Book of Enoch

This is an ancient Jewish apocalyptic religious text. The author of this book, by tradition, is the patriarch Enoch. Enoch was the dad of Methuselah (the oldest man in the Christian & Hebrew Bible) & the great-grandpa of Noah.

The Book of Enoch has some quite unique passages on the origins of demons & the Nephilim, why some angels fell from Heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis Flood was morally necessary, & a prophetic explanation of the 1,000-year reign of the Messiah.

3 books are traditionally attributed to Enoch, including the distinct works of 2 Enoch & 3 Enoch.

1 Enoch isn’t considered to be canonical Scripture by most sects of Judaism & Christianity. Although it’s a part of the biblical canon used by the Ethiopian Jewish community, Beta Israel. As well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church & the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The older section of 1 Enoch is dated to circa 300-200 BCE. The latest part (Book of Parables) is probably from circa 100 BCE. It’s believed that Enoch was originally written in either Aramaic or Hebrew. The 1st languages used for Jewish texts. No Hebrew version is known to have survived.

Copies of the earlier sections of 1 Enoch were preserved in Aramaic among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Qumran Caves. The full Book of Enoch survives in its entirety only in the Ge’ez translation. Ge’ez is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originated from what’s known as Ethiopia & Eritrea.

The 1st part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who sired angel-human hybrids called the Nephilim. The rest of the book describes Enoch’s revelations & his visits to Heaven in the form of travels, visions, & dreams.

The book consists of 5 major sections:

• The Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36)
• The Book of Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37-71; sometimes called the Similitudes of Enoch)
• The Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72-82; sometimes called the Book of the Heavenly Luminaries or Book of Luminaries)
• The Book of Dream Visions (I Enoch 83-90; sometimes called the Book of Dreams)
• The Epistle of Enoch (1 Enoch 91-108)

The most extensive surviving early manuscripts of the Book of Enoch are in Ge’ez. Also, there are manuscripts used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to prepare the deuterocanonicals from Ge’ez into the targumic Amharic in the bilingual Haile Selassie Amharic Bible.

Judging by the number of copies found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Book of Enoch was widely read during the Second Temple period. Today, the Ethiopian Beta Israel community of Haymanot Jews is the only Jewish group that accepts the Book of Enoch as canonical & still preserves it in its liturgical language of Ge’ez. It plays a central role in worship.

However, the Book of Enoch was excluded from both the formal canon of the Tanakh (the Jewish/Hebrew Bible) & the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew). Also from the writings known today as the Deuterocanon.

By the 5th century, the Book of Enoch was mostly excluded from Christian biblical canons. It is now regarded as Scripture only by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church & the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The Book of Enoch was considered as Scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas & by some of the early Church Fathers (like Clement of Alexandria & Tertullian) who wrote circa 200 that the Jews had rejected the Book of Enoch because it purposely contained prophecies about Jesus.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) don’t consider 1 Enoch to be part of its standard canon. Although it believes that a purported, “original” Book of Enoch was an inspired book.

The Book of Moses (1st published the 1830s by the Mormon Church) is part of its standard works & has a section that claims to contain extracts from the “original” Book of Enoch.

This section has a number of similarities to 1 Enoch & other Enoch texts, including 2 Enoch, 3 Enoch, & The Book of Giants. The Enoch section of the Book of Moses is believed by the Church to contain extracts from “the ministry, teachings, & visions of Enoch.”

Though it doesn’t have the entire Book of Enoch itself. The Mormon Church considers the potions of the other texts that match its Enoch excerpts to be inspired while not rejecting but withholding judgment on the remainder.

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Archangel Uriel

Uriel means “God is my flame.” His name could be spelled Auriel or Oriel. He’s one of the archangels who’s mentioned in Rabbinic tradition & in certain Christian traditions.

He’s well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition & in folk Catholicism (in both he’s considered to be 1 of the 7 major archangels). In Anglicanism, he’s also well known in European esoteric medieval literature.

Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge & archangel of wisdom. He’s associated with the truth.

In apocryphal, kabbalistic, & occult works, Uriel has been equated (or confused) with Urial, Nuriel, Uryan, Jeremiel, Vretil, Sariel, Puruel, Phanuel, Azrael, & Raphael.

In the Secret Book of John (an early Gnostic work), Uriel is placed in control of the demons who help Yaldabaoth create Adam.

