In the Beginning (Archangel Jarahmael and the War to Conquer Heaven, Book I)

by John J Higgins

  Chapter 23

  THE ALMIGHTY'S ANNOUNCEMENT

  Luciferael flew downwards through the Heavens with a great deal on his mind. As he had told the Auxilium at Sammuael's second mansion in the Fifth Heaven, he and the Almighty had discussed the new experiment in the Garden of Eden before the morning ceremony. Rumors and brief references to these new creatures on Earth and in this place called the Garden of Eden were a distraction to Luciferael. Although the Almighty had placed him in charge of the planet, he loved bathing in the stars and working on expanding the Universe. He had lost his desire to focus his attention on the clay and mud creatures on that one planet. But he was growing concerned that these creatures could be competing with the Beings of Light as the most loved of the Almighty. Luciferael could not understand why these creatures, Adam and Lillith, were being kept secret from him, as he and his Archangels were the most beautiful and exalted of all the Angels in Heaven. He wanted to continue to believe that this was all some misunderstanding. But there was only way to find out and that was to ask the Almighty directly.

  Luciferael's day had begun while he waited on the main cloud over the Throne Room, his usual spot to await the arrival of the Almighty and his entourage of the Seraphim and Throne Angels. As the Seraphim arrived, they moved aside and revealed the Almighty sitting slightly above the Throne Angels in their midst. Luciferael then moved forward and before the Almighty. The Almighty greeted Luciferael. "Good morning Prince of the Archangels, you look troubled, what can I do for you?"

  "My Lord, I have concerns about these new creatures You have placed in that new region between the First Heaven and the Earth, called the Garden of Eden."

  "Yes, Luciferael? I have been experimenting with some new creatures and environments on the planet you named Earth. I have a tremendous interest in the planet, and have been trying to develop a superior creature with intelligence to occupy and take care of the planet and its less developed inhabitants."

  "These new creatures, are they Beings of Light like us Angels?" Luciferael asked.

  "Yes and no, Luciferael. They will have part of My divine spark, which I have labeled 'souls.' They are more intelligent than the other creatures currently on Earth, capable of complex thoughts and also endowed with a greater ability to create, and think for themselves. As their environment is made of solid particles, I expect they will develop the means and ideas to build structures out of the materials found on the planet, just like you and your brethren have done up here in the Heavens. I had provided Earth with a wide range of elements and materials from which to build things, making almost an endless variety of things that these creatures can make and form. But remember Luciferael, I have given you and your brethren the even greater ability to create things out of nothing. You are not limited by rearranging what already exists. You can make elements themselves if you so desire."

  "Do you have a name for these creatures, my Lord Almighty?"

  "I have decided to call them Humans or Man for short. I have created a feminine and a masculine, a woman and a man if you will. They have been named Lillith for the female and Adam for the man."

  "What makes them different from the rest of the Creation and us, my Lord?"

  "They are in fact very similar to the Simians, but more intelligent, with souls, and I am also giving them 'free will.' They are smaller than you and the Archangels, without wings or the ability to transform themselves from light waves to solid forms. They are restricted to remain in their Human forms. I am very happy with them, Luciferael, they may be one of My best creations yet!"

  That same shadowy thought popped up within Luciferael's mind, an area he was trying to suppress but he still could not help asking, "Does that mean these Human things will be exalted more than myself and the Archangels?"

  The Almighty continued, "I have created them out of a love similar to My creation of you and your kind, Luciferael. I want them to have and to provide different experiences than the Angels. And I want the all the Angels and Archangels to assist them. Next to the Beings of Light, they are the most perfect of all My creations."

  Another dark thought popped up. Did I hear that correctly? The Almighty is putting these creatures equal to us? What can Humans possess that would raise them to this level? And what is this thing about "free will?" Before he could ask those questions Luciferael realized he had to be careful or he would appear argumentative with the Almighty. Out of the corner of the eye he sensed the Seraphim growing impatient with him as they began fidgeting with their wings and shooting an occasional glance at Luciferael to speed things up. Luciferael changed his tact.

  "What are you going to do with them, my Lord Almighty, and how can we help?" Luciferael asked in customary fashion, but despite all his effort to disguise his feelings, his voice had a slight hint of jealousy, very subtle, yet still there.

  "I have given them direct portions of My inner spirit, Luciferael, and with that the ability to exercise free will."

  "What is free will?" Luciferael asked, his interest growing in the subject.

  "I want to see if separation from My spirit will still draw them back to Me. You and the rest of the Order of Angels were created with an unspoken duty for service, to act on My behalf and do My bidding. These new creatures will have the ability to decide to act against My instructions in a more straightforward way. If these creatures decide to worship Me on their own and do what is pleasing to Me, or want to be in My Presence, it will be by their own choices. Not a sense of duty."

  Luciferael thought to himself that this was a silly concept, how could one of the Almighty's Beings not follow His instructions or wishes? Was it really possible to have one's own identity and make choices for oneself? Could an Angel? Could an Archangel? He did not want to dwell on those thoughts now as it would take a lot of contemplation, and seeing the Seraphim shifting their bodies more forcefully with impatience, Luciferael quickly put that set of thoughts away, promising himself he would revisit that idea later.

