rainbows in curved air (or curves in rainbowed air)

Naming the Angels

I recently acquired the albums in John Zorn’s Book of Angels series & this gave me a pause for thought. Mr Zorn & his Tzadek label has been extremely prolific & it is impossible to keep up with issues.

I became fascinated by the titles & the names of angels unknown to me, e.g.

1. Astaroth

2. Azazel

3. Malphas

4. Orobas

5. Balan

6. Moloch

7. Asmodeus

8. Volac

Etc………….

Other angels were already familiar to me, e.g. Michael, Gabriel & Raphael & Islam, Judaism & Christianity all mention their interventions on behalf of God.

Judaism however, has such a wealth of writings on the subject. There also appears to be a lot of medieval use of the names of angels in many ancient, secret & esoteric practices. Aleister Crowley & his crew were exceedingly well-read on the subject.

On a personal level, I am engrossed in the angel themes throughout art & history, whether it is in writing, painting or cinema.

On the latter, one of my favourite movies is Wim Wenders, ‘Wings of Desire’. How this same theme was dealt with in the Hollywood copies is infantile to say the least.

When I start to see angels on a more regular basis, I will know it is time to move on.