The Book of Enoch provides detailed descriptions of the Ten Heavens. Each heaven holds its own unique wonders and inhabitants. Let’s delve into each heaven.
First Heaven:
This heavenly realm is characterized by an ethereal atmosphere and is home to a vast sea that surpasses any earthly body of water. It serves as a reservoir for the flood waters that were unleashed during the alleged time of Noah. These floodwaters eventually covered a significant portion of the Earth’s surface. It seems to be speaking of our Ice Wall of the Antarctic.
The First Heaven (Shehaqim) A “very great sea that is greater than the earthly sea” is said to exist in the ether of the first heaven (3:1). This suggests that, at the time of Enoch’s great-grandson Noah, there was an atmosphere that held the floodwaters that were poured onto Earth during the Great Deluge.
According to this scripture, the earth’s surface is covered in more land than ocean. The celestial waters will not be attributed to the oceans covering up to 70% of the Earth’s surface, the way we see it in the modern age. [1]
Treasure houses of snow
Enoch speaks of “treasure houses of snow, and the angels who keep their storehouses, and the clouds whence they come out and into which they go” (5:1). This description points to a considerably more intricate high-altitude cloud system that is responsible for containing the celestial floods.
Perhaps the “treasure houses of snow” helped to contain these floodwaters. The word “treasure” conjures up images of something priceless and lovely. “Storehouses” implies an enclosure or hold. “Snow” conjures up images of something chilly.
When you put all of this into one sentence, it’s possible that Enoch was speaking of a specific kind of confinement field—storehouses—made of ice (snow), crystal (wealth), or both.
The Cirrocumulus and Cirrostratus cloud systems are composed of supercooled, high-altitude ice crystals. Nevertheless, compared to what Enoch described before the Great Deluge, these contemporary systems are far lighter.
Terrible Storehouses
The snow treasure homes are further described by 2 Enoch as “terrible storehouses” that are guarded by angels (5:1) and “they are made to shut and open” (6:1).
These ice crystal storehouses are horrifying because, should this fictitious ice crystal containment field be breached, it will unleash the devastating Flood, which will destroy all land life on Earth save for Noah’s ark.
The phrase “storehouses” refers to the plural form, which conjures up images of several pillars or structures made of ice crystal scattered around the ice crystal containment field that is holding back the floodwaters.
The flood waters may have poured out like a sieve as the angels unlocked the dreadful constructions. Draining from pillars of ice, they might stretch out in a horrific form, not like rain does today or as most myths about Noah’s ark portray it.
Treasure houses for the dew
The angels show Enoch a “treasure house of the dew, like oil of the olive, and the appearance of its form, as of all the flowers of the earth” in the second heaven, which is a continuation of what happened to him in the first heaven (6:1).
An atmosphere in the sky composed of a field of ice crystals with ice pillars extending throughout, enclosed by a spherical grid and oriented toward the earth, would be breathtaking to witness. It might have had an amazing appearance.
It is possible to understand 2 Enoch as referring to a specific crystal structure that Enoch observed, as he used the singular form of “treasure house of the dew” in his description. In the past, olive oil was prized for its wealth and value, and kings were anointed with it.
When the structure is compared to olive oil, it implies that Enoch was ecstatic and possibly felt like a king. Maybe Enoch used this treasure house as a place to rest after exploring this vast atmospheric realm.
In addition, he observes that it resembles all of the earth’s flowers in appearance. This edifice was a riot of color, as flowers are inherently colorful. The beautiful depiction of prismatic crystals, which reflect every color in the rainbow spectrum, supports the ice-crystal theory.
1. ↑physicalgeography.net states that the Oceans cover approximately 70.8% of the Earth’s surface
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Second Heaven (Raquia):
In this realm, a place of great darkness exists where angelic prisoners are held captive, awaiting a boundless judgment. The leader of the rebel Watchers, Shemyaza, is said to have been suspended upside down here as punishment for his transgressions against humanity.
According to 2 Enoch, angelic captives in the Second Heaven are held in a realm of “great darkness” (18:3) while they wait for a massive and unending judgment (7:1).
This could be compared to 1 Enoch, where Shemyaza, the commander of the 200 renegade Watchers, was hanging from the ceiling for his crimes against mankind. [1] It is said that even the angels watching over the inmates are “more gloomy in appearance than the darkness of the earth.”
