LABBIEL-Used in Jewish legend as the original apellation for the archangel Raphael.. The archangel Labbiel was singular among certain groups of angels (namely the angels of peace and the angels of truth) in that he did not speak out and oppose the creation of humanity. Thus Labbiel was spared when the angry Lord wiped out the angelic bodies with fire. In honor of his fidelity Labbiel was renamed Raphael ("God has healed").

LAHABIEL-A companion angel to the great archangel Raphael, Lahabiel was also an angel called upon to aid mortals against the dangers of evil. His name appeared on various charms and amulets.

LAHASH-An apparently misguided angel who, with a fellow angel, Zakum, made the unfortunate decision to intercept a prayer concerning death offered by Moses to God. Lahash and Zakum were assisted in this difficult task by "184 myriad spirits"-a term often used to denote a great force, perhaps equaling over a million, which gives some impression as to the power of the Lawgiver's prayers. Not surprisingly, their efforts went for naught, and the two angels were brought before the Lord to receive punishment for their presumption and improper behavior. In one legend Lahash and Zakum were punished with sixty blows of a fiery lash, another version has Lahash whipped seventy times by the angel Samael and ousted from heaven.

LAILAH-Also Layla, an angel in Jewish legend who is said to be a holy being in some accounts and a wicked angel in others. Called the angel of the night and the prince of conception, Lailah was named from the Hebrew word lailah, meaning "night," taken from the passage in the Old Testament Book of Job (3:3). In the sense of being the prince of conception, Lailah is responsible for overseeing all the conception.

LARES-The name used in ancient Rome for the household gods or spirits. Divided into two groups, the lares domestici and lares publici, these spirits were said to have begun as deities of nature. The lares domestici were the spirits of the deceased members of the family, who were honored and expected to protect all surviving other members. They were under the leadership of the lar familaris, the spirit of the founder of the particular house or family.

LAWIDH-An angel found in Islamic lore, appearing specifically in the legends related to the Muslim holy figure Abu Yazid. Yazid was said to have visited heaven, and while there was greeted by the angel Lawidh. This angel offered him a mighty kingdom, a realm refused by Yazid, who perceived that Lawidh had been testing his faith and utter devotion to the Lord.

LIGHT, ANGEL OF-The title borne by several angels over the centuries and in assorted religious traditions. In Judaism and Jewish legend Isaac is called the angel of light because of the unusual, supernatural light that seemed to emanate from him at the time of his birth. Jesus has been called by some an angel of light, but in Christian traditions Gabriel is the acknowledged and current holder of the title. A different claimant to the position is Satan, who can be termed an angel of light. Still other variations on the title have been borne by such angels as Uriel and Raphael And one other angel, Shamshiel, a powerful prince and guardian, whose name translate as "light of day."

LIGHTNING, ANGEL OF-An angel who has special authority over lightning or who is so named because of his attributes or skills. By custop, the angel of lightning is Barakiel, although another proposed candidate is the great archangel Uriel.

LIGHTS-A broad or generic term for angels

LORD, ANGEL OF THE-A general name used especially in the Bible to denote and angelic messenger; it is also thought at times to mean God and, in several rare instances, the devil, in the sense of the enemy of good or as a kind of accusing angel and not as Satan in his later understanding. In all cases, however, it should not be forgotten that the angel-even if not the Lord himself-serves entirely at the consent and charge of the Lord, fulfilling a task that God wishes to have completed.

LORD OF HOSTS-One of the high honorific names for God that makes clear the Lord's mastery over the hosts of heaven, the armies of angels at his complete disposal. Other terms for God as the Lord of hosts include Sabaoth (Hebrew for "hosts") and Akatriel, although both these names are used also for angelic beings. It is acknowledged that the chief or leader of the hosts is the archangel Michael.

LORDS-An alternative name for several of the orders or choirs of angels. Among those angelic groups for which it is sometimes substituted in translations are dominations (or dominions), virtues, and even principalities, such as in some versions of the Second Book of Enoch when the patriarch Enoch visits the seventh heaven.

LUCIFER-One of the names used in common parlance for Satan or the chief of the fallen angels. This usage is actually entirely inaccurate; the name does not denote Satan or any other vile being of the darkness but was used in ancient astronomy for Venus, the bright morning star. How this peculiar state of affairs came about can be traced to a passage in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah (14:12). The "Day Star" to which the author refers is not some wicked unrepentant angel, but Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who had declared that he would descend to the heavens and there place himself on equal footing with the Lord; instead he was doomed, according to Isaiah, to fall and be laid low. The name, however, and the idea of a light-bearing angel falling from the heavens were apparently too much for later writers to pass up. Thus St. Jerome and other fathers of the church took to using Lucifer as another name for Satan. In the custop that thereafter developed, Lucifer was the supposed name of a great angel in heaven before his famous Fall from grace and renaming as Satan. This most beautiful of angels, and one especially beloved by God, suffered from an overwhelming pride; he refused to bow down before mankind and was thus ejected from the heavenly host. Not suprisingly, Lucifer has been the subject of many writers and artists.

<--MY RING SITE MAP-->