Since we were kids we have seen paintings and heard stories about angels and archangels, some of them with honors of saints. Angels are spiritual creatures whose existence is recounted in many sacred texts of different religions, and in that sense, angelology would be the study of angels.
Whether we are talking about Judaism, Christianity or Islam (in Zoroastrianism even), angels are described in their religious texts and they are presented as figures that intercede between God and humans in very different ways: helping with advice or being carriers of messages, among others.
what is angelology
As we have already explained, the briefest definition tells us that angelology is the study of angels. It would define their names, their divine function as well as the place that each one of them would occupy in the heavenly hierarchy.
Angelology tells us, for example, that Lucifer, after falling from heaven after rebelling against God, took a third of the angels with him to hell., according to interpretations of the Apocalypse of Saint John, the last of the books of the Christian Bible. Actually, the prophetic book narrates how «the dragon in his fall carried away a third of the stars of heaven».
The angelology linked to the Kabbalah defines God as a total unity manifesting through 72 fields of consciousness called angels. Each one represents qualities, virtues and powers in their pure state.
Traditional Angelology teaches us that the purpose of the human being, even the very reason for his incarnation on Earth, is to reactivate these fields of consciousness within his being so that he can express them in each of his events.
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However, the Bible tells us that angels are very different beings from men, and that they have never been and will never be human. God created angels just as He created mankind. However, archangels such as Metatron and his brother Sandalphon are sometimes spoken of, who would be an angelic ascension of Enoch and Elijah respectively.
The Angel would be, continuing with traditional Angelology, a field of consciousness that lives in our mind in the form of divine potential; that an angel is traditionally represented as a small child with wings, would express what happens in our being when these celestial essences are reactivated: that we find our heart and our childlike lightness, as well as a Knowledge that allows us to travel freely and without limitations in the parallel dimensions of the Universe. Many voices point out that there would be 72 angels, and that they would be the hidden treasure of the mysterious Ark of the Covenant.
A common question is whether angels have sex, and the Bible does not specify this; neverthelessthe angels that are mentioned in the Scriptures have usually masculine names, Michael and Gabriel.
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Is angelology a religion?
Angelology is not a religion in itself, but a discipline of study in theological science centered on angels. However, throughout history there have been religious or sectarian movements centered on the figures of angels and archangels.
In this sense we can highlight angelians, who worship angels and that according to their belief they should be imitated in life, since they are the maximum referent of divine illumination.
could also cite the Angelic Brethren, a sect founded by Johann Georg Gichtel in the 17th century and who defended attaining angelic life through mysticism. The followers of this current refrained from marriage and from all earthly activity.
Some scholars of religion point out that angels, as they are created beings just like man, should not be worshiped or prayed to, since they thus deprive God of the glory that only belongs to Him. And it is that according to this theory, it was God who sent his Son to die for the salvation of the world, who loves man, who cares for him, and thus, is the only one worthy of any show of adoration, not an angel.
Types of angels and archangels according to angelology
For Christians, angelology gives God’s perspective on angels. Angels are personal beings who worship and obey God and are sometimes sent to mediate in human affairs. according to angelology there would be nine choirs divided into three triads or classes of angels.
In the first degree the angels would be in direct contact with Godthat is, the Seraphim (angels of light, love and fire who work for the purification and dissipation of darkness and doubt), the Cherubim (the angels who reflect science and celestial wisdom) and the Thrones (who carry the divine justice, and whose virtue is humility).
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In the second degree we would have the Dominations (which take care of the lower angels and regulate their functions), the Virtues (which inspire humanity and reign over natural laws), and the Powers (which safeguard conscience and history, and guide souls to heaven).
Finally, in the third degree, there are the Principalities (who direct and illuminate the angels and archangels), the Archangels (extraordinary messengers of God for men) and finally the angels (protectors and messengers of men).
As a curiosity, within black magic there is sometimes talk of the opposite of the Angelology of God: the Angelology of the Abyss, which is divided not into nine classes of angels but into nine legions.
These degraded Angels are the ones that spread pain, desolation and all negative energies. that afflict humanity. The name of legions is related to one of the passages in the Bible where a possessed man is mentioned, which says that he is possessed by a Legion of demons.