The Author

Posted: January 8, 2021

Archie Dean Wood was born on November 14, 1947. According to Wood, in 1979 at the age of thirty-one, he was visited by highly evolved, glorified humans who identified themselves as God. Over the course of several decades, Wood professed to experience ongoing, personal encounters with celestial beings. He also claimed to have been divinely appointed to write a new book of scripture that would accurately portray the heart and mind of God, and serve as a restoration of gnosis.

In 2007, after twenty-one years of effort, Wood finished his book of scripture. The first edition of the completed work was self-published the following year as The Song of God – Living Gnosis of the Ahgendai^[1]The entirety of the Song of God can be found on the book’s official website. Not long after the book’s completion, Wood stepped away from his supporters and isolated himself from those interested in his work. He quit teaching, discontinued various writing projects, cut his hair and beard, and abandoned efforts to share his message. In 2016, he abruptly severed his relationship with me and I have not communicated with him since.

I always knew him as “Azrael”. With exception to legal matters and familial relations, this was the only name he would use and respond to. My relationship with him spanned nearly twenty years, fifteen of which I served as his personal assistant.

The following is an attempt to describe Azrael based on my personal experiences and observations. Whether I use “Archie”, “Azrael”, or “Wood”, these designations all refer to the same person.

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It will be a challenge for me to describe Azrael in a way that gives justice to his paradoxical nature. My view of him is informed by a vast array of experiences and conflicting emotions. Nevertheless, I will strive to convey my perspective in a clear and honest way.

Know that any one-sided, cursory description of Azrael—though perhaps truthful in its partiality—would be a greatly diminished position to assume given both the complexities and abilities of the actual person. While comparisons can be rightly made, I do not believe Azrael and his work represents a typical narcissistic, con-man-cult-leader situation.

As a young man, I became fascinated with Archie’s writings and eventually came to believe he possessed an understanding of the nature of reality that transcended ordinary human knowledge. Even after realizing he was capable of engaging in sophisticated forms of duplicity, I remained devoted to supporting him in his work and ministerial efforts. Why? Well, it’s all rather complicated and I’m still trying to work it out. Yet, for what it’s worth, my fixation on Azrael’s writings preceded the affection and devotion I came to have for him. Notwithstanding the paradoxes presented by Archie’s persona, I found clarity, truth and hope in his book of revelations. Despite the challenges posed by the polarity of his conduct, Wood’s Song of God continued to serve as a profound and enduring resource for me. Since the earliest days of my exposure to his writings in 1996, I believed it a worthy effort to facilitate the book’s creation and accessibility in whatever way I could.

While proximity to Azrael was both an extraordinary and at times maddening experience, I remained optimistically curious to see if he could live up to his claims. I yearned for him to succeed in his efforts to not only finish his book, but become a wonderfully good and holy person, a true manifestation of a “Teacher of Righteousness”, which was one of the titles he assumed. Though he would object to anyone calling him a prophet, I came to believe Azrael could really be something of the sort, so I stuck around to learn, to support, and observe what would happen with this curious man who claimed to speak to God.

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Imagine Archie as some archetypal combination of the Wise Old Sage, the Storyteller, and John Wayne. He was a Vietnam veteran, a proficient wood-carver, and a Bible expert who abhorred Christian dogma and loathed priestcrafters. He was fond of smoking pipe tobacco, was really good at chess, and was an impressive shot with a longbow. He owned few possessions and found joy in simple things.

Archie was socially adept and engaging when he wanted to be. Though he claimed to have no formal education beyond high school, he was well-read and could contribute broad discussion spanning a wide range of topics, including history, philosophy, literature, sports and astronomy. He had a certain magnetic quality about him, but his charisma wasn’t particularly exceptional and would often flounder in group settings. Azrael could feign normalcy, but even brief, introductory encounters with him would erase any notions of the man being “normal”. After all, he went by the name “Azrael”.

