Shining Ones, Watchers & more

The following info is not all strictly Dragon-related but because Spheres Of Light — the Pagan group I’m a member of — will be working with the Watchers throughout 2021, using our own methods and interpretation of Ceremonial Magic, I decided to do some research on the Watchers (and their offspring, the Nephilim). One thing led to another and this blog post grew much larger (and took longer to complete) than originally intended, but I find it all rather intriguing so I just kept adding to it. My searching also turned up some interesting info about the Watchers, Nephilim and Seraphim appearing as serpent/dragon-like creatures. 🙂

The Shining Ones

From ancient texts, myths and legends, the true identity of the “Shining Ones” is considered to be one of the greatest secrets ever kept from humanity. Examinations of sacred ancient texts reveal this amazing race of beings created mankind and walked among humans and were of great importance to ancient civilizations world-wide. The Shining Ones have appeared in many myths and cultures by different names and descriptions always as gods or creational forces of light. (8)

The Egyptians spoke of these beings in the Egyptian Book of the Dead and revered them. According to some researchers, even the Native American shamans tell of the Bak’Ti gods, which the term translates to Shining Ones who descended on Earth millions of years ago establishing a base where they engineered mankind. (8)

This is the tale of the Watchers where an esoteric group of beings mentioned and revered by many cultures calling them Elohim (Ancient Hebrews called them Elohim much like the ancient Sumerians, who viewed them as the owners of mankind and its watchers) or Shining Ones were considered to be most powerful beings ever to exist, the ones who forged the human body and soul, and to have walked with mankind in ages long forgotten. (8)

Early records of The Shining Ones can be found in 5 basic sources:

1: Sumerian tablets from the library in Nippur where they are called by the name Annunaki (Anannage)
2: In Bible, Book of Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, where the name of Nephilim was given to them
3: Writings in Greece that can be accounted to Babylonian priest Berossus
4: The Book of Enoch, where they are mentioned by the name of Angels, Watchers, Nephilim
5: Book of Jubilees (8)

The Hebrew myth is very similar to the one found in Sumerian “Epic of Gilgamesh” furthermore linking with the Book of Genesis ends with the story of Tower of Babel (Babylon), ironically at that time situated in the region of the Sumerian empire. To this end the story in the Bible suggests “secret knowledge” was connected with the Shining Ones initially brought in Babylon and then transferred from there. (8)

The Shining Ones can be found in other religions and areas as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism that are predominated East. Records indicate for thousands of years, these Shining Ones worshiped the “inner light inside themselves like it was Sun itself” and this idea of enlightenment they carried with themselves wherever they went. (8)

The Tuatha Dé Danann as depicted in John Duncan’s “Riders of the Sidhe” (1911)

The Tuatha Dé Danann, an ancient pre-Celtic Irish tribe and the fifth one that invaded the island in ancient times, were also called the Shining Ones. They would later be associated with Elven or Fairy Folk, but in Irish myths, they weren’t anything like the fairies of folklore today. This tribe was not human but described as elegant, beautiful, and even shining with light. These mysterious beings arrived with the secret knowledge of the gods. (9)

Tuatha Dé Danann is translated to “people of the goddess Danu,” a primordial mother goddess. This same name, Danu, or Asura is also a Hindu goddess, and the name may describe “primeval waters.” Some have drawn comparisons to the wife of Zeus, the goddess Diana, whose name was derived from the Proto-Indo-European for “(bright) sky.” She was known to the Romans as the goddess of the hunt, the Moon, and nature. (9)

There are also links to many other ancient mythologies, including the Nephilim of the Bible and the ancient Sumerian Anunnaki. (9)

The people of the Israelite tribe of Dan intermingled with the Canaanite Tuatha De Danann, also known as the Dragon Lords of Anu, said to be the offspring of the ancient Sumerian Anunnaki. This is also one of the interpretations of the Sons of God intermingling with the “daughters of men,” referenced in the Genesis chapter six story of the Nephilim. (10)

This integrated tribe of Dan and Danaan/Danu/Anu migrated to the north and west, settling along the way in the European and Scandinavian regions as a conquering nomadic people, replacing those they conquered with their own traditions blended with the Canaanite Anunnaki Serpent culture. The similarities and multiple connections once again become staggering: Tuatha de Danann, Danites, Tribe of Dan and their linkage to the Dragon Lords, the Anunnaki and the Serpent. (10)

