Angels in Paganism

[Ghidhorah]

Do pagan / occult / etc religions such as Wicca and variations of it (in general, I know no one religion doesn't cover all) acknowledge angels - or is that more or less exclusive to Abrahamic religions?

If so, are they considered to be another name for the gods and goddesses, or totally unique entities? Do they serve any particular diety (being as Jehova isn't acknowledged by these religions) or does that vary? Would people try to communicate with, summon, or interact with them in any way, as some might with demons? Are they considered to be in the grey area, or are they also in these religions considered to be holy / good spirits?

Thanks for your input, any and all opinions are welcome.

 

[mimpibird39]

Angels are an extension of the Abrahamic God's will, have no free will and report back to God. Angels also only serve the Abrahamic God and are not deities themselves. Because of this, they are strictly Abrahamic. In my opinion, you really shouldn't call upon or honor angels if you are not following an Abrahamic path (including synchronized paths such as Christopaganism) because they serve only God.

Fallen angels, such as Satan and Lucifer, are different though. They have free will and no longer serves God. It would be okay for a pagan to interact or worship a fallen angel, in my opinion.

Occultism is a practice, not a religion. So, involving angels in occultism depends on what your religion is.

Some pagans do try to communicate with angels even though they have nothing to do with the Abrahamic God. I don't know why though because angels are only connected to God and only serve him. You would be involving God in your life by extension.

 

[Riverwolf]

Angels in a modern mythological conception, loosely based on Christian theology, are actually quite cool if you allow the angels at least a degree of free will. I, myself, don't apply them to my own theology since they are still decidedly tied to Christian theology and mythology, but I can still take inspiration from the concepts, such as the "levels" of angels, as well as some of the named ones.

'Sides, they're dudes with wings. Awesome.

 

[The Hammer]

I see angels as being too connected with the Abrahamic faith, and are therefore linked to the Christian god. With that I don't personally acknowledge them, but I do acknowledge that are good spirits. These spirits can and do similar things that an angel would, while also containing a semblance of free will. They can protect a person, bless an area, banish negativity etc.

 

[Salek Atesh]

'Sides, they're dudes with wings. Awesome.

Common misconception. Most times they're like some cosmic Lovecraftian horror. Seraphim are beings of fire with wings. Cherubim have four faces, that of a man, lion, bull, and eagle. The (often unfairly presumed to be evil) angel of Death, Azrael is said to be a towering being made of tongues and eyeballs (one tongue and eye for every life on earth), with ten-thousand wings. The archangel Rafael was a huge hairy guy covered in many mouths.

Bit more than dudes with wings.

 

[Jainarayan]

'Sides, they're dudes with wings. Awesome.

Spoiler: Shirtless pic

 

[Quintessence]

Do pagan / occult / etc religions such as Wicca and variations of it (in general, I know no one religion doesn't cover all) acknowledge angels - or is that more or less exclusive to Abrahamic religions?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by acknowledge, but there are certainly some Neopagans who incorporate angels into their paths. It is far more common in the New Age movement and Western occultism, neither of which are the same thing as Neopagan religions (though these movements do cross pollinate). I shall not address either Western occultism or the New Age movement for the rest of my response, as I don't feel you intended to include either in spite of the "pagan / occult" label above. Neopaganism and occultism are not really the same thing.

If so, are they considered to be another name for the gods and goddesses, or totally unique entities

You'd have to ask each individual. There are no unifying doctrines or dogmas in Neopaganism. That said, I have never seen Neopagans conflating angels with gods, at least not beyond the soft monotheistic "Pagans" and their "all things come from one divine source" thing. Even in Christian theology, they are regarded as two entirely different classes of divine being.

Do they serve any particular deity (being as Jehova isn't acknowledged by these religions) or does that vary?

By and large, Neopagans do acknowledge (as in accept as ontologically valid) Jehova. That's one of the neat things about Paganisms, neo or otherwise. We don't have to go "your gods aren't real," we just worship different gods. At any rate, again, it's going to vary. I have no idea what angels serve. I don't incorporate them into my path, so I don't care.

