Encyclopedia of Angels

845 Pages·1997·7.52 MB·English

by  Rosemary Ellen Guiley

title:
author:
publisher:
isbn10 | asin:
print isbn13:
ebook isbn13:
language:
subject
publication date:
lcc:
ddc:
subject:
Encyclopedia
of Angels
Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Facts On File, Inc.
Encyclopedia of Angels
Copyright © 1996 by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized
in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any
information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in
writing from the
publisher. For information contact:
Facts On File, Inc.
11 Penn Plaza
New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Guiley, Rosemary.
Encyclopedia of angels / Rosemary Ellen Guiley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8160-2988-1
1. AngelsDictionaries. I. Title.
BL477.G87 1996
291.2'15'03DC20 96-12009
Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased
in bulk
quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales
promotions. Please call
our Special Sales Department in New York at 212/967-8800 or
800/322-8755.
You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at
http://www.factsonfile.com
Cover design by Dorothy Wachtenheim
Front cover art: Detail from Ascension of Mary (Perugino, 1500).
Courtesy of the
Galleria dell' Academia, Florence / AKG, London
Printed in the United States of America
VB INNO 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
FOREWORD ix
ENTRIES AZ 1
BIBLIOGRAPHY 205
INDEX 209
For Lynne Hertsgaard
Page vii
Acknowledgments
My deepest appreciation and gratitude go to Rosemary McMullen and
Joanne P. Austin, who were instrumental in researching and compiling
portions of this book.
Page ix
Foreword
The angel is a mystery, one that we have attempted to explain for
more than two thousand years. The study of angels is vast and
complex. Thousands of angels (and demons) are cited in lore and
literature. However, contradictions abound concerning name spellings,
functions, duties and identities. In fact, one can become submerged in
minutiae about angels that does little to shed light on their true
essence.
For Encyclopedia of Angels I have chosen to cover angels by topic.
Many significant angels and demons are listed by name and by group.
Otherwise the characteristics, functions and nature of angels, and our
beliefs about them and experiences with them, are covered under
general subject headings and under biographical profiles of mystics,
theologians, philosophers and others. I also compare angels to similar
beings in non-Western religions. The collection of these entries
provides what I hope will be for the reader a fascinating journey into
the evolution of the angel in Western thought. This evolution has been
shaped largely by visionary experience. What we know about angels
comes through our otherworldly contact with them.
My own interest in angels was sparked in the mid-1980s (before
angels became the darling of the media), when I began having
archetypal dreams that included a mysterious figure I identified as an
angel. This figure served as a psychopomp into the reaches of inner
space, leading me through a psychic transformation from one life-
stage of consciousness to another, which unfolded over time. Earlier
in life I had received no particular religious indoctrination about
angels, and felt rather neutral about the question of their existence as
portrayed in text and art. However, it was obvious to me that I was
nonetheless tapping into an archetypal form that exists in the
collective unconscious regardless of my own personal views. This is
an ancient archetype, shaped by countless experiences, which in turn
shaped beliefs, which revolved to shape experience. And now this
archetype was breaking through the unus mundus, the undifferentiated
whole of the universe, in response to my own psychic need. I found
that the more I accepted this angel, the more the archetype became
energized in my life, expressing itself not only through dreams but
through inspiration, creativity, intuition and even visionary
experience. In the ensuing years I have found myself in the company
of numerous angelic presences.
Do I believe in angels? The answer must of course be yes, although
even after years of study on the subject, I remain open as to their exact
nature. I do not believe there are easy answers. Under the entry, I
ANGEL
have given the definition traditional to our mythology: "a supernatural
being who mediates between God and mortals." Do they exist in their
own right, in celestial realms? Perhaps so. Or perhaps there is an
energy, a vibration of love and light from the Godhead, which
becomes an "angel" when it interacts with human consciousness,
taking on a form that we can comprehend and integrate into our
spiritual and cosmological outlooks. Perhaps it is our need for
semidivine messengers, for spiritual companions, protectors and
guides, and for divine beauty in our own likeness, that draws to us
what we call the angel. Our monotheistic God is imageless, abstract
and remote. The angel, upon whom we project a form that is an
exalted image of ourselves, helps us to feel closer to the Source of All
Being.
The world's mystical traditions teach oneness, that everything is part
of everything else. Quantum physics tells us that there is no separation
between object and observer, that we are inexorably bound up in what
we think we merely observe. Consequently we and the angels are part
of each other; the good angel can be seen as an expression of our
higher self (and the demon as an expression of our lower nature). The
dynamics between the two, high and low, are what psychic integration
and spiritual growth are all about.
The angel is a profound mystery, as deep as the mystery of the soul, as
limitless as the mystery of infinity and eternity. This is a puzzle we
may never be able to solve, but our probing of the mystery yields
endless permutations that deepen our insights into ourselves. The
experience of an angelan is just as powerful today as it was
ANGELOPHANY
for the visionary prophets of the biblical era. The prophets were
escorted to a state of consciousness called heaven and were given the
word of God in the form of laws and moral codes. Today the
epiphanies are more personal, but just as life-changing. Via the angel
we glimpse the unknown, and we are encouraged to press on.
Rosemary Ellen Guiley
Annapolis, Maryland