Of the 7 Archangels in the angelology of Judaism, only 2 of them (Gabriel & Michael) are mentioned by name in the canonized Jewish scripture. Where a 4th archangel is added to the named 3 (to represent the 4 cardinal points), Uriel is generally the 4th. Uriel is listed as the 4th angel by Christian Gnostics, under the name of Phanuel.

Uriel appears in the 2nd Book of Esdras, which is found in the Biblical apocrypha (called Esdras IV in the Vulgate). In this, the prophet Ezra asks God a series of questions, & God sends Uriel to instruct him. According to the Revelation of Esdras, the angels who will rule at the end of the world are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Beburos, Zebuleion, Aker, & Arphugitonos. The final 5 listed appear only in the book & nowhere else in apocryphal or apocalyptics works.

In Christian apocryphal Gospels, Uriel plays a role (differing between the sources) in the rescue of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, from the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod. He carries John & his mom, St. Elizabeth, to join the Holy Family after their flight into Egypt. Their reunion is pictured in da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks (a.k.a. Madonna of the Rocks).

Uriel is often identified as a cherub & the angel of repentance. He stood at the Garden of Eden with a fiery sword, or as the angel who’s over the world & over Tartarus. In the Apocalypse of Peter, he appears as the angel of repentance, who is graphically represented as being as pitiless as any demon.

In the Life of Adam & Eve, Uriel is regarded as the spirit (1 of the cherubs) of the 3rd chapter of Genesis. He’s also identified as 1 of the angels who helped bury Adam & Abel in Eden. He checked the doors of Egypt for lamb’s blood during the plague. He held the key to the pit during the end times, & led Abraham to the west.

In modern angelology, Uriel is identified variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the divine presence, presider over Tartarus/Hell, archangel of salvation, & in later scriptures, identified with Phanuel (“God has turned”). He’s often pictured carrying a book or a papyrus scroll representing wisdom. Uriel is a patron of the arts.

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, Uriel is commemorated together with the other archangels & angels with a feast day of the “Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the Other Bodiless Powers” on November 8 of the liturgical calendar. For those churches which follow the Julian calendar, November 8 & falls on November 21 on the modern Gregorian calendar.

He’s regarded as the patron saint of the arts & sciences. In addition, every Monday throughout the year is dedicated to the angels.

The Anglicans & Coptic Christians of Ethiopia & Eritrea venerate archangel Uriel. According to the latter, July 11 is his feast day. In the Ethiopian Homily on the Archangel Uriel, he’s pictured as 1 of the great archangels & as the angelus interpres who has interpreted prophecies to Enoch & Ezra, & the helper of both of them.

According to the Homily, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, Uriel dipped his wing in the blood & water flowing from Christ’s flank & Filled a cup with it. Carrying the cup, he & the archangel Michael rushed into the world & sprinkled it all over Ethiopia.

In every place where a drop of blood fell, a church was built. Thus, Uriel is often pictured carrying a chalice filled with the blood of Christ in Ethiopian Orthodox iconography. Uriel is honored in the Lutheran Churches as well, with churches including statuary of the archangels Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, & Raphael.

At the Council of Rome of 745, Pope Zachary (intending to clarify the church’s teaching on angels & curbs a tendency toward angel worship) condemned obsession with angelic intervention & angelology. But reaffirmed the approval of the practice of the reverence of angels.

This Synod struck many angels’ names from the list of those eligible for veneration in the church of Rome, including Uriel. Only the reverence of the archangels is mentioned in the recognized Catholic canon of scriptures, namely, Michael, Gabriel, & Raphael, remained acceptable.

In the 16th century, Archangel Uriel appeared before the Sicilian friar Antonio Lo Duca & told him to build a church in the Termini area. Lo Duca told Pope Pius IV about the apparition, and the pope then asked Michelangelo to design the church, which became the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels & of the Martyrs located at the Esedra Plaza.

In the 1st half of the 11th century, Bulgarian followers of the duelist heresy called Bogomilism, who lived in the dukedom of Ahtum in present-day Banat, invoked Uriel in rituals. This was witnessed by Gerard of Csanad, the Catholic bishop of the area after 1028. Uriel was also named in a small exorcism in the 15th century.

The Book of Enoch (which presents itself as written by Enoch) mentions Uriel in many of its component books. In chapter IX, part of “The Book of the Watchers” (2nd century BC), only 4 angels are named. Those angels are Michael, Uriel, Raphael, & Gabriel. Though some versions have a 5th angel: Suryal or Suriel.

