Angelology(71)

the intelligence of the spiritual world. As a gift, the Watchers brought their sons together and taught

them the art of warfare. They taught the boys the secrets of fire—how to kindle and keep it, how to

harness it for cooking and energy. This was a gift so precious that the Watchers would be

mythologized in human legend, most notably in the story of Prometheus. The Watchers taught their

sons metallurgy, an art the angels had perfected but kept hidden from humanity. The Watchers

demonstrated the art of working precious metals into bracelets and rings and necklaces. Gold and

gemstones were pried from the ground, polished and made into objects, and assigned value. The

Nephilim stored their wealth, hoarding gold and grain. The Watchers showed their daughters how to

use dyes for cloth and how to color their eyelids with glittering minerals ground into powder. They

adorned their daughters, causing jealousy among the human women.

“The Watchers taught their children how to fashion tools that would make them stronger than men,

instructing them to melt metal and fashion swords, knives, shields, breastplates, and arrowheads.

Understanding the power the tools gave them, the Nephilim made caches of fine, sharp weapons. They

hunted and stored meat. They protected their belongings with violence.

“And there were other gifts the Watchers gave their children. They taught their wives and daughters

secrets even more powerful than fire or metallurgy. They separated the women from the men, taking

them away from the city and traveling deep into the mountains, where they showed the women how to

cast spells and to use herbs and roots in medicines. They gave them the secret of the magical arts,

teaching them a system of symbols to record their spells. Soon scrolls were passed among them. The

women—who had until then been at the mercy of men’s strength—became powerful and dangerous.

“The Watchers divulged more and more of these heavenly secrets to their wives and daughters:

Baraqijal taught astrology.

Kokabiel taught them to read portents in the constellations.

Ezeqeel gave them a working knowledge of the clouds.

Araqiel instructed in signs of the earth.

Shamsiel mapped the course of the sun.

Sariel mapped the signs of the moon.

Aramos taught counterspells.

“With these gifts the Nephilim organized into a tribe, arming themselves and taking control of land

and resources. They perfected the art of warfare. They began to amass more and more power over

humanity. They identified themselves as lords of the earth, cutting out huge domains of land and

claiming the kingdoms as their own. They took slaves and made flags to represent their armies. They

divided their realms, assigning men to be soldiers, merchants, and laborers to serve them. Equipped

with the eternal secrets and a hunger for power, the Nephilim dominated mankind.

“As the Nephilim ruled over the earth and men perished, mankind cried to heaven for help.

Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel, the archangels who had observed the Watchers from their first

descent to the world, also monitored the progress of the Nephilim.

“When commanded, the archangels confronted the Watchers, surrounding them in a ring of fire.

They disarmed their brothers. Once defeated, the Watchers were shackled and transported to a

remote, unpopulated cavern high in the mountains. At the lip of the abyss, their chains heavy upon

them, the Watchers were ordered to descend. Through a crevice in the earth’s crust they fell,

plummeting deeper and deeper until they came to rest in a prison of darkness. From the depths they

grieved for air and light and their lost freedom. Separated from heaven and earth, awaiting the day of

their release, they prayed for heaven’s forgiveness. They called out for their children to save them.

God ignored their pleas. The Nephilim did not come.

“The angel Gabriel, messenger of good news, could not abide the Watchers’ anguish. In a moment

of pity, he threw his lyre to his fallen brothers so that they might diminish their suffering with music.

Even as the lyre fell, Gabriel realized his mistake: The lyre’s music was seductive and powerful. The

lyre could be used to the Watchers’ benefit.

“Over time the Watchers’ granite prison came to be called the underworld, the land of the dead

where heroes descended to find eternal life and wisdom. Tartarus, Hades, Kurnugia, Annwn, hell—

the legends grew as the Watchers, chained to the pit, cried for their release. Even today, somewhere

in the depths of the earth, they cry to be saved.

“It has been a source of speculation as to why the Nephilim did not rescue their fathers,” Dr.

Seraphina said in conclusion. “Surely the Nephilim would have been stronger with the assistance of