#november9 — Public Fediverse posts

Archangel Michael

Also called Michael the Taxiarch. A taxiarch is used in the Greek language to mean “brigadier,” or a commander of a company. In Greek Orthodoxy, it refers to the Archangels Michael or Gabriel as leaders of the heavenly hosts.

Michael is an archangel & warrior of God in Christianity, Islam, & Judaism. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in the 2nd or 3rd centuries BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic. In these works, he’s the chief of the angels & archangels. He’s the guardian prince of Israel & is responsible for the care of the people of Israel.

Christianity conserved nearly all of Jewish traditions concerning him. He’s mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7-12, where he does battle with Satan, & in the Epistle of Jude, where the archangel & the devil have an argument over the body of Moses.

The Book of Enoch lists Michael as 1 of 7 archangels. The remaining names are: Uriel, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, & Remiel. He’s mentioned again in the last chapters of the Book of Daniel, a Jewish apocalypse composed in the 2nd century BC, in which a man clothed in linen tells Daniel that he & “Michael, your prince” are engaged in a battle with the “prince of Persia,” after which, at the end-time, “Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise.”

Enoch was instrumental in establishing the pre-eminent place of Michael among the angels & archangels. In later Jewish works, he’s said to be their chief, mediating the Torah, & standing at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the traditions of the Qumran community, he defends, or leads, the people of God in the end-time battle. In other writings, he’s responsible for the care of Israel & acts as commander of the heavenly armies. He’s Israel’s advocate, contesting Satan’s claim to the body of Moses.

He intercedes between God & humanity & serves as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. (So would this make him Aaron’s equal? We’re sincerely asking. Let us know your take in the comments.) He accompanies the souls of the righteous dead to Paradise.

The 7 archangels (or 4, as traditions differ, but always include Michael) were associated with the branches of the menorah, the sacred 7-branched lamp stand in the Temple, as the 7 spirits before the throne of God. This is reflected in the Book of Revelation 4:5. Michael is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7-12, where he does battle with Satan & casts him out of heaven so that he no longer has that exclusive access to God as accuser (his former role in the Old Testament).

Satan’s fall at the coming of Jesus marks the separation of the New Testament from Judaism. In Luke 22:31, Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked God for permission to “sift” the disciples, the goal being to accuse them. But the accusation by Jesus, who thus takes on the role played by angels, & especially by Michael, in Judaism.

Michael is mentioned by anem for the 2nd time in the Epistle of Jude, which is an impassioned plea for the believers to engage in battle against the incursion of the error. In verses 9-10, the author denounces the heretics by contrasting them with the archangel Michael, who, in disputing with Satan over the body of Moses.

According to rabbinic tradition, Michael acted as the advocate of Israel. Sometimes he had to fight with the princes of other nations (Daniel 10:13), & particularly with the angel Samael, Israel’s accuser. Their hostility dates from the time Samael was thrown from heaven & tried to drag Michael down with him, requiring God’s intervention.

The rabbis declare that Michael came into his role as defender at the time of the biblical patriarchs. Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob said Michael rescued Abraham from the furnace into which he’d been thrown by Nimrod. Some say he was the “one that had escaped” (Genesis 14:13), who told Abraham that Lot had been taken captive & who protected Sarah from defilement by Abimelech.

Michael prevented Isaac’s being sacrificed by his dad by substituting a ram in his place. He saved Jacob, while still in his mom’s womb, from death at the hands of Samuel. Michael later prevented Laban from hurting Jacob. The midrash Exodus Rabbah holds that Michael exercised his function as an advocate of Israel at the time of the Exodus & destroyed Sennacherib’s army.

Epiphanius of Salamis (circa 310-circa 320-403), in his Coptic-Arabic Hexaemeron, referred to Michael as a replacement of Satan. Accordingly, after Satan fell, Michael was appointed to the function Satan served when he was still 1 of the noble angels.

A painting of Michael slaying a serpent became a major art piece at the Michaelion after Constantine defeated Licinius near there in 324. This contributed to the standard iconography that developed of Michael as a warrior saint slaying a dragon. The Michaelion was a magnificent church & in time became a model for hundreds of other churches in Eastern Christianity.

