“It was said she laid at the bottom of her dark heaven, her quiet, soothing consciousness presiding over it. She quietly welcomed all tortured souls, that appeared as flitting butterflies, as she allowed them to find peace and heal. The archangel Zachariel found a quiet sympathy in the archdevil Belphegor, so she took him into her heaven and there they slept.”

My entry for mythology contest! I pictured *AzraelEvangeline’s Huine as the angel Zachariel and =yami-caffeine’s Gilie as the archdevil Belphegor.

The awesome butterflies are from the cool =Shoofly-Stock ! [link] I wanted to put all the butterflies from his stock in my drawing, lol.

*note: i used both traditional and digital means to achieve this drawing. For more info, just ask me! (;



***
**
***

DETAILS about the MYTHOLOGY:

“Then the angel Zachariel got a chance to speak, and she said, “I feel for these poor angels, the ones you have called Fallen. We have all only done what we feel is right. I am the mercy bringer, I only wish for peace, how can we treat these beings, any beings, so badly? They are not above us, nor are we below them, let them feel that no matter how much they hurt, we will only show them peace, mercy and understanding. Not just them; all beings, all the creatures of earth, should have the chance to say, ‘maybe we are not wicked.’ I want to show that nothing is truly alone or dejected, no one is ever forgotten, at least not to me. I want to show them they are important as well, that even the worst can be shown forgiveness.”

Zachariel is known as the "Lady of Mercy" and the "Silent One", she is the ruler of the silent heaven of Raquia. Her heaven is one of darkness and peace, where souls that had live tortued lives would finally have the chance to rest and allow their souls to heal, appearing as butterflies that would flit about. She would lay at the bottom of the heaven like a statue collecting dust and it was said only the Angel's Raphael, Sammael and Michael could rouse her from this sleep. When she was in this sleeping state, it seemed Raquia itself was sentient, her quiet, soothing consciousness presiding over it.

*
Belphegor epitomizes slothfulness, sadness and apathy. He cares for nothing, not even himself or his layer of Hell, a wasteland of filth overrun with pits and overgrown plants where vermin and snakes make their homes. Once a kind angel, he went to Earth and became jaded, finding married bliss and true love nonexistant. He cared not for God and so fell from Heaven with the other devils. Those who succumb to his sin find themselves wasting away in his Hell, buried in clutter and dust as he reads and sleeps, wasting time.

*
On one occasion the archdevil Belphegor stumbled into her heaven. He did not bear the same cruel, evil souls that the other Archdevils did, and so the Archangel Zachariel found a quiet sympathy in him. She took him into her heaven and there he slept as well with her at the bottom of the dark silence.
~taken from Az descriptions. (;