#paradise
Cherubim
‘The cherubim are winged creatures, but the form of them does not resemble that of any living creature seen by man’ (Josephus).
They signify presence of divinity and are guardians of the sacred and of the threshold.
As tetramorphs cherubim are the quaternary of elemental powers guarding the centre of Paradise which is inaccessible to the unregenerate man.
They combine the bull (Taurus), lion (Leo), eagle (Scorpio), and man (Aquarius), symbolizing the four elements, the four corners of the earth and, in Christianity, the four Evangelists.
After the Seraphim they are the highest of the nine orders of angels.
In heraldry a cherub is depicted as a child’s head (purity and innocence) between a pair of wings (spiritual nature).
Yahweh is 'enthroned’ upon the cherbuim’ (I Sam. 4,4).
The throne of the Temple of Jerusalem in the Holy of Holies was flanked by two cherubim and the throne was formed by their wings.
[Source: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper]
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