The history of Angels
By Cassandra Eason

Angels are traditionally found in the Judaic, Christian, Islamic and the earlier Zoroastrian fire religion. The word angel comes from the Latin angelus, which stems from the Greek aggelos, which is a translation of the Hebrew word malakh, meaning a messenger. Angels, in formal religion are regarded as intermediaries between God or the gods and humankind.

Angels have over the centuries, especially in the Jewish mystical system called the Kabbalah (much beloved by the popular singer Madonna) and in mediaeval angelology, became associated with the powers of the four Elements - Earth, Air, Fire and Water - as well as the four directions - North, East, South and West; the four winds; the seven older planets; and the twelve zodiacal constellations. As you work with them you will uncover a whole spiritual system that is like opening a celestial zip-file where you can see how everything fits into place.

The angels of the Kabbalah come from the ancient Jewish tradition, dating from times when old Israel incorporated the earlier pagan gods worshipped by the tribes and transformed them into angels serving the One True God.As a result, some of these old gods and especially goddesses got demonised.

Indeed angelic lore flourished most in lands where Jewish and Christian religion transformed the former pagan gods of light into angels or saints. Many of the old Sun Gods were absorbed into the person of St Michael, Archangel of the Sun and churches dedicated to him were built on the sites of former sun temples.

In Islam there are four main angels:
Jibril who corresponds with the Archangel Gabriel and is the angel of revelation;
Mikal is like Michael, but is the angel of nature;
Izrail or Israfil mirrors Azrael, the Jewish angel of death.
Israfil is the angel who endows the body with its soul and heralds the Last Judgement.

After the Babylonian exile (597-538 BCE), Jewish artists and writers, influenced by Mesopotamian art, gave angels wings and specific attributes. Indeed early Christian art in Rome drew on the traditional winged deity images such as Mercury for inspiration. Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, messenger between the heavens, earth and underworld, was one of the few women elevated to angelic status. The healing functions of Mercury became transferred to Raphael who like the God Mercury, represented the Dawn.

However, it is to the fifth century Dionysius that we owe the formalisation of the nine ranks of angels that still form the core of more formal angelology. The Judaic angels became divided into Seraphim, Kerubim, Thrones, Dominations, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels and Angels.

Mediaeval magicians would seek by invocations that included reciting the names of the Archangels, to summon good angels into divining crystals or stones and bind them with incantations until they had revealed the necessary information about future events.

But angels were also seen in other cultures under different guises, for example the shining Devas of Hindu faith and the Orsihas or guardian spirits of the Candoble faith in Brazil. The myths of the Australian Aborigines talk about different tribes of Sky Heroes and early cave drawings depict celestial beings with antennae and haloes.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that their main Gods and Goddesses Thoth, God of Wisdom; Isis, the Mother, Goddess of the Moon; Osiris her consort who was the Vegetation and Rebirth god; Horus the Sky God, and son of Isis; Nephythys the Goddess of twilight and Seth the God of Storms and Change, arrived from a land in the sky (identified later as Sirius B). They brought advanced civilisation and a sophisticated religious system 5,500 years ago in a relatively short time to Ancient Egypt when the rest of the world were still living in huts.

The tall shining opalescent beings of Celtic wisdom who were later downgraded as fairies have also been linked to angels as have the original Atlanteans whose wisdom according to myth was lost beneath the waves. In the Scandinavian world were the mysterious Volsungr, a tribe of priests/healer/magicians who came form the Far North after the Ice Age. They brought the secret of the runes and taught the early people wisdom before disappearing northwards into the forests.

Angels and Aliens
In more recent times some angelic encounters have been described in terms of extra terrestrial visitations from other dimensions, especially visions of the Nordics. These "alien beings" are portrayed in ancient carvings and wall paintings of Pre-Columbian and other civilisations, as golden gods from the sky.

In Ufology, Nordics are described as tall, with blond hair, blue eyes, clear skins and oriental eyes. They are regarded as the bringers of wisdom, no less than angelic beings are re-interpreted as super galactic heroes.

Because aliens are associated with abductions and especially the more goblin like greys with experiments and cruelty, extra terrestrial activity is becoming regarded as less a way of expanding our horizons and more bound with fears of invasions. The spirituality of the wise Nordics has been overshadowed by conspiracy theories and the stuff of science fiction.

The Revival of the awareness of Angels
With growing environmental awareness, Devas or higher spiritual essences that have come in the westernised world to be associated especially with the natural world, are increasingly becoming a form in which spiritual essences are experienced.

However, traditional winged angels are ever more frequently reported, wearing flowing white robes and haloes as the natural beauty of the world is eroded by industrialisation and pollution.

I believe that as our need for angels has grown in the modern world, so angels have responded by drawing close to many people who are searching for something beyond the material. Of course angels never really went away and I have collected experiences of sightings across the centuries. But the new increased awareness of angelic forces has resulted in angelic contact being reported in all walks of life and among those who acknowledge no formal religious faith.

This is an extract printed with kind permission of Cassandra Eason. For more on angels plus lots more estoteric do visit Cassandras web site at www.cassandraeason.co.uk