Angel Names

Raphael, Haziel, Eremiel, Tatrasiel, Gabriel, Michael – all are angel names. All end in “el,” which means “God.” Only two of these names are mentioned in the Bible: Gabriel and Michael. Unless you include the books of the Apocrypha, which some people do. There you’ll read about Raphael. Otherwise, in all the Bible’s angel stories, angelic messenger-guardians are anonymous, most commonly referred to as “angel of the Lord.”

People began naming angels long before the birth of Christ. To come up with a name, they often selected a word that represented a skill or characteristic, then added the suffix “el,” which means “god.” So “gevurah,” which means strength, became the angel Gevurael. “Nura” means fire in Aramaic, so Nuriel became the angel, the “fire of God.” “Rapha” means healing, so Raphael means “healing of God.”

Seraphim are a group of angels mentioned in the Bible, so Seraph + el = Seraphiel, the chief of those angels. Cherubiel became the name of the chief of the cherubim.

Ancient angel-namers could turn Greek gods and goddesses into angels by adding the “el” suffix. The god Hermes, said to be the inventor of the lyre, became the angel Hermesiel. Jewish angel lore also adopted many Persian spirits. The Persian Aeshmadeva became the Jewish angel Asmedai, who is usually listed among the evil angels or demons.

Of course not all angel names end in “el.” Another angel mentioned in the Bible is Abaddon (Greek: Apollyon). With Gabriel and Michael, Abaddon brings the list of named angels in the Bible to the huge number of three. But in sources outside the Bible, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of angel names were created, both before and after the time of Christ. St. Augustine said, “Every visible thing in this world is put under the charge of an angel.” That’s a lot of angels. According to lore, angels govern stars, constellations, the moon, the heavens, earthly events like thunder, and human experiences like illness, childbirth, and marriage.

My own angel lore continues with the release of the second book of the Angelaeon Circle, Eye of the Sword in March – a little over five months away! So I’m morphing my blog yet again. Next week I’ll begin blogging angel legends, which I’ll adapt from different sources. I’ll start with tales from the ancient Book of Enoch, and I’ll blog one brief installment each week – usually on a Monday – which will give you a week to read that episode before I add the next story.

I’m excited about this new direction, and I think you’ll enjoy it. So join me next week for angel legends!

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Scents and Scents-ability

Trevin turned as Ollena emerged from the shadows beside the temple wall. He was not surprised he hadn’t sensed her with his mind raging.

“You were eavesdropping,” he said. 

She shook her head. “Just guarding. I couldn’t help but overhear as I walked by the temple window. Care to stroll the perimeter with me?”

Trevin exhaled slowly. A walk would help him cool down. In silence, he followed Ollena up the stone stairs to the top of the inner wall surrounding the palace and its grounds. She smelled like sandalwood. A comforting scent.

This is from a scene from Eye of the Sword (due out March 2012), which is told from Trevin’s point of view. He and some friends have traveled all day, so the scent of sandalwood is not only comforting, it’s a sign that Ollena has cleaned up a bit. In ancient times there was no deodorant, so we can imagine what the group must have smelled like after a day on horseback.

Perfume-making was an important business in the ancient world, and perfumes were usually expensive. If people could afford perfume, they might wear it on special occasions or place it in a dish or jar at home to cover more unpleasant smells.

Perfume makers used three different methods to extract fragrant oils from flowers:

1. Drop flower seeds and petals into hot oil, then strain out the seeds and petals before the oil cools.

2. Spread fresh flower petals on a layer of animal fat, which absorbs the fragrance.

3. Put flower petals into a fabric bag. Wring the bag tightly to squeeze out the flower oils.

Some of the most common scents were aloe, balsam, sweet cane (also called calamus), cassia, frankincense, henna, myrrh, saffron, nard (or spikenard), and white myrtle. People sprinkled dried mint leaves on the floors of their houses to make rooms smell fresh, and saffron flowers often perfumed large halls during banquets. Because perfumes were valuable, parents often saved a jar of perfume for part of the dowry for a daughter’s marriage.

What’s your favorite scent? Floral? Spicy? Of course it might not be a perfume at all. Fresh baked bread smells wonderfully good to me. Or freshly brewed coffee – mmm. I think it must be lunch time.

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Ancient Superstitions

“Keep a sharp eye,” said Gil. “We’re coming to Omen Crossing. It’s said that whatever you spy first at the crossing is the omen for your journey.”

As the wagon rounded the curve, the crossing signpost came into view. Trevin leaned against it, watching his horse crop the grass nearby.

“Is that a good omen?” asked Melaia.

“Depends on who’s interpreting it,” said Gil. “Seeing as how there’s none of those blasted spy-birds about, I’d say it tends toward the good.”

