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flatw00ds — Burning Throne
#angel #bible #biblical #christian #ophan #ophanim #mythology
Published: 2012-10-21 01:34:40 +0000 UTC; Views: 29509; Favourites: 623; Downloads: 171
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Description
This is an older piece that I realized I never uploaded here! I'm still rather proud of it, so into the gallery it goes.Anyway, this abstract cutie is an Ophanim, an angel described in the Old Testament (yes, really!). There is some fabulously messed up stuff in the really old biblical texts, and screwy angels are my favorites. Ophanim, also known as Thrones or Wheels, are generally depicted as many-eyed, many-winged circles of fire. They typically appear alongside Cherubim (which, for the record, are NOT winged babies) and are probably the most funky-ass mythological monster I know of. Gosh, they're fun.
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Comments: 54
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So believe that when Ezekiel was describing these things, that he was actually seeing a spaceship.
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This is so magnificent! 
Only God can create a being with such power and kindness!
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I love them. So pretty.
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Niiiice. I had to work with Ophanim and Cherubium lore a few months back and make it work with Ponies xD. I love the style you used for this, makes it perfect desktop background material
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i think that the wheels contained the souls of the cherubs
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I love seeing depictions of Biblical angels like this - they're more interesting than the standard view of humanoid creatures with wings.
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You and me both! The old Abrahamic religions are so hardcore.
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Beautiful work all around, your gallery is so colorful and vivacious! Keep up the awesome work.
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Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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This is so elegant and beuatiful! Makes a freaky six winged, multi eyed wheel angel look desirable!
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Heh, thank you! Mission successful.
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awesome as always!
Do you have some more angels or demons for us?
Btw, I have to read more religious texts^^
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Heh, thank you! And I sure do--religion and mythology are some of my favorite things to read about, and I have another angel painting that I haven't uploaded yet. c:
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looking forward to it!
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Definitely reminds me of the angels from the 'Evangelion' anime series .. they definitely took a page from this Ophanim to represent their angels. Similar to the Ezekiel Wheel UFO too ...
Really wonder work regardless!
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I've heard people make those comparisons before! They definitely took the more monstrous side of the religious myths for their character designs. It's a very lovely bit of design work.
Thank you!
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Hmm might have to look up the creation of Evangelion to see what the creators had in mind when they made it.. seeing as its humans fighting against angels. Apart from humans defending themselves from deadly manipulation?
Regardless, I hope you make some more pictures like this
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The Evangelion wiki was a little vague for me, but I'd be interested, too. And thanks!
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I think it's kinda strange that an Anime series depicts anciend western mythology better than the people that are supposed to know it best^^
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Eyes wide shut I guess 
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This sort of thing almost makes me think the "Ancient Aliens" theory has some weight too it, because that sure does look alien.
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It does seem, at least to me, to make the most sense.. a certain major character in the book sounds altogether quite physical rather than spiritual. Some of the emotions and actions are pretty.. human/base.
Anyway, the war in heaven part always sounded to me more physical than spiritual. If it wasn't myth, imagine huge alien (or ancient human) fleets in a.. the?.. massive battle
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That's actually a fairly popular theory. Most angels from the bible have mythological roots that can be traced back to other religions/myths/cultures, but to the best of my knowledge, Ophanim do not. Fiery circles descending from the sky? Sounds suspicious to me!
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That sounds like a UFO to me, not an angel! Wink. I wonder if many things in our history and texts were not really aliens and UFOs. Sounds kooky, I know, but if you listen to the descriptions, look at ancient paintings, etc., one wonders!
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You're not the only one! The more you read about these buggers, the more you start to think about aliens. Especially since Ophanim are (to my knowledge) the only type of angel that doesn't have roots in some other mythology.
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Hmmmmm... how very interesting!
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The bible has some fucking awesome imagery. If more people actually read it, I doubt they'd find it so appealing! But I guess part of that makes it all the more enjoyable for us, hehehe.
Sexy color scheme going on here. And I LOVE the sharpness, I'm such a sucker for that little extra punch.
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It's like a bunch of little easter eggs for us mythology lovers! And it's always fun to tell people who observe the religion all the funky-cool facts they didn't know.
Thank you! I wasn't sure if the sharpness was helping the picture (or even noticeable), so that's awesome. c:
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I think it makes more sense for angels not to look like humans, though, since they are different creatures.
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It really depends on what religion (or breakoff religion) you're talking about, but yeah, most of the time angels were never human and it's kinda funny how we always depict them as hot babes with wings.
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Well, they did appear a handful of times as glowing people, so I guess maybe that's why?
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Maybe! You never know. I bet it happened when old painters started doing up churches with murals and being all "Yeah...they probably don't want to see a flaming eye-covered doom wheel. Let's go with the winged babies.". XD
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I don't recall ever reading a creature like this in the bible,may I ask what version you read this angel from? Also, I don't why you didn't upload this sooner it looks freaki'n fantastic!
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This is one of their most prominent appearances, though they're mentioned several other times. Ezekial has the best description, IMO. Like I said, it's the Old Testament--there is some CRAZY stuff going on up in there! That part of the bible is so old it starts to bleed into other religions and mythologies.
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I went backed and compared the verse to my Bible sure enough it's there!
It sound's like the wheel is some sort'a extension of another body,but not as well.(Maybe just the soul center?) Although from what Iv'e read about angels there seems to be different kinds of angels in the Bible.(Kind'a like you said in your description.) But most if not all angels- seem to have multiple wings. I don't know if the Bible so much bleeds into other mythologies or religions though, I mean there were a lot of different religions back then,it's very possible that religions took off biblical scriptures first.-I mean the old testament is one of the oldest writings on the face of the planet.-So it would it make sense. Any-who amazing picture! Amazing subject! XD (Sorry for the wall of text btw.)
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The Wheels are usually depicted alongside the Throne of God, sometimes bearing it down from on high. What you might be thinking of when you say they sound connected might be the Cherubim--they almost always appear alongside Ophanim, and sometimes the descriptions get kinda messy and it's easy to confuse them.
As for the Bible taking notes from other mythologies...well, not so much with Ophanim, but Cherubs are directly linked Assyrian, Akkadian and Babylonian cultures. The Assyrian cognate for Cherubim was karabu, and occasionally kiribu, which was a term also used for Shedu, a type of guardian spirit. In fact, Cherubs evolved from the Shedu myth (which is also connected to the Lammasu myths, which are connected to the Sphynx...). So at least in that instance you can definitely say another religion/myth system had the idea first.
Whoof, sorry for the wall of text, this stuff is just really interesting to me. XD And thank you!
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