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Astrological Beings

The Cheribim, Sphinx, and Ariel

Cheribim are composed of the Four Fixed Signs of the Zodiac

 

Cheribim are important symbolic Biblical creatures

 

Cheribim guard the entry to the Garden of Eden.

"...and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."

--Genesis 3:24

 

Two Cheribim stand over the Ark of the Covenant.

"When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover on the ark of the Testimony. And he spoke with him."

--Numbers 7:89

 

Ezekiel's Fiery Chariot, the Merkabah, is also a Cheribim

 

"Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings. Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.

As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies. And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning. And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning.

Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.

And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you."

--Ezekiel 1:4-30

 

Cheribim described in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

"... The ministers of the Glorious Face in the abode of the gods of knowledge fall down before him, and the cherubim utter blessings. And as they rise up , there is a divine small voice and loud praise ; there is a divine small voice as they fold their wings.

The cherubim bless the image of the Throne-Chariot above the firmament, and they praise the majesty of the fiery firmament beneath the seat of his glory.

And between the turning wheels, angels of holiness come and go, as it were a fiery vision of most holy spirits ; and about them flow seeming rivulets of fire, like gleaming bronze, a radiance of many gorgeous colors, of marvelous pigments magnificently mingled.

The Spirits of the Living God move perpetually with the glory of the wonderful Chariot. The small voice of blessing accompanies the tumult as they depart, and on the path of their return they worship the Holy One, Ascending they rise marvelously ; settling, they stay still. The sound of joyful praise is silenced and there is a small voice of blessing in all the camp of God.

And a voice of praise resounds from the midst of all their divisions in worship. And each one in his place, all their numbered ones sing hymns of praise."

 

 

Ezekiel's Merkabah has "wheels"

 

Ezekiel's vision of the Merkabah is similar to the supernaturalization imagery given the Temple incense burner that inspired "the cloud by day" and "fire by night" visions that guided Moses and the Israelites in the desert. In Ezekiel's vision of the Fiery Chariot of God we see another supernaturalization of a ritual Temple object. which are a clue to the Merkabah being Ezekiel's supernaturalization of a Temple incense cart. as a supernaturalized temple incense cart:

 

Temple laver on wheels

 

"And this was the design of the carts (temple laver carts): They had panels, and the panels were between frames: on the panels that were between the frames were lions, oxen, and cherubim. And on the frames was a pedestal on top. Below the lions and oxen were wreaths of plaited work. Every cart had four bronze wheels and axles of bronze, and its four feet had supports of cast bronze beside each wreath."..."The workmanship of the wheels was like the workmanship of a chariot wheel; their axle pins, their rims, their spokes, and their hubs were all of cast bronze."

--I Kings 7:28-30, 33

"As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man, each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle."

--Ezekiel 1:10

"Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their works was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their works was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel (the axles. When they went, they went toward any one of the four directions; they did not turn aside when they went. As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them. When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up."..."for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels."

--Ezekiel 1:15-21

 

The Four Evangelists

The four evangelists as the four living creatures of the Cheribim

 

"Though there are several inconsistencies between the records of St Augustine, Irenaeus, and St Jerome, St Jerome is generally credited with assigning the tetramorphs to each of the Evangelists. The tetramorphs, just as the four gospels of the Evangelists, represent four facets of Christ.

Matthew the Evangelist is represented as the winged man, or an angel. He is represented in human form because his gospel centres on the human nature and life of Christ. St Jerome writes, ”The first face of a man signifies Matthew, who began his narrative as though about a man: ‘The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham’”.

Mark the Evangelist is represented as a lion. He is represented in the form of a lion because he proclaims the royal dignity of Christ, the lion being the king of beasts. ”The second [face signifies] Mark in whom the voice of a lion roaring in the wilderness is heard: 'A voice of one shouting in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'”

Luke the Evangelist is represented as an ox, or a calf. He is represented in the form of an ox as his gospel dwells on the atonement and the sacrifice of Christ, the ox being an ancient symbol of sacrifice. ”The third [is the face] of the calf which prefigures that the evangelist Luke began with Zachariah the priest.”

John the Evangelist is represented as an eagle. He is represented as an eagle as his gospel describes the incarnation of the divine Logos, the eagle itself a symbol of that which is from above. ”The fourth [face signifies] John the evangelist who, having taken up eagle’s wings and hastening toward higher matters, discusses the Word of God.”

--Wikipedia

There were figures of Cheribim on walls of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem. Paintings of Cheribim continued into Christian art. While the supernaturalization of Temple objects explains such details in Ezekiel's vision of the Merkabah there is the likelihood that astrological sky maps may be involved in the "wheels within wheels" imagery. An astrological star map, even a primitive ancient one would show circular orbits of planets and constellations all revolving around the earth in the ancients' conception of an earth-centered cosmos.

