Young Writers Society

I was rereading FREAK, and one of the symbolisms I hadn't caught before was the use of angels. Which is kind of funny, since I'm supposed to be the writer, and yet I never thought about it. But it seemed to fit oddly enough. Plus, I've been reading stories that involved angels, and now my curiosity is piqued.

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you?

Do you think they are or were human?

What form do they take?

What do they look like?

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel?

Do they work for God?

Someone else?

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling?

A fearful one?

...yeah. Feel free to answer the questions!

You may stab me with a fork or anything pointy but I'm about to appear contradicting in a second.

Firstly, I DO NOT believe in "angels." They don't exist but are mere fantasies storytellers have used for so long that in our mind's eye, angels do exist. This can be attributed especially in art, and more in the works of Raphael, whom was very religious. I'm aware the Bible (though I hardly read it) mentions angels too, especially with the birth of Jesus Christ, correct me if I'm wrong. But if in regards to that, I fully disagree and that they (angels) are the purest symbolisms of the Christain faith.

Now, this is where I'm about to totally contradict myself. Given the fact that I am Protestant and here I am claiming there are no angels, I am a FIRM believer that there is a greater force beyond our normal comprehension, and in fact there is a Life After Death. Whether that Greater Force is in fact God or whims of the future to behold you, there is a certain atmosphere. Many people have that sixth sense and know that there is something stronger than the human race, and in fact, some may agree by describing situations that happened to them but were unexplainable. So, yes, I may not believe in angels, but I do believe in a more pronounced being, whether its God, Christ or if it's a figment of my imagination; there is something not tangible and exists beyond our vision. Because of my belief, it may be the only time where I'm supremely superstitious, and especially when I'm visiting a cemetery because it regards death; I don't want to be visited thank you very much.

How's that for an honest answer?

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you?

I think angels are there to watch over people. Even if they can't help the person I believe they can at least sympathise them and have always thought they were there as 'protectors'.

Do you think they are or were human?

Not really. I'm not too sure about them being 'human'. They are possibly a different kind of 'beings'.

What form do they take?

Any... I'm not too sure about wings but maybe they appear as humans or animals.

What do they look like?

^ Above answer.

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel?

If there is good there's always evil/bad.

Do they work for God?

I don't really want to be biased or anything, but I think yes.

Someone else?

^ Above answer.

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling?

If someone is aware of a strange 'aura' around them that makes them happy for no reason then it could be possible.

A fearful one?

N/A

I don't believe in angels, however, they conjure up quite a romantic (or, in the case of fallen angels, gothic) image in my mind.


So I wanted to know, what are angels for you?
- Human like creatures with wings.

Do you think they are or were human?
- Don't believe in 'em. Story-wise, I prefer the idea that angels were created by God, or else humans evolved (or else, came) from angels.

What form do they take?
- Humans with wings. No halos. Just one pair of wings. Just one head.

What do they look like?
- Look above.

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel?
- Nah, not in my eyes. However, I like the idea of fallen angels, who rebelled against God (or a leader), but aren't bad so much as having a different opinion.

Do they work for God?
- They could do. Or, perhaps, they don't. Whatever works best for the story.

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you? Holy servant of The Lord.

Do you think they are or were human? No.

What form do they take? Humanoid.

What do they look like? Wings right? Bright lights... I'd have to check my mom's bible...

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel? Lucifer.

Do they work for God? Bad Angels? No. Good ones? I s'pose

Someone else? Nah.

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling? No, people usually freak out when they encounter angels...

A fearful one? Yea, angels usually have to say "Do not be afraid" whenever they talk to somebody.

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you?

Someone who helps you through a dire situation, life crisis, or huge life change. Someone who assists you in your times of greatest need. One who provides the greatest support and comfort when you need it.

Do you think they are or were human?

Human, Goddess Incarnate. Whatever you need, the Lady supplies.

What form do they take?

As above.

What do they look like?

As above.

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel?

No. They are to help. To provide comfort and support is not inherently evil.

Do they work for God?

Well, no. They are employed by the universe to balance it. They are compelled by the Goddess to do what is right, and to serve their brothers and sisters.

Someone else?

No.

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling?

It is their goal, and indeed their purpose.

A fearful one?

Any fear is created by the situation itself, not inherant in an Angelic Being.

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you? Angels are spirits that watch over you and care for you.

Do you think they are or were human? No, I believe they were hand crafted by God to guard us humans and the other creatures on earth.

What form do they take? I should think that they could take any form at all. From a mouse, to a human. My favorite saying is this:
"Your guardian angel is your best friend in disguise." --Author unknown

What do they look like? ^-----look

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel? Weeell, according to the bible Satan and his followers were angels. So I guess there could be bad angels. But only them, and they are all in Hell.

Do they work for God? Yes, except the ones that follow Satan.

Someone else? ...Satan?

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling? Again, it depends on the bad or good ones. The good ones always give your comfort and support, thebad ones will bring fear and destruction.

