For anyone who's ever wondered whether the Seraphim are those
creepy-ass angels with the face of an eagle-lion-ox-man in The Book of
Revelation - sometimes associated with the coming of the end (hehehe) -
the answer is, YES!
And for anyone who has ever asked me what
differentiates them from the Cherubim, here's the skinny on that, and
perhaps clarification on points of confusion, per one source, at least.
'The fearful form of the cherubim: The four living
creatures that support the throne of God exhibited to Ezekiel a fourfold
aspect; they had each the face of a man, the face of a lion, and the
face of an ox; they also had the face of an eagle. They had each four
wings; they had the hands of a man under their wings. "Two wings of
every one were joined one to the other, and two covered their bodies."
They were accompanied by wheels which "went upon their four sides, and
they turned not when they went"; "and their whole body, and their backs,
and their hands, and their wings, and their wheels were full of eyes";
and the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash
of lightning." Such is a concise description of their appearance as set
forth in Ezekiel (chap. i.).'
'The seraphim are described
by Isaiah (vi. 1––3): "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the
seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and
with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried
to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts: the whole
earth is full of his glory." And in Revelation (iv. 6): "Round about the
throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind, and the first
beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third
beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were
full of eyes within."'
'It will be noticed that these
descriptions differ from that of Ezekiel, not only in the number of
wings, but also in the individuality of each beast being
separate and independent, not compounded of the four.' [1]
In
Christian angelic hierarchy the Seraphim rank first and most holy,
positioned closest to God. However, in the Hebrew caste, Seraphim rank
only as fifth.[2] Probably my favorite association is that of the
Seraphim to dragons, as dragons are one of my personal totems.
'Literally
"burning ones", the word seraph is normally a synonym for serpents when
used in the Hebrew Bible. A seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah
(Isaiah 6:1-8) used the term to describe fiery six-winged beings that
fly around the Throne of God crying "holy, holy, holy"'.
'The word seraphim, literally "burning ones", transliterates a Hebrew
plural noun; translation yields seraphs. The word saraph/seraphim
appears three times in the Torah (Numbers 21:6–8, Deuteronomy 8:15) and
four times in the Book of Isaiah (6:2–6, 14:29, 30:6). In Numbers and
Deuteronomy the "seraphim" are serpents—the association of serpents as
"burning ones" is possibly due to the burning sensation of the poison
(of snakes). Isaiah also uses the word in close association with words
to describe snakes (nachash, the generic word for snakes, in 14:29, and
epheh, viper, in 30:6).
Seraphs appear in the 2nd-century BC Book
of Enoch where they are designated as drakones (δράκονες "serpents"),
and are mentioned, in conjunction with cherubs, as the heavenly
creatures standing nearest to the throne of God. Two other classes of
celestial beings were equated with the seraphim - the phoenixes and the
chalkydri (from Greek χαλκός "copper", "brass" + ύδρα "hydra",
"water-snake"; lit. "brazen hydras" or "serpents"), who were both
described as "flying elements of the sun".
They appear also in the Christian Gnostic text On the Origin of the World, described as "dragon-shaped angels". [3]
Dragon (n.)
early
13c., from Old French dragon, from Latin draconem (nominative draco)
"huge serpent, dragon," from Greek drakon (genitive drakontos) "serpent,
giant seafish," apparently from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai
"to see clearly," from PIE *derk- "to see." Perhaps the literal sense
is "the one with the (deadly) glance." [4]
'Some authorities hold
that the seraphim had their origin in the Egyptian "seref," a
composite, winged creature, half lion and half eagle, which guarded
graves, carried dead kings up to heaven, and transmittedprayers
thither.' [5]
And yet other Egyptologists feel "the Seraphim
were inspired by Wadjet, an Egyptian goddess of the Sun, fire and the
Milky Way. Depicted as a cobra standing aggressively, Wadjet was the
protector of Ra and of the Pharaoh, and was a prevalent emblem of the
divine might of the egyptian kings, hence becoming very common symbol.
Influenced by the power of the Serpent as a guardian, ancient Hebrews
likely incorporated protective cobras in their symbolism, and while
creatures akin to the seraph are difficult to find in Canaanite
Mythology, the idea that Wadjet is the inspiration for these beings is
universally accepted by archaeologists...The Mesoamerican feathered
serpent deities like Tohil and Quetzalcoatl are obviously also similar,
some of them being solar deities." [6]
*
BOTH
classes of angels (Seraphim and Cherubim) are associated with symbology
of the four Elements (Fire, Earth, Air, Water), the Fixed Qualities
(Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable), and Directions (South, North, East, West) in
Astrology; as well as the four suits of the Tarot (Wands, Pentacles,
Swords, Cups); and the four suits of a regular deck of playing cards
(Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts). Thus, Seraphim and Cherubim are both
thought to represent the following concepts; the Seraphim individually,
the Cherubim as a composite: Lion=Fire (Leo, South/Summer); Calf or
Ox=Earth (Taurus, North/Spring); Man=Air (Aquarius, East/Winter);
Eagle=Water (Scorpio, West/Fall). The Fixed qualities of each brings
stability, fecundity and diversity enough to allow humanity to prosper
and take root. You could say the Fixed Qualities offer the building
blocks to civilization. The Elements represent basic energetic
signatures believed to comprise all matter animate and inanimate. And
the Directions equate each the four seasons: Summer, Spring, Winter,
Fall (typically it's read Summer, Spring, Fall, Winter, but I was
keeping sequentially with the quoted selection above).
The
Rider-Waite deck, et al, depict the four Fixed figures on its World
card, where all things are thought to manifest according to what is
aligned with one's highest benefit and most fulfilling happiness.
Sadly,
since some sources cite Lucifer as having once been a Seraphim
(Seraphim=serpent; Lucifer=serpent [7]; or possibly a Gregori or
possibly a Cherubim, who knows),
and an Archangel (sometimes the
former class is seen as being the leaders or part of the latter [8],
there are those who feel that a gang of fallen Seraphim, lead by the
Anti-Christ, will come to assert dominion over the Earth. According to
the Book of Enoch, these same Fallen Angels or Watchers, also called the
Anunnaki (Sumerian) and, sometimes the Elohim (Hebrew), interbred with
humans to create a hybrid race. Certain modern alien narratives state
that the Anunnaki, the fallen Seraphim, and their human/alien hybrid
spawn, the Nephilim, are fiercesome alien beings with a negative agenda
of domination and mind control.
Well, you can't win 'em all.
Fortunately,
The Book of Enoch describes more than one kind of Watcher or Seraphim
(I'm tentatively using them interchangeably pending more research) for
Wikipedia (yeah, I know) states, "The Third Book of Enoch gives
attention to the UNfallen Watchers."
You're welcome, Interwebs!
[1]
http://www.sacred-texts.com/lcr/fsca/fsca12.htm
[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph
[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seraph
[4]
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=dragon
[5]
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13437-seraphim
[6]
http://gwawinapterus.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/heavenly-dragons/
[7]
http://www.raphael.net/scripture/seraphim.htm
[8]
http://angels.about.com/od/AngelsReligiousTexts/a/Seraphim-Angels-Burning-With-Passion-For-God.htm
