The angelics were already old when our world was born, but Heaven was not. Inspired by the wonders matter had created, the Claimant led his new followers away from the rest of the Sound-based entities and ordered them to take form. Heaven was fashioned in those days, and continues for however long an angelic allows its thoughts to influence the malleable environment around them. Angelics using matter-based forms is essentially an unnatural
state, and it is only their experience in the countless years after Creation which allows them to manipulate physical matter so readily.
While all angelics were created at the same moment, and are therefore theoretically equal, this is not seen as the case in Heaven. Experience, rank, and familiarity with the Claimant counts for a great deal, as does associations through Companionship. Companions are angelics who share a common harmony to their individual Sound. Each angelic resonates at a certain frequency and is most comfortable with others who derive from that same harmony. The term is inaccurate, but the closest comparison we have in our culture is ‘soul mates’. There is no set number of Companions - although I
would assume the normal range is anywhere between a handful and about two dozen - and the similarity of Song does not automatically dictate a likeness in personality. The Claimant and Lucifer are cited as Companions several times throughout the book, and both have vastly different personalities. Lucifer in particular has his position in part due to his association and connection with the Claimant. It is similar with Gabriel’s Companions, of which there are many. Some are no higher in ranking than Angels, and yet they are instinctively deferred to by other Angels because Gabriel is so highly respected among the Host.
Companionship was determined at Creation and rankings in the Hierarchies decided at the discretion of the Principalites, which leaves level of experience as the sole means by which an angelic can influence their own standing (although it is often the case that excelling in this area will result in an advancement in Orders, curtsey of the Principalites). The Song, far from just being used to influence the structure of Matter, can be manipulated in countless ways, with still more being discovered every day. It is the Archangels who spearhead this search of greater knowledge through different ‘weavings’ of the Song, although they do so unbeknown to the Host, as they do not often share their findings. ‘Pockets’, or areas which exist within yet outside of the bounds of Heaven, are one such example, as are inverted weavings and, more recently, bindings.
Beyond the Archangels there are those who firmly believe it is their purpose in existence to learn the secrets of the Song, and through it have complete control and understanding of the universe. These angelics are known as Separatists, as their highest goal is the pursuit of knowledge and discovery away from and disregarding physical life.
Opposing them in ideology are the Sympathists, who consider life in physical form remarkable and who wish to focus their attentions upon it. It is not accurate to say that Separatists hate humans, although this may be true for the most zealous, it is more that they are disinterested in a species so far beneath them (by their reckoning) that they have nothing to offer their quest for knowledge. Likewise, it is not true to assume that all Sympathists like humans, as for some it may be nothing more than a scientific curiosity. Separatists and Sympathists can be found within all Orders, although Separatists clearly have the majority and, by their very nature, have a predominance of members within the higher Orders. Many dedicated Sympathists never feel the need to progress beyond the rank of Angel in the Hierarchies, which, along with their minority of numbers, has given them an underdog status within Heaven. For the most part, and prior to the formation of the Grigori, both Separatists and Sympathists were content to live side by side pursuing their separate goals.
About the most important thing to remember when talking of angelics (and reading this book) is that they are arrogant. Separatist, Sympathist, Angel, or Seraphim, it doesn’t make a difference to that one paramount fact: They are all arrogant. These are beings who saw Creation, who were a part of the original Source that birthed the universe, and not one of them will ever forget that connection. Religion states that Lucifer fell because of pride, but were that the case the entire Host - Claimant included - would have fallen long since. The certainty of their superiority is the defining characteristic for every angelic, to varying degrees, which is why their entire world falls apart if this one fact is put in question.
Reading this, along with the summation of the Hierarchies and Orders, will give you a greater understanding of the background events and underlying mentalities within which this book is set. While this story is shown almost exclusively from a Sympathists’ standpoint it is not my intent to demonize the
Separatists, merely to offer a different perspective to an event which, until now, has been told only from one point of view.
The Setting