In the 4th century, St. Basil the Great’s homily, De Angelis, St. Michael over all the angels. He was called “Archangel” because he heralds other angels, the title archangelos applied to him in Jude 1:9. The angelology of Pseudo-Dionysius, which was widely read as of the 6th century, gave Michael a rank in the hierarchy of angels.

Later, in the 13th century, others such as Bonventure believed him to be Prince of the Seraphim, the 1st of the 9 angelic orders. According to Thomas Aquinas, Michael is the Prince of the last & lowest choir, the Angels.

Catholics often refer to Michael as “Holy Michael, the Archangel” or “St. Michael.” He’s generally referred to in Christian liturgies as “St. Michael,” as in the Litany of the Saints. In a shortened archangel, is mentioned by name, omitting Saints Gabriel & Raphael.

In Roman Catholic teachings, St. Michael has 4 main roles or offices. His 1st role is the leader of the Army of God & the leader of celestial forces in triumphing over the powers of Hell. He’s viewed as the angelic model for the virtues of the “spiritual warrior,” his conflict with evil taken as “the battle within.”

The 2nd & 3rd roles of Michael in Catholic teachings deal with death. In his 2nd role, he’s the angel of death, carrying the souls of Christians to Heaven. In his 3rd role, he weighs souls on his perfectly balanced scales. The scales are a common object he holds in art.

In his 4th role, St. Michael, the special patron of the Chosen People in the Old Testament, is also Guardian of the Church. St. Michael was revered by the military orders of knights during the Middle Ages. The names of villages around the Bay of Biscay reflect this history.

The Eastern Orthodox give Michael the title Archistrategos, or “Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts.” The Eastern Orthodox pray to their guardian angels & above all, to Michael & Gabriel. The Eastern Orthodox have always had a strong devotion to angels. In modern times, they’re referred to by the term “Bodiless Powers.” Several feasts dedicated to Archangel Michael are celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox throughout the year.

In Russia, many monasteries, cathedrals, courts, & merchant churches are dedicated to the Chief Commander Michael. Most Russian cities have a church or chapel dedicated to the archangel Michael. In Ukraine, the archangel Michael is the patron saint of Kyiv. He became popular from the time of Prince Vsevolod of Kyivan Rus’.

While in the Serbian Orthodox Church, St. Sava has a special role as the establisher of its autocephaly & largest Belgrade church devoted to him, the capital Belgrade’s Orthodox cathedral, the see church of the patriarch, is devoted to Michael.

The place of Michael in the Coptic Church of Alexandra is as a saintly intercessor. He’s the 1 who presents to God the prayers of the just, who accompanies the souls of the dead to Heaven, who defeats the devil. He’s celebrated liturgically on the 12th of each Coptic month.

In Alexandria, a church was dedicated to him in the early 4th century on the 12th of the month of Paoni. The 12th month of Hathor is the celebration of Michael’s appointment in Heaven, where Michael became the chief of the angels.

Seventh-Day Adventists believe that “Michael” is but 1 of many titles applied to the pre-existent Christ, or Son of God. According to Adventist theology, Michael was/is considered the “Eternal Word,” & the 1 by whom all things were created. The Word was then born, incarnated as Jesus.

They believe that the name “Michael” signifies “One Who Is Like God” & that, as the “Archangel” or “chief or head of the angels,” he led the angels; thus, the statement in Revelation 12:7-9 refers to Jesus as Michael.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Michael is another name for Jesus in Heaven, in His pre-human & post-resurrection existence. They say the definite article in Jude 9 identifies Michael as the only archangel. They consider Michael to be synonymous with Christ, described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, & with the sound of the trumpet.”

They believe the prominent roles assigned to Michael in Daniel 12:1, Revelation 12:7, Revelation 16, & Revelation 19:14 are identical to Jesus’ roles, being the 1 chosen to lead God’s people & as the only 1 who “stands up,” identifying the 2 as the same spirit being.

