Fallen Angels, Apprentice Wizards and Corset Damage

"He (Eros) smites maids’ breasts with heat, and bids the very gods leave heaven and dwell on earth in borrowed forms."

Seneca, Phaedra, 290ff

I just began flipping through Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard. I’ll say one thing for the book – even though it is aimed at a much (oh, MUCH!) younger audience, there is still something to be said for good foundational footing – I have a lot of respect for the intelligence of the authors of many of the Enochian Magick books I’ve begun to read, but many of them assume a basic pre-foundation of experience or knowledge that not all of their readers have. On the other hand, a downside of the audience age bracket for this particular grimoire is self-explanatory: no, I will NOT be asking my parents if I am allowed to read the book, thank you very much! } :=\

One thing I hadn’t thought about: just how many names are used for magickal folk of all spiritual persuasions: wizard, vizier, mage, sage, mystic, Druid, bard, magician, alchemist, sorcerer, sorceress, enchanter, enchantress, soothsayer, seer, necromancer, prophet, philosopher, shaman, cunning man or woman, witch, wicca, pagan, priest, priestess, and the last, warlock, which is actually a huge insult (meaning: traitor or liar, in Old English). I’m sitting here, trying to remember if I’d heard any other descriptive words for magickal beings ... "wise woman" would probably fall under wizard (same root: wys), but Susun Weed pretty much made that phrase her own with her Wise Woman Herbal Series.

Anyone who has been reading this blog knows just how fond I am of "rules" when we’re talking about magickal behavior. Sometimes it’s good to have rules – can you imagine the hell that driving anywhere would be if there were no "rules of the road"?

Corset advertisement, 1869

But way too many women have been raised in such tightly corseted* lives that they can’t live without binding their fellow witches in non-traditional, christian restraints, and that is where they lose me completely. And they should lose everyone else as well, but too many women are so familiar with those ropes and restraints it feels natural to them, and they see nothing wrong with binding everyone else.

*And to show you how bad corsets are, read an essay on corsets in the "Mistaken Perfection" blog, which only seemed to exist in 2010, unfortunately.

"The corset has been blamed for causing dozens of diseases, from cancer to curvature of the spine, deformities of the ribs and displacements of the internal organs, respiratory and circulatory diseases, birth defects, miscarriages, and "female complaints", as well as medical traumas such as broken ribs and puncture wounds."http://mistaken-perfection.blogspot.com/2010/01/structured-torso-bindings-of-corsets.html

Needless to say, when I opened a chapter in Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard and read, "Rules of Wizardry", my first thought was, "Oh no ... here we go ..." and prepared myself to throw the book across the room.

Luckily, one wizard’s "rules" are another witch’s "common sense" – and I was delighted to discover that his "rules" were along the lines of, for example: "never invoke something you can’t banish". Well, *duh*!!! But yes, there are a lot of people without a lick of common sense, so there you go.

Another "Rule" I particularly appreciated: Question Authority!!!

Fortunately, none of the listed rules were anything remotely like the stupid Tinkerbelle girly-girly white glove wicca-christian rules, so I relaxed. No enforced "christian" morality that stripped real witches of their power. No non-traditional nonsense or political correctness which the women of the United States are cramming down everyone else’s throats and then calling it "witchcraft". None of that. Nice.

I realize it’s probably not the best idea to study more than one book at a time, and while Apprentice Wizard does mention sexuality as a sacrament briefly – and trust me, I think that’s awesome! - I am still researching the topics of incubi, succubae and spirit lovers. Not an easy assignment, as one has to research the subject while slogging through the christian carryover of labeling everything that even veers in the direction of human sexuality as demonic. Far too many so-called "witches" are paying that forward when they write their books. They need to stop and think about what they’re teaching people, and too many witches are not doing that. We need to be seriously questioning this crap!

And so, to conclude the list of "fallen angels":

17. Tûrêl. Other Names / Variants: Turiel, Turael. Meaning of Name: "rock of God". One of the 200 angels listed in The Book of Enoch who followed Semyaza in the descent from Heaven to cohabit with the daughters of men, an incident touched on in Genesis 6. The sigil of the fallen Turel is pictured in The Secret Grimoire of Turiel, p. 39. As Turiel, Turel is a messenger of the spirits of the planet Jupiter; also, a messenger for the angel Sachiel or Setchiel.

18. Yomiel or Jômjâêl in later translations was the 19th Watcher of the 20 leaders of the 200 fallen angels that are mentioned in an ancient work called the Book of Enoch. Michael Knibb translates the Ethiopic version of his name as "Day of God". The Ethiopic Book Of Enoch., Knibb, Michael A., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978, repr. 1982.

