Did he set out to destroy it all?
Did he understand how far he'd Fall?
Does he ever regret it?
Does he wish he could change?
Is there anything left,
Aside from his rage?
Beyond redemption.
Beyond all hope.
Sympathy for the Devil?
It's best left alone.
I was researching Paradise Lost, trying to find out if purchasing an edition of the epic poem was worth it, when I could simply find it online for free. You see, when it comes to poetry, I prefer to hold a physical book in my hand. It speaks to me more, in that...the words have a physical presence. You aren't creating the words, you're only speaking for them. When reading poetry aloud, you're not really the one speaking. The poem itself is. All the speaker is doing is...translating.
Lately, I've found myself examining my faith, my ideals and beliefs, more often. Especially when it comes to the matters of angels and fallen angels, as I myself have a number of characters that belong to either group. This is the main premise behind my best friend's fictional world (that I myself have contributed to, on numerous occasions) - Heaven and Hell exist. Angels and demons, they exist. But there are angels that were created, and angels that were born. Likewise, there are Fallen angels, and there are demons that were born, not created.
These "demons" did nothing wrong - it wasn't by their own hand that they ended up in Hell. So, in this fictional world, these demons that are born in Hell, to other demons, or Fallen angels, have a chance to Rise. They have to renounce Hell, and Satan, along with all his works, and flee to the human world, where an angel is sent to collect them. There's more to the it than that, but I'm no expert on this process, and I'd rather generalize as opposed to risking the wrath of my friend for getting something wrong.
(By the way, Jess, feel free to comment the names of all the different types of angels and demons. They're in Latin, and I can't pronounce them, nor remember them. I'm worse than Dory in that aspect.)
Anyways...I had a point to this. Ah! Yes, the other source of inspiration for this poem. As my friend and I RP (that's "role-play" to all you uninformed folks out there) various situations in this fictional world of ours, Lucifer/Satan often makes dramatic appearances (note: do not mention porcupines to him, or orbs of light, or the scar on his face). And...his life is shown, sometimes, outside of the War between Heaven and Hell. He is...somewhat true to the real Devil, I suppose. But, much as I'd like to believe I am an elf from Middle Earth, my friend and I are human. And as humans, we can never truly understand nor portray God, the Devil, angels, and demons accurately. Not completely. So this is the closest we've gotten.
I often wonder if he regrets the path he chose. In my heart of hearts, I know this can't be true. After all, he and his followers still act against God, against humanity, against Good. And that is not what a remorseful creature would do.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
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I suppose a formal "Hello" is required here too. So, hello! I'm Jessica, the co-author of some of the RPs that have surfaced here. I said "hi" when I commented on Culture Shock too, but I figured it never hurts to say hi again.
ReplyDeleteAs requested, a brief rundown on what all the angels and demons are called, from the First Fallen, to the new Fallen, to the Risen, to the children of angels, and those angels who refused to Fall when Luci did (Yes, Lucifer gets called that. It helps to make him less scary when discussing things). When you see the names, imagine they're italicized, as they are all in Latin.
First Fallen Angels: This would be Lucifer, and anyone who Fell during that first part of the War, when the Fallen angels were cast out of Heaven. Their fancy Latin name is "Primum Cecidit" which literally means "First Fallen". That was the plural. Singular masculine is "Primus Cecidit" and singular feminine is "Prima Cecidit".
First True Angels: I know, it sounds like a mouthful, and redundant, but, it is what they are. These are the angels that refused to Fall, and stayed loyal to God when Lucifer Fell. Did you know that Luci convinced 1 third of Heaven to follow him? So, the Latin name for these guys is "Primum Verum Angeli" or "First True Angels" in the plural form. Singular masculine is "Primus Verus Angelus" and feminine is "Prima Vera Angelus".
True Angels: These would be the angels who were born after Lucifer Fell, the children of the Primum Verum Angeli (testing if you were paying attention...). The reason why they get the "true" in front is because the angels assume the best of each other, they aren't going to say "I'm true, but so-and-so isn't" that'd be rude. The Latin is "Verum Angeli" in the plural form, masculine single is "Verus Angelus" and feminine single is "Vera Angelus".
And because the thing has a word limit... *twitches*
DeleteNew Fallen: This is why they don't have a distinction between Verum Angeli and not true, if they aren't true to God, they Fall. The Primum Verum Angeli cannot Fall. They did not bow to the temptation of Lucifer Falling, and so are saved from further temptation. The angels born after that, weren't tested that way, so, they could Fall. Some of them have. Their Latin name is "Novum Cecidit" or "New Fallen" in the plural. Masculine single is "Novus Cecidit" and feminine single is "Nova Cecidit".
Demons: These would be your average demon, the children of the Fallen angels, Primum Cecidit or Novum Cecidit. They're "born cursed" because they have never had the chance to be their best. More often than not, they looked starved because they've never been near God's light. But they're really good at hiding that, generally. Their Latin name is "Pestis Natum" or "Cursed Born" in the plural. Singular masculine is "Pestis Natus" and singular feminine is "Pestis Nata".
New Angels/Reformed Demons: That also looks like a mouthful, doesn't it? Remember how the Pestis Natum are born "cursed"? How they've never seen the light of God, so they've never tried to turn away from it? They didn't choose where they were born, so, they have the potential to turn away from Lucifer. Kinda the opposite of Falling. In fact, it's called Rising when a demon decides to turn away from Satan, and follow God. They do have to meet a sort of "criteria" in order to Rise, mostly that they haven't committed horribly heinous acts, to the point where they really are damned, and have chosen to be demonic. When they Rise, these guys become something special. They're not a divine being, nor are they a demonic one. They're neutral, meaning they are a spirit that is neither divine nor demonic in nature, though they may have a strong leaning towards divine. They have to go through a sort of "rehab" in order to become an angel, as, whether they're a good person or not, they may have picked up a few bad habits in Hell, and there's a lot to learn about what it means to be an angel, and to protect humans. That can take a while, and the whole time, until they earn their wings (Pestis Natum are distinguishable by the distinct lack of wings, only angels and Fallen angels have wings), they remain neutral. But, they are still called "Novum Angeli" or "New Angels" because that's what they're aiming for, and the other angels respect that. Singular masculine is "Novus Angelus" and singular feminine is "Nova Angelus".
Woman, I told you, "Don't write a novel, a list is fine."
DeleteTHIS IS NOT A LIST. THIS. THIS IS NOT A LIST! ON WHAT PLANET IS THIS A LIST? LUCIFER'S RANTS ARE SHORTER THAN THIS!
Granted if Luci was a history teacher, no one would ever learn anything aside from, "I am king of Everywhereland, and you should never be nice to anyone. Because people suck."
But... but descriptions...
DeleteBut descriptions nothing, you could have saved this for when I add you to the blog after my teacher has graded this...
DeleteWell, now your teacher will just see the complicated-ness of all this in full. And I don't want to wait a semester, if I'm gonna put the information there, I'ma put it aaaall in!
DeleteBut I don't need this for Web Design the entire semester!
Delete...to anyone else reading this...just move along. Nothing but us crazy writers here, bickering as per usual.
I still don't know why that comment got posted twice...
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI like your comment about reading poetry from a book and that it is the Poem talking through us. Painting is much the same way...the Vision flows through me...
ReplyDeleteI have come to know that these Artful expressions come from the Quantum Universe that is ripe with possibilities and waiting for "Voice" in our human experience.
As for Angels...see my comment in another post. Fly High! Kynthea