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The highest
archangels are also known as aeons or archons.
MICHAEL
is the most powerful and warlike angel, famous as the leader of
Heaven's armies in the war against Satan.He is also the angel who
will weigh all human souls in his scales on the Day of Judgment.
GABRIEL
is the Angel of Annunciation, who announces to the Virgin Mary that
she will be the mother of Christ. As an angel associated with childbirth,
Gabriel touches each baby on the lip just before birth, so that
the infant soul will forget its pre-existing knowledge of Heaven.
The mark of Gabriel's touch is the cleft between lip and nose.
RAPHAEL
is the angel of healing, health and happiness. He is also the angel
most commonly charged with guarding the Tree of Life, a mighty tree
usually located in the Upper Paradise, whose branches represent
the structure of the universe.
URIEL
is or was one of the four greatest angels in Christianity. Associated
with fire and thunder, he is also an Angel of Destruction and an
Angel of Punishment. He carries the terrifying Sword of God. When
Church leaders decided in 745 AD that angels were becoming too popular
as objects of worship, Uriel was removed from the list of officially
recognised angels.
AZRAEL
is one of the four great angels of Islam. He managed to perform
a task which had defeated the other archangels when he forced the
Earth to give up the seven handfuls of dirt needed by God in order
to create Adam. For this, he was rewarded with the position of Angel
of Death. He learns who is due to die when a leaf bearing that person's
name falls from a tree growing just below the throne of God. If
a person is reluctant to die, he tempts the soul out of the body
by placing under his or her nostrils an apple from the legendary
Tree of Life.
METATRON
is the most powerful of all angels in some non-canonical writings.
In fact, he is the prophet Enoch transformed. His size is extraordinary,
as wide and long as the Earth itself. He also has 36 pairs of wings,
more than 72 different names, and 365,000 eyes. (The other contender
for sheer size is Sandalphon: it is said to take 500 years to journey
from Sandalphon's toes to the top of his head.) Metatron is the
Chancellor of Heaven and the keeper of the Heavenly archives.
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