The nine choirs of angels: the hierarchy of Pseudo-Dionysius

Nine ranks in three groups

The Celestial Hierarchy arranges heavenly beings into nine orders, gathered in three groups of three. Closest to God stand the Seraphim, the Cherubim, and the Thrones. Next come the Dominions, the Virtues, and the Powers. The last group, the closest to humans, brings together the Principalities, the Archangels, and the Angels. Each group receives light from the one before it and passes it on to the next: the image is that of a ladder, not an army.

Names drawn from the Bible

The nine names existed before the hierarchy. The Seraphim come from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 6, the Cherubim from the Book of Ezekiel and from Genesis, which places them at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Paul’s letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians cite the Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, and Powers. Pseudo-Dionysius therefore did not invent the names: he ordered them, and that order became the reference for Christian angelology.

Who was Pseudo-Dionysius?

The author writes in Greek, under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, the Athenian converted by Paul in the Acts of the Apostles. His writings actually date from the late 5th century or early 6th, and owe much to the philosopher Proclus. In the 15th century, Lorenzo Valla and then Erasmus showed that the attribution does not hold, hence the name Pseudo-Dionysius. His classification, though, has endured across the centuries: Gregory the Great takes it up while swapping two ranks, and then all of medieval theology.

The choirs in Lenain

Lazare Lenain takes up these nine choirs in 1823 for his 72 angels, which he ranks from the highest to the humblest: the first eight among the Seraphim, the next eight among the Cherubim, and so on. His text reveals one exception, seven angels among the Archangels and nine among the Angels. On Versana, each angel profile gives its choir, and the grid of the 72 can be filtered by choir.

Facts and sources

• The Celestial Hierarchy is attributed to Pseudo-Dionysius, a Greek-speaking Christian author who wrote under the name of Dionysius the Areopagite, the convert of Saint Paul (Acts 17:34). Pseudo-Dionysius, Celestial Hierarchy; Wikipedia (en), “Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.”.
• The corpus is dated to about 485–528: after the death of Proclus, who inspired it, and before its first dated citation. Wikipedia (en), “Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.”.
• Chapter VI divides the celestial beings into nine orders, in three groups of three; chapters VII, VIII, and IX describe each group. Celestial Hierarchy, ch. VI–IX (English translation by John Parker, 1899).
• First group: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; second: Dominions, Virtues, Powers; third: Principalities, Archangels, Angels. Celestial Hierarchy, ch. VII–IX; Wikipedia (fr), “Hiérarchie céleste.”.
• The names come from the Bible: Seraphim (Isaiah 6), Cherubim (Ezekiel), Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers (Ephesians, Colossians). Wikipedia (fr), “Hiérarchie céleste.”.
• Gregory the Great takes up the nine orders, swapping Principalities and Virtues. Wikipedia (fr), “Hiérarchie céleste.”.
• Lorenzo Valla (1457), then Erasmus (1504), established that the author could not be Paul’s disciple. Wikipedia (en), “Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.”.
• Lenain places his 72 genii in these nine choirs, eight per choir, except seven among the Archangels and nine among the Angels. Lazare Lenain, La Science cabalistique, Amiens, 1823, ch. VI.