Azazel

Azazel - In Enoch I, Azazel is one of the chiefs of the 200 fallen angels (Revelation speaks of one-third of the heavenly host being involved in the fall).  Azazel "taught men to fashion swords and shields" while women learned from him "finery and the art of beautifying the eyelids."  He is the scapegoat in rabbinic literature, Targum, and in Leviticus 16:8, although in the latter he is not actually named.  In The Zohar (Vayeze 153a) the rider on the serpent is symbolized by "the evil Azazel."  Here he is said to be chief of the order of bene elim (otherwise ischim, lower angels, "men-spirits").  Irenaeus calls Azazel "that fallen and yet mighty angel."  In The Apocalypse of Abraham he is "lord of hell, seducer of mankind," and here his aspect, when revealed in its true form, shows him to be a demon with 7 serpent heads, 14 faces, and 12 wings.  Jewish legend speaks of Azazel as the angel who refused to bow down before Adam (in the Koran the angel is Eblis or Iblis) when the 1st human was presented to God to the assembled hierarchs in Heaven.  For such refusal, Azazel was thenceforth dubbed "the accursed Satan." [Rf. Bamberger, Fallen Angels, p278]  According to the legend in Islamic lore, when God commanded the angels to worship Adam, Azazel refused, contending "Why should a son of fire [i.e. an angel] fall down before a son of clay [i.e. a mortal]?"  Whereupon God cast Azazel out of Heaven and changed his name to Eblis.  Milton in Paradise Lost I, 534 describes Azazel as "cherub tall," but also as a fallen angel and Satan's standard bearer.  Originally, according to Maurice Bouisson in Magic; Its History and Principal Rites, Azazel was an ancient Semitic god of the flocks who was later degraded to the level of a demon. [Rf Trevor Ling, The Significance of Satan in New Testament Demonology.]  Bamberger in Fallen Angels inclines to the notion that the first star which fell (star here having the meaning of angel) was Azazel. (a)

Eblis - In Persian and Arabic lore, Eblis is the equivalent of the Christian Satan.  As an angel in good standing he was once treasurer of the heavenly Paradise, according to Ibn Abbas in Jung's Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan Literature.  Beckford in the oriental romance Vathek introduces Eblis thus:  "Before his fall he [Eblis] was called Azazel.  When Adam was created, God commanded all the angels to worship him [Adam], but Eblis refused." Cf. Koran, sura 18; also the legend related in Ginzbery, The Legends of the Jews I, 63:  "Me thou hast created of smokeless fire, and shall I reverence a creature made of dust?"  Thereupon God turned Eblis into a shetan (devil) and he became the father of devils.  To Augustine (Enchiridion, 28) and to Mohammed (in the Koran) Eblis is a jinn rather than an angel or a fallen angel.  The Arabs have 3 categories of spirits:  angels, jinn (good and evil), and demons.  There is a tradition that the great grandson of Eblis was taught by Mohammed certain suras of the Koran. [Rf. The Encyclopedia of Islam III, 191.]  (a)

Azazel - A demon of the second order, guardian of the goat.  At the feast of expiation, which the Jews celebrate on the 10th day of the 7th month, two goats are led to the High Priest, who draws lots for them, the one for the Lord, the other for Azazel.  The one on which the lot of the Lord fell was sacrificed, and his blood served for expiation.  The High Priest then put his two hands on the head of the other, confessed his sins and those of the people, charged the animal with them, and allowed him to be led to the desert and set free.  And the people, having left the care of their iniquities to the goat of Azazel - also known as the scape-goat - return home with clean consciences.  According to Milton, Azazel is the principal standard-bearer of the infernal armies.  It is also the name of the demon used by Mark the heretic for his magic spells. (b)

Azazel was the chief standard bearer of the infernal armies. (c)

Click here for additional Information:  Page 2    Page 3    Page 4

Resource List - all entries are taken verbatim from the original source:

(a) "The Dictionary of Angels" by Gustav Davidson, © 1967

(b) "Encyclopaedia of Occultism" by Lewis Spence. ©1959

(c) "Fallen Angels...and Spirits of the Dark" by Robert Masello ©1994.