Gif Picture: angel

angel

Primarily in Western religions, any of numerous benevolent spiritual beings who mediate between heaven and earth. They often serve as messengers or servants of God or as guardians of an individual or nation. In Zoroastrianism, the amesha spenta are arranged in a hierarchy of seven. Judaism and Christianity base their notion of angels on Old Testament references to divine servants and to the heavenly hosts. Two archangels (Michael and Gabriel) are mentioned in the Old Testament and two others (Raphael and Uriel) in the Apocrypha. Islam's hierarchy of angels descends from the four throne bearers of Allah to the cherubim who praise Allah, the four archangels, and lesser angels such as the hafazeh (guardian angels). See also cherub, seraph.