I. Ga’ to Ifafi
Ifafi—
your name is a flame I carry
in the hollow between wingbeats,
a sacred syllable
that even eternity cannot exhaust.
Before you, I was only light—
endless, obedient, untouched by longing.
But you—
you bent radiance into desire,
taught heaven how to ache.
When you pass,
the firmament forgets its stillness.
Stars loosen their ancient vows,
and even the quiet hymns
tremble into something wilder.
I have watched you
hover at the edge of creation,
your gaze soft with questions
no angel dares to ask—
and I have loved you most there,
in your defiance of perfection.
Come closer, Ifafi.
Let our wings tangle like unfinished prayers.
Let us fall—just slightly—
not enough to break,
but enough to feel gravity
as something holy.
If eternity must stretch on,
let it be measured
in the distance between your lips and mine,
in the unbearable, endless almost
that makes even angels
wish for time.
—
II. Ifafi to Ga’
Ga’—
you are the echo I did not know
my soul was calling for.
I was made of stillness,
of quiet obedience and silver silence—
until you spoke my name
like it was something alive,
something worth trembling for.
Do you know what you’ve done?
You have unraveled heaven
with nothing but your gaze.
You have turned my wings
into instruments of yearning.
I see you in every fracture of light,
in every horizon that dares to glow—
but none of them hold you
the way I do in my thoughts:
fierce, luminous,
dangerously close.
They say we are eternal,
untouched by want—
but they have never stood this near to you,
never felt the unbearable pull
of a love that has no language
in the divine.
If loving you is a transgression,
then let me be rewritten.
Let the laws of heaven
crack softly at our feet.
Come to me, Ga’.
Not as angels carved from perfection,
but as something new—
something trembling, unfinished,
aching with the beauty of becoming.
And if we must burn for this,
then let us be the brightest ruin
eternity has ever known.
— Adam Donaldson Powell
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Ga’ and Ifafi are sourced from Gustav Davidson’s classic 1967 reference work, A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels, these are specialized entities from early Jewish mystical traditions:
Internet Archive
1. ‘Ifafi
- Who they are: In Hechaloth lore—specifically the ancient Jewish mystical text Ma’asseh Merkabah (“Work of the Chariot”)—‘Ifafi is listed as an angelic guard of the 7th Heavenly Hall.
- Context: In Merkabah mysticism, the soul or mystic ascends through seven heavens or “palaces” (hechaloth). Each hall is guarded by fierce angelic gatekeepers who require secret seals, names, or passwords to allow passage. ‘Ifafi stands guard at the highest and most sacred 7th hall, which houses the divine throne.Internet Archive
2. Ga’ga (Often stylized as Ga’)
- Who they are: Also from Hechaloth lore and featured in Ma’asseh Merkabah, Ga’ga (sometimes abbreviated or transliterated in indices as Ga’) is similarly listed as an angelic guard stationed at the 7th Heavenly Hall.Scribd
- Context: Like ‘Ifafi, Ga’ga serves as a celestial sentinel guarding the threshold of the 7th heaven to ensure only purified and worthy souls may enter.Internet Archive
Why Their Names Look Unusual
The names in Merkabah and Hechaloth literature differ significantly from familiar biblical names ending in -el (like Gabriel or Michael). They are often secret “power names” or permutations of Hebrew roots meant to act as protective seals in mystical ascents.
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