 Angels are regarded as invisible messengers,
inhabitants of Heaven, beings of light and symbols of lightness as well
as fire and martial power. Angels have always been present in the
imagination of man. All civilizations admit the existence of these
beneficent spiritual beings that collaborate with the Creator,
according to their rank in the celestial hierarchy.
Intermediaries between God and the world, sometimes endowed with an
ethereal body, angels symbolize the divine functions as well as the
relationship between God and its creatures. Terrestrial hierarchies are
the reflection of celestial ones. Angels are also the heralds of the
sacred presence. They accompany us and help us if necessary. The
Judeo-Christian tradition gives some names of angels like, for example,
those of the three major archangels: Michael, dragon slayer; Gabriel,
messenger and initiator; and Raphael, protector of physicians and
travellers.
In ancient India, the Universe is seen as a hierarchy of active powers,
angelical and demoniacal, divine and heroic. This universe has seven
planes (lokas) that go from the invisible origin to the visible
manifestation. It is inhabited by myriads of gods, angels, demons
which, together, try to serve "Dharma", the Great universal Law,
through "Karma", the law of action and reaction, the two basic laws of
oriental culture.
In Greece, Plato tells us about " daimones " (demons) through Socrates
who declares that in each good man resides one of these " protective
spirits ", which is to be found between the mortal and the immortal,
between the human and the divine, between the tangible and the
intelligible, which likes truth and drives man towards goodness, beauty
and happiness.
Thus, each human being has, according to all traditions, a guardian
angel (or three according to C. Agrippa, who attributes a guardian
angel to each plane of the human personality: mental, emotional and
physical). This angel protects the human being he is in charge of, in
order to make him progress towards his own spiritual fulfilment. All
religions assert that God never abandoned human beings and that He
wanted to give each of us a guardian angel so that we can hear its
voice whispering to us mysterious words or giving us imperative orders,
to awaken our conscience.
According to legend, angels, prompt winged messengers of Heaven, are always bearers of good tidings for human beings.
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