Types, Guardians and Individuals

Guardian Angels | Ps-Dionysius | Michael | Gabriel | Raphael | Uriel | Angel of Death | Sandalphon | Samael | Cherubim | Seraphim | Other angels

Encyclopedia Mythica search: Angels. The Encyclopedia Mythica has article on very many angels, most short and from a Jewish perspective.

New Age: Dictionary of Angels by White Witch.

Noble Angels of Islam by Mohamad Salih El-Munajjid, with Koranic references.

Guardian Angels

Catholic Encyclopedia: Guardian Angel from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia, traces the idea from the Bible through the the Fathers.

"That every individual soul has a guardian angel has never been defined by the Church, and is, consequently, not an article of faith; but it is the 'mind of the Church'…"

Whom Christ loves, His angels love too! on guardian angels, by Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes from the SS. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, Boise, ID. 83706. U.S.A.

Blog entry arguing for guardian angels shoots down the Okham's razor argument—angels aren't necessary since God is all-powerful.

Les Anges Guardiens, a large French site devoted to (and venerating) angels and guardian angels, produced by the Clercs de St-Viateur, Lyons, France. Includes FAQs, first-hand accounts (ancient to modern), biblical references, church texts, quotes, articles, prayers, poetry, and an excellent gallery. This is a wonderfully full site, the likes of which has not yet been done in English. (The site you are looking at is more comprehensive in some ways, but most of the content is external.) If you read French slowly, as I do, you may want to use the translation provided below—and it's fun to see the "Bubble of the Pope Leon X" (Bulle du Pape Léon X).

Questions fréquemment posées on guardian angels. Detailed. Guardian angels are not there to find us a parking place or "éparer nos bourdes."

Ps-Dionysius

Text of the Celestial Hierarchy and the Mystical Theology, by an anonymous early-20c translator, scanned and edited somewhat for the journal Esoterica.

Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1819-1893) entry by N. Bonwetsch.

Wikipedia: Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. Skewed. No description of the contents.

Michael

Michael from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906). Lengthy and detailed article, including a section on Michael in Islam.

Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Michael from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia. Long article runs through scripture and veneration. Early Christians subordinated Michael's militant role to that of healing.

Wikipedia: Michael. Quite full. The usual Wikipedia caveats apply. I did not know this; is it true?:

"Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ and the Archangel Michael are the same being. They believe that Jesus/Michael was the first being that God created, and assisted with the creation of the universe, the angels, and mankind. In this prehuman existence he was known as the Word of God. He later took human form as Jesus and led a life without sin. After his crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected in his previous spiritual form."

Infography: Michael Bibliography. Short Michael bibliography, with many general items.

Gabriel

Gabriel from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906). Lengthy and detailed article, with much on Islam too.

Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Gabriel from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia. Short article runs through scriptural references and offers characterization: "Gabriel is ever the angel of mercy while Michael is rather the angel of judgment."

Wikipedia: Gabriel . The usual Wikipedia caveats apply

Raphael

Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Raphael from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia. Short. See also Book of Tobias.

Raphael from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906). Includes a section on Raphael in Christian theology. See also Book of Tobit.

Encyclopedia Mythica: Raphael by Micha F. Lindemans.

Uriel

Uriel from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906).

Angel of Death

Angel of Death in Biblical and Talmudic literature a good summary. See also Angel of Death in Jewish Folklore with a typology of tales, and the tale "The Town that Had Faith in God," in whcih a man tricks the Angel of Death into not taking him until he completes the Shema. From the Jewish Heritage Online Magazine's Angels page.

Wikipedia: Death, Personification. This is one of those great Wikipedia surprises, a wonderfully long and informative page, seeming coming out of nowhere. Includes much on the Angel of death in Judaism, and a review of scythe-bearing deaths in movies and popular fiction.

Three selections from Muhammad Hisham Kabbani's Angels Unveiled: The Angel of Death Calls, Izrail Takes the Life of an Ascetic and Dede Korkut and the Angel of Death . There is not a little similarity between these tales and the Jewish tales of tricking death. Or, for that matter, Bergman's chess game…

Sandalphon

Crown Weaving in the Celestial Household: Sandalphon in the Midrash from the Jewish Heritage Online Magazine.

"According to the Talmud, Sandalphon is so much taller than his fellow angels, that it would take five hundred years to journey across his height.

Sandalphon speaks!

"You may call me by many names. This one has known me as Alue. For aeons past I have been known to you also as Archangel Sandalphon, but truly, this is a simplification of that which We Are. We are a group energy, beyond form, beyond time, and aspects of us are existing beyond your solar system, even to the very outermost points of the galaxy. We are beings of creation, we are beings of love, we are beings of light that vibrate only in the highest dimensions, impacting upon whatever we meet in our journeys throughout the universe; bringing with our energies the light, the love, the truth and the wisdom of the One Creative Source of All."

Samael

Samael from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906)

Wikipedia: Samael.

Cherubim

Catholic Encyclopedia: Cherubim from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia. Covers cherubs in art, inspired vision and theology.

Seraphim

Catholic Encyclopedia: Seraphim from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia.

Other angels

"The Fallen Angels" by Heather Changeri, an angel-by-angel treatment. Appealing on some levels, I was frustrated by the variety and quality of sources used, either directly or through her major source Gustav Davidson's 1967 The Dictionary of Angels. Ultimately, this is a problem with many angel "dictionaries"—they separate names from their religious and literary contexts. The result reminds me of Victorian attempts to dredge the deep ocean; by the time the nets came back to the surface, the many strange and wonderful fish were just little strings of goop.

Azazel from the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906).

"After Satan, for whom he was in some degree a preparation, Azazel enjoys the distinction of being the most mysterious extrahuman character in sacred literature."

Encyclopedia Mythica: Metatron by Ilil Arbel.

Encyclopedia Mythica: Yekum by Micha F. Lindemans.