Oh, before we jump too far ahead, I'd like to clarify what I'd already said in a previous thread: I don't see it as being a hard-and-fast rule that any one angel presides utterly over any single concept. It's more that several beings share one overall concept in the form of each taking a slightly different nuance of it.
Example: Estael is self-stating angel of empathy,
as it pertains to understanding somebody. There are other angels in literature described as angels of empathy, but I would infer that they pertain to a different aspect or facet of the overall concept that is empathy.
Also, I'm an armchair linguist; most "book" angelic names are either Hebrew, Semitic (similar but different), Greek, or Latin in the title part of the name, and most of them end in "El" or "On" (like Abbadon, Gabuthelon, Metatron, Sandalphon). I'm inclined to believe that sometimes dissimilar names can apply to the same entity (Michael and Metatron are often shown as the same, for instance).
And to save time, one last bit:
I don't see choirs as ranks, just groupings of angels who share similar tasks. It's not a matter of superiority or authority over others, it's just an easier way to figure out who is "related" to whom.
However, I do believe
1. that archangels are a very small, specific group who encompass larger purposes and provide a system of organization for all the rest and
2. the word "angel" applies to ALL angels, kheruvim, seraphim, ophanim, and so on and so on. The difference between cherub, seraph, and so on is like the difference between races in human beings or in breeds of cat or dog.
Simply put, they are different because they see themselves as different and they choose to perform tasks that are not performed by those they consider different.
In analogy, the variations of skin colour, hair texture, and nose/lip proportions within just ONE race of humans is actually more dramatic than the variation between people who are extreme stereotypes of two different races.
That is to say... as I see it, the only thing "higher" than an archangel is God's own Self.
All that being said, it's up to the individual to believe what he/she will believe. <!-- s

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