authorities to a message that angels are real.
Inside the cathedral, she asked a docent what angel or angels, guarded it. One graced the roof, but she didn’t know its identity.
‘The archangel Michael watches over this cathedral,’ the docent told her.
The answer was hardly a surprise.
The following night at the conclusion of the conference – a huge success – Juliet said her little piece about how angels are not just pretty Renaissance paintings, but are real, and desire to help humanity. But they cannot do so unless humans ask for their help.
Nobody fainted away in horror at the idea. In fact, for weeks afterward, Juliet received an avalanche of mail, more than she had ever received in her life. The letters were testimony about people’s own beliefs and experiences with angels. ‘They are real!’ was the overall enthusiastic response.
TO TEST OUR CHARACTER
Sometimes God sends angels among us, disguised as humans, to test us. The Bible tells us, in Genesis 18, that when Abraham was camped on the plains of Mamre, three men appeared before his tent. He welcomed the strangers, and refreshed them with food and drink. Abraham was informed that Sarah, his wife, would bear a son. The idea seemed preposterous, for both Abraham and Sarah were quite old, and Sarah had never had children. Soon, she bore a son, Isaac.
Ruth Beck was visited by a mysterious stranger one day as she was about to leave her house.
‘My three children, ages ten, eight and seven years, were waiting for me in the car. I had to close the doors and turn the lights off. Just as I turned the kitchen light off, I heard a knock on the front door. Thinking it was one of the children in the car playing a prank on me, I opened the door. Standing in front of me, to my surprise, was a very tall, handsome stranger. He was very clean, clothes were pressed, all in black. I took special notice that he wore a cloak with a shoulder-length cape effect.
‘He smiled and said, “Could you give me something to eat? I’ve been on the road two days and have a long way yet to go.”
‘Startled, I thought, “I’m in a hurry.” Then I pondered, “What shall I give him?” There were just two eggs in the fridge. I hurriedly scrambled them, and buttered two slices of bread, and made a nice sandwich. I put greaseproof paper around it and put it in a paper bag. I added hot coffee to a bit of milk and poured it into a thick white mug, and took it all out to him. He smiled and thanked me.
‘Then I turned the lights out and went to join the children in the car. They said, “What took you so long?” I replied, “Why, didn’t you see, I fed that man on the porch.” They said, “What man?”
‘He would have had to pass the car twice to get on the porch. I said, “Let’s go look.” They hopped out of the car, and we all stood a few paces from the car. It wasn’t dark yet. There were no trees, houses or anything to obstruct our view. We could see no one!’
These are but a few of the ways that angels enter our world. No two experiences are ever the same. Yet, we ascribe such experiences to the same agents, angels. What are the factors that have shaped our belief in these beings?
CHAPTER TWO BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH
Spiritual beings who inhabit a plane of existence between the human and the divine – this is an ancient concept familiar to many religions and cultures.
The angel as it is popularly depicted is a crossbreed, descended from the unearthly entities of Babylonian, Persian, Egyptian, Sumerian, and Greek faiths. Its popular image as a heavenly messenger is generally limited to those monotheistic religions that divide the cosmos into Heaven, Earth, and Hell, requiring couriers to shuttle back and forth between the divisions. This particular brand of angel originated in Persia’s Zoroastrian faith and was then handed down to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The word angel itself is a mutation of the Greek angelos, a translation of the Persian word ‘angaros,’ or ‘courier.’ The Hebrew term is mal’akh, meaning ‘messenger’ or ‘envoy.’ Even this definition is ambiguous, for ‘messenger’ or ‘envoy’ is used in five different senses in Scripture. It can mean:
1 the Word, given by Cod to the world
2 St. John the Baptist, the precursor of the messiah
3 priests, who act as Cod’s ambassadors to people
4 prophets
5 angels
Generally, the term messenger or envoy is used in Scripture to mean angels. But messenger is only one of their functions, and these enlightened spirits can be found worldwide, throughout history, playing many roles.
HISTORY OF THE ANGEL
We can only guess at the age of the angel. Images of supernatural winged creatures have been found in ancient Mesopotamia and Sumeria. The Assyrians had their karibu (the source of the word ‘cherubim’), which were fierce, winged beasts possessing features both animal and human. The role of the angel as protector can perhaps be traced to these ancestors, which acted as temple guards in Babylon and Sumeria.
The Greeks made a big contribution to angel lore with their gods, such as Hermes, the winged messenger. Hermes is often credited as being the source of archangel Michael. (Many of the Greek gods were molded into angels by the Church in its attempt to convert the pagans.) The Greeks also had daimones, spirits who came in both good and evil forms, the good ones being protectors. Socrates spoke of his daimon, who constantly whispered in his ear. Daimones evolved into ‘demons’ in Christianization, and in the process they lost their good-natured brethren.
The Aryans who came to India and Persia around 2500 B.C. believed in devas (meaning ‘shining ones’), who were deities subordinate to their supreme god, Dyeus. Perhaps it was from them that angels inherited their most salient characteristic – the ability to shine, or radiate light. The ‘el’ suffix so common in angels’ names is understood in several languages to mean ‘shining’ or ‘radiant.’
The devas made their way into the Veda, a collection of early sacred Hindu writings, where they were depicted in a hierarchical (but still polytheistic) arrangement. According the Veda, devas existed in the three worlds – Earth, Heaven and a spiritual realm in between. They were closely aligned with the elements of nature – fire, water, earth and air – which were considered expressions of their existence. Devas of water, for example, were assigned the feminine role of caretakers, or nourishers, of all living things.
Devas also found their way into Zoroastrianism, the religion founded by the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra) in sixth-century Persia. It was through Zoroastrianism that devas evolved into angels. In founding this monotheistic faith, Zoroaster rejected the pantheism of the Hindus and offered instead a single, supreme deity, Ahura Mazda, locked in an eternal struggle against his evil enemy Ahriman. Ahura Mazda is aided in this struggle by the good deeds of humans. He is also aided by seven archangels, the amesha spenta, who are the gods of Babylon and Assyria recycled into more roles more appropriate to a monotheistic religion. They represent