Archie exhibited a range of narcissistic traits and behaviors. Early on, I was naïve to the complexities of Archie’s temperament, yet over the years I became acutely familiar with and even calloused towards his nature. There seemed to be two opposing personalities expressing through Wood’s remarkable intelligence, which expressions would manifest in both subtle and extreme ways. He could regularly inspire, uplift and clarify in ways that appeared genuinely altruistic and selfless. He could be very gentle and affectionate, patient and long-suffering. Yet, there was another side to Archie that would cast doubt upon the purity of his intentions. Those closest to him were imminent victims of duplicity and (non-physical) narcissistic abuse. His legacy is not without allegations of sexual and financial exploitation.

Azrael was not always an easy person to relate to or work with. Though at times charming and accommodating, he could be obliviously abrasive. Over the years, I watched many coalesce around him because of the beauty of his writings, his strange magnetism, and the confidence in which he spoke about God and spiritual things. However, anyone curious about Azrael and his teachings would eventually face unsettling confusion as a result of their interactions with him. Many were initially drawn to the book and the teachings, only to be offended or driven off by the teacher. After a few years, I learned that introducing people to Azrael was a perilous endeavor. More often than not, his character, his intensity, his behavior simply proved to be too extreme for most folks.

Archie was mostly fire and thunder, sometimes soothing rain. His tenacity and strength in the face of challenge was remarkable. He thrived in conflict, so much so that I believe there were times he would generate it for his own amusement. His willpower was extraordinary. He was absolutely relentless. Uncompromising. An explosive temper simmered beneath a refined and calculated calmness. Archie was a cunning strategist and a stubborn workhorse; a voracious creator and an unsentimental destroyer. Obstacles were stepping stones, or petty annoyances to be obliterated.

Being a disciple of Azrael—with his intensity of will, his strangeness and intelligence, his laser-like focus, his narcissism—was like standing uncomfortably close to a raging fire. Prolonged proximity to Azrael (anything more than a few years) was rare among investigators. In the inevitable wake left by his intermittent attempts to accommodate or coordinate believers, was a churning melee of people scorched and teary-eyed, trying to reconcile the man with his book and teachings.

I was inspired by Archie’s vision, fortitude, passion, faith and conviction. His laugh was frequent and infectious. He was a kind, wise, joyful, jolly man, until he wasn’t. His behavior was noble and exemplary, until it wasn’t. Human fallibility is something to which we can all relate, and something Archie would quickly concede to, but fallibility takes on increased complexity when it pertains to one claiming prophetic license and divine endorsement. As is readily known, the spiritual teacher-student dynamic is often fraught with pitfalls. The situation with Azrael was no exception.

Archie would readily admit to being profoundly imperfect, consistently overbearing, and downright lousy when it came to personal relationships. He would freely acknowledge his small group was a cult, often reminding people that cults exist all around us in varying degrees of maturity, influence and potential. From my perspective, the cult dynamic was pretty benign, yet not unmarked by aspects of manipulation and exploitation stemming from the center figure. Group affiliates were free to live their lives, determine their own level of participation, and discontinue association without backlash. Proselytizing was mildly encouraged but when it came to other people embracing the teachings in the Song of God, Azrael’s position was: “Some will. Some won’t. So what?” There was never any sleep deprivation, hypnotism, diet regulation, or informational control. Those who wanted to become more involved would have opportunity to make a formal commitment centered around honorable behavior and the support of Azrael and his work. Tithe was collected and utilized for book printing and providing Azrael a stipend, as he maintained that God told him he wasn’t to have a job, that his “job” was to write the scriptures.

In my experience, the cult dynamic and the group’s capacity to achieve positive momentum was plagued by a certain dysfunction born from Wood’s narcissistic behavior. Archie was his own worst enemy. Outside of writing and completing the scriptures, and despite his ultra-confident demeanor, Wood seemed to struggle with an underlying uncertainty or conflict about what he wanted to achieve and how to go about doing it. This is merely a personal conclusion I arrived at (and struggled with) after years of observation, and my interpretation could be mistaken. But so many times Archie would unexpectedly change course or sabotage his own momentum (inadvertently or with knowing intent) which would fuel the exhaustion of his followers, who he would often blame for the fall-out of his own volatile disposition.