In Breath of Angel and the other Angelaeon novels, the inhabitants – human and otherwise – hold superstitions like all cultures do. Our own ancient Mediterranean world attached good and bad luck to numbers and days, objects and activities. For example, many ancients believed even numbers were unlucky, but not odd numbers.

Over 80 days of the ancient Roman calendar were considered unlucky “black days.” These included anniversary dates of military defeats as well as days when the underworld was believed to be open. No marriages or betrothals, no public parties or sports events were scheduled on these days. Armies avoided battle on black days. And rulers refused to be inaugurated on unlucky days.

Other superstitions dealt with how you lived your daily life. If you got into a food fight and threw little balls of bread at each other, you would get sick. You would hang a red rag or fox’s tail between the eyes of your horse or donkey to make sure you didn’t fall during your ride.

Many  superstitions developed around sea travel. Aboard a ship, clipping your nails or trimming your hair in good weather was bad luck. So was sneezing while crossing the gangplank to board the ship. Birds sitting among the ship’s ropes was a good sign. Unless the birds were crows or magpies. Then it was a bad sign.

People often carried talismans, objects they believed brought good luck. Talismans could be objects – like a rabbit’s foot – or drawings or inscriptions on objects. Some people thought that if they inscribed the name of an angel on an object – usually a small metal or pottery disk – it would bring good luck. Different angels were thought to have authority or power over different occasions – like a birthing, for instance – so different angel names were inscribed for different occasions. We don’t know exactly who began listing angel names and powers, but it began long before the time of Christ. Anyway, a talisman inscribed with an angel’s name was thought to carry that angel’s energy.

We still have lots of superstitions today. I think about this every time I get in a hotel elevator and there is no “thirteenth” floor. And at my house, if my family throws little balls of bread at each other, they’ll quickly discover that the practice is still considered quite unlucky.

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Just Beyond That Door

As Livia eased the door open, a warm, woodsy fragrance wafted out. Melaia wondered if choosing to enter this place would be her last act of freedom. She took a deep breath and let Livia usher her inside with Pym. The door clicked shut behind them. (from Breath of Angel)

A mysterious closed door stirs our curiosity and, in stories at least, raises the tension level. As long as we don’t know what’s on the other side, we’re wary. Anything could be lurking there. Even if what lies beyond the door is good, entering signals a change.

As I wrote last week in my blog about keys, most doors in ancient times did not lock. Those that did usually guarded rooms that required the most security: a treasury, a wine cellar, a dungeon, or the chambers of a person of high position. Not only were these doors locked, but they were made of heavy wood and were often bound with strips of iron or even covered with a sheet of metal. Some doors were made of stone.

Doorways between rooms were often narrow and low. A curtain might function as the “door,” or the opening might not be covered at all. The main doorway that led outside was usually wider and taller. In ancient Palestine the expression, “He (or she) heightened the door,” meant that person was showing off.

Gates led through city walls or into palace or temple courtyards. Gatekeepers closed the city gates at night and did not open them until dawn of the next day. A large city gate had a small door in it so that even after the gate was closed for the night, a person could enter. Of course the person had to convince the gatekeeper and guard that he had a right and a reason to be allowed into the city after dark.

Did you ever open a mysterious door? What did you find inside?

I wish you happy adventures on the other side of the door.

 

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October Offerings from the Elevensies

Today I’m taking time out from blogging about the Angelaeon background to announce the Elevensies‘ October debut novels. Music and the performing arts take center stage. Add a wonderful, thought-provoking contemporary novel and a couple of shivery fantasies to haunt the dreams, and you have some cozy reading on these chilly autumn nights.

 

 

 Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe: In the world of high-level ballet, diet and injury can take  their toll. Add a scandalous romance and one very important question: What price would  you pay to reach your  dreams?

 

 

 Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez: Carmen, a seventeen year old violin prodigy, falls for her  biggest rival just two weeks before the biggest competition of her career.

 

 

 

 

 Mercy Lily by Lisa Albert: Dealing with the concepts of quality of life, natural death, and  euthanasia are all part of being a veterinary assistant, but when Lily’s duties of caring for  animals and being her mom’s caretaker become blurred, she’s faced with the hardest  decision of her life – and her mother’s.

 

 

 

 Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel: Dragged into the night by the living dead, Nora soon  finds herself fighting for the father she thought long gone, the friend she was forced to  leave behind – and the love of a handsome, noble young army captain. Who just happens  to be a walking corpse.

 

 

 

 The Circle Cast by Alex Epstein: How did an exiled girl named Morgan le Fay become the  most powerful witch of her generation?

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The Power of a Key

Zastra took one gulp. Then another. She blinked slowly and set the goblet aside. Coughed. Murmured. Blinked again. Leaned her head back. And slept.

