effulgentpoet:

mythology aesthetics

GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL

In the Abrahamic religions, Gabriel (Hebrew: גַּבְרִיאֵל Gavri’el “God is my strength”) is an angel who typically serves as God’s messenger. Gabriel is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In the Old Testament, he appears to the prophet Daniel, explaining Daniel’s visions. In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively. In the Book of Daniel, he is referred to as “the man Gabriel”, while in the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel is referred to as “an angel of the Lord”. Gabriel is not called an archangel in the Bible, but is so called in Intertestamental period sources like the Book of Enoch. According to Jewish mythology, in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the “tree of souls” that blossoms and produces new souls, which fall into the Guf, the Treasury of Souls. Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah, the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born. X