This is the IV part of a series of blogs which draws on the introduction I wrote for the anthology, BOTH SIDES OF HEAVEN (Avalonia, 2009).  In this extract I explored the different spiritual hierarchies, please remember that this was written as an introduction for the book and as such there are references in the extract that follows to other writers and essays which are contained in the book.  Copies of Both Sides of Heaven can be obtained from my bookshop page, directly from the publishers, all good old fashioned occult bookshops, and of course online stores such as Amazon.

The Hierarchies of Angels & Demons

Where the angels, particularly the archangels who rule the angelic orders, do stand apart from their fallen brethren is in their absolutely focused approach, which is task-driven by the roles they fulfil.  This is described in the seventeenth century grimoire, Janua Magica Reserata, which observed:

“There is no part of the world, destitute of the proper assistance, care, keeping or attendance of the Celestial Angels, & they send down their influences through the Celestial spheres, & planets, to the place or persons sublunary, & do especially operate, according to their several & Respective Regulations.”[1]

The major archangels are divided in a number of ways, but one of the most significant divisions is the seven who stand in the presence of God.  These are Metatron, Raziel, Kamael, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel.  The latter four are commonly attributed in contemporary magic to the four elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth, as well as having planetary attributions, as does Kamael (also known as Samael).  The planetary archangels are also considered to rule over the planetary intelligences and planetary spirits (who are also known as the planetary angels and planetary demons) as well as their orders of angels.

The ideas of the nine orders or choirs of angels can be traced back to pre-Christian times.  Looking at the philosophers of ancient Greece, we can see the roots of these concepts in Aristotle’s ‘Intelligences’, developing through neo-Platonists like Porphyry and his pupil Iamblichus of Chalcis (c.245–c.325 CE), who wrote the significant text On the Mysteries of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians. This was commented on by Proclus (c.410-485 CE), in his De Magica and Elements of Theology.  His work was used and expanded upon by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (c.500 CE) in his Celestial Hierarchy, which dealt with the angelic hierarchies in great detail, and established that there were Nine Hierarchies.  In the ninth century CE, the Irishman John Scotus Erigena translated the Celestial Hierarchy and commented on in his work De Divisione Naturae.  From this source, fed from centuries of development, the hierarchy of angels entered the theology taught at the new centres of learning, universities, becoming incorporated into the theology, literature and grimoires, with a hierarchy of demons to match.

The attributions of archangels over the centuries was not set in stone, as can be seen by the variety of associations in different texts and traditions.  However, the influence of these angels is seen particularly in the last few hundred years, in the grimoires, Qabalah, and ceremonial magic traditions.  And so too, on the other side of the mirror (or perhaps heaven), are the fallen angels and demons, in a reflection of their angelic brethren.  Both sides were called upon to learn wisdom, the latter perhaps to hear the side that would otherwise be censored!

An instance of archangels delivering divine wisdom was seen in the experiments conducted by Dr John Dee with Edward Kelley, resulting in the Enochian system of magic.  This is considered by Aaron Leitch in The “Enochians”: The True Identity of the Angels of Dr John Dee, and Katherine Sutherland in On the Wings of Rebirth: The Angels of the Renaissance World and Dee in Context.

Indeed, from the thirteenth century angel book Liber Juratus to the Key of Solomon to the French black magic grimoires of the eighteenth and nineteenth century like the Grimorium Verum, the grimoires are full of conjurations of archangels, angels, fallen angels and demons, either for gaining wisdom, or to discover treasure or manipulate events or people (the latter more through the fallen angels and demons!).  A classic example of treasure hunting with spiritual creatures is presented in The Green Butterfly, Treasure-Hunting Animals, Astaroth, and King Solomon in Hiding by Dan Harms.

Abbot Johannes Trithemius wrote in 1508 in his De Septem Secundeis (‘Seven Secondary Causes’) that seven archangels ruled over history in a cycle.  Each angel rules for a period of three hundred and fifty-four years and four months, and we are currently in the age of Michael, the Solar archangel.  Considering the developments in technology and energy development, he has certainly been an active archangel!  The sequence of angels which goes round in cycles is:

The orders of angels all have functions, which are often neglected by people who will call on the archangels and assume they will get a response.  However as the orders of angels contain vast numbers of angels, they are an obvious place to call for angelic assistance when required, which is why conjurations to archangels usually asked the specified spiritual creature to send a substitute if they were busy.  The same principle was true for demons, with spirits from lower down the hierarchy being requested if the higher demons were otherwise occupied.