WAT001 – The Watchers: Lost Secrets of Ascension, Resurrection and Perfection (Book Discussion)

Today I’m beginning to read and share some of my personal thoughts on a new book by William Henry titled “The Watchers: Lost Secrets of Ascension, Resurrection and Perfection“. As a Christian Deconstructionist, I continually find books like these intriguing, long after I officially left organized religion. It is because I have divorced myself mentally from the “church” that I feel I can finally look at very radical re-examinations for the “scriptures” and offer insights that I gained from decades of intense Bible study as a learned and indoctrinated “Christian”. I hope you will find my insights resonate with you and that my questions and interrogation of the “biblical text” opens your mind to accepting other possibilities that perhaps you once were conditioned to reject without serious consideration.

The “Watchers” is a topic I have LONG been fascinated by from even my early days of being a Christian. While I no longer consider myself to be “Christian,” I cannot help continually being fascinated by any story that reminds me of story of the “Watchers”, particularly when that something PRE-dates the Bible and thus may be the “origin” of the story told by the Hebrews. This fascination drives me to continue reading about and discussing with anyone willing to listen, all of the crazy ideas that pop into my head when reading this stuff. I hope you will find it entertaining if not slightly educational as well..

So let’s begin the book discussion. Very early the the author made the following statement:

Foremost among the joyful angels dwelling in this eternal celestial city are the mysterious Watchers, also known as the Angels of the Lord. Referred to in the Old Testament Book of Daniel 4: 13-17, they are a high and illustrious order of ‘Holy Ones’, that sit on the supreme Judgment Council of the Heavenly Court (in Sion), but who come down out of heaven.

The Watchers: Lost Secrets of Ascension, Resurrection and Perfection
William Henry

For those like myself, it helps to look at the actual verses as translated by one of the most respected English translations, the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. This is a popular translation preferred by many biblical scholars so I will use it often when examining the English translation of the “Bible”.

¹³ “I continued looking, in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and there was a holy watcher coming down from heaven. ¹⁴ He cried aloud and said:

‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;
    strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit.
Let the animals flee from beneath it
    and the birds from its branches.
¹⁵ But leave its stump and roots in the ground,
    with a band of iron and bronze,
    in the tender grass of the field.
Let him be bathed with the dew of heaven,
    and let his lot be with the animals
    in the grass of the earth.
¹⁶ Let his mind be changed from that of a human,
    and let the mind of an animal be given to him.
    And let seven times pass over him.
¹⁷ The sentence is rendered by decree of the watchers,
    the decision is given by order of the holy ones,
in order that all who live may know
    that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals;
he gives it to whom he will
    and sets over it the lowliest of human beings.’

Daniel 4:13-17, NRSVUE

The English translation “watchers” appears twice in this passage (Daniel 4:13-17) and is translated from the Hebrew or Aramaic word “ir” or “ur” which Strong’s Concordance defines as “waking or wakeful one”. The root of the word in Hebrew appears to come from a word denoting a walled city or fortification in which watch towers were often placed at the corners so that the “watchers” could watch over the city. In my studies of the “scripture” I have found that the watchers are often viewed as a special type of angel that watches over those of us here on earth or, as I have come to understand it, those of us in the material plane of existence. These beings (watchers) are able to come and go from the spiritual realm (what some call “the heavens”) but their primary role is to keep watch over those of us in the material plane and, as demonstrated by this verse, often pronounce judgements on those of us in the material world. I have SO much to say about this topic but am biting my tongue to try and stay on topic.

The main point of today’s thought, I believe, is that the author is trying to establish that the “watchers” are from a “biblical” perspective. Namely the key points are:

• The watchers are “holy ones”
• They reside in the heavenly realms or spiritual realm but can “descend” or “come down” to earth from “heaven”.
• that they can pronounce judgements on men as they see fit and carry it out

It should be noted that many extra-biblical sources (that is books no longer considered “scripture” by the modern church), tell us a LOT more about the “watchers” than is captured in the modern “Bible”. As an aide, it is frustrating to me that I was once, like many modern Christians, taught to immediately reject any and all books or sources of information outside of the modern canon of books we call the Bible. I was conditioned to believe that if “God” thought a book was all that important than surely “HE” would have made sure to include it in the books that made it into our modern “Bible”. It saddens me how terribly brainwashed and uneducated I had been to accept such obviously faulty logic. Having said that, there is a VAST amount of writings outside of the “Bible” that were once considered “scripture” that have MUCH to say about the watchers and lends us a better understanding to haw the ancient Israelites viewed and understood the role of the watchers. From time to time I may draw about those sourced to demonstrate these ideas furhter.

It is also ironic to me that many seminaries teach classes in early church history and introduce many of these same extra biblical sources about the watchers to upcoming ministers in their pursuit of a ministerial degree, and yet the general public is STILL taught that these books have no real value to us today and are discouraged from reading the very same books their ministers and teachers were forced to read and learn. It should be noted that MANY additional books that the church now rejects as heresy were once considered “scripture” by early believers. One should ask themselves on whose authority did men decide for you what you are allowed to read or not. Many of these books are even named and/or quoted from in the modern Bible itself but have largely been forgotten or rejected by the modern church without, I would argue, any “input” from God…but I digress.

According to the author:

Early mystical Hebrew sects organized them into an Arch-angel hierarchy. According to this system, the Watchers are the highest angels possible and were ruled over by four of their own, the great angels known as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Ariel. These are among the ‘good’ Watchers we will discuss, as is Metatron, who is the transformed human, Enoch. Then there is Lucifer, Shemyaza and Azazel, the ‘evil’ Watchers who were destined to unleash a storm on humanity.

The Watchers: Lost Secrets of Ascension, Resurrection and Perfection
William Henry

Once again I have SO much to say about this topic but have to pick and choose what do deal with at first. For starters, the hierarchy of angels the author lists may be a relatively more “modern” understanding of angels but that’s not important at this moment. It is also worth noting that many “occult” practitioners to this day (Golden Dawn, Wicca, etc) call upon the four “watchers” listed above (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Ariel” in modern magical practice, but again I digress. As to the “wicked” watchers, THAT is a subject of UTMOST importance to me and the subject of my fascination for decades of my life. It is interesting to note that on my left arm today is a tattoo of a pentagram with the Hebrew phrase B’nai ha Elohim” (sons of God) and the name “Azazel” encased in the pentagram. It is NOT because I’m a “devil” worshipper but rather to show that my interest in the “watchers”, particularly the so called “wicked” or “evil” ones is one of the most important points of interest in my life. You will see why if you read my personal memoir “Deconstructing Me” or follow this blog closely.

Unfortunately, Christianity today has all but dropped the term “watchers” from it’s vocabulary and thus it is not a term I think most Christians are terribly familiar with, nor do they care much about. Personally I think a TON of insight into the TRUE meaning of certain passages in the modern “Bible” can only be found by understanding what the early believers thought of when they read those words and what the common opinions were about the “watchers” in those days.

The early believers were almost assuredly aware of the various stories and “myths” of the “watchers” (as the early church now calls them) and thus certain passages in the Bible would be seen VERY much differently through the early believer’s eyes than how modern Christianity sees them today. Modern Christianity has largely been stripped of the knowledge and history of the “watchers” and thus may be missing BIG keys to a better understanding of their own holy book. This of course is not the fault of the modern believer who was never really been introduced to these topics but, if you yourself are one those unfamiliar with the history of the watchers, I urge you to keep an open mind and consider the impact these so called “myths” have on the writings of the Bible.

If you follow my blog, I believe you can learn a ton more about the fascinating story of the watchers.