Chapter 51: Interlude 1
Title - Interlude 1
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"At that time," he said, "When my 165th year was completed, I begat my son Mathusal. After this too I lived two hundred years and completed all the years of my life, three hundred and sixty-five years. On the first day of the first month I was in my house alone and was resting on my couch and slept"
And when I was asleep, great distress came up into my heart, and I was weeping with my eyes in sleep, and I could not understand what this distress was, or what would happen to me. And there appeared to me two men, exceedingly big, so big that I never saw such on earth.
Their faces were shining like the sun, their eyes too were like a burning light, and from their lips was fire coming forth with clothing and singing of various kinds in appearance purple, their wings were brighter than gold, their hands whiter than snow.
They were standing at the head of my couch and began to call me by my name. And I arose from my sleep and saw clearly those two men standing in front of me. And I greeted them and was seized with fear and the appearance of my face was changed to one of terror, and those men said to me: 'Have courage, Enoch, do not fear; the Eternal God sent us to you, and behold, you shall today ascend with us into heaven, and you shall tell your sons and all your household all that they shall do without you on earth in your house.
And let no one seek you till the Lord returns you to them. And I quickly made haste to obey them and went out from my house, and made to the doors, as it was ordered me, and summoned my sons Mathusal and Regim and Gaidad and made known to them all the marvels those men had told me.
"LISTEN to me, my children, I know not where I go, or what will befall me; now, my children, I tell you: turn not from God before the face of the vain, who made not Heaven and earth, for these shall perish and those who worship them, and may the Lord make confident your hearts in the fear of him. And now, my children, let no one think to seek me, until the Lord returns me to you."
And IT happened as Enoch had told his sons. The angels took him on to their wings and bore him up on to the first heaven and placed him on the clouds.
"And there I looked, and again I looked higher, and saw the ether, and they placed me on the first heaven and showed me a very great Sea, greater than the earthly sea."
THEY brought before my face the elders and rulers of the stellar orders, and showed me two hundred angels, who rule the stars and their services to the heavens, and fly with their wings and come round all those who sail.
AND here I looked down and saw the treasure-houses of the snow, and the angels who keep their store-houses, and the clouds whence they come out and into which they go.
THEY showed me the treasure-house of the dew, like oil of the olive, and the appearance of its form, as of all the flowers of the earth; further many angels guarding the treasure-houses of these things, and how they are made to shut and open.
AND those men took me and led me up on to the second heaven, and showed me darkness, greater than earthly darkness, and there I saw prisoners hanging, watched, awaiting the great and boundless judgment, and these angels were dark-looking, more than earthly darkness, and incessantly making weeping through all hours.
And I said to the men who were with me: "For what reason are these people incessantly tortured?" they answered me: "These are God's apostates, who obeyed not God's commands, but took counsel with their own will, and turned away with their prince, who also is fastened on the fifth heaven."
And I felt great pity for them, and they turned to me, and said: ''Man of God, pray for us to the Lord'' and I answered: ''Who am I, a mortal man, that I should pray for angels? One who knows not where I go, or what will befall me? or who will pray for me?''
AND those men took me, and led me up on to the third heaven, and placed me there; and I looked downwards, and saw the produce of these places, such as has never been known for goodness.
And I saw all the sweet-flowering trees and beheld their fruits, which were sweet-smelling, and all the foods borne by them bubbling with fragrant exhalation. And in the midst of the trees that of life, in that place whereon the Lord rests, when he goes up into paradise.
This tree was of ineffable goodness and fragrance, and adorned more than every existing thing; and on all sides it is in form gold-looking and vermilion and fire-like and covers all, and it has produced from all fruits. Its root is in the garden at the earth's end.
And paradise is between corruptibility and incorruptibility. And two springs come out which send forth honey and milk, and their springs send forth oil and wine, and they separate into four parts, and go round with quiet course, and go down into the PARADISE OF EDEN, between corruptibility and incorruptibility.
And from there they go forth along the earth, and have a revolution to their circle even as other elements. And here there is no unfruitful tree, and every place is blessed. And there are three hundred angels very bright, who keep the garden, and with incessant sweet singing and never-silent voices serve the Lord throughout all days and hours. And I said: 'How very sweet is this place,' and those men said to me:
"This place, O Enoch, is prepared for the righteous, who endure all manner of offense from those that exasperate their souls, who avert their eyes from iniquity, and make righteous judgment, and give bread to the hungering, and cover the naked with clothing, and raise up the fallen, and help injured orphans, and who walk without fault before the face of the Lord, and serve him alone, and for them is prepared this place for eternal inheritance."
And those two men led me upon to the Northern side, and showed me there a very dreadful place, and there were all manner of tortures in that place: cruel darkness and unillumined gloom, and there is no light there, but murky fire constantly flameth aloft, and there is a fiery river coming forth, and that whole place is everywhere fire, and everywhere there is frost and ice, thirst and shivering, while the bonds are very cruel, and the angels fearful and merciless, bearing angry weapons, merciless torture, and I said: "Woe, how very terrible is this place''
And those men said to me: "This place, O Enoch, is prepared for those who dishonor God, who on earth practice sin against nature, which is child-corruption after the sodomitic fashion, magic-making, enchantments and devilish witchcrafts, and who boast of their wicked deeds, stealing, lies, calumnies, envy, rancor, fornication, murder, and who, accursed, steal the souls of men."
