, ancestors are revered.
In voodoo the human being is pictured as being composed of five
ingredients: n’âme, z’étoile, corps cadavre, gros bon ange, and ti bon
ange. Corps cadavre refers to the physical flesh; n’âme is the vital energy
that allows the body to function during life; z’étoile refers to the star
of destiny of the particular human being; gros bon ange (literally, “big
good angel”) and ti bon ange (“little good
angel”) constitute one’s soul. The gros bon ange
enters humans during conception and is a portion
of the universal life energy that is part of
the life force that all living things share. The ti
bon ange, by contrast, is one’s individual soul or
essence. This “small soul” journeys out of the
body when one dreams, as well as when the
body is being possessed by the loa. It is the ti
bon ange that is attacked by sorcerers.
When one dies, according to voodoo belief,
the soul is present near the corpse for a week.
During this seven-day period, the ti bon ange is
vulnerable to capture and can be made into a
“spiritual zombi” by a sorcerer. Assuming the
soul has escaped this ugly fate, the voodoo
priest ritually severs it from the body so that the
soul many live in the dark waters for a year and
a day. At that point, relatives ritually raise the
soul, now referred to as esprit (spirit), and put it
in the govi. Govi spirits are fed, clothed, and
treated like divinities. Later, they are set free to
abide among the rocks and trees until rebirth.
Sixteen embodiments later, spirits merge into
the cosmic energy.

Angels-VOHU MANAH

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Vohu Manah (Good Mind or Good Thought) is the principal Zoroastrian
archangel, and revealed the truths of Zoroastrianism to Zoroaster,
the founder of the religious tradition. The religion of Zoroaster is
best known for its dualism. The god of light and the upper world,
Ohrmazd or Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord), and his angels are locked in a
cosmic struggle with the god of darkness and the lower world, Angra
Mainyu or Ahriman (Evil Spirit), and his demons.
The principal Zoroastrian angels are the holy immortals (the
amesha spentas or ameshaspands). These beings are named after qualities
valued by Zoroastrians. Vohu Manah is the firstborn of Ahura
Mazda and chief of the holy immortals. At the age of thirty, Zoroaster
had a vision of Vohu Manah, who appeared to the prophet in a form
nine times larger than an ordinary person. After questioning Zoroaster,
Vohu Manah led his spirit into the heaven of Ahura Mazda, who
was holding court with his angels. God then instructed the prophet in
the principles of the true religion.

Angels-VIRTUES

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The virtues, known as “The Brilliant or Shining
Ones,” are the angels of miracles, encouragement,
and blessings who become involved
wherever people are struggling with their faith.
David is said to have received encouragement
from virtues to do battle against Goliath. The
virtues are also the angels from whom Abraham
drew his strength when God asked him to sacrifice
his only son, Isaac. The principal duties of these angels are to
work miracles on Earth. They are allowed to intervene with respect to
the physical laws of the earth, but they are also responsible for supporting
these laws. Valor is brought forth to humankind, as is the
virtue of grace, by this choir, the fifth in the Dionysian scheme.