The Watchers

A watcher is a type of biblical angel. It shows up in both plural & singular forms in the Book of Daniel. This is where reference is made to the holiness of the beings. The Book of Enoch (2nd-1st century BC) refer to both good & bad Watchers, with a mani focus on the rebellious ones.

In Daniel 4:13, 17, & 23, there’s 3 references to the class of “watcher, holy ones.” The term was intro’ed by Nebuchaddnezzar who said he saw ” a watcher, a holy cone come down from Heaven.” He described how in his dream the watcher said that Nebuchdnezzzar will eat grass & be crazy. This punishment is “by the decree of the watchers, the demand by the word of the holy ones…” “that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men.”

The 1st Book of Enoch devotes a lot of attention to the fall of the Watchers. The 2nd Book of Enoch addresses the Watchers who are in the 5th Heaven where the fall took place. The 3rd Book of Enoch gives attention to the unfallen watchers.

In the Book of Enoch, the Watchers are angels sent to Earth to watch over the humans. They soon begin to lust for/after human women, & at the prodding of their leader, Samyaza, defect to illicitly instruct mankind & have kids with them, arriving at Mount Hermon. The offspring of these unions are the Nephilim savage giants who pillage the earth & endanger humanity.

Samyaza & his associates further taught their human “charges” arts & tech such as weaponry, cosmetics, mirrors, sorcery, & other techniques that would otherwise be discovered gradually over time by humans, not foisted upon them all at once.

Eventually, God allows a Great Flood to rid the earth of the Nephilim. But 1st sends the archangel Uriel to warn Noah so as not to completely destroy the human race. The watchers are bound “in the valley of the Earth” until Judgment Day (Jude 1:6). This is where some theories pop up. Like they’re in the Marianus Trench or in the depths of the Grand Canyon or in a mountain base.

The Book of Enoch also lists the leaders of the 200 fallen angels who married & consummated unnatural unions with human women, & who taught forbidden knowledge. Some are listed in the Book of Raziel (Sefer Raziel Hamalakh), the Zohar, & Jubilees. Here’s a short list of them:

• Araqiel: Taught humans the signs of the earth (geomancy). However, in the Sibylline Oracles, Araqiel is referred to not as a fallen angel (or watcher) but as 1 of the 5 angels who lead the souls of humans to judgment.
• Armaros: In I Enoch, taught humanity the resolving of enchantments.
• Azazel: Taught humans to make knives, swords, shields, & how to devise ornaments & cosmetics, metallurgy (specifically in the context of war)
• Gadreel: Taught the art of cosmetics (camouflage), the use of weapons & killing blows (martial arts & weaponry).
• Baraqel: Taught the signs of the stars (astrology)
• Chazaqiel: Taught humans the signs of the clouds (meteorology)
• Kokabiel: In the Book of Raziel, he’s a high-ranking, holy angel. In I Enoch, he’s a fallen watcher, resident of Hell, & commands 365,000 surrogate spirits to do his bidding.
• Penemue: Taught mankind the art of writing with ink & paper, & taught the kids of men the bitter & the sweet & the secrets of wisdom.
• Sariel: Taught mankind about the courses of the moon.
• Samyaza: 1 of the leaders of the fall from Heaven in Vocabulaire de l’Angelolgie.
• Shamsiel: Once a guardian of Eden as stated in the Zohar, served as 1 of the 2 chief aides to the archangel Uriel, when Uriel bore his standard into battle, & is the head of 365 legions of angels & also crowns prayers, accompanying them into the 5th Heaven. In Jubilees, he’s referred to as 1 of the Watchers. He’s a fallen angel who teaches the signs of the sun.
• Yeqon/Jeqon: He was the ringleader who 1st tempted the other Watchers into having adult spicy naked time with humans. His accomplices were: Asbeel, Gadreel, Penemue, & Kasdaye, who were all identified as individual “Satans.”

The Jewish pseudepigraphon 2nd Book of Enoch (Slavonic Enoch) referred to the Grigori. They’re the same as the Watchers in 1st Enoch. Chapter 18 presents the Grigori as countless soldiers with human appearance.

They’re located in the 5th Heaven. They’re identified as “the Grigori, who with their prince Satanail (Yes, you are reading that correctly) rejects the Lord of light.” One version of 2 Enoch adds that their number was/is 200 myriads (2 million).

Chapter 29, referring to the 2nd day of creation, before the creation of human beings, says that “One from out the order of angels” or “one of the ranks of the archangels” “conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth, that he might become equal in rank to the Lord’s power. And the Lord threw him out from the height with his angels, & he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless.”

The Mercer Dictionary of the Bible makes a distinction between the Grigori & the fallen angels by stating that in the 5th Heaven, Enoch sees “the giants whose brothers were the fallen angels.”

The longer recension of 2 Enoch 18:3 identifies the prisoners of the 2nd Heaven as the angels of Satanail.

First Corinthians 11:10, according to early Church Father Tertullian, refers to the Watchers. He taught that the lust of the Watchers was the reason for St. Paul’s directive to Christian women to wear a head covering. Tertullian referenced the case of a woman who was touched on the neck by an angel “who found her to be a temptation.”

