CryptoAngels: Zadkiel
The seventeenth in a series of posts about the Archangels of the CryptoAngels project and their inspirations.
Owned by John Karp, Zadkiel patrols the lower atmospheres and mountain peaks of Heaven. He is known as the Angel of Diamonds, and his role is to monitor the Worlds of the Multiverse, which are reflected in the facets of the crystals that drift and swirl in his realm. His crystalline domain is inspired by the real phenomena of tiny atmospheric ice crystals. These create beautiful effects in the air where they form, such as iridescent and noctilucent clouds and halos, due to light reflecting off their surfaces.
Zadkiel’s steed is Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. Pegasus was said to have sprung from the blood of the gorgon Medusa and to have helped Perseus rescue the princess Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus.
Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber books strongly influence the character of Zadkiel, with his ability to move through the crystal facets of Heaven into other Worlds, just as members of the royal court of Amber can shift through shadows to their desired shadow-world. The description of the complex relationships between the Worlds of the Multiverse touches on various concepts such as the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, the butterfly effect of chaos theory, and the microcosm–macrocosm analogy of hermetic philosophy.
