Watchers: "From the Ashes of Angels" by Andrew Collins

The past few days I've buried myself in a book by Andrew Collins, From the Ashes of Angels, which isn't a new book but it's one I wasn't aware of until recently. 


Basically, Collins looks at the existing literature and mythology on Angels from Judeo-Christian, Essene, Zoroasterism, Magi, Iranian and various other cultures and follows the common threads back through time to try and determine whether there was really a race of "watchers" who fell from grace and came to Earth to mate with the "daughters of men." 


So far, in the few days I've had the book not only has it held my attention, but Collins has written it so that you're searching thru the dusty old stacks with him, going to Zoraster festivals rarely heard of (in fact I wasn't even aware that any Zoraster's still existed in this day and age!) and even more rarely observed.


I'm already over 116 pages into this 450-page tome (trade paperback size) and keep finding yet even more new information. For example, the Book of Enoch describes the birth of Noah (yes, that Noah) as freaking his parents out because the baby had hair the color of wool (white), skin as white as snow and as red of rosebuds (caucasion with a ruddy complexion) and eyes that lit up the room.  Rather a strange looking baby for olive-skinned, dark-haired desert-dwelling parents to have.  And LARGE. These babies had to be born by C-section because they were so large.


Of course, the biologist in me is wondering whether the parents carried the albino gene. The albino gene would be recessive in both parents (dark hair and eyes are dominant over lighter hair and eyes) so that for them to produce an albino (yes, true albino's have pink eyes because any eye pigment would cover the retina which causes the pink color) or even a partial albino without pink eyes, both parents would have had to carry the gene.


This type of surprise baby is given different receptions in different cultures. In Iran, the surprise baby is included in the mythology of the Iranian royal lines and we're introduced to where some of the stories about the Nephilim originated.


Ah yes, you were wondering about the angel connection weren't you? :)  In Judeao-Christian mythology, the fallen angels mate with human females and give birth to the Nephilim:  the very large babies with white hair, shining skin, and eyes that light up rooms. Babies that look like "angels" but that are really from demons.


These beings (nephilim) are the ones credited with introducing agriculture, metallurgy, architecture, jewelry, make up, writing, divination, and much more to human kind. 


Interesting, to say the least. I'll let you know what conclusions we reach in the book.  In the meantime, below are images image of a watcher based on the descriptions in ancient texts.

           

May 2012 Update: farther into the book, Collins extends the mythology of the nephlim as pictured above. Many are known as medicine men & women, magicians, and wizards who have a habit of being able to come and go without being seen and heard and who have sacred (and secret) knowledge that others don't possess. Perhaps Merlin (of the King Arthur mythology) was really a nephilim? ;>