Would people try to communicate with, summon, or interact with them in any way, as some might with demons? Are they considered to be in the grey area, or are they also in these religions considered to be holy / good spirits?

I'm really not sure how to approach answering this without understanding what you mean by demons, and what your expectations are of interacting with said entities. This question seems to presuppose some dualism, which Neopaganism by and large rejects. The most I can say right now is that there are many, many ways of interacting with various aspects of reality, angels or otherwise. The most common usage of angels that I see within Neopaganism is for correspondences or spellwork, personal development, or circle casting.

 

[Riverwolf]

Common misconception. Most times they're like some cosmic Lovecraftian horror. Seraphim are beings of fire with wings. Cherubim have four faces, that of a man, lion, bull, and eagle. The (often unfairly presumed to be evil) angel of Death, Azrael is said to be a towering being made of tongues and eyeballs (one tongue and eye for every life on earth), with ten-thousand wings. The archangel Rafael was a huge hairy guy covered in many mouths.

Bit more than dudes with wings.

I prefer to think of it less as a "common misconception", and more of the modern manifestation of the imagery.

Besides, I wasn't thinking of the cute little cherub-cupids that are depicted in a lot of home art.

I was thinking more along the lines of this:

Spoiler: big picture

Many years ago I picked up this book that's just called "Angels", and features small bits of lore about the nine levels of angels, and five of the arch-angels (Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Azrael, and ... Samael, here equated with Lucifer/Satan), and the art is amazing. It's got this picture of the four good-guy angels all charging at Lucifer, who's being all super-villain posing, and it just looks like a scene out of a fantasy film.

 

[Riverwolf]

I do admit a pretty soft spot for the concept of angels. When I was a kid, they were effectively the ancestor-guardian Gods for me.

 

[Jainarayan]

I was thinking more along the lines of this:

Spoiler: big picture

.

Wow!

 

[Riverwolf]

Wow!

Yeah, the book I mentioned had art like that.

...and I forgot that it also has Raphael. Can't believe I forgot that one; that's one of the Ninja Turtles. lol

I have been considering using modern angel lore as the basis for an organizational structure in my own customized Anglo-Asatru Lore, perhaps having to do with Tiw/Tyr (being the God of Justice, which is the Arcana that angels fall under in the Persona games, as well as having the name that very well could have been the name we used instead of God, if the latter hadn't entered our vocabulary).

 

[Aštra’el]

I incorporate Michael and Iblis/ "Lucifer" as Gods in my own "pantheon", with YHWH as the highest deity ruling over many lesser Gods and Goddesses... many of which the followers of Abrahamic religions might view as "demons" or "angels".

Ideas of winged spirits predates Christianity and goes back even to the ancient Sumerians. My own Pagan system combines elements from the ancient Mesopotamian religions with the many Abrahamic religions into something that resonates with my own weltanschauung.

​

 

[Aupmanyav]

We do not have angels in Hinduism, but we do have seven sages, created by Lord Brahma in each eon, to populate the world and guide people. The sages in the present eon (Manavantara) are Kashyapa, Atri, Vashista, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Bharadvaja.

 

[Midnight Rain]

Do pagan / occult / etc religions such as Wicca and variations of it (in general, I know no one religion doesn't cover all) acknowledge angels - or is that more or less exclusive to Abrahamic religions?

If so, are they considered to be another name for the gods and goddesses, or totally unique entities? Do they serve any particular diety (being as Jehova isn't acknowledged by these religions) or does that vary? Would people try to communicate with, summon, or interact with them in any way, as some might with demons? Are they considered to be in the grey area, or are they also in these religions considered to be holy / good spirits?

Thanks for your input, any and all opinions are welcome.

Protective spirits and benevolent spirits exist. Just as malevolent spirits exist. Sometimes they are from individuals who in death find ways to transform their energy or sometimes they are naturally occurring entities willed into existence by spells or otherwise.

If one wishes to call them "angels" I suppose you could but not in the christian sense. Same with demons.