1. ↑ Andrew Collins, From the Ashes of Angels – The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race (1996) p. 153
Third heaven
The Prose Edda (1847) Tree of Life, painted by Oluf Olufsen Bagge
Third Heaven (Shebir):
This realm encompasses both a heavenly paradise and a place of torment. The heavenly paradise is adorned with the Tree of Life, which has its roots connected to the earthly paradise, specifically the Garden of Eden. It is a place prepared for the righteous and compassionate.
Conversely, a torturous place of cruel darkness, accentuated by murky fire and a fiery river, awaits those who have dishonored God on Earth through sinful acts against nature.
5. ↑ The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. III, The Lake of Fire, p. 1822)
Fourth Heaven (Machonon):
The fourth heaven governs the movement of the sun, moon, and stars. It consists of twelve Sun gates, each representing a specific zodiac constellation. These gates influence the Earth and the moon, dictating the dynamics of celestial bodies and their impact on the planet.
Within this realm, the Prince of Rebellion and the Grigori, a group of fallen angels, are confined. They remain silent until the arrival of Enoch, who plays a significant role in their eventual judgment. The leader of the fallen angels, Satanail, also resides in this heaven.
Archangels and “seven bands of angels” watch over human activity on Earth from the sixth heaven. They watch the sun’s revolution, the moon’s changes, and the effects of the stars [1]. (See also: Sun gates; Heavenly circles).
The dwellers of the sixth heaven are described in 2 Enoch 19 as witnessing the “good government of the world” (19:1). This expression could refer to the beneficial ways that cosmic dynamics control Earth and shape human behavior.
They watch human affairs with their celestial calculations. On this level, the archangels [2] will issue commands, just as in verse 19:2 they “make the commands” when they witness evildoing.
Concepts like Angel guides, Ascended masters, and spirit guides demonstrate how they may intervene in human affairs in order to carry out their commands, instructions, and teachings.
Six Phoenixes, six Cherubim, and six six-winged beings are among these celestial affairs. They are continuously singing with a single voice, a “sweet and loud singing and all songs of praise”[3] that “is not possible to describe” (19:3).
By Unknown author – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mohammed%C2%B4s_Paradise.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4812593
Seventh Heaven (Maon):
The Revelation
In the seventh heaven, numerous angelic orders with many eyes offer their praises to the Lord in a gentle and harmonious voice. Their melodious hymns create a serene and awe-inspiring atmosphere.
Seven Heaven is where the great archangels, cherubim, seraphim, thrones, the many-eyed ones, and the Ioanit stations of light participate in singing to Aravat in a gentle voice. [1]
Known as Muzaloth, this realm has dominion over the changing seasons, rainfall, and the twelve constellations that form the circle of the firmament. It controls the intricate balance of drought and rain, ensuring the cyclical patterns of nature are maintained.
Referred to as Kuchavim, this heavenly abode is where the twelve constellations of the zodiac find their celestial homes. It is a realm closely associated with astrological influences and cosmic forces.
The highest of all realms, the tenth heaven, also known as Aravoth, is the dwelling place of God. In Hebrew, this divine presence is referred to as Aravat. It represents the ultimate pinnacle of heavenly existence and serves as the center of divine power and authority.
So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him.
The summaries of the 2nd Book of Enoch’s Ten Heavens represent a deeply rooted understanding of Judeo-Christian beliefs and the Bible. They closely align with the official Catholic hierarchy of Angels, indicating a strong precedent for these beliefs in both scriptures and apocryphal books.
The ten concise summaries of the Ten Heavens of II Enoch outline Enoch’s journey through different celestial realms and his interactions with various angelic beings, shedding light on significant aspects of Judeo-Christian cosmology and beliefs about the divine realms.
The reader can see the Enochic writers’ fascination with the celestial counterparts of earthly realities, particularly the cultic ones, in the Book of the Watchers, one of the first Enochic pamphlets.
