Angels are amazing extraterrestrial creatures, divine messengers from other dimensions, inseparably accompanying human life. The angel is defined by various religious movements as an invisible messenger from God, a mediator in communication between God and man.
Angels are extremely mysterious inhabitants from some parallel world. Their main purpose is not only to deliver the prayers of believers to the addressee, but also to convey to people the Teachings of God. The debate about the existence and origin of angels will probably never subside. Who are they really, Angels?
Usually, angels are described as pure spirits, carrying divine will. They accompany us on a spiritual journey, serving as a guide and advisor, but at the same time, firmly observing the freedom of choice of a person in their deeds. The Angel also has a protective function, "guardian angel", however, not everyone recognizes messages from their angel.
Angel is the winged messenger of God
Saint Basil once confirmed that each person has their own guardian angel. Moreover, in some cases, the angel can take on the function of a warrior. In old writings such images as "army of angels" or "army of heaven" appear. And although an exact description of the number of angels is not given, the biblical texts say: "myriads" from the "multitude", or "one thousand thousand."
There will be a clarification that in the ancient texts the angel is not considered as a separate person, but as a visible manifestation of God. In the Middle Ages, the concept of angels as intermediaries between God and man was accepted as a fact, and this concept has survived to our time.
Angel images are numerous and vary in Scripture and religion. In their most common form, angels are depicted as winged creatures, thus symbolizing their role as messengers. This image is repeated in all texts, reporting that angels can have from two to six pairs of wings. For example, the prophet Isaiah saw seraphim with six wings: two to cover their face, two to cover their legs, and two to fly.
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Guardian angels carrying the Light of good
In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, it is reported about the clothes of amazing creatures: "white dresses like snow", "bright light." Anyway, according to hadith (the word of God addressed to Muhammad and men), the angels themselves are made of light. And here one more event in history opens up for us, accompanying the appearance of the Angel: he rolled away the stone from the tomb in which Jesus was - His face looked like a shining light.
It was correctly noted that "shining light" very often accompanies the appearance of angelic creatures, as if surrounded by a protective sphere, or by an energy cocoon of a different meaning. In his teaching, the apostle Peter presents angels with "superiority in strength and authority" in relation to man. The ability of angels to quickly move between heaven and earth is also reported.
At the same time, endowed with the ability to instant "teleportation", heavenly messengers do not have the gift of omnipresence. From the old scriptures, we know about a high level of intelligence of intermediaries, higher than that of humans, but lower than that of God, since only the Creator is omniscient.
Communication of angels with a person
Among the various forms of materialization, the angel is described as an inner voice, symbolizing the consciousness of man and his eternal battle between good and evil. It can be felt in the form of breath, or a hand, giving a feeling of calmness, happiness and inner peace - if, of course, the right path in life has been heard.
In some biblical passages, they are found mentioning how an angel appeared in a dream to various characters in history. Moreover, this happened in physical form, for example, the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce the forthcoming birth of Christ. By the way, pay attention, in all known cases, angels appear in the masculine gender, although they are also described by Islam as asexual creatures.
However, angels are not only found in ancient religious writings. Incredible cases of heavenly visions have been mentioned since ancient times, right up to the present day. Some people claim that they communicated with their guardian angel during the moments of the so-called "near-death experience." Sometimes this happened during major military conflicts.
Some texts from the Sumerian and Babylonian events tell us about beings very similar to angels. Traces of these amazing creatures are found in Egypt, Asia, Mesopotamia and Iran, where angels, in invisible form, act as protectors of people, nature and animals, and stand guard at the doors of paradise. In Indian Zoroastrianism, angels are present and grouped into various hierarchies according to their purpose.
The Catholic Church formalized the official recognition of the existence of the messengers of God during the Fourth Lutheran Council in 1215, introducing them into Christian dogma on a legal basis. The scriptures also mention the existence of the angel of death, who is responsible for bringing God to the soul of the deceased.
Supposed hierarchy of angels
The precursors of various religions and schools of belief have often changed the concept of angels, constantly changing their appearance or carried role. Everything fell into place in the sixth century under the influence of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, when the hierarchy of angels was finally formed and took effect. The hierarchy (also called the "celestial hierarchy") has split into three categories, each of which contains sub-hierarchies:
- Upper hierarchy: cherubim, seraphim and thrones inclusive.
- Second Hierarchy: Consists of Authority, Dominions, and Virtue.
- Third hierarchy: principality of archangels and angels.
Cherubim and seraphim are especially important because they are often associated with the throne of God. In the Old Testament, the cherub is also referred to as the decoration of the ark (or throne). Cherubim, carved from an olive tree with folded wings, stand in the center of King Solomon's temple.
- The dominance of virtue and power is traditionally responsible for miracles and the fight against demons. This class of angels is often depicted with a rod in one hand and the seal of God in the other (artifacts of divine power).
The third hierarchy includes angels responsible for protecting people and the Earth. There are archangels, whose name is symbolized as "the most powerful" or "in the first place", such a force we see in their rank "Archangel Michael".
Finally, to the general hierarchy must be added the "fallen angels" who have departed from their original duties. According to the text of the Apocalypse and the Quranic scriptures, Satan himself was once an archangel, even before he opposed God and was expelled from paradise.
In addition, Kabbalah defines a group of seventy-two guardian angels, aimed at protecting man, and of course, representing the forces of good and light. These seventy-two angels correspond to the zodiacal signs and the name that was given to them in accordance with the biblical and esoteric requirements.
At the same time, and on an almost identical principle, Kabbalah reveals seventy-two demons sent to us to embody the weaknesses and dark sides of man. This symbolically demonstrates the idea of an eternal opposition between good and bad beginnings, and it also shows how closely Kabbalah was associated with astrology.
As we now observe, the entire history of earthly culture tells us that the messengers of heaven appeared on Earth with almost the "first word": the texts of the Apocalypse declare the appearance of an angel to prevent the fall of Babylon, whole legions of angels triumph over the snake. Finally, non-canonical texts such as the Book of Enoch also present us with iconic figures - the angels Michael, Raphael, Gabriel.
Yes, the existence of angels is now recognized in the biblical scriptures, although some theologians today believe that their presence in ancient texts is mainly used to illustrate the visible manifestation of God, while helping to restrain the growth of monotheistic religions.
At the beginning of the article, the question was asked: who are the Angels? Perhaps we can find a reliable answer. These may indeed be the messengers of the Creator, but you must admit, in the same way, they could be people from another planet.
One can reliably admit one thing, despite the unfounded faith, the lack of study under the microscopes of science, a similar way of communicating with God works: angels are popular in the collective imagination, and are a link between a person of materialism and the spiritual side of life.