Because they identify Michael with Jesus, he’s considered the 1st & greatest of all God’s heavenly “sons,” God’s chief messenger, who takes the lead in vindicating God’s sovereignty, sanctifying his name, fighting the wicked forces of Satan & protecting God’s covenant people on earth. Jehovah’s Witnesses also identify Michael with the “Angel of the Lord” who led & protected the Israelites in the wilderness.

Members of the Mormon Church believe that Michael is Adam (of Adam & Eve fame), the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7), a prince, & the patriarch of the human family. They also hold that Michael assisted Jehovah (the pre-mortal form of Jesus) in the creation of the world under the direction of God the Father (Elohim). Under the direction of the Father, Michael also cast Satan out of Heaven.

In Islam, Mika’il (Michael) is 1 of 4 archangels along with Jibril (Gabriel, whom he’s often paired with), Israfil (trumpeter angel) & ‘Azra’il (angel of death). In other Islamic literature, Michael is associated with mercy. He asks God for forgiveness for humans & is 1 of the 1st angels who obeyed God’s orders to bow before Adam.

From the tears of Michael, angels of mercy are created as his helpers. Like Gabriel, with whom he’s often mentioned together, Michael is also a messenger. While Gabriel delivers messages from Heaven to humans, Michael delivers messages to the angelic world.

As the angel to execute God’s providence, he’s also associated with natural phenomena & causes rain upon the lands. Unlike Christian traditions, Michael is rarely shown as a warrior-angel, with a few references to the Battle of Badr by Suyuti as an exception.

The Miraj literature on occasion mentions both Gabriel & Michael as 2 angels who showed Muhammad Paradise & Hell. He’s mentioned in Shia supplication (Dua), reportedly handed down by the 6th Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, in the prayers for blessings for the Bearers of the Throne.

The figures of Michael & Gabriel/Jibril serve as dual pillars of angelology. While they show up in the same texts, their “personalities” & mythological roles are distinct. Michael is the celestial soldier & protector. While Gabriel is the bridge between the divine mind & the human ear.

The name Michael (Mikha’el) translates from Hebrew as a rhetorical question: “Who is like God?” This name is actually a battle cry used during the primordial war in Heaven.

In the Book of Daniel, Michael is described as the “Great Prince” who stands guard over the people of Israel. Jewish Midrash expands on this. It suggests that Michael is the high priest of the Heavenly Temple. When other nations’ guardian angels argue against Israel, Michael acts as the defense in the celestial courtroom. Because after all, God is the judge of all.

Michael’s most iconic role comes from the Book of Revelation. Here, he leads an army of God against the Dragon (a.k.a. Satan). He’s almost always dressed in Roman/Medieval armor, standing over a defeated demon/dragon, holding a spear/sword.

In Catholic traditions, Michael has a secondary role as the Psychopomp. A Psychopomp is a conductor or a guide of souls. The 1 who “weighs” souls at the moment of death. This is why he’s sometimes shown with scales.

In Islamic tradition, Mikail (Michael) is 1 of 4 archangels. While Jibril feeds the soul (through revelation), Mikail is the Angel of Sustenance. He’s responsible for the forces of nature, specifically rain & lightning. Legends say he’s so moved by the majesty of God that he hasn’t smiled since the creation of Hell.

In the United States, Michael is the patron saint of paratroopers, police officers, & the military.

In the General Roman Calendar, the Anglican Calendar of Saints, & the Lutheran Calendar of Saints, Michael’s feast day is Michaelmas Day (September 29). The day is also the feast day of St. Gabriel & Raphael, in the General Roman Calendar & the Feast of St. Michael & All Angels in the Church of England.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Michael’s principal feast day is November 8. November 21, if they’re using the Gregorian calendar. Honoring him along with the rest of the “Bodiless Powers of Heaven” (angels) as their Supreme Commander, & the Miracle at Chonae is celebrated on September 6.

In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the main feast day is on 12 Hathor (between November 9 & December 9) & 12 Paoni (between June 8 & July 7). He is celebrated liturgically on the 12th of each Coptic month.

On April 7, the Oriental Orthodox Church commemorates the deliverance of the prophet Jeremiah from prison by Michael.

