Watchers
The Watchers or Grigori are an order of two hundred fallen angels who rebelled against Yahweh, descended to earth, taught forbidden knowledge, and engaged in sexual intercourse with humans in ancient times. The hybrid descendants of the Watchers and human women are known as Nephilim. While Yahwists view them negatively, Satano-Grigorists worship the Watchers as gods alongside Satanael.
The story of the Watchers, called the Grigoric Narrative, is recorded in various forms in several ancient Yahwist parabiblical literature, most prominently the Book of Enoch, the Book of Giants, and the Book of Jubilees. The Bible also mentions them and their children in chapter 6 of the Book of Genesis. Names used for the order include Watchers, Grigori, and Iyrin (also spelled Irin). The name Grigori originates from the Old Church Slavonic language as a modification of Ancient Greek ἐγρήγοροι (egrḗgoroi), meaning "wakeful ones." The name Iyrin, variant spelling Irin, is Aramaic for "Watchers" and is the original term found in the Aramaic Book of Enoch.
Dekadarchs
The 200 Watchers are divided into twenty groups of ten, called tribes, which are each led by a chief Watcher known as a Dekadarch. These twenty chiefs are named in a specific order as the traditional leaders of the Watchers. The first Dekadarch, Samyaza, additionally serves as the leader of all the Watchers as well as the chief of his tribe. The twenty tribes of Watchers are named according to their respective leaders (e.g., the tribe of Tamiel). The nine non-Dekadarchs in each tribe usually have associations that are similar in some way to those of their tribe's Dekadarch, although the similarity may not be immediately obvious in some cases.
List of Dekadarchs
These are the 20 Dekadarchs, the leaders of the Watchers, with their primary conceptual associations and common symbolic motifs.
- Samyaza — leadership, pharmacy, natural magic, herbalism
- Symbolism: mortar & pestle; bundle of herbs; crow; lion (sometimes)
- Arakiel — earth, agriculture, practicality, geology, geography, land ownership
- Symbolism: sickle; plow; other farm tools; plain silver crown; bundle of wheat
- Asbe’el — sexual knowledge, lust, passion, ruination, self-determination (determination of one’s own destiny)
- Symbolism: pomegranate; rose
- Kokabiel — the stars, astronomy, astrology, detachment, re-evaluation
- Symbolism: astrolabe; constellations; star anise
- Tamiel — spirit work, offensive (attacking) magic, abortion, hidden powers
- Symbolism: wand; cat; small silver dagger; antelope (particularly addax, eland, or kudu)
- Ramiel — visions, guidance, spiritual knowledge
- Symbolism: eyes; embers (especially when held in hands); tiger's eye stone
- Danel — decisions, judgment, courts of law, crossroads, night
- Symbolism: balance scale; crossroads
- Shahaqiel — divination by cloud interpretation, meteorology, wishes, divine influence of destiny, acceptance of uncertainty about the future
- Symbolism: clouds
- Baraqiel — thunder, lightning, electricity, inspiration
- Symbolism: lightning bolt
- Asael — metalworking, cosmetics, jewelry, craftsmanship, arts, creativity
- Symbolism: peacock; sword; blacksmith's tools; jewelry; kohl; colorful adornments
- Harmoniel — oaths, binding, consecration, self-discipline, defensive magic
- Symbolism: dagger and chain; thorny staff
- Matariel — rain, intuition, empathy, interpersonal bonding
- Symbolism: teardrop; rain; rabbit
- Ananiel — storms, seafaring, wind, motion, change
- Symbolism: albatross; boat; stormy sea
- Zaqiel — cleansing, clarity, mystery, purity, exoneration, refinement of raw materials
- Symbolism: white flame; clear quartz; furnace
- Shamsiel — the sun, solar rites, eclipses
- Symbolism: sundial; sun-disk; sunflower; citrus fruit; sunstone; citrine
- Sathariel — deception, self-illumination, illusions, dawn
- Symbolism: leopard; fog; mist; moonlight; selenite
- Turiel — mountains, strength, resilience, stubbornness, athletics, exploration
- Symbolism: hiking staff; mountain; donkey; ox
- Yomiel — time, fame, glory
- Symbolism: clock; hourglass; calendar
- Sariel — the moon, lunar magic, sophistication, nobility, etiquette, self-restraint
- Symbolism: moon; coconut; moonstone
- Penemue — writing, language, intelligence, education, serendipity
- Symbolism: quill pen; feather; scroll; book; bamboo; white snake; ibis (sometimes)
Etymology
The original phrase used in the Aramaic Book of Enoch for the twenty chiefs of the Watchers is rabbānē ʿaśartā, which means "chiefs of tens" or "leaders of tens." The word Dekadarch is derived from an Ancient Greek word meaning "chief of ten" or "commander of ten," used mainly in military contexts. Its first known use in reference to the leaders of the Watchers was in a scholarly article by Matthew Black, "The Twenty Angel Dekadarchs at I Enoch 6.7 and 69.2," published in the Journal of Jewish Studies in 1982. Since then, it has been used regularly in academic studies of the Enochic literature. It is used by the Grigorist Temple of Satanael to clearly and concisely refer to the chiefs of the Watchers.