Yet another version of the origins of the Tuatha De Danann – the Dragon Lords of the Anu (before settling in Ireland around 800 BCE) – is that they were the descendants of the Black Sea princes of Scythia, now known as the Ukraine. Like the original dynastic Pharaohs, they traced their ancestry to the great Pendragons (note: Uther and Arthur Pendragon of the Arthurian legends) of Mesopotamia, and from them sprang the kingly lines of the ancient Britons, the Irish Bruithnigh and the Picts, the indigenous people of northern Scotland. In Wales, the Tuatha are said to have founded the Royal House of Gwynedd, while in Cornwall in the southwest of England, they were the sacred gentry known as Pict-Sidhe, connected with the early Merlin (Myrddin) and Tyntagel, the legendary Cornish birthplace of King Arthur. (10)

In The Psalter of Cashel (the lost Book of Munster) it states, “The Tuatha de Danaan’ ruled in Ireland for about two centuries, and were highly skilled in architecture and other arts from their long residence in Greece.’ According to The Psalter of Cashel, the Tuatha de Danaan were regarded as the descendants of Danaus, the son of Belus, who went with his fifty daughters to Argos, the home of his ancestral Io. In Irish legend, the Tuatha de Danaan, considered to be demi-gods, were said to have possessed a Grail-like vessel. They were teachers of ancient wisdom and the founders of the Druidic priesthood. (10)

In Merovingian legend, and in accordance with modern Reptilian mythos – these are the ancestral Euro-Semitic peoples who forged the bloodlines of the royal families of the Franks, as well as the royal houses of Europe’s history. (10)

The Watchers

*The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525 – 1569)*

Watcher is a term used in connection with biblical angels. Watcher occurs in both plural and singular forms in the Book of Daniel, where reference is made to their holiness. The apocryphal Books of Enoch refer to both good and bad Watchers, with a primary focus on the rebellious ones. (1)

In the Book of Enoch, the watchers are angels dispatched to Earth to watch over the humans. They soon begin to lust for human women and, at the prodding of their leader Semyaza, defect en masse to illicitly instruct humanity and procreate among them. (1)

The Watchers themselves are associated with different elements, as their talents when taken forms on earth are directed in different areas. In chapter 17 of the Book of Enoch, the realms from which the Watchers descend are from luminous fire, these flames or spirits may take form as figures. (3)

The Jewish pseudepigraphon Second Book of Enoch (Slavonic Enoch) refers to the Grigori, who are the same as the Watchers of 1 Enoch. The Slavic word Grigori used in the book is a transcription of the Greek word egrḗgoroi, meaning “wakeful”. The Hebrew equivalent means “waking”, “awake”. (1)

In the Second Book of Enoch the Grigori are presented as countless soldiers of human appearance, “their size being greater than that of great giants”. They are located in the fifth heaven and identified as “the Grigori, who with their prince Satanail rejected the Lord of light”. One version of 2 Enoch adds that their number was 200 myriads (2 million). Furthermore, some “went down on to earth from the Lord’s throne” and there married women and “befouled the earth with their deeds”, resulting in confinement underground. The number of those who descended to earth is generally put at three, but some manuscripts put them at 200 or even 200 myriads. (1)

The Watchers (Grigori) are angels who descended to earth, assumed many forms, chose human wives and instructed humanity in the forbidden knowledge of heaven. This included incantations, spells, magick, the solar and lunar calendars, working with metals and forging weapons, divination, reading and writing, art, medicine and the nature of the planets and stars. Azazel and Semyaza led the effort of illuminating humanity, considered “evil” by the Hebrew God who grew angry with the disorder given birth in his sheepworld. The Watchers in their sexual union with human women, gave birth to great Giants called the Nephilim. (11)

The Watchers were in their celestial origins guardians of cosmic order including celestial bodies, meteorological and natural phenomena. To the Judean priesthood and culture, largely isolated and contained from their neighbors by the cult of Yahweh, which held taboos and restrictions to maintain religious control, Hellenistic culture assumed a mask of subtle demonic and hostile powers seeking to erode the power of their one God. When compared, the Watchers and Nephilim found a syncretic harmony between the Greek Titans and Giants’ myths, the Canaanite deified warrior demigods and the forbidden knowledge which led astray or threatened Judean culture. (11)

The book of Enoch also lists leaders of the 200 fallen angels who married and commenced in unnatural union with human women, and who taught forbidden knowledge. Some are also listed in Book of Raziel (Sefer Raziel HaMalakh), the Zohar, and Jubilees. (1)