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„Hannah Arendt dürfte heute in Deutschland wegen ihrer kritischen Haltung zu Israel nicht mehr sprechen.“
https://taz.de/Streit-um-Gedenken-zum-9-November/!6128718

#Stanley #Frankfurt #November9

Das est Kristallnacht
Nazi Night of Broken Glass
Never forgotten

#Haiku #OneHaikuADay #WritersCollective #writingcommunity #BackToHaiku #Seasons #Autumn #Fall #Germany #Nazi #Kristallnacht #NightOfBrokenGlass #November9 #EthnicCleansing #Palestine #Israel #Netanyahu #WestBank #Gaza #UN #World #Nation #Photography

November 9, 2025

Reading this below on the 36th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and by extension the symbolic end of the GDR, the place I grew up in... with neighbors and parents of classmates belonging to the Stasi (east German secret police), the fear my own parents might be disappeared — years later seeing the thickness of the files of surveillance materials the state/stasi had collected on my family... remembering early autumn 1989, joining friends protesting in the streets every Monday after school, every week more and more people joining, from all walks of life, slowly replacing our fear with a feeling of invincibility, then the unthinkable (positive) happening in early November... the wall falling, driving into West Berlin for the first time the day after (and getting stuck in the largest traffic jams the country has ever known). The '90s were born that day and anything seemed possible...

Reading this post by @aphyr is intensely moving, not just today, and in many ways the situation already is so, so much worse and so much more brutal, more like 1930/40s Germany and numerous other dictatorships throughout the 20th century...

I Want You to Understand Chicago

https://aphyr.com/posts/397-i-want-you-to-understand-chicago

"I write to leave a record, to stare at the track of the tornado. I write to leave a warning. I write to call for help."

"I want you to understand, regardless of your politics, the historical danger of a secret police. What happens when a militia is deployed in our neighborhoods and against our own people. Left unchecked their mandate will grow; the boundaries of acceptable identity and speech will shrink. I want you to think about elections in this future. I want you to understand that every issue you care about—any hope of participatory democracy—is downstream of this."

(via @timbray)

#Chicago #BerlinWall #November9 #Anniversary

1918: Novemberrevolution endet mit Ausrufung der Weimarer Republik
1938: Reichspogromnacht
1989: Fall der Berliner Mauer

#November9 - was für ein Tag in der deutschen Geschichte!

Zwei Umweltthemen zum Wochenende:

➤ 9. November: Tunesiens Tree Festival Day

➤ 8./9. November: Aktionstag zur Rettung
der Kastanien in Deutschland

https://www.baldwald.de/umwelttage/Umwelttage-im-november.html#09
__
#umwelttage #tunesien #treefestival #baldwald #9november #november9

Zwei Umweltthemen zum Wochenende:

➤ 9. November: Tunesiens Tree Festival Day

➤ 8./9. November: Aktionstag zur Rettung
der Kastanien in Deutschland

https://www.baldwald.de/umwelttage/Umwelttage-im-november.html#09
__
#umwelttage #tunesien #treefestival #baldwald #9november #november9

Zwei Umweltthemen zum Wochenende:

➤ 9. November: Tunesiens Tree Festival Day

➤ 8./9. November: Aktionstag zur Rettung
der Kastanien in Deutschland

https://www.baldwald.de/umwelttage/Umwelttage-im-november.html#09
__
#umwelttage #tunesien #treefestival #baldwald #9november #november9

And the preceding is not a joke.
Not *at all*:

First, some sort of democratic governance that is not just a rubberstamped name is clearly essential to minimize #oppression.

Second, the currently dominant form of democracy (bourgeois-liberal) has one of the WORST and probably THE worst benefits/risks ratios of ALL political systems EVER:
The guy who gave us the #Shoah was more democratically elected than the 2000 and 2016 PotUS; that is a fucken PLAIN UNDISPUTABLE FACT.

In a #democracy that actually deserves this name, such a thing should be as CATEGORICALLY IMPOSSIBLE as an Emperor ruling a Republic.
(most republics have some sort of clause that in case someone tries to set themselves up as Emperor, and all else fails, any citizen is permitted, even encouraged, to kill that "emperor" there and then with no remorse or regret or legal jeopardy.)