The design and characteristics of the celestial shrine in 1 Enoch 14, which describes the patriarch’s journey to the heavenly sanctuary situated in the heavenly abode, are strikingly similar to those of the Jerusalem temple. 1 Enoch 14:9–18 describes the heavenly architecture in the following fascinating detail:
And I proceeded until I came near to a wall which was built of hailstones, and a tongue of fire surrounded it, and it began to make me afraid. And I went into the tongue of fire and came near to a large house which was built of hailstones, and the wall of that house (was) like a mosaic (made) of hailstones, and its floor (was) snow. Its roof (was) like the path of the stars and flashes of lightning, and among them (were) fiery Cherubim, and their heaven (was like) water. And (there was) a fire burning around its wall, and its door was ablaze with fire. And I went into that house, and (it was) hot as fire and cold as snow, and there was neither pleasure nor life in it. Fear covered me and trembling, I fell on my face. And I saw in the vision, and behold, another house, which was larger than the former, and all its doors (were) open before me, and (it was) built of a tongue of fire. And in everything it so excelled in glory and splendor and size that I am unable to describe to you its glory and its size. And its floor (was) fire, and above (were) lightning and the path of the stars, and its roof also (was) a burning fire. And I looked and I saw in it a high throne, and its appearance (was) like ice and its surrounds like the shining sun and the sound of Cherubim
According to the Ethiopic text, the patriarch must travel through three celestial structures—an exterior house, an inner house, and a wall—to arrive at God’s heavenly Seat.
A further facet of Enoch’s dream vision that is crucial to understanding the heavenly counterpart traditions is found in 1 Enoch 14. Enoch recounts the dream concerning the celestial temple from two different points of view.
The first recounts the complete sequence of events, highlighting the fact that Enoch remains on Earth for the duration of the dream. In the second viewpoint, the seer appears to be simultaneously in two realms: dreaming while asleep on Earth and installing himself as the sacerdotal servant in the heavenly temple.
Enoch is the main character of the dream itself and is carried away to the heavenly temple. Such a representation of the dual identity of a human adept is common in many stories of the celestial counterparts, as the following examples demonstrate.
It particularly brings to mind the stories of Jacob’s celestial persona, in which angels see the patriarch dozing off on earth while also installing him in heaven.
In the Book of the Similitudes, where the patriarch would be publicly identified with his celestial identity in the form of the Son of Man, these early Enochic developments—found in the Book of the Watchers—will be seen as a vital conceptual step in developing the following myth of Enoch’s Doppelgänger.
He observes that “Enoch perceives himself as a visionary counterpart in heaven in 1 Enoch 13–14. Enoch is truly carried to heaven in [the Similitudes] 70–71 in order to be recognized as the Son of Man.
The two previously described viewpoints of the dream report are also included in the Similitudes, as will be demonstrated below. In these perspectives, Enoch initially portrays the Son of Man’s magnificent actions before subsequently becoming identified with this celestial figure.
Thus, the two viewpoints represent two different approaches to reporting a dream experience in which the dreamer recognizes himself. In the first, the dreamer describes what transpired in hindsight, portraying how he saw himself acting in the dream; in the second, he stays within the dream experience itself, involving only the dream figure.
The presence of the heavenly identities of humans is also hinted to in other early Enochic volumes. Therefore, the transformations of Noah and Moses from animal forms to human forms in the Animal Apocalypse represent, in the zoomorphic code of this book, the shift from human to celestial status.
The inverse parallelism between the heavenly and earthly identities of the various characters of the Enochic lore is further confirmed by the fate of the antagonists of the story.
The fallen angels, known as the Watchers, who during their disobedient descent into the lower realm, are destined to encounter their lower “earthly” selves by assuming the human roles of husband and father.
All these elements show that the protagonists and antagonists of the story are already portrayed as alternating between their higher and lower characteristics in the earliest Enochic books.
However, when the seer publicly identifies with his celestial Self in the Book of the Similitudes, this imagery reaches a new conceptual level. Now is the time to pay special attention to these conceptual breakthroughs that portend much.