Araqiel (also Arakiel, Araqael, Araciel, Arqael, Sarquael, Arkiel, Arkas) taught humans the signs of the earth. However, in the Sibylline Oracles, Araqiel is referred to not as a fallen angel, or watcher, but as one of the five angels who lead the souls of humans to judgment, the other four being Ramiel, Uriel, Samael, and Azazel.
Armaros (also Amaros or Armoniel) in Enoch I taught humanity the resolving of enchantments.
Azazel taught humans to make knives, swords, shields, and how to devise ornaments and cosmetics.
Gadreel (or Gader’el) taught the art of cosmetics, the use of weapons and killing blows.
Baraqel (Baraqiel) taught astrology.
Bezaliel mentioned in Enoch I, left out of most translations because of damaged manuscripts and problematic transmission of the text.
Chazaqiel (sometimes Ezeqeel or Cambriel) taught humans the signs of the clouds (meteorology).
Kokabiel (also Kakabel, Kochbiel, Kokbiel, Kabaiel, and Kochab), In the Book of Raziel he is a high-ranking, holy angel. In Enoch I, he is a fallen watcher, resident of the nether realms, and commands 365,000 surrogate spirits to do his bidding. Among other duties, he instructs his fellows in astrology.
Penemue “taught mankind the art of writing with ink and paper,” and taught “the children of men the bitter and the sweet and the secrets of wisdom.” (I Enoch 69.8)
Sariel (also Suriel) taught humankind about the courses of the moon (at one time regarded as forbidden knowledge).
Samyaza (also Shemyazaz, Shamazya, Semiaza, Shemhazi, Semyaza and Amezyarak) is one of the leaders of the fall from heaven in Vocabulaire de l’ Angelologie.
Shamsiel, once a guardian of Eden as stated in the Zohar, served as one of the two chief aides to the archangel Uriel (the other aide being Hasdiel) when Uriel bore his standard into battle, and is the head of 365 legions of angels and also crowns prayers, accompanying them to the 5th heaven. In Jubilees, he is referred to as one of the Watchers. He is a fallen angel who teaches the signs of the sun.
Yeqon or Jeqon (Yaqum, ‘he shall rise’) was the ringleader who first tempted the other Watchers into having sexual relations with humans. His accomplices were Asbeel, Gadreel, Penemue, and Kasdaye (or Kasadya), who were all identified as individual “satans”. [List from Wikipedia (1)]

The rituals conducted by Spheres Of Light can be found here.

Nephilim

The offspring of these unions between the Watchers and their human consorts were the Nephilim, a race of people who were of extraordinary stature and strength – hence the meaning of the word Nephilim, “giants.” (2)

The Book of Enoch makes reference to the spiritual power and immortality of the Nephilim as Shades: “The giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the Holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin, they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits”. 15:8,10 Upon the physical death of the Nephilim, their spirits, due to their origin and hungering nature, allowed them the immortality of the psyche. (3)

Seraphim

A seraph, “the burning one”; or seraphim, in the KJV bible is a type of celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and in the fifth rank of ten in the Jewish angelic hierarchy. (4)

The seraphim may have evolved from the uraeus, the gold serpent (specifically a cobra) worn by Egyptian pharaohs on their foreheads. Uraei without wings and with two or four wings were depicted in iconography throughout the Near East. They protected by spitting their poison, or fire. (7)

The seraphim who became angels in lore perhaps originally had serpent forms with human characteristics. In the Hebrew Bible, the term saraf is applied to fiery serpents. Numbers 21:6–8 refers to fiery serpents sent by the Lord to bite and kill sinning Israelites. After Moses prays for forgiveness, he is instructed to set a fiery serpent atop a pole. Whoever was bitten by it, when he looked upon it, would live. Moses makes a bronze serpent. Deuteronomy 8:15 refers to the “fiery serpents” and scorpions in the land of Egypt.(7)

*Israelites Bitten By Fiery Serpents by Phillip Medhurst*

A seminal passage in the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–8) used the term to describe six-winged beings that fly around the Throne of God. They are also called the Akyəst (“serpents”, “dragons”). (4) Isaiah described more humanlike seraphim in a vision (Isaiah 6:2–3) where he sees God on his throne with six-winged seraphim standing above him. Two wings covered the face and two the feet—probably to protect them from the intense brilliance of the Lord—and the other two wings were used for ﬂying. The seraphim call out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; and the whole earth is full of his glory.” (7)

Dragons in the Bible

From an article by Rabbi Harvey (5)

