Grigori

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The Grigori are a group of fallen angels told of in Biblical apocrypha who mated with mortal women, giving rise to a race of hybrids known as the Nephilim, who are described as giants in Genesis 6:4. Also known as "Watchers" (from Greek egrḗgoroi), the Grigori appear in the books of Enoch and Jubilees.

According to the Book of Enoch, the Grigori numbered a total of 200 but only their leaders are named:

These are the names of their chiefs: Samyaza, who was their leader, Urakabarameel, Akibeel, Tamiel, Ramuel, Danel, Azkeel, Saraknyal, Asael, Armers, Batraal, Anane, Zavebe, Samsaveel, Ertael, Turel, Yomyael, Azazyel (also known as Azazel). These were the prefects of the two hundred angels, and the remainder were all with them. (Enoch 7:9

In Enoch, the Watchers are angels apparently dispatched to Earth simply to watch over the humans. They soon begin to lust for the human women they see, and at the prodding of their leader Samyaza, they defect en masse to marry and live among the humans. The children produced by these relationships are the Nephilim, savage giants who pillage the earth and endanger humanity. Samyaza, Azazel, and the others become corrupt, and teach their human hosts to make metal weapons, cosmetics, and other necessities of civilization that had been kept secret. But the humans are dying and cry to the heavens for help. God sends the Great Flood to rid the earth of the Nephilim, but sends Uriel to warn Noah so as not to eradicate the human race. The Grigori are bound "in the valleys of the Earth" until Judgement Day. (See Jude 1:6)

The Watchers story in Enoch is derived from Genesis chapter 6. Verses 1-4 describe the "Origin of the Nephilim" and mention the "Sons of God" who beget them:

When men began to multiply on earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of heaven saw how beautiful the daughters of man were, and so they took for their wives as many of them as they chose. Then the Lord said: "My spirit shall not remain in man forever, since he is but flesh. His days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years." At that time the Nephilim appeared on earth (as well as later), after the sons of heaven had intercourse with the daughters of man, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-4)

Here, the "sons of heaven" are given no specific name or function; they could represent fallen angels, or simply heavenly beings that mate with human women.

The Book of Jubilees adds further details about the Watchers. While "Watchers" or "Sentinels" are mentioned alongside the "holy ones" in the Book of Daniel, it is doubtful they have any connection to the Grigori. The angels were fairly popular in Jewish folklore, which often describes them as looking like large human beings that never sleep and remain forever silent. While there are good and bad Watchers, most stories revolve around the evil ones that fell from grace when they took "the daughters of man" as their mates.

[edit] References to other Grigori

Armaros (also Amaros) in Enoch I taught men the resolving of enchantments.
Araqiel (also Arakiel, Araqael, Araciel, Arqael, Sarquael, Arkiel, Arkas) in Enoch I taught humans the signs of the earth. However, in the Sibylline Oracles, Araqiel is referred to not as a fallen angel, or Grigori, but as one of the 5 angels who lead the souls of men to judgement, the other 4 being Ramiel, Uriel, Samiel, and Aziel.
Azazel in I Enoch taught men to make knives, swords, shields, and how to devise ornaments and cosmetics.
Baraqel (Baraqiel) taught men astrology (from Enoch I).
Chazaqiel taught men the signs of the clouds (meteorology) in Enoch I.
Kokabiel (also Kakabel, Kochbiel, Kokbiel, Kabaiel, and Kochab), in The Book of the Angel Raziel, is a high-ranking, holy angel but, in general apocryphal lore and also in Enoch I, he is a fallen Grigori, resident of nether realms, and commands 365,000 surrogate spirits to do his bidding. Among other duties, he instructs his fellows in astrology.
Penemue in I Enoch 69.8 "taught mankind the art of writing with ink and paper," and taught "the children of men the bitter and the sweet and the secrets of wisdom."
Sariel (also Suriel, Zerachiel, and Sarakiel) is one of the 7 archangels originally listed in the Enoch books as Saraqel. Apocryphally, he is the governor of the zodiacal sign of Aries. In the Enoch books, he also teaches of the courses of the moon (at one time regarded as forbidden knowledge).
Samyaza (also Shemyazaz, Shamazya, Semiaza, Shemhazi, Semyaza and Amezyarak) is one of the leaders of the fall from heaven and is referred to in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Vocabulaire de l' Angelologie.
Shamsiel, once a guardian of Eden, in the Zohar, served as one of the 2 chief aides to the archangel Uriel (the other aide being Hasdiel) when Uriel bore his standard into battle, and is the head of 365 legions of angels and also crowns prayers, accompanying them to the 5th heaven. He is referred to in Jubilees as one of the Grigori. In I Enoch he is a fallen angel who teaches the signs of the sun.

[edit] Grigori in modern media

In the mid-1990s British author Storm Constantine authored the Grigori Trilogy, a dark fantasy series that builds upon the Watcher legend and the work of UFO writer Andrew Collins.
In science fiction painter Wayne Douglas Barlowe's Brushfire: Illuminations from the Inferno, the Grigori, like many of the eldest demons, have become embedded into the very landscape of Hell, collected in a place called Mount Grigori. A demonic monastery housing a secretive cult has been built atop the fetally hunched body of Azazel.
In Madeleine L'Engle's book Many Waters, Nephilim are central to the plot, where the fallen Nephilim are attracted to mortal women, and are sometimes thwarted by the good seraphim.
In Robert Masello's book Vigil, a Watcher is freed from its fossilized tomb and reunited with its skin, on which the Book of Enoch was recorded.
The DC Comics graphic novel, "The Light Brigade," by Peter Tomasi and Peter Snejbjerg features the Grigori and Nephilim as the villains. Their origins within that story closely follow the story from the Book of Enoch, given above.
In Hex, Azazeal is the leader of the Nephilim, who schemes to release his 200 fellow fallen angels onto the Earth by impregnating Cassie Hughes. However, more correctly stated, it is Grigori, not Nephilim, who are the fallen angels, and Samyaza who is leader of the Grigori, not Azazeal.
In the Denzel Washington movie Fallen (1998), Azazeal roams the Earth as a spirit, possessing bodies at will by touch to evade and torment Washington's character, Hobbes.
In the DC/Cliffhanger comic book series, Crimson, the Grigori were portrayed as members of a protohuman race created by God before humans, but were without souls. The last remaining Grigori is shown to have mated with Adam's first wife, Lilith, producing the race of vampires.
In the table-top miniature game Warhammer 40,000, the Dark Angels are watched and protected by dark robed figures called "The Watchers in the Dark." Others believe that the Watchers are demons in humanoid form working for the good of the Imperium. Whether the connection to the Grigori is intentional or not is unknown.
In the Kevin Smith movie "Dogma," Ben Affleck's character, Bartleby, is a Grigorian angel.