"Then I saw in the secret places in the heights of Heaven two armies of heavenly spirits who shone with great brightness…." Starting at the outermost concentric circle, the angels "have on their breasts wings, with forms like human forms in front of them, on which human features show as if in clear water." The archangels are the "second army," and they resemble the angels except that on their chests they have the image of the Son of God, which "shines as if in a mirror." "These armies are arrayed in the shape of a crown around five other armies." Those five armies are the Virtues (grey people), Powers (orange and red images), Princedoms (grey faces), Dominions (with helmets), and Thrones (the blue, yellow, and red band). The Cherubim and Seraphim are "full of eyes and wings, and in each eye appears a mirror and in each mirror a human form, and they raise their wings to a celestial height. The final band of reddish eyes represents the Seraphim alone: "but you see no other shape … that is to say that there are many secrets of the blessed spirits and that are not to be shown to humans." Hildegard went on to say that "all these armies, as you hear, are singing with marvelous voices all kinds of music about the wonders that God works in blessed souls, by which God is magnificently glorified."

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