However, chapter XX later lists 7 angels’ names & functions. Those angels are “Uriel, 1 of the holy angels, who’s over the world & over Tartarus,” Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, & Remiel.

The Book of the Watchers tells us that Uriel, Raphael, & Gabriel were present before God to testify on behalf of humankind. They ask for divine intervention during the reign of the fallen Grigori (fallen watchers). These fallen ones took human wives & had half-“angel,” half-human offspring called the Nephilim.

Uriel was responsible for warning our boy Noah about the upcoming deluge. After judgment has been brought up on the Nephilim & the Fallen Ones, including the 2 main leaders, Samyaza & Azazel. Uriel then acts as a guide for Enoch for the rest of the Book of Watchers.

In the traditions & hagiography of the Episcopal & other Anglican churches, Uriel is mentioned as an archangel. He’s recognized as the patron saint of the sacrament of confirmation. In some Episcopal churches, Uriel is also regarded as the keeper of beauty & light, & regent of the sun & constellations.

In iconography, he’s shown holding in his right hand a Greek Ionic column, which symbolizes perfection in aesthetics & man-made beauty, and in his left hand is a staff topped with the sun. He is celebrated in the Anglican liturgical calendars of the Feast of the Archangels. The Church of St. Uriel the Archangel at Sea Girt, New Jersey, is a testimony to Anglicans’ devotion to Uriel.

In Hermetic Kabbalah, Uriel’s name is commonly spelled Auriel. He’s regarded as the archangel of the North, & of the element of Earth. According to the teaching of the modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Uriel is the archangel of North & East, & is associated with the vegetation of the Earth. In iconography, he’s depicted holding stems of ripened wheat & wearing robes of citrine (a medium deep shade of golden yellow), russet (dark brown with a reddish-orange tinge), olive (like green olives), & black.

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Lol

#enoch #ireland

Tony Blair clashes with Keir Starmer over small-boat migration chaos.

The former PM appears to have adopted the same position as Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.... https://www.hufly.live/6nn5gCgslasc

#enoch

Entering Heaven Alive

This is also called ascension, assumption, or translation. This is the belief that’s held in a variety of religions.

Sine death is the normal end to an individual’s life on Earth & the beginning of afterlife, entering Heaven without dying 1st is considered exceptional & usually a sign of a deity’s special recognition of a person’s piety.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are 2 people, Enoch & Elijah, who are to have entered Heaven alive. But both wordings are subject to debate. Genesis 5:24 says, “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” But it doesn’t say whether he was alive or dead nor where God took him.

The Book of Kings describes the prophet Elijah being taken towards the Heavens in a whirlwind. But the word can mean can mean either Heaven as the home of God or the sky.

According to the post-biblical Midrash, 8 people went to, or will go to, Heaven alive. This is also referred to as the Garden of Eden & Paradise. The 8 people were: 1) Enoch, Noah’s great-grandpa (Genesis 5:22-24). 2) Elijah (II Kings 2:11). 3) Serah, the daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. 4) Eliezer, the servant of Abraham who chose Rebecca to be Isaac’s wife. 5) Hiram I, King of Tyre, who helped Solomon build the First Temple. 6) Ebed-Melech, the Ethiopian 7) Jaabez, the son of Judan ha-Nasi, who was the editor of Mishnah 8) Pharaoh’s daughter, sometimes called Bithiah

There were also 4 rabbis who visited Heaven. 4 entered the orchard: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher (also known as Elisha Ben Avuya) & Rabbi Akiva. One looked & died. One looked & was harmed. One looked & cut down the trees. The last one went up in peace & went down in peace.

Jesus is considered by vast majority of Christians to have passed away before being resurrected & ascending to Heaven, bodily, to sit at the right hand of God with a promise to someday return to Earth.

There are some people who believe that Jesus didn’t die. These are known as the Swoon hypothesis & Docetism. The Virgin Mary is thought in Eastern Orthodoxy to have passed away before being translated into Heaven. Roman Catholicism believe this also.

Protestants generally believe that Mary died and passed away naturally like another mortal person. Then Mary entered Heaven in a pretty usual manner. But certain observers belonging to the Evangelical Catholic tradition of Lutheranism & the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Anglicanism believe in the Assumption of Mary. Others in these traditions reject the Assumption of Mary.

With the adoption of the Nicene Creed in 325, the ascension of Jesus into Heaven has been officially taught by all Christian churches. It’s celebrated on Ascension Thursday. In the Roman Catholic Church, the ascension of the Lord is a Holy Day of Obligation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the ascension is 1 of 12 Great Feasts.