  The Almighty then motioned to the Seraphim and Thrones to get back into formation to prepare for their departure for the morning ceremony.

  The Almighty looked directly at Luciferael and said, "You look troubled by these creatures. There is nothing to fear, they will fit in nicely in My new plan. Remember, you are a direct part of Me, and I am sure you will fall in love with them, too. And they are beautiful creatures. When things are further developed in the Garden of Eden I will introduce you. Remember, you remain the Prince of all the Angels and are My most magnificent creation. You will come to enjoy serving man and their kind just as you are enjoying worshiping Me."

  Luciferael responded: "As you wish Almighty, I look forward to the day I can meet Adam and Lillith and be of service to them both."

  "Good!" responded the Almighty. "Now it is time to go to descend to the Throne Room. Please lead us Luciferael."

  With the customary ritual, Luciferael again led the procession followed by the Seraphim to the Almighty's Throne in the Throne Room. All of the Angels were assembled as was the custom. It was another glorious day in Heaven, perhaps in some ways too glorious.

  Luciferael was a bit distracted as he realized that the Almighty said that he would be "of service" to the two Humans. Should that not be the other way around? He realized there was nothing to be done about it at the moment. He needed to finish his work at the morning ceremony. But tomorrow was another day, and perhaps he should get better organized before he made a further issue about these new creatures.

  The Almighty arrived in his usual fashion and radiated His love out to each and every one of the Angels in the Heavenly assembly. And although He gave each Angel their typical instruction along with their quantum of love, He made a formal announcement that He was developing some new creations and that He would have to be away again for some days. In the meantime, Luciferael would be in charge of the morning ritual until He returned. As they had done before, all Angels were to worship Luciferael as they had worshiped Him while He was absent. Turning specifi
cally to Luciferael, the Almighty gave instructions for him to continue to radiate out the love as He did every morning and to use the Book of Creation to assist him, if needed.

  The morning ceremony ended and the Angels went about the day's business. All day Luciferael's mind still contemplated his conversation with the Almighty. He smiled and was reassured when he thought about the fact that the Almighty trusted him and the other Archangels to use the Book of Creation to create solar systems, planets and creatures, and utilize the power of the Word. But on the other hand, Luciferael could not stop thinking about the question, why did the Almighty not trust him and the Angels with free will?

  Chapter 24

  SERPENTALIA

  Serpentalia remained standing in front of Luciferael, swaying in his trance, the colorful pattern on its scales reflecting the light radiated in the Heavens. The creature was round and thin, different from most creatures on the Earth as he did not have arms or legs, just an extremely strong torso that allowed him to stand and move forward and upright by rotating the bottom quarter of his body on the ground.

  He was another cold blooded creature, one of the reptilian creations of Luciferael that had been allowed to survive the destruction of the dinosaurs. There really was no need for the creature to have his own inner heat source as the Earth's and the Garden of Eden's temperature stayed within a range of about seven degrees difference from morning to night. This temperature fluctuation between the night and day was sufficient to cause most of Luciferael's creatures to rest at night after the sun would go down and then to rise again with heat of the sun. A built in mechanism to be in synch with the worship of Luciferael; after all, he was also known as the Morning Star!

  After much inquiry, Luciferael had decided to come to the border of the Earth where it touched the Garden of Eden. He had heard that one of his reptiles, Serpentalia, had found his way into a new place, named the Garden of Eden soon after it was formed. If the rumors among the reptiles were true, Serpentalia may be able to provide him with more information about the goings on in the secret place.

  After Luciferael had the discussion with the Almighty about the Humans earlier that day, Luciferael decided that he had best look into these creatures himself, and traveled down from the Heavens to the Earth. He had heard that there was some connection between the new Garden and the Earth somewhere near Aegyptus. Once Luciferael landed in that vicinity he summoned Serpentalia to him. In a few moments Luciferael had the serpent in a deep trance and asked the creature: "What is it that the Almighty is keeping hidden from me?"

  The swaying increased and small tremors began to pass down the length of Serpentalia's long scaly body. Not quite convulsing, the snake began moving his mouth but no sound was coming forth.

  Luciferael commanded to the snake, "Speak!"

  Now the snake convulsed involuntarily, infuriating Luciferael, who heated up in anger and began to glow red, as the snake was not answering him.

  Luciferael then reached forward and grabbed the serpent and opened its mouth wide, stretching the teeth forward as he projected himself into the serpent's mind.

  He could feel the snake try to speak and reveal its memory, but there was a large white wall in the snake's memory that he could not see through.

  Raising his energy level even higher, Luciferael transferred more of his spirit directly into the snake and broke through the mental block. This does not make sense, Luciferael thought to himself. He should be able to read this creature's mind without any trouble. He was its creator after all, and it was not a particularly intelligent reptile. He realized that the mental block was placed there by someone else, perhaps someone better than himself at placing mind blocks.

  Why would this information be blocked from me? thought Luciferael. I am the First Born and the most precious Angel. I should know all that the Almighty knows.

