Seraph

### Summary

The highest-ranked angels who work as caretakers of God's divine throne and sing him praises.

**Seraph** (pl. **Seraphim**) is the highest-rank within the angelic hierarchy, only beneath the Celestial Princes themselves in terms of power and authority.

## Overview

A **seraph** (Plural: **seraphim**) is a type of celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and in the fifth rank of ten in the Jewish angelic hierarchy. A seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God crying "holy, holy, holy". This throne scene profoundly influenced subsequent theology, literature and art.

Its influence is frequently seen in works depicting angels, heaven and apotheosis. Seraphim are mentioned as celestial beings in the non-canonical Book of Enoch and the canonical Book of Revelation.

## Summary

The seraphim are the highest-ranked angels within the heavenly hierarchy, being the most powerful and hold the most authority and responsibilities in Heaven, barring the Celestial Princes. They are led by Metatron with Sandalphon being his second-in-command, though the Elder Seraphim as a whole act as their collective leaders.

The Elder Seraphim themselves are the first angels to be created by God after the Celestial Princes and were heavily involved in the creation of Heaven and the following orders of angels. According to Azazel, back in the seven days of creation, the seraphim were responsible for creating Tellus Mahte and the original Four Worlds of Creation, with Metatron and Sandalphon acting as the original sun and moon respectively while the remaining Elder Seraphim acted as pillars lifting up the Firmament.

They were among the leaders of the heavenly hosts, leading the armies of Heaven in primordial conflicts such as the Heavenly War and the Celestial War. They are known to be the most fearsome and dangerous warriors in existence, and are the embodiments of pure destruction and carnage on the battlefield.

Outside of combat, however, their main duty was to take care of the Throne of God in the Empyrean, the highest peak in the Seventh Heaven, and sang Him, with the most famous one being "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory!", which struck fear into the heart of the corrupted and brought forth acts of miracles across Creation.

During the Great War, over half of their number were slain in combat against the enemies, though a handful of them were banished and became fallen angels. However, it is later revealed that the number of supposed fallen seraphim was *much* greater than many believed, though due to the war, Heaven couldn't afford losing them to the fallen angels and instead imprisoned them in the Second Heaven.

## Appearance

In biblical scriptures, Seraphim are described as six-winged celestial beings made of heavenly fire and light. They have six large and feathered wings, often portrayed as covered in eyes, with two wings covering their face, two wings covering their feet, while the remaining two are used to fly.

In reality, the pure seraphim's true form is that of giant entities whose size ranges from a dwarf planet to a whole galaxy. Their figure is vaguely human-like and is made of light and pure angelic power from above his waist, while from beneath their waist, they resemble Western dragons with gleaming scales engraved with angelic runes while countless number of feathered wings are grown all across their colossal body.

## Groups

Seraphim are divided into three main groups:

* **Elder Seraphim** (エルダー・セラフィム, *Erudā Serafimu*): The original ten seraphim created by God during the seven days He spent creating existence. They are the most powerful of the seraphim and the sub-leaders of the Heavenly Council while the Four Great Seraphs are preoccupied by other matters. They consist of Metatron, Sandalphon, Raziel, Zaphkiel, Jophiel, Haniel, Zadkiel, Phanuel, Kamael, and Raguel.
* **Younger Seraphim** (ヤンガー・セラフィム, *Yangā Serafimu*): The highest-ranked seraphim who, while aren't as powerful as the Elder Seraphim, still hold immense powers and authority within the Heavenly Council. They serve as the Elder Seraphim's closest companions and retainers, often serving as their second-in-command within their respective choirs.
* **Lesser Seraphim** (レッサー・セラフィム, *Ressā Serafimu*): The general term used to refer to the seraphim who aren't considered a part of the Elder Seraphim or the Younger Seraphim. In some circles, they are also known as the **Unnamed Lords** or the **Silent Seraphim**.

## Trivia

* The name, "Seraph", means "Burning One" in Hebrew.
* All seraphim are given a seat on the Heavenly Council.
* In Christianity, they are the physical representations of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
* They are the same "fiery flying *serpents*" mentioned in the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible.
* In Kabbalah mysticism, they are higher angels of the World of Briyah.
* Multiocular O (ꙮ) is an exotic glyph variant of the Cyrillic letter O. This glyph variant can be found in certain manuscripts in the Old Church Slavonic phrase "серафими многоꙮчитїи" (*serafimi mnogoočitii*, "many-eyed seraphim").