According to Philo of Byblos, Sanchuniathon mentioned “some living beings who had no perception, out of whom intelligent beings came into existence, & they were called Zophasemin (In Hebrew: “Watchers of Heaven”). And they were formed like the shape of an egg.”

In the 1999 movie Dogma, the character Bartleby (played by Ben Affleck) is mentioned to have formerly been a Watcher. In the TV show Supernatural (season 10), the Grigori with 1 Tamiel (under the name “Peter Holloway”) appears as the main enemy of the episode. At 1 point, a picture is shown that is implied to be a painting of a Grigori. In the original Dragon’s Dogma, the dragon is called Grigori.

In the 1998 movie City of Angels (this is 1 of our founders’ favorite movies), Nicolas Cage plays a watcher angel who falls in love with a human woman (played by Meg Ryan).

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Samyaza

Also known as Shamhazai, Aza, Ouza, Semjaza, or Amezyarak.

He’s a fallen angel of apocryphal Abrahamic traditions & also Manichaeism as the leader of the Watchers.

According to the Book of the Watchers (1st section of 1 Enoch), Samyaza was a high-ranking angel who got caught up with the “daughter of men.” He talked 200 other angels to come down to Earth to marry some mortal/human women. Samyaza knew fully the severity of these actions. He was afraid that he was going to suffer the consequences alone & be held solely responsible.

To make absolutely sure that everyone equally shared in the consequences, Samyaza made his comrades swear an oath on Mt. Hermon. This was to make absolutely sure that everyone would share the same fate. While Samyaza is the actual leaders, he & his Watcher associates (like Azazel) taught humans a lot of things that weren’t meant for human beings to know:

• Sorcery & Incantations:
  • Samyaza specifically taught the “cutting of roots” & the “resolving of enchantments.”
• Comsmetology & Warfare:
  • Other Watchers taught the making of swords, jewelry, & cosmetics makeup.
• Astrology:
  • Humans were taught the signs of the sun, moon, & stars.

The “side effects” of the spicy adult time between the Watfhers & human women were called the Nephilim/Giants.

In the Enochian tradition, these “giants” were massive beings who consumed the earth’s resources. Eventually, they began to prey on humanity. The resulting chaos & bloodshedis given as the Great Flood, as the Earth cried out to the Archangels for intervention.

In the Book of Giants, Shemyaza (or Sahmizad in the Manichaean version) sires 2 sons, they battled Leviathan together. They’re not portrayed as heroic. But boasting about their own victory. A symbol of royal failure to keep one’s power in this world. After the defeat of the Leviathan, Shemyaza & his kids are slain by the 4 punishing angels.

The Babylonian Tulmud has 1 singular mention of the name Samyaza. The text portrays him as the grandpa of King Og, the king of Bashan & the last of the Raphaim known for his gigantic height & strength (Deuteronomy 3:11).

Upon the command of God, the Archangel Michael was sent to bind Samyaza & his associates. According to 1 Enoch 10: Samyaza was forced to watch the Nephilim (his kids) slaughter 1 another. He was bound/tied up & thrown into “the valleys of the earth” (or under the hills) to remain in darkness until the day of Final Judgment. At the end of time, he’s to be led away to the “abyss of fire.”

In some Midrashic traditions, Samyaza is portrayed with a touch of tragedy or repentance. One legend suggests he repented & suspended himself between Heaven & Earth – forming the constellation Orion.

In legend, Azza (another name for Samyaza) is the seraph tempted by the maiden Ishtar to reveal to her the Explicit Name of God. In Solomonic lore, the story is that Azza was the angel who revealed to the Jewish king the heavenly arcana. Thus making Solomon the wisest man on earth.

Of the 2 groups of angels headed by Metatron, 1 of the groups (the angels justice) were under the ruleship of Azza, who had this time hadn’t yet fallen.

According to rabbinic tradition, Azza is suspended between Heaven & Earth with Azazel as punishment for having had carnal knowledge of human women. He’s said to be constantly falling, with 1 eye open & the other closed, to see his plight & suffer the more. It’s said that he now hangs head down, & is the constellation of Orion.

Uzza (another name for Samyaza) is the guardian angel of the Egyptians. Before the Fall, Ouza (another name for Samyaza) was the rank of Seraphim.

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Summit of Mount Hermon [between 1934 and 1947]
Matson Photo Service
1 photographic print : gelatin silver. | Photograph showing convolutions of rock formation on Mount Hermon summit.

#MountHermon #1930-1950 #Hermon #Rockformations #photography

https://www.loc.gov/item/2007675861/

The IDF released footage showing the construction of temporary military outposts on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, where Israeli soldiers have been deployed since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

#Syria #Israel #Assad #MountHermon

Thought that Israel is a land of desert and camels? Think again! Mount Hermon, Israel's highest point, defies this stereotype with its stunning snowy landscapes and ski opportunities.

Located in the Golan Heights, near the borders of Syria and Lebanon, Mount Hermon is a unique winter wonderland in the Middle Eastern context.

Mount Hermon stands as a testament to Israel's diverse geography.
#mounthermon #golanheights #israel #mountain #hebrew #language #mountaintop