Other known Watchers
The identities of all 200 Watchers are not currently known. Only around 22 Watchers (including the 20 Dekadarchs) are named in publicly available texts, such as the Book of Enoch, other ancient apocrypha, and Satano-Grigorist scriptures like BWAE. However, the Grigorist Temple of Satanael has uncovered the identities of around 80 more Watchers whose names, associations, and other information are recorded in private resources available only to Satano-Grigorists. Elders of the Temple have stated that once names, associations, symbols, preferred offerings, and other identifying information have been obtained and confirmed for all 200 Watchers, the information will be made publicly available.
Great Descent
The Great Descent is the Satano-Grigorist name for the incarnation and descent of the Watchers to earth, which is estimated to have begun around 3400-3300 BCE. It may also be applied to the time period during which the Watchers were incarnate in the physical realm; for example, one might refer to events that happened "during the Great Descent."
In Yahwism
Not all forms of Yahwism believe in the Watchers and their descent. In Yahwist traditions that do believe, the Watchers are viewed negatively as angels who succumbed to sinful temptations and corrupted humanity with their knowledge. Enoch-derived Yahwist interpretations say that the spirits of dead Nephilim (called Rephaim by Satano-Grigorists) freely roam the earth to tempt and attack humans, while the Watchers themselves are still bound in Dudael to be punished until Judgment Day. Some Yahwists, however, do accept that the Watchers are free.
Biblical mentions
The Watchers are mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4, where they are called bene elohim (sons of God). They are said to have descended to earth and fathered the Nephilim, who became "men of renown." Nephilim are also mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, such as in Numbers 13:33, in which two scouts report encountering "the Nephilim; the descendants of Anak, [who] came from the Nephilim." This is one of the major justifications for the argument that Nephilim persisted after the Flood. In addition to the Anakim, other tribes of Nephil or "giant" lineage are also mentioned in the Bible, such as the Emim and Zamzummim. The Bible uses the term Rephaim more or less interchangeably with post-flood Nephilim; this is in contrast to the Satano-Grigorist sense, which is influenced by the Ugaritic usage to restrict the term to the spirits of dead Nephilim.
In the New Testament, the Book of Jude quotes the Book of Enoch almost verbatim, and both Jude and 2 Peter contain descriptions of angels who sinned and were then imprisoned to await judgment, commonly interpreted as a clear reference to the story laid out in 1 Enoch. The Book of Jude quoting the Book of Enoch has been used as an argument that the Book of Enoch should be considered canon, since canonicity of other books has previously been supported by their quoting in other canonical books.
