Angels - Messengers of the divine

This is a book about angels and the perception we have of them. If they exist or not, has really to do with what you believe in. They are nevertheless present in our culture today. Just look at all the movies and songs about angels. Angels are connected to our faiths and are present in the stories from the three monotheistic religions; Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Today when we live in such a technological society, we seek more of our spiritual self and there they also have a place.

The angel world is very complex and there seems to be many angels, millions in fact. I think most people think of angels as good, but this is not always the case. We talk about a ‘guardian angel’ or a ‘revenging angel’. They can also be either feminin or masculine.
They are often depicted in art and maybe that is maybe where we mostly get our ideas from, how the angels look like. People who say that they have seen them, have one thing in common; there is brightness. Padre Pio, who is one of those who has been visited by an angel, described the angel that appeared to him as a bright figure, a majestic man, “of rare beauty and radiating like the sun.” Joan of Arc is a famous woman who met an angel. She received a vision of the Archangel Michael at the age of thirteen, in which he announced that she had been chosen to save France from England, and help the rightful king, Charles VII, be crowned at Reims. In those days they probably did not reflect over the actions, but today we would ask ourselves, why Michael would be on the French king’s side and not on the English king’s side?

A scientific explanation from the book on
the size of angel's wings and why it
would not work!

The most famous angels in general, are probably the three Archangels; Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. However, there are a couple of others; Uriel, Raguel, Remiel, Sariel, Metatron and Raziel. They all have different functions.

There are also evil angels who had to leave Heaven and go down to Hell. Lilith is a female demon who was banished from Heaven after having rebelled. Lucifer, had the deepest fall of them all. He was the most magnificent of angels. He was flawless until he sinned. The most familiar charge cites Lucifer’s refusal to honour Adam.



This book has so much more information on angels, and it is a good and easy read, if you are interested in them. I found it rather fascinating. Especially reading about people who have encountered them. I, at least, has a very romanticised idea about angels. I have probably been influenced by how we see them in art; cherubs flying around and looking nice and friendly, just like the picture here. After reading this book, I have come to understand that it is much more to it than that.

What kind of idea do you have about angels?