19. Sariel, 'Command of God', is one of the archangels mainly from Judaic tradition. Other possible versions of his name are Suriel, Suriyel (in some Dead Sea Scrolls translations), Esdreel, Sahariel, Juriel, Seriel, Sauriel, Surya, Saraqael, Sarakiel, Jariel, Suruel, Surufel and Sourial. Suriel is sometimes identified with Ariel, Metatron, and Uriel. In 1 Enoch, he is one of the four holy archangels who is "of eternity and trembling". In Kabbalistic lore, he is one of seven angels of the earth. Origen identified Suriel as one of seven angels who are primordial powers. In Gnosticism, Suriel is invoked for his protective powers. He is commemorated in the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church on 27 Tubah.

Like Metatron, Suriel is a prince of presence and like Raphael, an angel of healing. He is also a benevolent angel of death (one of a few). Suriel was sent to retrieve the soul of Moses. It is said that Moses received all his knowledge from Suriel, (although Zazagel is credited also with giving Moses his knowledge).

According to the Book of Enoch, Sariel (same angel as archangel Saraqael (communicants of God) & Azrael (whom God helps) according to Al-Qur'an (angel of death, malaku I-mawati) was one of the leaders of angels who lusted after the daughters of men. They descended to the summit of Mount Hermon, in the days of Jared, to acquire wives and lead men astray**. Sariel specifically taught men about the course of the moon. Knibb's translation of the names of the Book of Enoch says it is possibly "light of God" or "moon of God" however he is listed as Araziel. His name is also listed as Arazyal and Asaradel in some 1 Enoch translations. The name being a combination of sa'ar and 'God'. In the book of 2 Enoch he is usually listed as the fourth angel with the name of Samuil or Sariel.

"Sariel" Artwork:  http://www.elfwood.com/art/a/n/andreak/sariel.jpg

Judaic-Christian texts say Sariel is the angel of death attributed to the fifth angel Apollyon. Some Enoch translations for Sariel use Arazyal/Araziel/Asaradel which in its anglo translation sounds very similar to Azrael. If Azrael is the same as Sariel he is one of the four Islamic angels in conjunction with Mikhail, Djibril, and Israfil. The name Azrael is listed in Muslim and Islamic theology as the angel of death "forever writing in a large book and forever erasing what he writes: what he writes is the birth of man, what he erases is the name of the man at death". We also see parallels in Rabbinical lore for Sammael, Falasha for Suriel, and Azrael in the Arabic.

Sariel is identified as being the same angel as Saraqael, said in the Book of Enoch to be the fifth archangel, set over spirits who sin in the spirit, change into all virtues, to eradicate particularly widespread vices of a city or a whole district and transform into all virtues. Before the identification of Sariel/Saraqael as the fifth archangel, however, the Book of Enoch identifies Sariel as one of the fallen host's "chiefs of tens."

And those are the 20 fallen angels.

**Note the interesting variation on the fallen angels ... the Book of Enoch said nothing about "leading men astray", only about lusting after women who were "unclean", and then teaching the women (their wives) those special skills; and teaching about the moon almost sounds like the earliest form of Dianic witchcraft. I don’t know where that variant now involving men came from, but it sounds like sleeping with "unclean women" and teaching them cool stuff wasn’t enough for the men who passed along the written stories; they had to throw the whiny "we were led astray!" in later versions to show how bad those darn angels REALLY were. Riiiiight.

Sariel is an excellent example of why christians can never be trusted as a source on angelic beings: is he a bad guy or a good guy? Is he a fallen angel or an archangel?

And again, the reasons as to why they were categorized as demons in the first place had everything to do with the uncleanliness and filth of women and nothing to do with the angelic beings themselves. So you’d think at some point, this would be noted and discarded as a solid reason for something being evil, but ... women are STILL filth in the judeo-christian-islamic world, no matter how polite a veneer they all try to slap all over it, so there you go.

Seven more days until the next full moon, on the 25^th of February.  This one is called the Full Snow Moon.  One guess as to why!

Incubi come from Watchers?

Am relaxing this day before Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Thursday with a White Fluffy: 1 oz. marshmallow vodka, 1 oz. dark chocolate liqueur, 2 oz. cream, all poured over ice and garnished with marshmallows and cocoa powder. Yum. Tomorrow I’m going to taste absinthe for the first time – have my own glasses, sugar cubes and spoon! – expensive as hell, but supposedly heavenly. But first ...

Il Volo released their latest cd. (I would have said "second", but they released so many variations of #1 – Continental, Global, Spanish, French, Takes Flight/Live in Detroit – and I suppose the christmas mini-cd counted as something – I’m not sure what number this actually is). Anyway, they just released their latest cd.

You get so used to groups or solo artists releasing their first cd, a spellbinder, and then falling flat on the second ... even someone as talented as Vittorio Grigolo, whose classical crossover career fizzled as fast as an open bottle of coke in a desert ... but not so this one.

My jaw dropped again – this is actually better than the first one, and I didn’t think that was possible, because I adored the first one! Holy crap, these guys are awesome! I can’t even find a "least" favorite, and I could on the first one – ("Smile". They sang it beautifully, it was just a snoozer of a song).