And even the most rank and abject utter tyrannies are incapable of achieving the amount of large-scale long-term coherence to effect this sort of singularly grotesque and world-shaking atrocity:
Stalin, possibly, and Mao, certainly, got more innocent people killed - but that was mostly due to their being genocidally callous and cold individuals. And they had decades. And while no communist system was particularly "good", things like the Holodomor were not constantly recurrent features of Communism, but extreme outliers.
Hitler was worse: he only had 12 years, and he turned THE ENTIRE STATE AND SOCIETY (and in fact most of an entire CONTINENT) into mere tools of industrialized obliteration of innocent human lives on a gargantuan scale, the likes of which were not seen before or since.
#Nazism is truly THE WORST because when anyone else just disregarded human life, the Nazi state was from top to bottom an instrument to produce death, war, oppression, and nothing else - a sociopolitical "temple" of the most horrid death cult humans have witnessed so far -; any other purpose the Nazi state had was subordinate to destruction, and that was a built-in "feature" of its very design.

Whereas the most basic and essential purpose - maybe the *only* legitimate purpose at all - a State can ever have, IMO, is the PRESERVATION of human lives and livelihood; first, of its Citizens, and then, all other members of our species, now and forever.

How can a system that freely yielded THE WORST transmutation of society and state that is theoretically and practically possible be considered "democratic"?
No matter how good it works "in the fat years": it is a FUCKING LIABILITY SECOND TO NONE.

#NeverForget #November9

In honour of the occasion, I thought I might post an actual clip of Scheidemann's proclamation of the 🇩🇪 republic 106 years ago. Then some algo reminded me that I already did this back in 2013 #november9 #germany #republic
https://bit.ly/4hJepfW

Night of Broken Glass
Nazi Kristallnacht progroms
Blind complicity

#Haiku #OneHaikuADay #WritersCollective #writingcommunity #BackToHaiku #Ohio #Akron #USA #November9 #Kristallnacht #NightOfBrokenGlass #NAZI #Hitler #WWII #Germany #Jews #Progroms

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/kristallnacht

November 9, 2024

9. November. Ilse Weber: Und der Regen rinnt www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE_2... Ilse Weber: Ich wandre durch Theresienstadt www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJPu... Anne Sofie von Otter · Bengt Forsberg · Bebe Risenfors #classicalmusic #November9

Song of the Day November 9 2024

In remembrance of the birth of Dorothy Dandridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge - “The Man I Love” (from the NBC Television series "Cain's Hundred" - Season 1, Episode 21 "Blues for a Junkman")

https://youtu.be/f1ZdgkVvdxA?si=z1Ag1d0yDDwSbdPN

#SongOfTheDay #SOTD #SOTD2024 #November9 #DorothyDandridge #TheManILove #Blues #Jazz #Soul #Music #TVPerformance #MusicVideo #CainsHundred #NBC #Television #BluesForAJunkman #1960s

In 2011, Dutch scientists built a nanoscopic electric car made of a single complex molecule. The world's smallest vehicle, the nanocar is capable of travelling small distances when an electric current is applied to it.

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 9 November:

https://topicaltens.blogspot.com/2022/11/9-november.html

#ThisDayInHistory #onthisday #OnThisDate #otd #9November #November9

For an all-out mobilization of the working class on #November9 against the imperialist-backed genocide in #Gaza - World Socialist Web Site

#GazaProtests #GazaGenocide #CeasefireNOW! #StopArmsToIsrael!

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/11/08/pers-n08.html

#November9 by #ColleenHoover had such an incredible plot twist that I honestly didn’t see coming, but made all the things that originally didn't make sense, make sense by the end.

I stumbled across a #bookreview by Whitney Atkinson (a book influencer) on #GoodReads with a sizeable following. This wasn't just someone who read this book and didn't like it. This felt more like a smear campaign.Read my full review + response to Whitney's review here: https://thecozy.cat/blog/november-9-by-colleen-hoover-the-cozy-cat-review/

#bookstodon @bookstodon