Azrael

[Aislin Ni MorRhiaghan]

Azrael

Also known as the Angel of Death, she is said to have enormous proportions with one foot standing at the gates of Hell and the other standing before the gates of Heaven. She is said to also perpetually write the names of the living and the dead within a scroll with the names of those going to Heaven. She is often associated with Satan as an equally evil being and named as one of the four archangels present in Revelations. Other angels have been associated with death including Metatron, Michael, Sammael, Sariel, Gabriel, Kafziel, Adriel, and Abbaddon. Of all of them, She is the only one given free reign over heaven and earth and in some texts is said to be the only angel married to the Earth. This gives her the vital function as being a bridge between the dimensions, or a bridge between the physical and the spiritual through which transformation on both levels may occur.

Death itself is a mystery but a continual part of the collective effort of all living things to re~ascend to our true selves. Life, death, and rebirth are perpetually necessary for the cycle of existence and expansion. Something must end for something else to begin.
Death has a bad reputation for being evil or negative, and while few of us would argue the tragedy of losing someone we love, the suffering that is sometimes involved, we can not deny the mercy of the function of Death. Death Herself does not cause this suffering but instead eases it by eliminating it altogether. Thus Death forms a merciful and necessary function as well as a practical one in the role of universal order.

Lore holds that when someone is about to die the leaves of the Tree of Life holding the throne of God wither and fall away from the branches. After forty days the branch that supports that life dies and Azrael then separates the soul from that person. This establishes Azrael as a multi functional being. Azrael functions as a keeper of order and the cycles of perpetual existence. Her function is one of record keeper and as such She is the keeper of the Akashic records. She is said to circle names in light that are going to Heaven or encircle them with black if they are going to Hell, thus She is the tie that binds us to our future, the gatekeeper between Ascension and return. It is She who holds the balance between life and death and She who also knows our deepest suffering.

Every angel is patterned from some characteristic of the Source and an incarnation of necessity of order and chaos. Both are vital for the functioning of the universe(s) and the continual spiritual evolution. Gnostic teachings associate the keeper of life and death with Shekhina, the consort and feminine half of God. A gentle loving force, She is said to be at one’s bed at the time of birth and the time of death. It is She that is called the Holy Spirit and who visited the Egyptians at the time of the plagues. She is the keeper of secrets, mysteries, wisdom, and divine knowledge. As time went on, the role of death became an integral part of the Divine Feminine. In the long run, the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth became a defining feature in the creative energies of the Goddess. Even goddesses who do not maintain the role of death related function maintain a creative force which in itself demands a cycle of chaos, construction, and destruction.

In some texts the Shekhina is said to mourn the deaths of innocents while guiding their souls to their destinations while at the same time placing vengeance upon those who caused the unnecessary deaths. While Shekhina performs the same function as well as any number of other goddesses, Azrael is not received as fondly. She is often scorned as being an evil force randomly taking innocent lives at a whim; however it is the role of death to also bring life into the world. If death did not occur life would simply cease to exist for lack of ability to support it. The planet would overflow with humanity and everything else would suffer as a result. Thus the balance must be kept even though the cost causes temporary suffering to those left behind.

As keeper of the records of the eternal cycle, Azrael can assist someone in the revelations of one’s Akashic records and healing so that they may ascend. Azrael’s purpose is vital for life to continue, but so is Her role as a teacher and keeper of great wisdom and mercy. For the suffering Her hand is a gentle release, for the wounded She is solace greater than salve, for the seeker She is the key to unlock the answers of our souls. She is one of the first angels to be created and will be the last to die, thus She is the beginning of life and the end of it, and the incarnation of all that have ascended to a greater vibration. Azrael is also a gatekeeper of the dreaming state between the worlds, for what is life if not the grand illusion of those who sleep and death the sleep of those in other realms.

Azrael’s role as a giver of life is often overlooked but alas if one can take life one can also give it. The balance between souls ready to incarnate, those ready to ascend, and those who are still searching is a thin one and one that must be carefully directed. When one life ends, another is being brought into the world. Azrael also monitors the reintroduction of twin flames, twin souls, and soul mates by honoring spiritual contracts and blueprints. Thus Azrael’s role as a mistress of time and construction is often laid upon the label of the Fates or Norns, yet random fate has little to do with it. When the time is right and appointed in one’s blueprint to be reunited with those they have loved and lost before, She is the one who directs this to occur. It is said that even the gods tremble before Her as She alone knows their time of death and will be the last one to pass away back into the Source. As Ancients are coming into their last incarnated state before assuming the eternal deathless state of ascension, Azrael is the gatekeeper to monitor that activity and to guide those incarnated souls into their ascended state. One theory is that when the Ancients fully return as incarnations that the multiverses will begin to reunite, thus the Veil will be torn and eventually caved in fully separating the dimensions and those who have passed on and those who still live. Thus She is the keeper of time and the gatekeeper to the many verses that house our many selves and the many paths our blueprints lead us down.

Death and fear seem to go hand in hand for most and is listed as the greatest fear in a population. Thus Azrael represents both the fears one has and the necessity to release those fears. Fear has its purpose. It prevents us from getting hurt, it lets us know when a dangerous situation is imminent but it can also prevent us from living, thus fear and death are very much alike. Azrael can help us learn to live life instead of fearing the end of it. She represents our greatest fears and the key to releasing those fears. As a silent watcher, she knows all of our pains, secrets, and heartbreaks. There is little one can hide from the keeper of secrets. Likewise there is little that one can not accomplish when one overcomes their deepest fears. Azrael represents many things to many people and few people consider her to be an ally. Her lesson is one of living our dreams instead of sleeping through them, forging our way into the world by will, and overcoming our fears by understanding the cycles of life and the importance of finding freedom of release. Appeal to Azrael when you are grieving the loss of a loved one, seeking your spiritual roots, or seeking to understand the fragile veil that separates the physical realm from the spiritual realms.

Eternally,

Aislin
April 09, 2007

[deacongray]

I think the media depiction of the gods of death is changing somewhat. Like the movie "The Hogfather" a weird little Christmas story, were the spector of death ( and his grand daughter) discover that The Hogfather ( Christmas Saint) has gone missing.

Death actually takes up the red suit and travels the world acting like this Pseudo Santa in order to keep belief in the whole thing from coming to an end.

Mainly what I took from it was that everything has its place, including death.

[EzikielTempted]

Certainly, death will always have a function. I just wanted to thank you for all the writing you've done here, it's fantastic to see people unafraid to use the names of angels and Christian/ Jewish myths.

[The Madame X]

"Christian/ Jewish myths"...hummm I would go as far removed as to call them 'myths'... 'Interpretations' would be my personal choice word.
There are much truths to be found in just about any belief system... mythological or no, in essence these beliefs are just interpretations of their observations in a language created for their time and place. We may think we have moved beyond their concepts but the truth is we have only moved beyond their language.

[Mnemosyne]

Hogfather was made into a movie?
In my opinion,Terry Prachett ( the author of Hogfather and the whole of Discworld) is an amazing writer and a magician of the highest order. His world of satire has taught me more on the sly than many serious books on the same subjects.
Talk about a master of modern (and ancient) myth! Wow.

Check out Carpe Jugulum if you want to know the "real scoop" on Vampires. ( Well... at least those sock losing, thousand named, black ribbon abiding Vampires of Discworld).


Back to the regularly scheduled program....

[Aislin Ni MorRhiaghan]