Before the angels had faces, they had rank.Nine choirs pass the first light down, from fire to messenger.
Each rank receives illumination from the rank above it and passes it to the rank below. No choir reaches the source except through those nearer to it.
Contemplation. They face the source directly and receive its light without anything in between.
Isaiah 6:2
SeraphimThe burning onesHebrewśərāfîm“the burning ones”
Nearest the throne, they burn with the love they contemplate, and their fire is passed to every rank below.
“Each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”
Ezekiel 10
CherubimFullness of knowledgeHebrewkərûḇîm“meaning uncertain”
They keep the gate of Eden and bear the throne-chariot. What they know descends as light.
Colossians 1:16
ThroniThe steadfastGreekthronoi“seats”
Seats of divine judgement, later drawn as wheels within wheels with rims full of eyes.
Governance. They receive light from the first triad and use it to order the created cosmos.
DominationesLordshipGreekkyriotētes“lordships”
They govern the lower choirs and assign their duties. Nothing below them rules them.
Colossians 1:16
VirtutesMightGreekdynameis“mights”
Signs and miracles pass through them. They hold the order of the heavens steady and bend it where they must.
Ephesians 1:21
PotestatesAuthorityGreekexousiai“authorities”
Warriors on the border of creation, holding back whatever would unmake it.
Ephesians 1:21
Ministry. They carry the light into the world: to nations, to messengers, and to each person.
Colossians 1:16
PrincipatusRuleGreekarchai“rulers, first things”
Guardians of nations and cities. They watch over peoples rather than persons.
Jude 1:9
ArchangeliChief messengersGreekarchangeloi“chief messengers”
Bearers of the great announcements. Tradition names Michael, Gabriel and Raphael among them.
Psalm 91:11
AngeliMessengersGreekangeloi“messengers”
The last choir, and the nearest to us. The light that began as fire reaches us through them.
“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
The tenth rank · vacant
LuciferThe light-bearerHebrewhêlēl“shining one”
There is no tenth choir. There is only the story of the one who would not pass the light on: the brightest of them, who fell.
The figure at the top of this page is still falling.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”
“I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
The hierarchy follows Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, De Coelesti Hierarchia. Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. The original names are given in Hebrew and Greek, set in Cardo.