Melaia tiptoed to Zastra and slowly reached into her waist sash. Empty. Where were the keys? The jailer locked the door after fetching the scraps. If she had no key, she would have no way out. Besides, she needed to unlock the trunk to get the book.

In Ancient Egypt, around 2000 BCE, an unknown inventor tried his idea on a gate. He added a big wooden bolt that had pegs attached to keep the bolt from moving. The pegs released the bolt only when they were raised. With a key. As far as we know, this was the first key-operated lock.

Fast forward two thousand years. Still, we’re in ancient times, the first century CE. Locks had been around a long time, but most houses either didn’t lock, or they were secured with a sliding bolt. Only rich people had doors that locked with a key. Carpenters were the locksmiths. They usually installed door locks and made locking wooden chests.

Castles, palaces, villas, large temples and homes of the wealthy usually employed doorkeepers or “porters” (from port and portal – “gate”). These doorkeepers had the authority to let people in or lock them out. They held the keys. Since most common people had no keys, the key became a symbol of authority or power. People sometimes wore a key as a necklace to show they were wealthy. In the paragraph above from Breath of Angel, the queen mother, Zastra, likes to flaunt her power. And she holds a very important key.

Young children like to play with keys. Do they sense this power? Children are small. So is a key. But with this small object comes power. The sacred key can open doors or start a car or unlock a box that contains . . . a secret?

Sometimes a key itself holds a secret. Have you ever found an old key in a drawer or a container of odds and ends? It’s a key to your past, but . . . what did it open? Ah, power is fleeting.

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Thievery, Ancient-Style

Before I get to thieves, I want to invite those of you who live in the Nashville, TN area to the Southern Festival of Books this weekend (Oct. 14-16) at the War Memorial Plaza downtown. Lots of fantastic authors will be there, signing their books and speaking on a variety of fascinating topics. I’m scheduled to speak Saturday at 4:30 on the topic, “Fantasy, Murder, and Romance – First Books in Multi-Genre Series.” Copies of Breath of Angel will be available for purchase, and I’ll be available to sign them in the autograph area immediately after my talk.

If you’ve read Breath of Angel, you’ll know that Trevin lost the small finger on his right hand when he was quite young, and he can’t remember how it happened. Here’s an excerpt from Eye of the Sword, book 2 of the Angelaeon Circle novels, due out in March 2012:

Varic leaned toward Melaia, his voice soft but clear enough that Trevin knew he was meant to hear. “A friendly warning, my lady. In our country, taking a finger is the penalty for thievery. A man missing a finger is in no way trustworthy.”

So is Trevin trustworthy? Varic obviously doesn’t think so. Melaia has often wondered. And Trevin wonders about it himself. After all, he grew up robbing and has betrayed people more than once. In fact, he holds a guilty secret that haunts him.

Trevin robbed alone or with his younger brother, Dwin. He never joined  a group like many thieves did in ancient times. Back then robbers often formed bands (thus the word “bandit) and stole for their living. They hid in ravines and caves and attacked travelers. That’s why most people never traveled alone but went in groups or caravans for protection. Many of them sewed their money or valuables into the hems of their clothes or waist sashes.

Caravans hired guides they called “eyes of the caravan.” The job of an “eye” was to watch for thieves. Some caravan masters would hire one band of robbers to protect them from another band. – which makes me wonder if they ever regretted it.

Cattle and sheep thieves also hid in hills, woods, and ravines, watching for an animal to stray from the herd or flock. They crept in and stole strays. But a thief might prefer to be a housebreaker. Since most houses were constructed of mud and straw or clay bricks, housebreakers dug through the walls.

Severe punishments awaited thieves in the ancient world. The captured thief might lose a hand. Or his life. In most countries banditry was a capital crime, punishable by death. The exception was in ancient Palestine under Jewish rule. The Jews limited punishment to no more than “eye for eye and tooth for tooth.” A thief was required to return the stolen property along with a penalty payment.

As you can see from the Eye of the Sword excerpt, nations in Melaia’s world are not as generous. They operate under harsh penalties.

Be safe and well and grateful!

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A Quandary of Coins

Trevin and Catellus trekked upriver. The recommended ferryman, a long-legged fellow, was touted as the only person with the skills to successfully cross the current. He seemed glad for the business, though his price was high. Trevin was grateful to have more than enough in King Kedemeth’s pouch to pay for their passage. His right hand throbbed, so he used his left to select coins from the purse.

That’s a preview from Eye of the Sword, which releases March 13, 2012. The text has been copyedited and proofed, I’ve sent in a new, expanded map of the three kingdoms, and I expect to see ARC’s (advance reading copies) soon. Meanwhile I keep dipping back into the ancient world, which I find fascinating.

Coins didn’t exist until about 1100 BCE. Before that, people bartered by trading items or exchanging their services for goods. Trade items had to be valuable and easy to transport: cattle, wheat, olive oil, salt, spices, metal for tools and weapons, even slaves. Silver, gold, and copper fit this category and were traded in the form of bars or jewelry.

