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The Book of Enoch · 76 of 109

Chapter LXXVI. The Twelve Windows and their Portals

1.And at the ends of the earth I saw twelve portals open to all the quarters (of the heaven), from which the winds go forth and blow over the earth.

2.Three of them are open on the face (i.e. the east) of the heavens, and three in the west, and three on the right (i.e. the south) of the heaven, and three on the left (i.e. the north).

3.And the three first are those of the east, and three are of the north, and three after those on the left of the south, and three of the west.

4.Through four of these come winds of blessing and prosperity, and from those eight come hurtful winds: when they are sent, they bring destruction on all the earth and on the water upon it, and on all who dwell thereon, and on everything which is in the water and on the land.

5.And the first wind from those portals, called the east wind, comes forth through the first portal which is in the east, inclining towards the south: from it come forth desolation, drought, heat, and destruction.

6.And through the second portal in the middle comes what is fitting, and from it there come rain and fruitfulness and prosperity and dew; and through the third portal which lies toward the north come cold and drought.

7.And after these come forth the south winds through three portals: through the first portal of them inclining to the east comes forth a hot wind.

8.And through the middle portal next to it there come forth fragrant smells, and dew and rain, and prosperity and health.

9.And through the third portal lying to the west come forth dew and rain, locusts and desolation.

10.And after these the north winds: from the seventh portal in the east come dew and rain, locusts and desolation.

11.And from the middle portal come in a direct direction health and rain and dew and prosperity; and through the third portal in the west come cloud and hoar-frost, and snow and rain, and dew and locusts.

12.And after these four are the west winds: through the first portal adjoining the north come forth dew and hoar-frost, and cold and snow and frost. And from the middle portal come forth dew and rain, and prosperity and blessing; and through the last portal which adjoins the south come forth drought and desolation, and burning and destruction.

14.And the twelve portals of the four quarters of the heaven are therewith completed, and all their laws and all their plagues and all their benefactions have I shown to thee, my son Methuselah.

Asked of Guide

Why does Enoch describe twelve portals with specific winds and effects?

Enoch maps the cosmos as a system where each portal releases a particular wind that brings either “prosperity” or “destruction,” giving moral and practical order to natural events: four portals bring blessing, eight bring harm. Naming directions and effects—east wind brings “desolation, drought, heat,” another brings “rain and fruitfulness”—turns weather into an intelligible language about fate and divine administration.

This arrangement frames climate and calamity as governed, not random, which supports the book’s larger theme that cosmic forces answer to heavenly structure; it mirrors how Revelation and Ezekiel use symbolic geography to explain divine governance. Readers who know Genesis 8–9 or Isaiah will see a similar move: weather as a sign and instrument of God’s will.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.