The Book of the Similitudes
learnreligions.com An Ethiopian scroll with prayers to Archangel Phanuel Garden of Gethsemane
And it came to pass after this that my spirit was carried off, and it went up into the heavens. I saw the sons of the holy angels treading upon flames of fire, and their garments (were) white, and their clothing, and the light of their face (was) like snow. And I saw two rivers of fire, and the light of that fire shone like hyacinth, and I fell upon my face before the Lord of Spirits. And the angel Michael, one of the archangels, took hold of me by my right hand, and raised me, and led me out to all the secrets of mercy and the secrets of righteousness. And he showed me all the secrets of the ends of heaven and all the Storehouses of all the stars and the lights, from where they come out before the holy ones. And the spirit carried Enoch off to the highest heaven, and I saw there in the middle of that light something built of crystal stones, and in the middle of those stones tongues of living fire. And my spirit saw a circle of fire which surrounded that house; from its four sides (came) rivers full of living fire, and they surrounded that house. And round about (were) the Seraphim, and the Cherubim, and the Ophannim; these are they who do not sleep, but keep watch over the throne of his glory. And I saw angels who could not be counted, a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, surrounding that house; and Michael and Raphael and Gabriel and Phanuel, and the holy angels who (are) in the heavens above, went in and out of that house. And Michael and Raphael and Gabriel and Phanuel, and many holy angels without number, came out from that house; and with them the Head of Days, his head white and pure like wool, and his garments indescribable. And I fell upon my face, and my whole body melted, and my spirit was transformed; and I cried out in a loud voice in the spirit of power, and I blessed and praised and exalted. And these blessings which came out from my mouth were pleasing before that Head of Days. And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, and thousands and tens of thousands of angels without number. And that angel came to me, and greeted me with his voice, and said to me: “You are the Son of Man who was born to righteousness, and righteousness remains over you, and the righteousness of the Head of Days will not leave you.” And he said to me: “He proclaims peace to you in the name of the world which is to come, for from there peace has come out from the creation of the world; and so you will have it forever and for ever and ever. And all . . . will walk according to your way, inasmuch as righteousness will never leave you; with you will be their dwelling, and with you their lot, and they will not be separated from you, forever and for ever and ever. And so there will be length of days with that Son of Man, and the righteous will have peace, and the righteous will have an upright way, in the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.”
Without a doubt, the fiery “structure” in the Similitudes symbolizes the Throne of Glory, which is also, as we recall, represented as the crystal structure emitting streams of fire in the Book of the Watchers.
This is made obvious by an explicit reference to the deity’s Seat in 1 Enoch 71:8, which comes right after the depiction of the flaming “crystal” structure.
Since the four angels of the Presence will consistently appear in subsequent stories of the celestial counterparts eclipsed by the Kavod imagery, their appearance is especially significant.
Later in our study, we shall discover that other accounts of the heavenly equivalents found in various mediatorial tendencies would retain the central role played by the Kavod imagery contained in the Book of the Similitudes.
Regarding the Son of Man figure in the Book of the Similitudes as the celestial alter ego of the seventh antediluvian hero, a few remarks should be made. How unique is this connection in the Similitudes’ story?
This makes it noteworthy that the Son of Man’s figure could be seen as a Doppelgänger even in Daniel 7 when it first appears. Daniel 7 presents the Son of Man as having a celestial counterpart.
Daniel portrays the Son of Man as the whole human community rather than a heavenly alter ego of a single individual. Considering the visuals in Chapter 7.
Can I sum it up this way? What the hell is stopping me?
Evil is required because, without it free will could not exist, and without Free Will, there could be no progress and no opportunity for us to become the higher spirits the mis-titled “God” desires us to be.
Even though evil occasionally appears to be terrible and all-powerful in a universe similar to ours, love ultimately triumphs because it is immensely dominant.
Free Will is very real and extremely vital, despite what the tiny minion for Schwabby thinks.
Our ability to exercise free will is essential to our position in this world, which we will all eventually realize fulfills the far more important purpose of enabling our ascent into the eternal other dimension.
The idea that psychic blockages or barriers are formed by the human brain itself is something I had never really looked into previously.
All that is visible to us is what our brain’s filter lets through. Higher knowledge and experience are blocked by the brain, namely, the left-sided linguistic/logical region that gives us our sense of reason and the impression of being a distinct ego or self.
We must acknowledge that the brain does not actually produce consciousness in order to comprehend how the brain might actually prevent us from learning about higher realms, at least temporarily and hypothetically.
I think I’m really getting close to being who I really am.
Our deepest, truest selves are totally free. It is not hampered or compromised by deeds done in the past, nor is it preoccupied with status or identity. It understands that it need not be afraid of the material world and that it need not elevate itself via fame, fortune, or conquest.
I maintain that scientific reductionism, with its claim in promissory materialism to finally account for all of the spiritual realms in terms of patterns of neural activity, has severely denigrated the human mystery.
We must acknowledge that we are both material beings with bodies and minds existing in a material world and spiritual beings with souls existing in a spiritual realm; hence, this idea must be categorized as superstition.
