In my excitement and pleasure at the launch of my new book with Sorita d’Este, The Cosmic Shekinah, I decided to post some snippets to provide a flavour of the diverse material on the Shekinah we have woven together in this work. The first of these looks at the connection between the Shekinah and angels:
Considering the Kabbalistic model of creation as the result of the union of God and the Shekinah, the title of the Mother of Angels becomes entirely appropriate. The angels are the divine messengers (from angelos, ‘messenger’, Greek), and an interesting reference in The Thunder, Perfect Mind emphasises the association between the Wisdom Goddess (as Sophia in this instance) and angels, when she says: “of the angels, who have been sent at my word.”[1] Angels are also described in one of the Merkavah texts as, “Messengers of the Power and Awakeners of the Shekinah”[2]
The Zohar makes reference to the angels being born from the Shekinah, saying, “Its sparks are sparks of fire. Who are the sparks? Those gems and pearls born from that fire.”[3] It is also worth noting that the Shekinah is described as a gem and a pearl in Kabbalistic texts, demonstrating the continuity of association here.
A range of texts mention the connection between the Shekinah and angels, such as the first-third century CE Gedulath Mosheh (The Revelation of Moses), which describes:
“50 myriads of angels stand before him; they are of fire and water, and their faces are directed towards the Shekinah above; and all sing hymns”[4]
Enoch describes his own ascension to heaven in the Book of 3 Enoch, saying that:
“When the Holy One, blessed be He, took me away from the generation of the Flood, he lifted me on the wings of the wind of Shekinah to the highest heaven and brought me into the great palaces of the Arabot Raqia on high, where are the glorious Throne of Shekinah, the Merkavah.”[5]
[1] The Thunder, Perfect Mind, C3rd-C4th CE, Nag Hammadi Texts, trans. George W. MacRae.
[2] Hekhalot Rabbati, VII.154, C3rd-C7th CE.
[3] Zohar 2:114a, C13th CE.
[4] The Revelation of Moses, 9, C1st-C3rd CE, trans. M. Gaster.
[5] 3 Enoch 7:1, C2nd-C6th CE.
David Rankine 