Coins probably originated in ancient China. At first the Chinese bartered like everyone else. Metal tools were popular items of trade. Around 1100 BCE the Chinese began trading metal miniatures of these tools as symbols of the tools’ value. The next step was metal disks with images on them.

The first coins in the “west” were minted near modern-day Turkey and were made of a mix of silver and gold. In ancient Greece each city-state minted its own coins and stamped them with the image of a chosen hero, god, or goddess. Roman coins often bore the image of the Roman ruler. When a new ruler came to power, a new image went on the coins (although the old ones were still accepted).

Here’s the quandary: So many different coins were in circulation, you didn’t have to go far to find a different currency in use. Which should you use? Which should you carry? Ancient Palestine serves as a good example. That small nation functioned as a well-traveled north-south land bridge, sea on the west, desert on the east. Lots of foreign traffic traveled its caravan routes, so it was common to see the Greek drachma, the Tyrian zuzim, the Roman denarius, and the Jewish shekel among other coins.

The solution: money-changers. In every large city of the ancient world, money-changers manned tables in marketplaces and – for a price – traded foreign coins for acceptable currency. Instead of counting coins, money-changers and merchants weighed them to see if they contained the right amount of gold, silver, or copper. Unscrupulous money-changers used false weights or skewed scales. In some towns, marketplace “police” strolled about, watching for cheaters.

Buying and selling are much simpler with a common currency and agreed-upon standards. Usually. The euro may need to go back to the money-changers. And if our own economy doesn’t get well, we may need to go back to bartering. Anybody want a book?

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Bury It? Hide It? The Dilemma of Ancient Wealth

A shriek came from the corridor. Peron darted into the room, hugging her crumb jar, with Nuri on her heels. Both girls were open-mouthed and wide-eyed.

Behind them limped a sharp-nosed, beardless man wearing a cloak fashioned completely of feathers – brown, black, and an iridescent blue that glinted in the lamplight. The skin around one of his round gold eyes was blackened, and a scratch jagged across his brow. 

Melaia went cold, head to toe. How had the man entered? Had she left the side door unbolted? . . . She strode to the brazier, her hands clammy as she clung to her harp. “This is the temple of the Most High,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t hear the quaver in her voice.

“So it is,” he hissed, limping to the bier. “I believe I noticed that.”

. . . “If you’re here for our treasury box, take it and be on your way,” said Melaia.

In ancient times the obvious place to find a large sum of money was a palace or temple. Guarded storerooms in palaces held coins and other highly valued items that belonged to the king and the kingdom. Kings could loan money to businesses and pay for construction and other public programs, which gained them favor in the eyes of their subjects – especially valuable if those subjects were influential.

Temples, too, could loan money from their coffers, which they usually kept in storage rooms. The scene above from Breath of Angel refers to a treasury box. Melaia’s temple is poor; the only coins they have are in their offering box. The wealth of her town is stored at the overlord’s villa.

What if you were a common person and had a few coins you needed to keep safe? The oldest custom was to bury the coins. Since the houses of most common people had dirt floors, you could bury your coins indoors under your sleeping mat. Another option, though not as safe, was to hide money or valuables in a jar or barrel in your house. You might hide spices or exotic perfumes, too, because you could use them as currency or trade them for coins.

If you had to carry money, you would slip it into the folds of your belt or waistband (the closest thing they had to pockets), or you could put it in a pouch and tie it at your waist or hang it around your neck. If you were traveling a long distance, you might sew the coins into the hem of your robe or tunic. But you always had to watch for quick-fingered thieves – pickpockets or cutpurses. Trevin and Dwin in the Angelaeon Circle novels spent part of their childhood picking pouches and thieving – until they unwittingly stole from a villain, who was glad to make use of their services in exchange for sparing their lives.

Most wealthy people protected their money by following the common wisdom of the day: invest in land or houses. You could then borrow coins from money-lenders when you needed currency and pay the lenders back with the proceeds from your harvest or the sale of land or the rent paid on your property. Sometimes these proceeds came in the form of the actual product – grain, olive oil, wine. You might pay your taxes with these products as well.

Where was this “treasure” of produce kept? In a storehouse, a rectangular building containing a central hall lined with small rooms. Tax payments made in the form of flour, oil, grain, or wine were kept there in marked jars to be distributed later to the army or the palace. Small towns might have only one storehouse. Large cities set aside one or more districts for storehouses, which lined the streets in that area.

We have many of the same dilemmas the ancients had: how to generate income, how to spend it, where to store it. Life has never been easy. Here’s wishing us all wisdom.

Stay safe and well. Coming up in the next few blogs: thieves, keys, and a quandary of coins.

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