Before
Angels, there was Animism which is believed to be the original religion
of humankind. It's belief was that spirits such as nature spirits,
fairies, sprites, devas, elves and other elementals inhabit
all things. It still exists today in many tribal societies and the
belief is growing among people in Western societies.
When
people needed a strong presence to watch over them, they turned to
gods, goddesses, ancestors and great spirit entities. Like Angels, they
were charged to maintain harmony in the universe and serve as
messengers between heaven and earth. In the polytheistic religions,
such as the religion of the ancient Greeks, the people worshipped a
pantheon of male and female deities.
The Greeks also believed in personal guardian spirits, known as their daimons. This was an inferior deity or attending spirit and was assigned to each person. The Romans called it their genius.
Plato and Socrates were two great philosophers who were inspired by
their daimons. The daimon was very much like our guardian Angels except
for the fact that a daimon could be classified as benevolent or
malevolent, where as in the Christian belief, we have guardian Angels
and demons.
Angels as we understand them in Western Christian society had their origins in the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism,
an ancient religion during the Persian empires (559 BC to 651 AC) and
was the most powerful world religion at the time of Jesus Christ. It is
one of the oldest monotheist religions and you can still find it being
practiced today, especially in Iran and India.
Angels
were embraced by Christianity like no religion before it, but the love
of Angels came from the people and not the church fathers. In the Middle
Ages, there was an "Angel mania" with countless sightings of Angels
and saints. At this time there was a great acceptance of the idea of
“visions”, especially in England and France. People obsessed by Angels
would have countless visions of Angels appearing to them and giving them
advice. But people soon became disillusioned by all the sightings
along with the false sightings reported.
Today
in the Christian countries of the West, people are again becoming more
conscious of Angels. They are exploring their spirituality and
questioning beliefs they were raised with. They are turning to a more
loving and accepting concept of religion and the thought of a "Higher
Being" or "Light" that watches over us all, regardless of religion or
beliefs.Many religions believe in Angels - Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam all have their Angels and hierarchy. Although I acknowledge the Angels from all the religions, focus will on the Judeo-Christian Angels and the Dionysius Hierarchy of Angels.
http://www.angelfocus.com/evolution.htm
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