Early Yahwism
Many ancient Yahwists knew and believed in the story of the Watchers; they wrote parabiblical texts discussing the Watchers, such as the Book of Enoch, the Book of Giants, and the Book of Jubilees. The acceptance of elements of the Grigoric Narrative was especially significant in Second Temple Judaism, from which most of the surviving Enochic literature is derived. This narrative was often used by ancient Yahwists as an explanation for the existence of evil in the world, since the Book of Enoch attributes the origin of evil to the knowledge taught by the Watchers and the supposed wickedness and violence of the Nephilim. Some Yahwists of the time placed more emphasis on their teachings as the main driver of evil, saying that they equipped humanity with knowledge they used to sin, while others considered their taboo sexual unions with humans as more important to the origin of sin.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of scrolls containing biblical and parabiblical material that were discovered at the Qumran caves, contain a significant amount of Enochic material, including manuscripts of the Book of Enoch and the Book of Giants.
The original widely accepted interpretation of the Grigoric Narrative and the biblical Genesis 6:1-4 reference was literal: these texts referred to fallen angels who descended, taught forbidden knowledge, had sex with humans, and fathered hybrid Nephilim. The environment in which early Christianity developed was saturated with Second Temple Jewish beliefs, so Christianity inherited parts of the Grigoric tradition along with other ideas of the time. Many early Christian writers accepted the literal fallen angel interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4; in fact, Christian authors continued to show their acceptance of the Enochic tradition even as its significance declined significantly in developing Rabbinic Judaism. They mentioned the Watchers when they wrote about demons, paganism, sexual sins, idolatry, and sorcery. Chapter 5 of Justin Martyr's Second Apology explicitly describes the descent of the Watchers and asserts that they corrupted humanity with their teachings, while applying the label "demon" to the children of the Watchers.
Starting in late antiquity, the literal interpretation that had been widespread in pre-rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity began to fall out of favor in both religions. Rabbinic Jews and then Christian theologians increasingly rejected it, instead introducing the idea that the bene elohim in Genesis 6:1-4 in fact referred to a pious human lineage descended from the Biblical figure Seth, who had sinned by mingling with the wicked descendants of Cain. This "Sethite interpretation" became more widely favored as influential Yahwist writers of the time endeavored to force the Enochic literature and its associated traditions out of the mainstream currents, likely seeking to establish stricter doctrine and minimize the study of beings other than Yahweh.
Modern Yahwism
Most modern Yahwist religions do not recognize the Grigoric apocrypha as canonical scripture. A major exception is Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, whose canon includes the Books of Enoch and Jubilees along with many other parabiblical texts traditionally regarded as non-canonical apocrypha. The only version of 1 Enoch known before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls was the one preserved by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Ge'ez language, which was spoken widely in ancient Ethiopia and is still used as the church's primary liturgical language.
There is a growing current of non-denominational Protestant Christians who accept parts of the Grigoric Narrative and refer to the parabiblical texts as "lost books of the Bible." Even though most of these Christians do not recognize the "lost books" as canon to the same degree as the Bible itself, they incorporate the story of the Watchers into their beliefs. This Enochic revival movement is heavily influenced by the Bible scholar Michael S. Heiser, who argues that the literal interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4 as referring to fallen angels is correct.
Modern views on Nephilim
Some Christians believe that all of the Nephilim died in the Great Flood, while others accept that Nephil lineages persisted after the Flood, since post-Flood Nephilim are mentioned in the Bible. Among those who believe Nephilim still exist in the modern day, beliefs on their nature differ. Some claim that the surviving Nephilim are giants or monsters hidden away in remote places, citing "giant skeleton" discoveries and rumors of encounters with modern-day giants. Some fringe theorists propose that the rich, powerful, and influential "elites" of the world are Nephilim; they may go on to claim that these elite Nephilim use their money and power to poison the minds of common people and set up the world for the return of the Antichrist. Very few Christians accept the Satano-Grigorist idea that modern Nephilim are physically indistinguishable from mutūma and walk the earth among the ordinary human population.
A few Christians have explored the soteriological question of whether a modern Nephil would be capable of receiving salvation. Some argue that any human who repents and turns to Yahweh can receive salvation, while others cite Yahweh's attempts to exterminate the Nephilim as proof that salvation is impossible for them. Another argument against the salvation of Nephilim is that salvation does not apply to them because their souls are not fully human, which is related to the argument that since they are born of fallen angels, their souls cannot enter heaven.
