Angels

In art, angels are depicted as beautiful women, sometimes men, with wings. Is this what they really look like? Many people are under the impression that angels are the souls of humans, especially those who are saintly. Is this true? Or a fallacy? It is said that Medieval scholars argued about how many angels could fit on the head of a pin. What's the answer? Does everyone have a guardian angel? Does anyone? Are there evil angels? Are Satan and demons fallen angels? What the heck are angels, anyway? I hope to answer these questions with this article. My source is the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent.

The word "angel" stems from the Greek and Latin words for messenger. Literally, an angel is a "heavenly messenger." According to the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, angels are spiritual beings intermediate between God and men. They are God's attendants and messengers. They function as His assistants. In the Bible they are usually sent to earth to bring messages to mankind.

In Jacob's vision, they are depicted as ascending and descending the ladder which stretches from earth to heaven. This would seem to indicate that they do not fly and hence have no use for wings.

According to the article's interpretation of the Bible, it implies that each individual has its "tutelary angel." This may mean the same as a "guardian angel," but it seems that there is some dispute of whether each individual has a guardian angel. An angel may also intercede with God for a person. The angels may also aid God in administering the material world.

Apparently there is a hierarchy in heaven. Cherubim are God's ministers. There are also beings called Seraphim. There is a mystic seven who stand before God. And there are Archangels. Exactly where each fit into the hierarchy is not clear. St. Gregory the Great wrote a treatise on the hierarchy which you can read in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

How many angels are there? The closest we get to a number is the word "prodigious."

Yes, there are bad angels, and Satan is their leader. Also mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia article are Behemoth and Leviathan.

In the Book of Revelation of the Bible, angels play a major role in this prophesy of the End of Days. In my fantasy series, the Morgaine Chronicles, these angels appear in Morgaine at Armageddon, whose plot is very loosely based on passages in The Book of Revelation.

My Love of Fantasy and Science Fiction

I loved these genres since I was very young. My parents were great readers and so I became one too. I loved to go to the local library and browse through all the wonderful books. I liked books about pirates and the usual fairy tales. When I was seven, something wonderful happened to me. It was the movie "The Wizard of Oz." Back then, it was shown in theaters. On the big screen, it was wonder of wonders. After that I began to buy Oz books, of which there were many, not only by Frank L. Baum, the creator of Oz, but by his successors, Ruth Plumly Thompson and John R. Neil (who by the way was the illustrator for all three authors).

The next good thing happened when I was in the third grade. I came across a book about an imaginary trip to the moon and the planets. That hooked me on science fiction. I read everything I could find about space travel, time travel and so forth, mainly the comic books, Superman, Captain Marvel, Planet Comics and so forth. When I was twelve, I discovered the pulps, eight and half by eleven magazines with garish covers and printed on thick cheap paper. These contained stories by such greats as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Robert Silverberg and so many more.

About that time I also saw the movie "House of Frankenstein" with such a great cast, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carridine and Glen Strange. It's still one of my favorite movies. Although billed as a horror flick, it's really science fantasy. Speaking of movies, a few years later my favorite movie of all time came out, "2001, A Space Odyssey," which I saw on the wide screen. Believe me, it is stunning in the theater. Since then, there has been "Alien" and its sequels, all the Star Wars movies, Star Trek and its spin-offs, Jurassic Park and its sequels, etc., etc. We're living in my idea of paradise as far as movies go.

And then there are the books. I have so many favorite fantasy and SF authors that I could fill this page with their names.

From a love of these genres I decided to try my hand. The results you can buy at Renaissance Page Turner Editions, Fictionwise.com, Amazon and other online book sellers.

Isaac Newton, Alchemist

One of the lesser known facts about Sir Isaac Newton, the man who is credited with formulating the theory of gravity, is that he was an alchemist. Although he wrote over a million words on the subject, after his death in 1727, the Royal Society deemed that they were "not fit to be printed." The papers were rediscovered in the middle of the twentieth century and most scholars now concede that Newton was first an foremost an alchemist. It is also becoming obvious that the inspiration for Newton's laws of light and theory of gravity came from his alchemical work. As a practicing alchemist, Newton spent days locked up in his laboratory. Some say that he succeeded in changing lead into gold.

Newton's private papers and alchemical treatises indicate that he was motivated by a notion that alchemical wisdom extended back to ancient times, that the Hermetic tradition -- the body of alchemical knowledge – had originated in the mists of time and to have been given to humanity through supernatural agents. Newton translated the Emerald Tablet, a famous alchemical work by Hermes Trismegistus. He also believed in keeping his alchemy principles secret.

Right now I'm writing a new Raven Lenore novel that deals with alchemy.

Angels

Angels

In art, angels are depicted as beautiful women, sometimes men, with wings. Is this what they really look like? Many people are under the impression that angels are the souls of humans, especially those who are saintly. Is this true? Or a fallacy? It is said that Medieval scholars argued about how many angels could fit on the head of a pin. What's the answer? Does everyone have a guardian angel? Does anyone? Are there evil angels? Are Satan and demons fallen angels? What the heck are angels, anyway? I hope to answer these questions with this article. My source is the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent.

The word "angel" stems from the Greek and Latin words for messenger. Literally, an angel is a "heavenly messenger." According to the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, angels are spiritual beings intermediate between God and men. They are God's attendants and messengers. They function as His assistants. In the Bible they are usually sent to earth to bring messages to mankind.

In Jacob's vision, they are depicted as ascending and descending the ladder which stretches from earth to heaven. This would seem to indicate that they do not fly and hence have no use for wings.

According to the article's interpretation of the Bible, it implies that each individual has its "tutelary angel." This may mean the same as a "guardian angel," but it seems that there is some dispute of whether each individual has a guardian angel. An angel may also intercede with God for a person. The angels may also aid God in administering the material world.

Apparently there is a hierarchy in heaven. Cherubim are God's ministers. There are also beings called Seraphim. There is a mystic seven who stand before God. And there are Archangels. Exactly where each fit into the hierarchy is not clear. St. Gregory the Great wrote a treatise on the hierarchy which you can read in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

How many angels are there? The closest we get to a number is the word "prodigious."

Yes, there are bad angels, and Satan is their leader. Also mentioned in the Catholic Encyclopedia article are Behemoth and Leviathan.

In the Book of Revelation of the Bible, angels play a major role in this prophesy of the End of Days. In my fantasy series, the Morgaine Chronicles, these angels appear in Morgaine at Armageddon, whose plot is very loosely based on passages in The Book of Revelation.