A seraph is a creature with wings, big enough to cover God’s face. When you combine that with the root of the word, meaning “burning one,” or “fiery,” we get a fiery creature with wings. And when we combine that image with the idea of a serpent, we get a flying fiery serpent. Or, what many of us might call…a dragon. No wonder Isaiah saw a room full of smoke! When you have dragons, you have breathing fire, and when you have breathing fire, you have smoke. (5)

We can certainly see why God would use this creature as punishment against the Israelites, and certainly why a bite from a seraph serpent caused Israelites to die. Not because of a burning sensation, but because dragon bites probably hurt. And the threat of a dragon served well for intimidation purposes. Now, I’ve read the scholarship, the etymology of the word seraph, the idea of angelic beings in hierarchies, but the truth is, the answer was right in front of us. And it’s a simple one: dragons in the Bible! (5)

As it turns out, dragons appear in the speeches of a few of our prophets. While Isaiah certainly talks about them the most, Jeremiah compares the attack by Nebuchadrezzar as being “swallowed…like a dragon,” Ezekiel compares Pharoah of Egypt as “the dragon in the seas,” and Job asks God, “Am I the sea or the Dragon that You have set watch over me?” In the Near East literature, Ugaritic, Mesopotamian, Canaanite, dragons run rampant in poetry, some with seven heads. In fact some Canaanite gods, such as Baal, who end up in our Bible by the way, are told to be born of dragons. Imagine the rabbit hole we could go down with more investigation and study! Alas, no time tonight for that. (5)

When you read about how Moses told of the dangers the Israelites encountered in the wilderness and the plague of seraph serpents, at the very least, now you can think bigger than snakes and snake bites. You can let your imagination run wild at the possibility our Israelites knew our God sat on a throne guarded by dragons, and that when they had sinned, God sent those dragons to attack. (5)

Serpents And Dragons

From Section 7, Chapter 81 of “The Genesis 6 Conspiracy” (6)

The dragon/serpent/crocodile was the most appropriate beast pantheists could have devised for their messianic kingship, reflecting allegiance to Satan and seraphim angels. The New Testament In Today’s English notes the dragon is thought by modernists to be an imaginary beast, understood to be like a huge lizard, which is also called a serpent, appearing in the Bible as the devil, thereby also connecting Dragon kingships back to their sponsor, Satan. The antediluvian dragon/serpent was then the majestic animal of kingship before Eden. And after that, it was employed as an allegory for the kingship sponsored by seraphim angels, which was once more lowered from heaven to earth, both before and after the flood, to the descendants and followers of Cain and the seraphim-like Nephilim, by serpent-like angels. (6)

Dragon mythology has worldwide appeal. It permeates all cultures. All cultures have a name for dragon, even though the animal cannot prove itself to have existed. Dragon-like monsters inexplicably appear in remote cultures such as the Hopi, Huron, and Zuni. Mythologists Calvert Watkins and Joseph Fontenrose view the enduring patterns of dragon mythology as the fundamental myth plot of Western civilization, the story of stories, while Fontenrose further advocates that dragon mythology is an expression of an essential, cosmic dualism (polytheism). (6)

Drakon was the Greek word for dragon, meaning “serpent,” just as the ancient Sumerian words Usumgal and Mus-Usumgal translate as “serpent” and are metaphors in praise of gods and kings. The ancient, holy crocodile was known as Draco, the mighty dragon of kingship, whence the title “Pendragon” (head dragon) was contrived in the Celtic British kingdoms, and from whence the Roman word for dragon, draco, derived. Draco is Latin for “dragon” and derived from the Greek word draconia, which was originally described in antiquity to be a serpent-like creature with wings. Furthermore, draco derived from the original drakon, or draconta, which alternatively translates as “to watch” in the spirit of infamous seraphim watchers, the angels that bore wings. The angelic posterity, the Nephilim/Anunnaki were remembered in antiquity as watchers, rulers, and kings and all appeared like serpents/dragons. Moreover, variant forms of reptile serpents with wings likely thrived before Eden, as well, suggested by the fact that numerous legends recorded wings were removed from the serpent, along with other body parts. (6)

The dragon, too, was an ancient symbol for power and heroes adopted by the antediluvian and postdiluvian kingships. Jonathan Evans notes dragons were symbolic wonders of the world, and Tolkien describes them as part of the perilous realm of faerie: fairy tales, fantasy literature, and imaginative fiction. Our literature and entertainment overflows with covert allegories cloaking intrigue. Seemingly, the dragon was the key metaphor for patriarchal bloodlines (male), while the fairy represented the matriarchal bloodline (female). (6)