A 9th‑century abbot named Hrabanus Maurus once set down a diagram. In the center he drew the Seraphim, and radiating outward he placed the other eight choirs, each with its task lettered in gold. The question that diagram answered then remains the one that still catches practitioners today: What exactly do the Dominions do that the Principalities do not?
Dominions and Principalities are distinct choirs in the nine‑fold angelic hierarchy codified by Pseudo‑Dionysius the Areopagite around 500 CE. Dominions (the fourth choir) transmit divine authority to the lower angels; Principalities (the seventh choir) apply that authority to the governance of nations, rulers, and human institutions. They are not synonyms. They are two different gears in one celestial machine.
The nine‑choir ladder did not drop out of scripture. It was assembled by a writer who called himself Dionysius the Areopagite, a 5th‑century Greek Christian who claimed to be the convert of Paul in Acts 17. His work The Celestial Hierarchy (c.500) gave the West its standard list: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels. The list was not universally accepted. John Chrysostom (c.347‑407) and Augustine (354‑430) never used it. Gregory the Great (c.540‑604) adopted it in his Homilies on Ezekiel, and Thomas Aquinas (1225‑1274) carved it into the Summa Theologica (I.108), giving it the weight of scholastic authority.
The names themselves come from Paul. In Colossians 1:16 and Ephesians 1:21 he writes of “thrones, dominions, principalities, powers” but he never arranged them into a fixed order. That was Dionysius’s work. He grouped the nine into three triads: the highest (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones), the middle (Dominions, Virtues, Powers), and the lowest (Principalities, Archangels, Angels). Each triade mediates between the one above and the one below. Dominions therefore receive command from the Thrones and pass it down to the Virtues and Powers. Principalities receive from the Powers and pass it to the Archangels and Angels.
What do Dominions and Principalities represent?
The word “Dominion” (Latin dominatio, “lordship”) points to their function. They do not act. They command. In medieval iconography they hold a scepter or an orb, the signs of sovereignty. Their gaze is fixed upward toward the Thrones, not outward toward the world. Dionysius wrote that the Dominions “are named from the fact that they are not tyrannical nor slavish in their rule” but radiate “a pure outpouring of the God‑given authority.” They are, so to speak, the executive branch of heaven.
Principalities (Latin principatus, “uleship”) operate at the other end of the chain. Their domain is the earth — nations, cities, kings, judges. The Greek archai implies a beginning or a ruling origin. They are the angels who “first among the inferior ranks receive divine illumination and transmit it to the Archangels and Angels,” as Dionysius put it. Their iconography often includes a crown or a church building. In Jewish angelology the “prince of Persia” in Daniel 10:13 is a principality: an angel assigned to a specific kingdom. Later Christian writers identified that prince as a fallen one, but the concept remained — every kingdom has its celestial governor.
How were Dominions and Principalities invoked?
Grimoires treat the choirs with a careful literalism that Dionysius might have found surprising. The Heptameron (attributed to Peter of Abano, 13th century) assigns the Principalities to the east wind. The operator calls them when he needs influence over political matters or over a community. The Lesser Key of Solomon (17th century) includes conjurations that invoke “the Dominions of the celestial hierarchy” to compel demons. But in practice the two choirs are rarely distinguished in the ritual itself. The magician usually calls the entire hierarchy by name or invokes the “Dominions and Principalities” together as a pair, treating them as one functional unit for binding spirits.
In the Dominican order — the coincidence of the name is not lost on practitioners, the Dominions were associated with the virtue of humility. They rule, but they rule in submission. A 14th‑century sermon notes that “the Dominions hold their power from God and pass it on without grasping it.” That same sermon warns against confusing them with Principalities, because “the one orders the angels, the other orders the nations.”
How do Dominions and Principalities differ from Powers and Archangels?
The Powers (fifth choir) are the nearest right neighbor of the Dominions. The Powers fight demons. The Dominions command. The Dominions are not warriors; they are administrators. When Dionysius describes the Powers, he uses military language, “the angelic army that restrains the rebellious forces.” The Dominions recieve a different vocabulary: “the reception of divine illuminations and the ordering of the lower ranks.”
Principalities are often confused with Archangels because both have an earthly field. The difference is scale and direction. A Principality oversees a kingdom, a dynasty, an age. An Archangel delivers a specific message to a single person. Gabriel announces to Mary. Michael fights for Israel. The Principality of Persia (Daniel 10) contends with Gabriel as an equal, not as a subordinate. The Principalities work in the long arc of nations; the Archangels work in the moment.
What people get wrong about these choirs
Misconception 1: The nine choirs are biblical. They are not. Only four titles appear in Paul (Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers). The rest were supplied by Pseudo‑Dionysius. Nothing in scripture says there are nine, or that they are arranged in triades. The system is a theological model, not a revealed fact.
Misconception 2: Dominions and Principalities are interchangeable. They are not. A Dominion rules angels. A Principality rules humans. Mistaking one for the other means calling the wrong angel for the wrong purpose. In the Summa Aquinas specifies that the Dominions “are not concerned with external actions” but with “the ordering of the angels themselves.” The Principalities “are concerned with the governance of human affairs.”
Misconception 3: Principalities are always demonic. Ephesians 6:12 warns against “principalities and powers” as spiritual enemies, but Paul uses the same terms for good angels in Colossians 1:16. In Christian angelology the good Principalities remain part of the heavenly court. The fallen ones, “the principalities of darkness”, are ex‑Principalities, stripped of rank but still bearing the title in polemic. Orthodox angelists keep the two categories separate.
FAQ
Are Dominions the same as Dominations?
Yes. “Dominations” is the older translation from the Latin Vulgate dominationes. “Dominions” is now standard. Both refer to the fourth choir.
Do Principalities effectively rule over demons?
No. In orthodox angelology a Principalis is an angel. Fallen ones are called “principalities of darkness” but are considered a different class of being, not a subdivision of the good choir.
Which choir is higher: Dominions or Principalities?
Dominions. They are fourth; Principalities are seventh. In Dionysius’s three triads Dominions sit in the middle triad, Principalities in the lowest.
What is the role of Dominions in the Mass?
Some medieval liturgies invoked the Dominions in the Preface of the Trinity, acknowledging their role in the celestial liturgy, they are the ones who carry the Sanctus from the Seraphim down to the congregation.
The difference between Dominions and Principalities is not a quibble over titles. It reflects how early Christian thinkers imagined the flow of divine authority from the throne to the street, clean, ordered, delegated through nine distinct hands. If you want to see how the rest of the choirs fit together, our guide to the nine angelic choirs walks through each rank with sources, iconography, and ritual context. For the source text that started it all, see our entry on Pseudo‑Dionysius. And for a broader look at how angels function in ceremonial magic and theology, visit our angelology hub.