Angels

In many religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, it is believed that between God and mankind there are intermediary beings, called angels.

They are bodiless entities that perform certain tasks for God and are commonly thought of as the messengers of God.

Angels are good spirits, unlike their counterparts the demons. They are usually portrayed as having a human form, being dressed in long, white clothes, surrounded by a bright light and with long, swanlike wings. They were portrayed thus by artists, often on Church command, to alert the faithful that angels are more than human.

There are cases, however, where angels appeared as ordinary men and were mistaken as such (the story of Lot, for instance). In the Old Testament angels play a prominent role as the messengers from God.

Also in the Old Testament the leading demon, Satan, is introduced. However, it was not until the New Testament that Satan was portrayed as Lucifer, the first of the fallen angels to rebel against God.

In the New Testament, angels are present at all the important events in the life of Jesus. Here, they became more than just messengers; they are portrayed as the agents of God in bringing judgement to the world.

Until the New Testament there were only two orders of angles; the seraphim and cherubim.

The commonly used hierarchy of nine orders is that popularized by the Pseudo-Areopagite of Pseude-Dionysius (early 5th century) in his De Hierarchia Celesti, which arranges them in three triads: Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones (Ophanim) in the first circle; Dominions (Hashmallim), Virtues (Tarshishim), and Powers in the second circle; Principalities, Archangels and Angels in the third circle.

The seven holy angels are:
Michael,
Gabriel,
Raphael,
Uriel,
Chamuel,
Jophiel,
and Zadkiel.

Muslims say that angels were created from pure bright gems; the genii from fire, and man from clay.

Greek: angelos, messenger.