"Who, seeing the poor take away their goods and themselves wax rich, injuring them for other men's goods; who, being able to satisfy the empty, made the hungering to die; being able to clothe, stripped the naked; and who knew not their creator, and bowed down to soulless Gods.
"Who cannot see nor hear, vain gods, who also built hewn images and bow down to unclean handwork, for all these is prepared this place amongst these, for eternal inheritance."
Those men took me, and led me up to the fourth heaven, and showed me all the successive goings, and all the rays of the light of sun and moon. And I measured their goings and compared their light, and saw that the sun's light is greater than the moon's.
Its circle and the wheels on which it goes always, like a wind going past with very marvelous speed, and day and night it has no rest. Its passage and return are accompanied by four great stars, and each star has under it a thousand stars, to the right of the sun's wheel, and by four to the left, each having under it a thousand stars, altogether eight thousand, issuing with the sun continually.
And by day fifteen myriads of angels attend it, and by night a thousand. And six-winged ones issue with the angels before the sun's wheel into the fiery flames, and a hundred angels kindle the sun and set it alight.
I looked and saw other flying elements of the sun, whose names I came to know to be Phoenixes and Chalkydri, marvelous and wonderful, with feet and tails in the form of a lion, and a crocodile's head, their appearance is empurpled, like the rainbow; their size is nine hundred measures, their wings are like those of angels, each has twelve, and they attend and accompany the sun, bearing heat and dew, as it is ordered them from God.
Thus the sun revolves and goes, and rises under the heavens, and its course goes under the earth with the light of its rays incessantly. Those men bore me away to the east, and placed me at the sun's gates, where the sun goes forth according to the regulation of the seasons and the circuit of the months of the whole year, and the number of the hours day and night.
And I saw six gates open, each gate having sixty-one stadia and a quarter of one stadium, and I measured them truly, and understood their size to be so much, through which the sun goes forth, and goes to the west, and is made even, and rises throughout all the months, and turns back again from the six gates according to the succession of the seasons; thus the period of the whole year is finished after the returns of the four seasons.
And again those men led me away to the western parts, and showed me six great gates open corresponding to the Eastern gates, opposite to where the sun sets, according to the number of the days three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter.
Thus again it goes down to the western gates, and draws away its light, the greatness of its brightness, under the earth; for since the crown of its shining is in heaven with the Lord, and guarded by four hundred angels, while the sun goes round on wheel under the earth, and stands seven great hours in night, and spends half its course under the earth, when it comes to the eastern approach in the eighth hour of the night, it brings its lights, and the crown of shining, and the sun flames forth more than fire.
Then the elements of the sun, called Phoenixes and Chalkydri break into song, therefore every bird flutters with its wings, rejoicing at the giver of light, and they break into song in praises of the Lord.
The giver of light comes to give brightness to the whole world, and the morning guard takes shape, which is the rays of the sun, and the sun of the earth goes out, and receives its brightness to light up the whole face of the earth, and they showed me this calculation of the sun's going.
And the gates which it enters, these are the great gates of the computation of the hours of the year; for this reason the sun is a great creation, whose circuit lasts twenty-eight years, and begins again from the beginning.
And again, those men showed me the other course, that of the moon, twelve great gates, crowned from west to east, by which the moon goes in and out of the customary times.
It goes in at the first gate to the western places of the Sun.
By the first gate with thirty-one days exactly.
By the second gate with thirty-one days exactly.
By the third with thirty days exactly.
By the fourth with thirty days exactly.
By the fifth with thirty-one days exactly.
By the sixth with thirty-one days exactly.
By the seventh with thirty days exactly.
By the eighth with thirty-one days perfectly.
By the ninth with thirty-one days exactly.
By the tenth with thirty days perfectly.
By the eleventh with thirty-one days exactly.
By the twelfth with twenty-eight days exactly.
And it goes through the western gates in the order and number of the eastern, and accomplishes the three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days of the solar year.
While the lunar year has three hundred and fifty-four, and there are twelve days of the solar circle, which are the lunar epacts of the whole year.
Thus, too, the great circle contains five hundred and thirty-two years. The quarter of a day is omitted for three years, the fourth fulfills it exactly. Therefore they are taken outside of heaven for three years and are not added to the number of days, because they change the time of the years to two new months towards completion, to two others towards diminution.
And when the western gates are finished, it returns and goes to the eastern lights, and goes thus day and night about the heavenly circles, lower than all circles, swifter than the heavenly winds, and spirits and elements and angels flying; each angel has six wings. It has a sevenfold course in nineteen years.
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A/N: This is just an interlude I thought to write up to describe Enoch's journey into heaven after Leucadius asked Aspect to retrieve him from Earth. All that is happening now wasn't a part of Leucadius' plan but Aspect's.
Also, as you all may or may not know, Chinese mythology also has a record on how the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, age, and era are counted. I'm just creating one for this story.
In our real lives, we've never questioned how it came to be that we count those things like that, so please, do not question my own theory now and see it as a learning experience.
PS: This has nothing to do with Religious Beliefs. If it makes you feel bad, do some research on your own and create your own theory.
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