#Cherubim

[ultrainfinitepit]

If you missed it, there's new variants and recolors of some Pride Angels up for preorder on Backerkit. So far only the Genderqueer pins have been funded, but the Demisexual, Genderfluid, and Nonbinary pins are very close too.

It's just a limited set for now, I'm trying to keep the number of pins to a manageable amount. But you may see more variants in future campaigns if this batch does well.

Also I wanted to point out some of the variants. The mockups may look similar to the original variants, but actually they will have anodized (chrome) plating.

This plating is shiny instead of matte. Here are some examples so you can imagine the difference - you can find lots more examples with a quick internet search if you need them.

[sticksandsharks]

demonology // angelology

names & bases in image description.

some sticker sheets I hope to have for MCM London later this month!

[gromitgirl2003]

Biblically Accurate Gromit

[mayapocalypse]

Viktor Vasnetsov’s cherubim sketches for muséum in Kiev

[sancta-seraphina]

All of my illustrations for Angeltober this year. I didn't include the excerpts, they will probably get their own post.

[patreon] [instagram] [ko-fi]

[knight-a3]

Hazbin Masterpost

Heavenbound Masterpost

Sera, high radiant seraphim

I wanted angels to look more human. The whole "biblically accurate angels" thing is not quite as biblically accurate as you probably think.

More under the cut

This gets into some theology. So, I wanted heaven to be more human, since God created man in his own image, and it works best with the lore I am building. It just gives a more heavenly vibe when the angels aren't some creature-things. I want heaven to feel heavenly, okay?

Clothes: I changed her outfit, because the canon one is a bit too complicated and I didn't understand the construction of it. So I did something that's easier for me to understand. It's overall more animation friendly, and that pleases me.

Halo: I have specific ideas about halos. They denote the type and rank of angel they are. Seraphim have two silver ring halos. I haven't decided if I want to make her one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues (the Elder Seraphim) or just the head of the Radiant Seraphim(the broader rank of seraphim). Either could work. But if she's a virtue, I'd need to make a small change to her halo, as per my own lore rules.

Wings: I've decided to give seraphim wings with three sets(six total) of primary feathers, instead of six entirely separate wings. Mostly because I do not want to draw that many wings nor figure out the anatomy of it. It mimics the six-winged look while being easier for me to wrap my head around and draw. I also just like the look better.

They can also be summoned and dismissed at will, because I don't want to have to draw them all the time. It's a cop out, but I will do it.

--Biblically Accurate Angels--

"Biblically accurate" is not quite what most people think. Y'all are like, "biblically accurate angels are crazy looking eyeball and wing monstrosities, no wonder people were scared!" But that's literally not what the bible says.

Angel means "messenger", and they often appear as regular-looking people. Sometimes they have a "countenance of lightning" and "raiment white as snow". Jesus was once described(post-resurrection) as having feet of molten bronze(the molten part is the key: it's literally white-hot, not brown) and hair as wool(specifically referring to the color, not texture, and the commonly associated color is white). These are descriptions of glowing.

The crazier depictions tend to happen in visions or dreams, too. It's likely they were symbolic descriptions rather than literal. That the individual components had a cultural connotation that implied something about them. Many eyes symbolized constant watchfulness, for example. I mean, we sometimes describe an angry person as having fire in their eyes or steam coming out their ears, and that's not literal. We describe a sly person as a snake or a fox, but it's not literal. The book of Revelations and the Old Testament, in particular, use imagery, symbolism, and metaphors A LOT. And things get a little muddy when carried between language, culture, and time. Translation, localization, and modernization are tricky processes.

--Seraphim-- <-Link to some helpful info about this topic, if you're interested in that type of thing.

"Seraph" is a back-formation. It's a singular form of a pre-existing plural word. Seraphim is the plural form. I will probably use seraphs and seraphim interchangeably, so just don't worry about that.

The Hebrew root word "sarap" means something along the lines of "burning". It was often used to refer to snakes (possibly because the venom causes a burning sensation, or maybe as a metaphor for purification). It is only used once to describe a heavenly being, in the book of Isaiah. Every other time, it is translated as "burning ones" or "fiery flying serpent". In Egypt and other surrounding cultures, cobras would be used to symbolize divinity, sovereignty, and royalty. The Hebrews probably adopted the imagery. The seraphim described in the Bible might not even refer to what we typically imagine to be angels.

Long story short; seraphim means fiery flying serpents and symbolize divinity and/or purification.

--Cherubim-- <-Link to more cool info!

While I'm on the topic of the etymology of angels, I might as well address cherubs. Cherubim is the proper plural form, but I will probably use cherubs and cherubim interchangeably as well. Just roll with it, it's fine.

The youthful child depiction possibly comes from some rabbinic folk lore that claims the word is related to the Aramaic term for "like a child" or "youthful", but I'm not sure if that's true.

What I'm seeing most consistently is that they're implied to have wings. It seems commonly accepted that it comes from an Akkadian word meaning, "to bless". One source claims it means "hybrid" or "mount, steed" and refers to winged beasts that the Canaanite sky god would ride. Which would align with the depictions of cherubim as tetrads(a hybrid of four creatures), and/or the use of it as some sort of divine flying chariot.

There are a lot of theories, but nothing concrete. It gets very unclear and I'm not an expert. But I'm incorporating a variety of ideas into my lore, and I think I'm doing good with balancing them.

--

In the end, I'm using the terms seraphim and cherubim to describe ranks of angels, because it's what works best with our current understanding of the words. I'm not going to include the other traditional classes of angels like dominions, thrones, etc, because it's overly complicated, and not actually biblical. I don't want to waste brain power on that. Also, the Bible doesn't actually describe the hierarchy of angels at all. It's not even clear if seraphim and cherubim are supposed to be considered angels.

[healinglights]

[porcelanitaa]

𝑖 𝑎𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑚 ໒꒱

🕳️໒꒱

[scourgesstuff]

⚙️🔴

(Personally not much proud with this piece but . Posting anyways)

[day-nish]

I just really think Cheri should be allowed to get a good couple hits in on Dominion for free

[ultrainfinitepit]

Angelic Hierarchy (WIP)

[felinefractious]

🐱 Cherubim [Cherubim Ragdoll LCWW]

📸 Dorota Szajniakowska-Hrabia [Deep Blue]

🎨 Cinnamon Sepia Mitted

[hakuthemagicdragon]

Cherubim Aziraphale

in the show he’s called a Principality, but in the bible, the Angel who guards the gate of Eden with a flaming sword is a Cherubim. They’re described by Ezekiel as having the heads of a human an ox, a lion and an eagle.

I’m not gna lie this is my favourite piece of art I’ve done to date.

if you’d like to support my art, please consider buying me a ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/haku80464

some details

[pizzaflavoredicecream]

Ill color them when i have time

[hey-cj]

a zine of angels

[mushroomyhouse]

An angel of destruction that once ate the sun ☼

An original enamel pin designed by @ultrainfinitepit ❤️

☀️ mush.house/ultrainfinite 🐺