7. ENOCH STAYS FOR A WHILE WITH THE WATCHERS
17.1 And they took me to a place
where they were like burning fire, and, when they wished, they made themselves
look like men.
17.2 And they led me to a place of storm, and to a mountain, the tip of whose
summit reached to Heaven.
17.3 And I saw lighted places, and thunder in the outermost ends, in its depths
a bow of fire, and arrows and their quivers, and a sword of fire, and all the
flashes of lightning.
17.4 And they took me to the Water of Life, as it is called, and to the Fire
of the West, which receives every setting of the Sun.
17.5 And I came to a river of fire, whose fire flows like water, and pours out
into the Great Sea, which is towards the west.
17.6 And I saw all the great rivers, and I reached the Great Darkness, and went
where all flesh walks.
17.7 And I saw the Mountains of the Darkness of Winter and the place where the
water of all the deeps pours out.
17.8 And I saw the mouths of all the rivers of the Earth, and the mouth of the
deep.
18.1 And I saw the storehouses of all the winds, and I saw how with them He
has adorned all creation, and I saw the foundations of the Earth.
18.2 And I saw the cornerstone of the Earth. And I saw the four winds which
support the Earth and the sky.
18.3 And I saw how the winds stretch out the height of Heaven, and how they
position themselves between Heaven and Earth; they are the Pillars of Heaven.
18.4 And I saw the winds which turn the sky and cause the disc of the Sun and
all the stars to set.
18.5 And I saw the winds on the Earth which support the clouds and I saw the
paths of the Angels. I saw at the end of the Earth; the firmament of Heaven
above.
18.6 And I went towards the south, and it was burning day and night, where there
were seven mountains of precious stones, three towards the east and three towards
the south.
18.7 And those towards the east were of coloured stone, and one was of pearl,
and one of healing stone; and those towards the south, of red stone.
18.8 And the middle one reached to Heaven, like the throne of the Lord, of stibium,
and the top of the throne was of sapphire.
18.9 And I saw a burning fire, and what was in all the mountains.
18.10 And I saw a place there, beyond the great earth; there the waters gathered
together.
18.11 And I saw a deep chasm of the earth, with pillars of heavenly fire, and
I saw among them fiery pillars of Heaven, which were falling, and as regards
both height and depth, they were immeasurable.
18.12 And beyond this chasm, I saw a place, and it had neither the sky above
it, nor the foundation of earth below it; there was no water on it, and no birds,
but it was a desert place.
18.13 And a terrible thing I saw there, seven stars, like great burning mountains.
18.14 And like a spirit questioning me, the Angel said: "This is the place
of the end of Heaven and Earth; this is the prison for the Stars of Heaven and
the Host of Heaven.
18.15 And the stars which roll over the fire, these are the ones which transgressed
the command of the Lord, from the beginning of their rising, because they did
not come out at their proper times.
18.16 And He was angry with them, and bound them until the time of the consummation
of their sin, in the Year of Mystery."
19.1 And Uriel said to me: "The spirits of the Angels who were promiscuous
with women will stand here; and they, assuming many forms, made men unclean
and will lead men astray so that they sacrifice to demons as gods. And they
will stand there until the great judgment day, on which they will be judged,
so that an end will be made of them.
19.2 And their wives, having led astray the Angels of Heaven, will become peaceful."
19.3 And I, Enoch, alone saw the sight, the ends of everything; and no man has
seen what I have seen.
Notes
(7) ENOCH STAYS FOR
A WHILE WITH THE WATCHERS (pages 31-33)
This section describes Enoch's impressions on being shown around by the Watchers.
At 17.1, he says he was at a place where the Watchers were like burning fire,
(I do not know what this means, although it does remind me of Moses and the
burning bush), but he also says that they could look like men.
The description at 17.5 reminds me of volcanic larva flows, such as in Iceland
where new land is being created.
The mountains mentioned at 18.6 are referred to again later in the book. I have
often wondered if it would be possible to identify this place from these descriptions.
The best match I have found so far is the South Sandwich island group. The main
island has now been submerged but the mountain tops now form the chain of islands.
For more on this, read 'Thoth Architect of the Universe' by Ralph Ellis.
This part ends with more details of the punishment for the runaways.