In the Reformed Churches, which teaches Calvinist theology, belief in the ascension of Christ is included in the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, & the Second Helvetic Confession.

Dispensationalists believe in a “rapture.” The rapture is rejected by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, & most Protestants. The rapture comes from a reference to “being caught up” that’s found in I Thessalonians 4:17. This passage says that when the “dead in Christ” & “we who are alive and remain” will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord/God. Christians differ on the interpretation of this Bible passage.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church teach that Mary died a natural death like any other human being. She was buried by the Apostle, except for Thomas (of Doubting Thomas fame), who was late. 3 days later, after Thomas arrived, Mary was found to be missing from her tomb, just like her son Jesus.

They also teach that the Apostles got a revelation during which Mary appeared to them & told them that she’d been resurrected by Jesus & taken body & soul into Heaven. They teach of Heavenly bliss that other saints will experience only after the Last Judgment.

In Mandaeism, the Left Ginza (1 of their holy books) mentions that Shitil (Seth), the son of Adam, was taken alive to the World of Light without a masiqta or death mass.

In the Hellenistic religion, Apollonius of Tyana was said to have been “assumed” into Elysium by Philostratus.

In Hinduism, Yudhishthira, of the Mahabharata, & Lakshmana, of the Ramayana, are believed to be the only humans that were able to cross the plane between mortals & Heaven/Svarga while still in their mortal bodies. Nahusha was admitted to Heaven in his human body, as were several other kings. Tukaram is believed to have taken to Vaikuntha on Garuda. This event is reported to be seen by villagers.

In Islam, Muhammad was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey. After he lead prayers at the mosque, Muhammad ascended into Heaven alive. In Heaven, he greets, individually, previous prophets. Later, he speaks to Allah. Allah gives Muhammad instructions regarding the details of prayer. Muhammad’s ascent into Heaven was temporary. He came back to Earth later. Islamic texts deny the idea of the crucifixion or death accredited to Jesus by the New Testament.

The Quran says that people (Jews & Romans) sought to kill Jesus. But they couldn’t crucify or kill him. Although “this was made to appear to them.” Muslims believe that Jesus wasn’t crucified but instead he was raised by God into the Heavens. This “raising” is often understood to mean through bodily ascension.

Some Islamic scholars have identified the prophet Idris to be the same person as Enoch from the Bible. This is because the Quran states that God “raised him to a lofty station,” & that has taken to be term for ascending, on which it’s concluded that Idris was Enoch.

Members of various Ascended Master Teachings, a group of New Age religions based on Theosophy. They believe that Francis Bacon underwent a physical ascension without experiencing death. He then became the deity St. Germain.

They believe that there were a lot of others that have undergone Ascension. They were called the Ascended Masters & act as spirit guides to human souls on their spiritual path. The leaders of these religions claim to be able to receive channeled messages from the Ascended Masters, which they then relay to their followers.

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Spirit(ed) Away

In Japanese folklore, spiriting away refers to the mysterious disappearance, or death, of a person, after they angered the spirits, or kami. In Japanese, Kamikakushi. There are legends of people being abducted to the spirit world by the kami.

In Philippine folklore, spiriting away means the disappearance of a person toward the land of Engkantos (enchanted beings). An example is Biringan, a magical city rumored to be in Samar. Engkantos are mythical environmental spirits that are said to have the ability to show up/appear in human form. They’re often associated with the spirits of ancestors & spirits of the dead, called anito.

Enoch, in the Bible, is written as being “…no more, for God took him.” (Check out Genesis 5:21-24.) Elijah disappears when a chariot of fire appears & he’s taken up to Heaven in a whirlwind. Philip the Evangelist is taken away after witnessing to the Ethiopian Church (Check out Acts 8.).

In a very popular anime film, called Spirited Away, the main character, Chihiro, is “spirited away” from reality to the spirit world after her parents angered a witch, Yubaba, by eating their food greedily. Chihiro meets friendly, & aggressive, spirits as she tries to return before forgetting her name while there.

In a semi-popular video game series called Fatal Frame, many of the characters get spirited away by ghosts often leading them into a spirit world where they use a Camera Obscura, which is an antique camera-like device that, in the game, captures images of spirits to either find a way out or save someone who’s been spirited away.

In the 1820 short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the main character, Ichabod Crane, vanishes after being chased by the Headless Horseman. Ichabod is rumored to have been spirited away by the Horseman.

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