A fearful one? ^-----Lookie

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you?

When I thin of angels, I actually do think of a messenger of God. I'm not very religious, but I do believe there's a higher being and that s/he shows her/himself through angels, because, lets be honest, some guy/girl comes up to you and informs you that they're god/goddess. Yeah right. No matter how magnificent they are, you're going to have your doubts. With angels, every one basically has a fixed picture of what they'd look like, so they're much more believable.

Do you think they are or were human?

Hm, maybe. I suppose some of them could be, but I've always thought that God/Goddess made angels to help him/her out. Maybe s/he could get some humans for the job too.

What form do they take?

When they're on Earth, I would guess they'd take whatever form would help them do their job the best, whether that be the form of a cute little girl, or a big scary man.

What do they look like?

When their not in "disguise" I think they are beautiful and have nice, fluffy wings. ^^

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel?

One word: Lucifer.

Do they work for God?

Yeah, I guess. Unless, of course, they're fallen angels, in which case they'd either work for themselves or Lucifer.

Someone else?

See above ^

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling?

The good ones do!

A fearful one?

Maybe not fear, per se, but definitely confusion. Unless, like I said before, they're fallen.

Of course, that's just my basic idea. You have no idea how many times I've use different theories of angels in my stories. I love 'em![/b]

Okay @Snoink, here's my short answer.
I'll find a few more articles and paintings and illustrations for the people who might be wondering about these descriptions. And by the end of the week, this post will have a bunch of edits to it with all the different sources.

So I wanted to know, what are angels for you?
Whether I'm speaking as a Catholic or someone who has done a lot of research into angels of different religions, there's still no clear answer that I can give to you. And that's because angels are one of the most relative supernatural beings that you can find. Within Christianity alone, there's five main divisions of how we see angels and I can explain them if necessary.

I am very doubtful in the fact that anyone will ask for my big explanation, so here's the boiled down part of how I (and most people) see angels. We either see them as soldiers of god and/or as the cutesy little guardian angels, which is pretty understandable with pop culture representations.

In advertising, angels have slowly become more welcoming and appealing to the people, because you need somebody to sell chocolate and toilet paper. And then in bible school, we see that people are being taught to fear angels again, as more connections are being made between the two Gods existing in the bible.

Do you think they are or were human?
In a way, yes.

Because there's the further belief that saints are angels, in one form or another. There's still the dispute over whether saints were humans to begin with or were blessed in different ways.

This article is a pretty good outline. It follows the rule of some angels can be saints (consider the archangels) but saints are rarely considered to be angels. This is just one outlook on the subject and is as I should have said before, just a rough outline for trying to understand it.
I also have some links from other bloggers that will be supplied as necessary.

Now the thing above is mainly the catholic viewpoint and other christian viewpoints will have different ideas. Because there's also the idea that babies that die from miscarriage/premature/similar ideas, can become angels. Their stauts of angels is more in the mind of the family who loses the child but the theory can hold further, and it's an interesting direction to consider.
Here's also an article that goes against that viewpoint, for reference.

What form do they take?
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

This phrase comes to mind for me because the form of angels is another differing thing. I am a believer in the way that we can see angels in many different ways, or at least the grace of angels that may be apparent in an environment. Like the act of a single person can be attributed to a certain angel and/or saint.

So when we enter into this realm of thought, there's really hundred of thousands of forms that angels can take.

If you want an answer of physical form, I do believe it is possible. That angels in the spirit sense exist, that they can embody a vessel and that it does happen some how. I've read a few theories about each of these things and it will take me a bit to dig up all the links, but I will be editing them in shortly.

What do they look like?
See the post above for the short answer before I add in all the links and images to this section.

There are two main divisions, again. With the soldier versus the cherub, and that's an extremely important distinction in imagery that people often forget to make.

Is there anything such as a "bad" angel?
Yes and no.

Many people in this thread, and elsewhere, have cited Lucifer as proof of there being bad angels. But even his case has some odd parts to it and we would have to declare an actual definition for what a bad angel is.

And because of the nature of angels and how they exist throughout every culture, in and out of religion, no one can nail down a definition for everything going on with them.

Do they work for God?
Someone else?
Splicing these two questions together because this brings us back to questioning which religion you may be talking about. Angels are always going to be working for a god of sorts, just because of how the hiarchy is usually organized.

There's always someone higher. In most theories. There's a few that don't follow the rule or call them specifically by the handle of god, but mostly an angel is working for a god. It may not be happening directly (see again the imagery of soldier of god), but they're eventually working for the major mission of god.

Do they bring up a comfortable feeling?
A fearful one?
It depends on the situation for me and it goes back to the relativity of the imagery. I think I would be more fearful of the cutesy cherub, than I would be of the dark soldier of god. And this comes from my own experience of seeing how the innocent things are viewed as even more corruptable.

The darker image of a soldier is someone who is faithful but also understands what the real world is, so they are a more comforting vision to me.

I will also link some more illustrations to this once I get the chance.