#one that stuck with me though is “Some Uses of Angel Iconography in English Literature” by Harry Morris ig

[nicosraf]

Maybe this is going to sound so stupid AKFKKRKEKFKFKF but where do you start learning about angels? Any particular sources that you recommend? I want to expand my knowledge on ✨👼🪽a n g e l l o r e ✨👼🪽 without accidentally falling from some tradcath's attempt at making church look cooler than it really is

Youre not stupid!! and I don't want to start coming off as The Authority on angels or anything - I'm just a guy. I think I'm really wary of others positioning themselves as an authority on angels (or theology generally) when they make videos/tiktoks explaining angel forms/hierarchies/etc. hence my frustrations

Unfortunate boring answer but: I think the best place to start is the Bible, reading the (few!) scenes where angels are present, examining how they act and how they speak. Read the scene where Jacob wrestles the angel, or the one where angels rush over to comfort Jesus after his days in the desert, or the angel that shakes Elijah awake then feeds him (then does it another time). (Book of Tobit, too, if you want to see Raphael!)

It's after this that I think you can start getting into the "sources." I would recommend reading the Book of Enoch - it's short, the summaries of it online are not good imo, and it's pretty simple. One translation I've been enjoying atm is George Schodde's ! Next, I would suggest moving onto the real "angelologists."

So, of course - Pseudo-Dionysius' The Celestial Hierarchy. Books like Thomas Heywood's Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells, and dictionaries about angels/demons. Here is where all the "fun" stuff is! I'm a boring loser so I usually read up on these, before or after, on JSTOR (or at least I did until I graduated) because you can learn a lot about the context in which they were written, and why you might not want to take what's in this umbrella of angelology/theology at face value. (Remember that these type of books/studies were often commissioned by powerful people.)

Around here or after this, you can move onto the writing about angels that isn't trying to convince you it's actual theology – so Milton's Paradise Lost or William Blake's work generally. I love William Blake, he's probably the only guy more in love with Lucifer than I am.

I wish I had a singular "Angels" book that I recommend but, as of now, not yet! I've hardly touched modern full-length books on angels, just articles (and those don't feel introductory enough to recommend, i think?)

But honestly? Just do whatever you want! No one is the authority on angels, just have fun with them fr <33

#angels lore is kind of tricky too because at once point you're just reading up on Jewish history and culture #regardless im sorry i dont have like youtube or tiktok recs or anything simple #in my defense im (was) a journalist so im used to just going to sources myself and not trusting anyone on the way LMAO #one day ill talk about how the Book of Enoch summaries online are horrible at explaining the actual contents of the book #again sorry for my “just go straight to the sources” brain #anyway #mine #ask #theology rant #oh i guess i have some JSTOR articles still saved but not a lot anymore because i am out of uni #one that stuck with me though is “Some Uses of Angel Iconography in English Literature” by Harry Morris ig