When we think of Christmas
decorating, we often think of angels. Today author Patricia Bohnert shares with
us some interesting facts about angels. Writing as PA Bees, Patricia is a published short story
author and an aspiring novelist. Her published works include Marjorie's Art Find and Intersection of Intent. Learn
more about her at her website.
-- AP
December seems a good month to talk about angels. Whether you have an angel tree topper
with white lights under her robes and she holds her own lit candles in her
hands (yes, I have this angel) or like to join in to sing “Angels We Have Heard
On High” on the radio because of the melismatic rise and fall of the ‘O’ in the
refrain Gloria, (melismatic, that’s a cool word) angels are all around us in
December.
Have you ever heard of the book The Watkins Dictionary of Angels by Julia Cresswell? I do not know how many of these books were sold, but I
picked one up at a used book sale and it looked like it had never been
opened. What a shame! It is fascinating reading.
There are over 2,000 entries, in alphabetical order, relating to angels
and angelic beings. That is a ton
of research. Something the author,
Ms. Cresswell, must be very good at as she has a number of books in print
having to do with names including three books dedicated to Scottish, Irish, and
British first names. Two of her
other books are The Penguin Dictionary
of Cliches and A Dictionary of
Allusions. I need to find both
of these books; my curiosity is aroused!
Back to angels for a minute, many angels seem to be in charge of a
specific month, day of the week, or location. Nonanrin presides over Friday. Really? Was the
word Friday established when this angel was named? Perhaps I am taking this too literally. Days of the week must have been
designated in some way and somewhere there is a translation. But, if we are to use the name
Nonanrin, then I want to know the REAL name of Friday back when it was decided
Nonanrin was in charge. (Writers
can be such a pain, can’t we?)
And take Rasliel, for example.
What a self-promoter he was.
Rasliel was one of the angels of the eighth lunar month. If you say the name of Rasliel, and
presumably the others of the eighth lunar month, ‘in each thing that thou wilt
do … thou shalt profit.’ Who
wouldn’t go around mentioning Rasliel’s name? That is, if you can pronounce it correctly. I am sure the charm does not work if
you mispronounce his name. I hate
that, don’t you?
This is not a book I read every day. But, when I want to use a symbolic name in a story I often
turn to it. In my short story
“Daniel” (God is my judge) there are only two characters, Daniel and
Sahaman. It is a story about coincidences,
geocaching, and finding love.
Sahaman (an angel of the ninth lunar month) is a name I can see being
used today. Putting her in the
story gave me a chance to play up the significance of the number nine. Without The Watkins Dictionary of Angels and Julia Cresswell this story
would never have been written.
Thank you Ms. Cresswell for an interesting read and a fun short story
idea! And know that at least
one non-academic has thoroughly thumbed your book. And keep up the good work, after all, ‘Hey, you’ as an email
address would never work for millions of users; we need names.
Have a very Merry Christmas.
Intersection of Intent
One woman’s desperate act starts an
apocalypse of events for the residents of New Minden, Ohio. Twenty years later
deceit, hidden motives, stale leads, and fresh clues intersect with murder and
mayhem when Jacob, Keith, and Bobby, three of the town’s sons, look for the
truth. All have their eyes on the young librarian, Colleen – not all for good
intent. Intersection of Intent.
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