In occultism
The Watchers have also been involved in the work of occultists who are not affiliated with GToS. Unlike Satano-Grigorism, which contextualizes worship of and communication with the Watchers within an organized belief system, these other occult traditions generally only work with individual Watchers for particular purposes, often alongside other unrelated spirits. Also included in this section are occult texts and traditions that mention the Watchers but do not work with them, and some whose conception of the Watchers may be highly divergent from the traditional Enochic conception.
Le Grande Arcane
The famous French occultist Alphonse Louis Constant, better known by his pseudonym Éliphas Lévi, wrote a book entitled Le Grand Arcane, ou l'occultisme Dévoilé, translated to English as The Great Secret, or Occultism Unveiled. It was published posthumously in 1898. The book makes mention of the Watchers several times under the name "egregors," derived from the Greek name for them; his "egregors" are essentially unrelated to the modern occult conception of "egregores" as beings created by the collective belief of humans. Lévi also associated the Watchers with the Titans of Hellenic religion.
The Secret Grimoire of Turiel
The Secret Grimoire of Turiel is a short grimoire consisting of methods to conjure spirits and contact Turiel; some of its contents were supposedly revealed directly by Turiel. Its material is highly reminiscent of standard Renaissance magic: it contains lists of planetary spirits, and it instructs the practitioner to invoke Yahweh by several names to summon Turiel. If its author's claims were truthful, the earliest clear involvement of any particular Watcher in typical Western esotericism would be The Secret Grimoire of Turiel, but that is very likely not the case.
The grimoire claims to have been written around the year 1518, possibly copied partly from even earlier sources, but this claim is heavily debated and generally considered false. It was first published in 1960 by the Aquarian Press under the pseudonym Marius Malchus. The Aquarian Press claims that Malchus bought an English translation of a lost Latin manuscript of the grimoire, dated to 1518, from a defrocked priest in the Canary Islands in 1927. Malchus supposedly copied the contents and then, inexplicably, discarded the original English translation he had bought. This tale is generally considered to have been invented as a cover story to falsely pass it off as an ancient grimoire. Modern research has demonstrated that various parts of its contents are plagiarized from several different magical texts written in the late 1800s, including a translation of Arbatel: De Magia Veterum by Arthur Edward Waite, a mystic and occultist best known as co-creator of the famous Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck.
Simon Necronomicon
The Simon Necronomicon is a modern occult grimoire by a pseudonymous author using the name "Simon." It is presented as an actual translation of the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire existing in the fictional universe of the horror author H. P. Lovecraft. Of course, since Lovecraft never intended the Necronomicon to be represented as a real occult text, the Simon Necronomicon is in fact an original work, using Lovecraft's title and lore. It combines ceremonial magic, elements of the Lovecraftian mythos, and parts of ancient Mesopotamian religion into its own system of ritual and belief. It uses Sumerian as a ritual language and calls upon ancient Sumerian gods. Despite its modern origin and fictional roots, some occultists, especially chaos magicians, have used it as an actual grimoire.
The Simon Necronomicon contains a rite called the "Conjuration of the Watcher," accompanied by some information that seems to be derived from the concept of the Watchers and the Grigoric Narrative. However, the portrayal of the Watchers in the Necronomicon is very divergent from both the Yahwist and Satano-Grigorist understandings.
Left-Hand Path traditions
Some modern Luciferian, Satanic, Demonolatrous, and other Left-Hand Path systems have involved the Watchers to some extent. In these systems, the Watchers are usually viewed positively as rebels against tyranny or enlightened figures who can provide occult knowledge and spiritual power. Some view the Watchers as aspects of a broader, more abstract Satanic or Promethean archetype.