Nevertheless, Azrael’s ways were not enough to stifle my curiosity, nor deter me from examining what I considered at least a novel situation, or—if his claims were based at all in fact—an extremely profound unfolding. He was a brilliant, methodical enigma, and I was captivated by the riddle of it all. He wasn’t in it for the money or the fame, and he drove believers away just as fast as they would find him. Was Archie a charlatan or a reluctant master teacher-prophet-sage? Was I witnessing some significant expression of the divine or an eccentric con? Or some combination of both? The questions this situation inspired were fascinating to me. And still are.

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While maintaining claims of face-to-face interaction with heavenly beings, and journeys through space-time to celestial realms, Wood’s personal spiritual practice appeared very grounded and rational. He recognized the emotional component to spirituality, but consistently stressed the application of reason, critical thought and intellectual honesty when it came to constructing and living one’s faith. Conspiracy theories (outside the framework of Archie’s self-proclaimed spiritual role and identity) were not a feature of the teachings. Wood maintained that if God was intelligent, any approach to understanding God must also be intelligent. His students were expected to learn and adhere to what he framed as the Foundations of Intelligent Thought.

While Archie placed significant value in critical thinking, he would often chafe when criticism was applied directly towards him or his decisions. His openness to criticism was conditional. Over the years, he softened to some extent in this regard, but students inevitably learned that directly questioning Azrael’s decisions or approaches took finesse and a bit of courage. While believers were free to go about their lives, have relationships, and worship how they wanted, Azrael expected loyalty and devotion from those who claimed to believe in him.

If Azrael nurtured a personal spiritual regimen of his own, he kept it private. While claiming to engage in personal prayer and meditation, the only visible aspect of Azrael’s spiritual practice was his daily and extensive study of the Song of God. I found it somewhat peculiar that the author would study his own book so much. On a side note: I remember Azrael telling me about how in the “early days” God had instructed him to undergo several extended periods of solitude and silence in the wilderness. I cannot verify whether or not these episodes of “purification” actually took place.

Although there were times when Azrael would say or do something that would compromise his credibility, I could not disregard the fact that he wrote the Song of God, a feat that remains difficult for me to fathom. I was near him for the last half of the book’s creation, and while on many occasions I witnessed him writing the scriptures and was around him while he was engaged in this process, I still cannot fully relate to how he did it. (This is perhaps more a reflection of my own deficient creative capacities and intelligence than anything else.)

Azrael wasn’t very forthcoming about the nature of his personal revelation-creation process. However, he would often share considerable detail about certain meetings, experiences, or conversations that had allegedly transpired with various celestial figures. For instance, Archie claimed extensive tutelage under Michael, the chief Arch-Angel of Elohim, prior to and during the years of his early scripture writing.

It became evident that, to some degree, Archie was learning (and/or creating) as he went. I am certain he did not have all the details of his theology clearly mapped out from the very beginning. From my vantage point, it seemed Archie was engaging in a unique, long-term, sometimes volatile process of enlightenment and creation. Whether he was contriving the information, or receiving it, or some combination of both (I can’t confirm which of these most accurately describes what took place), Archie would occasionally face the challenge of integrating new information with pre-existing interpretations.

Over the years, as new scriptural material was produced, ideas were expanded upon within the established framework. Scriptural content was provided by Azrael in final draft form and was rarely altered. However, there were occasions when Azrael made revisions, additions, and/or redactions to material that had previously been presented as “final” or “official”. (The book of Wisdom is the most prominent example of this). There were times when it seemed he would have to assimilate new concepts and merge them with what he had already publicly and authoritatively established.^[2]Examples of this are evident when comparing early versions of scripture with final publications. The evolving scriptural narrative pertaining to Archie’s alleged divine identity as “Azrael” and … Continue reading Sometimes, the new information was not a “perfect fit” and slight revisions or redactions would need to be made to the scripture. The way Azrael would justify these changes wasn’t always stellar. He wasn’t one to explain or justify himself to anyone, about anything.

