ColossiansOne

celestial hierarchy

The Nine Choirs

Pseudo-Dionysius' arrangement of nine choirs in three spheres, c. 500 CE. The default Christian angelology, and the scheme every later Western account either follows or argues with.

De Coelesti Hierarchia (The Celestial Hierarchy) · c. 500 CE

Entries per grouping

Source base of members

  • 80+7
  • 50–792

9 of 12 nodes link to a profile; the rest are structural labels from the source text.

12 nodes

the whole structure as one tree

The Nine ChoirsThe Nine ChoirsFirst SphereAttend the throne directly and…First Sphere — Attend the throne directly and are turned wholly toward God.SeraphimBurning; the choir o…Seraphim — Burning; the choir of love.CherubimFullness of knowledg…Cherubim — Fullness of knowledge.ThronesThe seat of judgment.Thrones — The seat of judgment.Second SphereGovern the created order witho…Second Sphere — Govern the created order without touching it directly.DominionsRegulate the duties of lower a…Dominions — Regulate the duties of lower angels.VirtuesMiracles and the motion of the…Virtues — Miracles and the motion of the heavens.PowersRestrain the demonic.Powers — Restrain the demonic.Third SphereAct on the human world.Third Sphere — Act on the human world.PrincipalitiesGuard nations and ci…Principalities — Guard nations and cities.ArchangelsBear the greater mes…Archangels — Bear the greater messages.AngelsAttend individual pe…Angels — Attend individual people.

Reading this tree

Nodes with a coloured dot and an underline link to a full profile. Structural nodes — spheres, ranks, offices — are labels from the source text itself and have no separate entry. Where a figure appears in more than one hierarchy, its profile lists every placement.

The book this structure comes from

A hierarchy is one text's arrangement, not a consensus. This is the text.

All hierarchies