Plot summary
Angels and mortals, who need one another but have a love-hate relationship, inhabit the land of Samaria. The angels have wings and fly, and are taller and stronger than humans. Legends state that angels were made by Jovah to oversee Samaria under the guidance of the Archangel. The angels are supposed to protect humans, answer their petitions, solve their problems, and intercede to god for them by petitioning the god Jovah through song, especially for rain when the crops need it and the sun when it is stormy. In addition, the angels must sing to Jovah at the annual Gloria held on the Plain of Sharon, otherwise god would destroy the world. The Archangel and his consort, the Angelica, lead this mass in praise of Jovah. Archangels do not serve for life, but every twenty years Jovah selects a new Archangel.
Samaria is divided into three regions, Gaza, Bethel and Jordana, separated by rivers. Each region has an angel hold or fortress that acts as the governing center for the region. The citizens of Gaza, the Manadavvi, are highly cultured and wealthy. The Jansai, who are calculating and greedy merchants, and run the Edori slave trade inhabit Jordana. The Edori are the wanderers and frequently become enslaved by the Jansai.
The Oracle has declared that the angel Gabriel is to be the next Archangel. However, Raphael, the current Archangel, who is corrupt and uses his position for himself, does not want to step down. Gabriel has an additional problem in that he procrastinated getting married. He tracks down the mortal that god has selected be his wife, but she has her own thoughts about the marriage and the expectations of her as the archangel's consort, the Angelica. Rachel, an Edori slave, dislikes angels because of what they had done to her family when she was younger. Gabriel is faced with many trials having to contend with Raphael on the one hand, and his reluctant wife, who is a constant thorn-in-the-side. But the trials and tribulations confronting Gabriel and Rachel brings them close together and they finally realize that they love each other. The story ends with Gabriel and Rachael singing together at the Gloria, thus satisfying the wishes of the god.
In the Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an archangel who appears in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Quran.
An archangel is an angel considered to be of the highest rank in popular consciousness, due to John Milton's Paradise Lost, though theological works actually place them as the second lowest amongst nine orders. The word archangel itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other religious traditions. Archangels also appear in the religious texts of Gnosticism. The four most common archangels are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.
Raphael is an archangel first mentioned in the Book of Tobit and in 1 Enoch, both dating from the last few centuries before Christ. In later Jewish tradition, he became identified as one of the three heavenly visitors entertained by Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. He is not named in either the New Testament or the Quran, but later Christian tradition identified him with healing and as the angel who stirred waters in the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:2-4, and in Islam, where his name is Israfil, he is understood to be the unnamed angel of Quran 6:73, standing eternally with a trumpet to his lips, ready to announce the Day of Judgment. In Gnostic tradition, Raphael is represented on the Ophite Diagram.
Michael also called Saint Michael the Archangel or Saint Michael the Taxiarch in Orthodoxy and Archangel Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Baha'i. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in 3rd- and 2nd-century BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels and responsible for the care of Israel. Christianity adopted nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him, and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7–12, where he does battle with Satan, and in the Epistle of Jude, where the author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael.
In Christianity, angels are the agents of God. Various works of Christian theology have devised hierarchies of angelic beings. The most influential Christian angelic hierarchy was that put forward around the turn of the 6th century AD by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in his work De Coelesti Hierarchia. He claimed to be an important figure who was converted by Paul the Apostle, who authored most of the New Testament, and his work enjoyed greater influence than it would have if he had used his actual name, until Erasmus publicised doubts about the age of the work in the early 16th century.
Uriel or Auriel is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in the post-exilic rabbinic tradition and in certain Christian traditions. He is well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition and recognized in the Anglican Church as the 4th archangel. He is also well known in European esoteric medieval literature. Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge and archangel of wisdom.
Sharon Shinn is an American novelist who writes combining aspects of fantasy, science fiction and romance. She has published more than a dozen novels for adult and young adult readers. Her works include the Shifting Circles Series, the Samaria Series, the Twelve Houses Series, and a rewriting of Jane Eyre, Jenna Starborn. She works as a journalist in St. Louis, Missouri and is a graduate of Northwestern University.
Phanuel is the name given to the fourth angel who stands before God in the Book of Enoch, after the angels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. Other spellings of Phanuel include Paniel, Peniel, Penuel, Fanuel, Orfiel, and Orphiel. His name means "the face of God".
Râmîêl, not to be confused with the holy angel "Remiel", is a fallen Watcher (angel) while the other is an Archangel in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Ramiel [Watcher] mentioned in [Chapter 7], is one of the 20 Watchers (angels) that sinned and rebelled against God by mating with the human woman and creating an offspring called Nephilim. Remiel [Archangel] is mentioned later on in [Chapter 20], as one of the seven holy angels who watch; the angel whom God set over those who rise. Remiel is also known as Jeremiel in certain translations of 2 Esdras.
Camael, also spelled Khamuel, Camiel, Cameel and Camniel, is the archangel of strength, courage and war in Christian and Jewish mythology and angelology.
Fallen is a 2006 ABC Family miniseries based on The Fallen series of novels by Thomas Sniegoski, and broken into three parts. The first part was originally advertised as an "ABC Family Original Movie", but nearly a year later, it was followed up with two other parts of equal length over the course of a weekend. Fallen stars Paul Wesley as Aaron Corbett, a good-natured high school student who discovers he is a Nephilim, human-angel hybrid. An alternate reality game advertising the series won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Interactive Program.
Jovah's Angel is a 1997 science fantasy novel by American writer Sharon Shinn. It is the second book in the Samaria series of novels.
Angel-Seeker is a science fantasy novel by American writer Sharon Shinn, published in 2004. It is the fifth novel in the Samaria series. It is set shortly after Archangel.
In Judaism, angels are supernatural beings that appear throughout the Tanakh, rabbinic literature, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and traditional Jewish liturgy as agents of the God of Israel. They are categorized in different hierarchies. Their essence is often associated with fire. The Talmud describes their very essence as fire.
The Chaplet of Saint Michael the Archangel, also called the Rosary of the Angels is a chaplet resulting from a reported private revelation by the Archangel Michael to the Portuguese Carmelite nun Antónia de Astónaco. The chaplet was approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851.
An angel is a supernatural spiritual being who, according to various religions, is God's servant.
A Batalha do Apocalipse: Da Queda dos Anjos ao Crepúsculo do Mundo is a book written by Brazilian journalist Eduardo Spohr, published in 2007 by Jovem Nerd site, in 2009 by the imprint created by site and in 2010 by Verus. The plot revolves around character Ablon, a renegade angel doomed to wander the world of men for having rebelled against the archangel Michael. Other characters include Shamira "the Witch of Endor", which helps the historic journey to the apocalypse.
Dominion is an American apocalyptic fantasy television series created by Vaun Wilmott. It is loosely based on the 2010 film Legion, written by Peter Schink and Scott Stewart. In December 2013, Syfy ordered a pilot episode and the series premiered on the American cable television network Syfy on June 19, 2014. The show was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa. Stewart served as series executive producer, as well as director of the pilot episode, written by Wilmott. In the series, angels are in combat with mankind, which fights back from a reduced civilization.
Seven Mortal Sins, also known as Sin: The 7 Deadly Sins, is a Japanese anime television series animated by Artland and TNK that aired from April 14, 2017 to July 29, 2017. It is an adaptation of Hobby Japan's media franchise The 7 Deadly Sins, which primarily consists of a series of fantasy figures.
