Robin and Lynn had suggested at Crit Week that I look into and establish a hierarchy for my angels (and demons) in my fantasy world. I'm still waiting for my copy of Paradise Lost, but I'm going to power on through with my current set of angels.
I've looked extensively at different religious hierarchies and it's been the most useful on information. Of course from Holy book to Holy book and even website to website details vary, but I find this gives me the opportunity to take a grounded idea and turn it into something my own and new. I have however decided to keep the angels/demons holy names as to keep a level of familiarity.
Angel Hierarchy
Voice: Metatron, Seraphiel
Sword & Shield of Peace: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Azrael
Gifted Virtues: Humility, Kindness, Patience, Diligence, Charity, Temperance, Chastity
Demon Hierarchy
Voice: Lucifer, Lilith
Sword & Sheilds of Chaos: Leviathan, Beelzebub, Mammon, Asmodaeus, Mammon, Belphegor
Poisonous Sins: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust
Angel Voices and Swords & Shields dwell in an unimaginable parallel plane to the world they watch over. The plane is referred to as the Higherworld by most species, while some disregard it's existence and some believe that is where paradise after death lies. The truth is no living creature outside angels have seen the Higherworld, there is no record of how it looks, and no souls but angels inhabit it. The very same truth goes for the Lowerworld, the inhabitants of demons. But instead of a paradise, it's seen as a place of fear and nightmare.
Minus the Voices, angels and demons can be killed by one another. No species has the means to kill these creatures. When an angel or demon dies, it is replaced. Angels or demons cannot reproduce, and instead are spawned in their respective planes, but it is unsure how. In the space of a year they are full-grown and matured, ready to take on the role of the angel before them. It is extremely rare to see a child or teen angel on earth. Demonic children or teens are more common, and take three years to mature.
3rd class angels and demons (virtues/sins) exist for the world. The Virtues try to aid the beauty of the world while the Sins try to destroy it. They influence the world quietly. Different cultures/species believe they do this for different reasons. The world could continue to exist without angels and demons, as they only serve to influence the inhabitable, not the environment.
In my research of demons, I've found there to be much less significant information available than of angels. While there is a set hierarchy with angels in Holy texts and various kinds of cherubs and seraphim, there is surprisingly only 7 Princes of Hell, Satan (who is a Prince of hell), and the 7 sins linked to them. I found this quite strange, and had to dig deeper into mythology (especially Christian mythology involving the story of Lilith, and finding out about fallen angels such as Naamah, an angel of prostitution) to fill holes in my lacking demons.
Visually I'm still taking elements from different angels, media and fashion, and applying them to sketches. I'm hoping my next blog post will be an update into different male/female hairstyles in the real world from different time periods translated into fantasy feathery angel hair for my characters :) I'm hoping that will create distinguishable and unique characters. After hair, I'll move to fashion and clothes, and will actively be practicing life drawing to match different body types. And soon after, fashion me some demons. :)
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