An alluring feature about Azrael was his ability to remain remarkably consistent in discussing details (both obscure and evident) pertaining to the Song of God. Throughout the many years conversing with Azrael and participating with him in group discussions, I was often awestruck at his ability to maintain such a high level of accuracy and coherence over such an extended period of time regarding details of his work. Archie was able to mentally manage, organize and access an astounding amount of information. I’m comfortable stating that all the content in the Song of God—every character, event and detail—represents a narrow sliver of related content immediately accessible to him. This is neither exaggeration nor hyperbole.

Azrael could speak spontaneously and in great detail about historical figures and events pertaining not only to our timeline, but that of the “First Track“, an alleged alternate timeline of planet earth. He could speak in similar fashion regarding several of his own asserted past lives, and elaborate extensively about details pertaining to the life and ministry of Yeshua, and the nature of God and Heaven, including but not limited to: divine beings, histories, social structures, customs, societies, geographies, cosmological attributes, and celestial physics—and he would speak of these things in a similar way to how you or I would speak about our friends, families, occupations, or personal life experiences. With relatively few exceptions, minutiae rarely spoken of would remain consistent and congruent over a matter of years, even decades. Few were privy to the depth and duration of this coherence.

Reading the Commentary^[3]Wood (2015), Song of God; “Commentary”, p 787 in the Song of God provides some small perspective regarding Wood’s knowledge base, creativity and abilities. For Azrael, writing Commentary entries was like doodling. No research took place. No preparation. I would provide him a list of proper nouns and he would just sit down, choose from the list, and begin writing entries in quick succession. I observed this first hand.

Azrael could communicate in very clear and succinct ways. There were moments facilitated by him wherein I would feel invigorated and empowered, even liberated and enlightened by his insights and ability to speak with such detail and confidence about the nature of reality and the relationship between God and humanity. These incidents occurred most often in small groups or private conversations between the two of us — settings in which dialogue was spontaneous and unconstrained, or when Azrael was tired and his guard was down. (He was always so very guarded.) When it came to certain matters, Azrael had an exceptional ability to explain, uncover and reveal. This was a part of his magnetism. Yet, I also came to realize he was just as proficient at concealing, obscuring and disguising.

Azrael gave the very believable impression he possessed knowledge that wasn’t meant to be shared. There were certain subjects or words he would introduce (either in conversation or in his writings) but then refrain from elaborating much about them. In some cases, years would pass before Azrael would expound on a previously introduced word or teaching.

For example, consider the terms “Ashengaard” and “Ahgendai“. The word “Ashengaard” was first introduced in the book of Enlightenment (E:4:16; E:8:28^[4]Enlightenment 4:16Who, formerly, made brighter still the celestial worlds when yonder suns of Ashengaard gave forth from their own brightness a constant ray, and to the Kokobeam lent forth the … Continue reading), which book was completed in 1992. The term is also mentioned twice in the 1st Endowment (1:1:18, 22)^[5]1st Endowment 1:18, 2218 For the suns of Kolob and the suns of Ashengaard did together embrace and the splendor of their many lights did reach out to touch, with all holy affections, a great many new … Continue reading, which I believe was completed in 1995. The word “Ahgendai” was also introduced in the 1st Endowment (1:8:55-56)^[6]1st Endowment 8:55-5655 And there stood before the gates of the Keep two full companies of the greater Seraphim; and Ahman, drawing near to the very threshold, spoke in a loud voice throughout the … Continue reading — again this text was written in 1995. Aside from the mere mention of these terms in the foregoing references, little else was spoken or taught about them until several years later. It wasn’t until the 5th Endowment was written in 2003 that students came to understand the prominence and significance of these terms within the Song of God narrative.