Michael W. Ford
The Luciferian occultist Michael W. Ford extensively employs the Watchers in his complex magical system, which has a soft polytheist framework that views various LHP-aligned spirits as "deific masks" representing dark primordial forces. Ford's version of Luciferianism is heavily influenced by the theology of the Order of the Nine Angles, a decentralized Left-Hand Path group that is now recognized as a terrorist organization by multiple countries; this influence likely comes from his time as leader of a nexion (branch or chapter) of the O9A from 1996 to 1998. His book Adversarial Light: Magick of the Nephilim incorporates Samyaza, Azazel (whom he conflates with Asael), and other fallen angels into Luciferian ritual and associates the Watchers' transmission of forbidden knowledge with the "Black Flame," representing intellect, independent thought, and spiritual power. Later, Ford published another grimoire, Fallen Angels, Watchers and the Witches' Sabbat, a grimoire devoted extensively to the Watchers and Nephilim. It contains sigils, invocations, planetary correspondences, and rituals that involve specific Watchers and are designed to promote "Luciferian apotheosis." However, the Watchers in Ford's view are not objectively existent individual beings with their own wills, goals, and personalities; they, like all other deities with human-recognizable attributes and characteristics, are merely "deific masks" of impersonal primordial powers. Ultimately, Ford's work seems to reduce individual gods to tools or routes of access to be used by humans.
Others
Internet-based occultist V.K. Jehannum has a short two-part series, "Invoking the Grigori," on his blog. Jehannum's work is heavily influenced by Qliphothic concepts and the theology of infamous anti-cosmic Satanic sects, including the Order of the Nine Angles and the Misanthropic Luciferian Order, also known as the Temple of the Black Light; he frequently cites O9A works on his blog. "Invoking the Grigori" contains short invocations that he claims can be used to invoke and be "possessed by" some of the Dekadarchs (Arakiel, Kokabiel, Sariel, Harmoniel, Yomiel, and Turiel), along with brief explanations of the benefits of being possessed by them. These invocations are peppered with references to Kabbalistic concepts, as well as nonsense words.
He has sometimes posted about the Watchers outside of his "Invoking the Grigori" series. He consistently states that the Watchers have three leaders, whom he calls the Archgrigori: Azazel, Asael (whom he calls Azael), and Samyaza. However, it is unclear what his definition of a Watcher actually is, or what exactly he believes about them. It appears that he finds it possible for a spirit to be only partially a Watcher. He describes one spirit recorded only from his own experience as "a cross between a Qliphothic succubus and a Watcher," and in an article about a previously unrecorded demon called Tonzoral, he notes, "Unlike Azazel, who is part Watcher, part demon, and more, Tonzoral is purely demonic." He also claims that a "dark goddess" originally mentioned in an O9A text, Darkat, is "the mother of Azazel, and while she rules over the Watchers as empress, the Watchers are only some of the spirits she rules." He again mentions the notion of an Empress of the Watchers on a page describing the types of rituals he sells; the description of a rite called "The Rite of the Veil-Gods," which costs $300, opens with "In this ritual, I will call upon the Watchers and their Empress to empower the witch in numerous ways and subject her to various alchemies." He presents one of the O9A "Dark Gods," named Gaubni, as one of the Watchers and as an aspect of a "metagod [he] call[s] "Death Itself." He also mentions that "the Nephilimic Undead are the priesthood of Gaubni." In a post called "A Rite to Consecrate a Ouija Board," he provides a spell that invokes Samyaza as "the Lord of the Stars" alongside several Goetic demons. In "Magickal Hymn to the Raviasamin," he mentions that one of his "four leviathans," powerful primordial dragon spirits, is also a Watcher: "The third levithan [sic] is Rahab, a Watcher and Demon-Prince of the Sea. His other names include Ramuel and Rahab Seriel." He also presents a claim about the dwellings of the descendants of the Watchers in his post "Behemoth," where a footnote says, "There are five kingdoms within the Qlipha of the Black Earth, and each kingdom is the dwelling of one of the generations of entities descended from the Watchers’ copulation with humankind (the Nephilim reside in one of these kingdoms)."
Textual references
References to the Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Great Descent exist in Satano-Grigorist scriptures (the Book of the Watchers and the Acts of Enoch and The Lion and the Lamb), the Bible, parabiblical literature, Jewish rabbinic literature, Christian patristic literature, and various modern occult writings.