Mr. Signpost tossed out one of the Native American Plagiarist’s insipid tweets again: "Unusual sights can fill the heart with great joy. Keep your eyes open for the odd and different." Well, okey-dokey dear! And you have a real Tinkerbelle Day too, ‘kaaaaay?

Of course, the very next thing I saw was this photo:

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of the members of Il Volo goofing off while getting ready for a concert in Los Angeles.

Keep in mind that this was one of their last concerts at the tail end of a long, three-month straight, country-wide tour of the states. They were three exhausted and punch-drunk teenagers, eager to go home ... so silliness was perfectly understandable to those of us who had working brains.

Ah, but America is so lacking in working brains and so overstuffed with pretentious church ladies, the reaction of the American Hissy Fit Society was utterly predictable. "Eeek!" "Put your pants back on!" "Ohhh NOOO!" "Can’t we just... sing?" ...

Perfect example of the puritanical nonsense most American women spew all over the place to the point where your fingers are literally itching to slap them silly. European women wouldn’t have even blinked; American women – some of them, anyway – were all in this flutter of despair that "da boys" had turned into lusty old men on them. I’m sorry, I started laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair at some of their prissy, condescending church-lady nonsense.

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Lost my train of thought. Incubus. I arrived back at the incubus question via the direct and roundabout way: a while ago, I discovered that I really missed my daily sonnet burning its way out of me – and while the agony that provoked them has lessened somewhat, the comfort derived from creating them has not. I decided to start writing again.

I thought I would venture off in a different direction with the second poetry series. My inspiration was found in Milton’s Paradise Lost – although when I say "inspiration", I actually mean that the more I read of it initially, the more I wanted to slap him too for allowing himself to be sucked into a mass delusion. On the other hand, the more I read about him, the less I was sure as to what he did believe. Some day, I may get around to reading a biography. Meanwhile ...

This is the bit that bothered me:

Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme

I do realize that the line directly after "Aonian mount" was a nod to either or both Matteo Maria Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato or Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso but my irritation was his reference to the Greek gods and their creation being far inferior to his "Adam and Eve" story.

For the more under-educated readers, "Aonian mount" is a another way of saying "Ionian mount" which is another way of saying, "Greek mountains, such as Mount Olympus, which was the home of the Grecian deities." He’s basically saying, "They sucked; I win!" So, yes, he more or less comes across as the literary Sheldon Cooper of medieval poetry.

Second point being: a complete refutation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost is also possibly among those "things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme" (I suspect not but wouldn’t lay down a wager on it), but that’s the direction I wanted to go. I began this attempt a few weeks ago. And as I have decided that I also want to look down my upturned nose at poetry that doesn’t have a rhyming structure ... I ridicule him for his complete rhyming failure as well! BWAH-HA-HA!

So, speaking of Paradise Lost, and the urgent need christians have to demonize human sexuality ("Bad incubus! Bad! Bad!"), it made me wonder how many other spiritual beings were respected and even loved by the pagan world, and then turned into sexualized demons by christians.

For example, The Horned God was so demonized he appears regularly on your TV as Hellboy with his horns shaved off ... (and actually, I love Ron Perlman’s interpretation of him, so I’m not picking on Hellboy, believe me). But the Horned God was absolutely beloved in the pagan world, not made into something evil, as christians have done. Rather than draw from a variety of sources, I’ll quote from Wikipedia that the horned god was "associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting and the life cycle." I’m not sure this was one of the sources of sexuality and demons, but it certainly contributed. I’m not sure how far back that goes.

In the Book of Enoch. ("the wha ...?") we read an interesting story about The Watchers. The Book of Enoch is dated back to somewhere in the 3rd century B.C. Some of the mythology in Enoch is found in judeo-christian texts, but the larger version is only in Enoch. What makes Enoch interesting as far as research into incubi and sucubi is concerned? Angels falling in love with women and mating with them. But even that isn’t the whole story.

This may be one of the first mentions of situations which christians now call an "attack by an incubi". Basically, so Enoch reports, angels fell in love with human women, mated with them, and the resulting offspring were ... not particularly human, to put it politely.

But I’m not sure that was essentially correct. Enoch lists the band of angels who fell in love with mortal women; their leader’s name was Samyaza or Semjâzâ.

And here’s what I think may be the real source of the demonic attribute: "And the Lord said unto Michael [ this is Michael the Archangel]: 'Go, bind Semjâzâ and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness."

Read that one again. They’re fallen angels not because they're evil or demonic, or have done anything awful or unlawful, but because they consorted with women ... who are UNCLEAN! Fallen angels? Demons. According to your local judeo-christian hate-spreader, THAT may be the real reason why incubi are demons: they are attracted to and have sexual relations with women!! My jaw dropped when I found this – if anyone else has any other ideas behind incubi being demons, I’m all ears.

In the meanwhile, I'm thinking we need to free the incubus and succubus from christian clutches and treat them with respect again.