How much did Azrael know about the meaning of these words when he first wrote them into the scripture, nearly ten years before expounding upon them in the 5th Endowment? Did he know back in 1992 and 1995 how conceptually significant these terms would be to the overall narrative of his work? It’s difficult to say because, generally, Azrael let on as if he knew a lot, but remained very tight-lipped when it came to certain topics. While I believe Azrael was experiencing his own “line upon line” learning process, it often seemed as if what he revealed in his teachings and writings was a drop in the bucket compared to what he actually knew and understood.

When pressed on more abstruse scriptural topics, Azrael would sometimes refrain from elaborating, claiming to be under strict covenants of silence regarding the subject matter. These divine gag-orders seemed to be very specific and clearly mapped out in Azrael’s mind, and he would occasionally act anxious about saying or revealing too much. There were instances when his decision to divulge information about certain details appeared correlated with the quality of questions asked by his disciples, or some other standard or timeline only he was privy to. When it came to matters of scripture, Azrael greatly appreciated good questions. He would bristle and even chastise students for asking questions easily answered by reading the book or applying some thought. He often spoke to the value of a well-constructed inquiry, and would sometimes reward such with an immediate, spontaneous, and in-depth response. These incidents were impressive and lent confidence to the possibility of Azrael knowing considerably more about certain subjects than what he typically let on.

While I was often inspired by Azrael’s writing and speaking, there were also times I would cringe at his tactlessness, or feel frustrated by what seemed to be premeditated speeches or self-absorbed scripts—strained, over-thought, perhaps well-meant attempts to impress or enlighten, that would instead leave me and other listeners feeling unfulfilled, puzzled or disregarded.

Managing expectations regarding a person like Azrael was a complicated thing. He would often meet, even exceed my expectations of how a wise and holy teacher should be. Yet, he would also speak or behave in destructive, self-serving ways, leaving me to further question my beliefs, positions and biases. Despite the challenges posed by Archie’s paradoxical behavior, I remained unable to ignore certain compelling observations about his character, and the fact he produced the Song of God, a book which I still consider possible evidence for an extraordinary, even divine, manifestation.

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In 2010, Azrael made certain decisions to distance himself from followers who believed in and supported him. He discontinued all efforts in the way of public teaching and moved out of state. It was a pretty extreme shift in course. His reasons for doing so revolved around wanting to be closer to his children and the supposed failure and inadequate conviction of his supporters. The development was unexpected and disappointing to those committed to supporting him and his work. While Azrael’s departure was perplexing, some welcomed the relief it offered from the psychological and emotional weight inherent in working closely with him.

Despite his moving away, I continued to assist Azrael (via long-distance) with various non-scriptural writing projects, and maintained communication with him as I oversaw the second edition printing of the Song of God in 2015.

In 2016, Azrael unexpectedly severed all communication and association with me, and our nineteen-year relationship came to an abrupt end. From what I’ve since gathered from third party associations, Archie has walked away from his role as “Azrael”, has discontinued all writing projects, and remains very particular with whom he speaks with about his book and teachings. From my current perspective at the time of this writing (2020), Archie has seemingly abandoned his life’s work and the divine appointment he so adamantly spoke of for more than thirty years. Nevertheless, he maintains his testimony of having communed face to face with God, and remains adamant in asserting his book of scripture was divinely inspired.

While there are several individuals who claim to have witnessed Archie physically communing with what appeared to be divine, other-worldly beings,^[7]Between the years 1986 and 1987, on at least two separate occasions, several people—who were at the time counted among Archie’s followers—reported witnessing what appeared to be divine, … Continue reading I have not had this experience. However, my observations over the years have led me to believe that Archie had unique access to something, to a depth or extent that I suspect is very uncommon midst the human experience. Whether or not this something included special access to a higher, transcendent intelligence, or super-evolved humans from the future, or memory of past lives and alternate timelines, will likely remain one of the many debatable features of Wood’s legacy.