  Finally, after repeated attempts Luciferael broke through Serpentalia's mental block, allowing him to begin to see through and experience the serpent's memories.

  Luciferael saw himself as the serpent, living in a cave not very far from one of the rivers in the Garden of Eden. Luciferael felt himself traveling as the serpent, with its strange way of moving upright along the ground twisting and turning the lower section of its body, propelling itself forward through the Garden. Then, there was a bright light off to his left, over near where a small brook flowed into a larger stream that passed through the Garden, near a tree. The serpent wrapped itself against the trunk of the tree and climbed upwards so that it could get a better view.

  From the tree the serpent could see the Almighty not too far away. The Almighty was standing there in the clearing, although he could sense that there were other Angels around, cloaked with invisibility. He watched the Almighty as he molded two piles of clay into figures that were similar to Angels without wings, although shorter. He could not see all what the Almighty was doing, but soon two separate Beings sprang to life, began to breathe and move around. Serpentalia had heard the Almighty name the female "Lillith" and the male "Adam." Soon thereafter, an Archangel came into the serpent's view and Luciferael could see that Michael was now visible to the Humans.

  The Almighty then touched each one of the creatures. Serpentalia noticed a flash of energy as it left the Almighty and went into the center of each of them. As soon as that was completed, the serpent could see that the eyes of each now looked like they understood more of themselves and were for the first time making sounds. The Almighty then quieted them and turned to where the serpent had been watching.

  The gaze of the Almighty aimed right into the serpent's eyes, and then a white flash appeared and the mental wall blotted out any further memories until it Serpentalia was back on the ground at the entrance between the Earth and the Garden of Eden, feeling quite content and blissful.

  Luciferael then pulled his energy back out of the serpent, as there was nothing more of consequence to see.

  Luciferael remained a reddish hue as his very smooth face contracted a bit, still deep in thought about what he had just seen.

  Luciferael didn't like this development, didn't like it at all. He decided that two could play this game, and he put up a wall within himself so the Almighty would not be able to see what he would do next. Somehow, he instinctively felt these new creatures would be a problem for him. He did not know exactly why, but it was a lot of effort expended by the Almighty to keep these Beings hidden from him, Luciferael, the Prince of the Angels. He would get to the bottom of this.

  Luciferael spoke again to Serpentalia as he released the snake's mind from his hypnotic hold. "Go back to the Garden and watch the Humans, report back to me anything else that you see!" Luciferael hoped that he would be able to observe what was going on with these two new Beings in the Garden, before the Almighty could block the serpent and his memory again. But for now there was nothing more to be done, and it was time for both Luciferael and Serpentalia to return to their respective homes. With a flick of his wings, Luciferael was airborne and he didn't look back to see Serpentalia head towards his own home. Serpentalia had better not fail him!

  Chapter 25

  JARAHMAEL RETURNS TO EARTH

  Jarahmael decided to pay Cerebriel another visit. They were close friends, and Jarahmael felt closer to Cerebriel then he did to some of his fellow Archangels. In fact, Jarahmael knew that it was not appropriate to discuss his visits to Eden with the other Archangels, but felt he could confide in his friend about the place. Jarahmael had not discussed much about Lillith or any other earthen Beings, but knew that Cerebriel was working on the pyramid not far from where Lillith lived. Cerebriel would at least have some knowledge of the Garden, even if he had not ventured deep into its interior. The Almighty had worked hard to keep a distance between the Orders of the Angels and the Humans. He was doing something different and special with these Beings and did not want a lot of interference from the Angels.

  When Jarahmael mentioned the name of the two created Beings as Adam and Lillith to Cerebriel at t
he end of the morning ceremony, Jarahmael could not help but brighten when he mentioned the female. Cerebriel sensed that Jarahmael had become quite attached to her and wondered if it was one of the reasons that Jarahmael was making repeated excursions to the Garden of Eden and later returning cheerful and with an extra radiance. Jarahmael would discuss his experiences in Eden to some extent, while Cerebriel would share some of his experiences with the building of the pyramid.

  This one particular day Jarahmael flew over to where Cerebriel was supervising more of the work on the artwork that was being placed within the halls of the pyramid on the edge of the Garden of Eden. Jarahmael landed quietly, playfully sneaking up behind Cerebriel who was standing in the entrance. Tapping his friend on the back of his head he said, "Told you I was a quiet one and could sneak up on almost anyone in the Creation!"

  Cerebriel spun around quickly, his wings extended and the tips struck Jarahmael in his midsection, throwing him backwards. Jarahmael was able to catch himself and remained upright, his long hair having traced a path from where his head had been.

  "Got me, but you would be on the ground right now if I wanted you there!" smiled the Cherubim. "We are built for speed, agility, and strength. We are the warriors of Heaven! Don't forget it!" Cerebriel said, still amused.

  Jarahmael looked beyond Cerebriel into the hallway of the pyramid. He could see lettering and artwork along the walls. "Beautiful work!" he said to Cerebriel. "It really is magnificent."

  "At this point the pyramid is about three quarters done, and the artwork is nearing completion," Cerebriel stated proudly.