 

 

Paxcalibur's sanctification baptisms have put out the fiery sword of the Cheribim guarding the Garden of Eden

 

   

 

 

 

The Cherub

The symbolic Humanitarian Man as the Child who has outgrown his animal parts and is on his way to becoming a full human being in God's terms, i.e., a humane being

 

  

 

 

 

"...and a little child shall lead them."

--Isaiah 11:6

    

 

Why did the folklore of the Cheribim which are fairly scary creatures who performed guard dog duty protecting the entry to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life, evolve into our images of cute little children with wings like angels? Why would such a transformation occur unless there is a spiritual undercurrent hidden within the Cheribim icon and angelology. If the purpose of the Cheribim is to represent Man still evolving into a Humane Being, then the Man Face of the Cheribim may very well show the Child Face of God.

 

 

And where does the Cherub as Cupid aim his arrows? It is at your heart because it is in awakening the heart that the purpose of the Spirit of Christ is on earth for. An awakened heart in a human being makes that human being a humane being.

 

"Verily I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

--Matthew 18:3

 

 

The Leo-Aquarius Lion-Men

 

The Sphinx

The Aquarian Man face of God is also seen in another astrological icon: the Sphinx which is a composite of the Sign of Leo the Lion and Aquarius the Man with the urn or cups or bucket who pours out Living Waters. Perhaps spiritually more important than the Cheribim creature formed by the Four Fixed Signs of the Zodiac is the Sphinx and Ariel, the Lion of God who is also the Angel of Jerusalem and the Angel of Peace. These two ancient astrological creatures are composed of the Leo-Aquarius axis of the astrological Grand Cross of Heaven, the Fixed Signs of the Zodiac, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus. The most well known cherib in the world is of course the Sphinx.

 

The Egyptian Sphinx

 

 

Sphinxes were found in several varieties including female ones. This unisex aspect becomes more important as the need to reestablish the Divine Feminine reaches critical stage in our times with male territorial warfare going unchecked by any significant political power of women in human governance.

 

               

Two Greek female Sphinxes

 

 

Ariel

the Angel of Peace, the Angel of Jerusalem

 

Ariel, the Lion of God is also the Angel of Jerusalem, the Angel of Peace,

and if my work as Arielmessenger is any indication, the Angel of Revelations

 

Ariel is the Archangel for the Age of Aquarius

 

Far less known is the Jewish angel of Jerusalem, Ariel, the Lion of God, an angel who would look like a lion-man but is paradoxically the Angel of Peace. I say would look because the Jewish religion forbade images of their religious creations such as the Cheribim of Ezekiel's Merkabah vision and Ariel, the Angel of Jerusalem. So they wrote in code around the prohibition because the Word of God priests with their written Holy Scriptures were at religious war with the pagans with their mythical icons and idols. Image worshipers were called "idolaters" by the Abrahamic religionists for relying on the power of imagery to instruct believers who could not read or write. With imagery interpretation is much more in the eye of the beholder than in the mind of the official religious interpreter of the Word of God who then controls the way people worship God.

 

The meaning of Ariel

 

Ariel is the icon that holds the Key pathway from Aquarius to Leo and beyond. Ariel is a symbolic Spirit bridge taking human souls from animal to full human being status.

"Make straight the path to God in the wilderness".

The straight path is the straight line of Aquarius/Leo, one half of the celestial Grand Cross. Ariel is especially meaningful to me as it was the Spirit of this angel who guided me for 28 years of my Christian walk. For 14 years I was known as Ariel in my counterculture community and as you can see by reading of how Ariel enters my life and as Arielmessenger all the spiritual work I was given to do that Ariel plays a significant part, still does as the astrological connection to the Messiah-Christ have become even more important in my Christian theology.

 

"Jesus said, 'Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes and the lion becomes man."

--Gospel of Thomas

 

This warning in the Gospel of Thomas surely fits Ariel Sharon, the ex-Prime Minister of Israel and accused war criminal who lies brain dead in a coma and has done so for seven years as of this writing in 2012. Ariel Sharon became a Lion of God but not a Man of God. The Lion consumed him and became man. This is why Aquarius, the Man Face of God, must lead in the Aquarius-Leo alignment. We can't go backwards become animals again, so once again I apply the aptly put wisdom of the famous actor President Aquarian Ronald Reagan, "The Future lies ahead".

 

 

The world's oldest carved figurine is of an ariel, a Lion-Man

 

 

Now let's not forget God uses religious imagery and icons to teach, not idolize.

 

 

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