Dominions: The Celestial Administrators of the Divine Order
Francesco Botticini, "The Assumption of the Virgin" (c. 1475–1476, National Gallery, London) — one of the most complete visual representations of the nine angelic choirs arranged in concentric circles around the divine throne, with the three highest orders at the center and the Dominions in the second sphere. Between the blazing heights of the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones — those luminous intelligences that stand in immediate proximity to the divine — and the more active, world-directed orders of the lower angelic spheres, there exists a crucial middle rank. The Dominions (also called Dominations or Kyriotetes in Greek) are the first order of the second angelic sphere : the celestial administrators through whom the infinite divine will is translated into governance, structure, and law for the created order below. If the Seraphim burn with love, the Cherubim contemplate with wisdom, and the Thrones hold the stable seat of divine justice, the Dominions do something ...