The cover picture of the Angelic Wars, First Rebellion is the sign of the Septemviri. This sign brightens with fire on the right wrists of seven Septemviri–the angels commissioned to seek and expel rebellious angels from Heaven. It identifies God’s loyalists when they are near each other.
The sign has interrelated components: First, it is a two-dimensional representation of one of the two intersecting heavenly spirals, as described in an earlier post. Second, the outer bluish glow to the sides is a glimpse of the Throne of God–the globe encapsulating the two spirals of Heaven. Third, the center has a tri-colored triangle, the traditional symbol of God’s Holy Trinity, with red, white and black sides (the colors are not apparent in the picture). The significance of the triangle and colors are revealed in book two: The End of the Beginning. Finally, the interpretation of the white figure in the middle is left to the reader. Some see it as an angel, others as a white dove—the Christian symbol for God’s Holy Spirit.
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My first challenge in writing the Angelic Wars series was to create an image of Heaven in light of existing Biblical verses that refer to it. The Scripture mentions (or eludes to) Heaven's description in only a few places; I tried to reconcile my imagining with these verses.
My conception of Heaven is that it’s all-encompassing structure is made up of two intersecting spirals, enclosed within a globe. Four main areas in the Bible contribute to this imagining. First, Ezekiel, who writes about Satan’s expulsion from heaven; Second, the book of Job that refers to a conversation between God and Satan (which occurs after his fall); Third, Paul’s reference in 2 Corinthians to a “third Heaven” and finally, John’s images in Revelation.
Ezekiel 28:17 makes clear that God cast Satan out of Heaven. Curiously, Satan reappears in Heaven in Job 1:6-7. How was Satan able to interact with God after his removal from Heaven? This created a specific challenge for me: I needed to create a Heaven where Satan could return after being cast out.
In the novels, I reconciled this dilemma by creating three different levels of Heaven, two of which exclude Satan and one of which allows his presence. I supported this concept of “levels” by reference to the Apostle Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3, where he writes that he knew a person “who was caught up to the third Heaven.” In consideration of these Bible citations, I created an imagining of Heaven with three levels. Level one is God's Throne (described in Revelation 4) which exists on the outer globe; level two is one of the two spirals where only angels with access to God exist after the fall. The Angelic Wars, First Rebellion takes place on this level because no angel has fallen from grace at this point of the epic. Finally, the third level is the other intersecting spiral where Satan and demons can enter after their fall and engage in spiritual battles against the good angels for human souls. I will write these battle stories to start in the third novel.
For my fantasy, the only remaining issue was to create a passageway into the material world—what we know as the universe. I call this passageway the Siq, the porthole existing at the intersection of the two spirals. It is black and encompasses the entire material universe. The Siq is surrounded by all levels of Heaven. This illustration shows the Siq as a light in the middle, but that is surrounding the proposed black hole.
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Jebel Madhbah, Heaven. Chapter 2, page 21 in the paperback. Satan (aka Lucifer; The Great One) built this altar as a platform and staging area. Notice the symbolism of three “sets of six” edifices (666). The opening where he appears from the mountain, is dark. This darkness is an anomaly in Heaven since all of Heaven is lit by the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. The interior is dark because God’s Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell in the area of Heaven ruled by Satan and his followers. As Satan exits his dwelling, his light shines very brightly exciting his followers. He addresses his followers between the six obelisks. The staircase in front leads to the third level under a domed tholos. All angels must bow down when passing through the low structure in order to show homage to their leader. The author designed the Illustrations using a composite of structures from Petra, Jordan. Illustrator: Judith Stepan-Norris
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VoyageLA article about creation of the Angelic Wars: First Rebellion
This article discusses the initial concept, encouragement and process of writing the musical novel, Angelic Wars: First Rebellion. A lot of behind-the-scenes information. Click Here For Article
Did God create “evil” of did it evolve among some angels?
The position the novel takes is fundamental to the story.
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Do the singing characters of a music novel add a different dimension in a story?
To understand this question, a reader must read the Angelic Wars, First Rebellion and listen to the music therein.
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How do I hear the angels sing in Angelic Wars, First Rebellion books?
Hardbacks and paperbacks: To hear angels sing in the novel, scan the QR code in the scene where an angel is singing. This scanning can be done with a QR code scanner, or even viewing it with your phone camera in some cases. Your smart device will go to “SoundCloud” which is a site where the free music resides. Your device will ask you to download the “SoundCloud” app. Then you follow the prompts to “Listen on SoundCloud app.” Once the app is loaded on your smart device, then each time you scan a QR code, you will just have to select the prompt “Listen on SoundCloud app” and the song will be loaded.
EBooks: Ebooks are a little easier since you are already in a computer. Just choose the link on the book page identifying a song, and your smart device will be directed to the song on SoundCloud.
Caveat: Song loading is usually instantaneous after going through the steps above. However, I have seen it take a little longer where there is no wi-fi or bad phone reception. I'm not sure how old devices would work since anything you do on a smart device is dependent on its speed and memory. If your device is not working at all, go to www.SoundCloud.com and enter “Angelic Wars, First Rebellion”.
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