Angels as Nurturers

My first memory of angels is from the advent calendars that parents buy for their children for the weeks preceding Christmas. My calendar featured a manger scene, and my favourite picture was of an angel that hovered above the stall... it had an encrusted-gem silver lining on its large white wings, and it was (typically) female, with a look of regency combined with love that I somehow felt was intended for me.

Somehow, I sensed the nurturing of my mother through that image, I now see, and this has become an unconcious association I carry with me of angels. There is no mention of female angels in Biblical texts, but I wonder if in some way angels do express the feminine side of the creator. There are certainly many references to the masculine nature, but for some reason, angels have been depicted often as females.

As an adult, I no longer consciously believe in this image, but there is a part of me that seems to find comfort from images and music that recalls this "childish" notion.

As a musician, my creative force seems to resonate with this early longing, and I can sense it deep within driving my responses to the music I create.

Angels, Bringers of Light

What are angels?

There are as many answers to that question as perhaps there are angels. One can see from even a casual study of the religions of the world that as far back as we have written records, people have sensed the existance of a being that is not of this world, and yet is somehow apparent to our minds, especially in times of distress or need for guidance.

Musicians, artists, writers, and poets have sought to express how they respond to their experiences of who and what angels are. These expressions in turn have guided and even defined how those who encounter their expressions, and have become a part of our religious heritages. These have evolved over the centuries, and today's expressions both draw on the past, and attempt to explain the present, and look to the future.

It seems that whoever and whatever angels are, our understanding of who and what we are, and how we connect with our creator is influenced and nurtured by the creative soul of man. That in itself may say a lot about the nature of angels.