Angels (Folklore)

In many western religions, Angels are supernatural beings who act as the messagers of God and/or inhabitants of Heaven or similar utopian worlds. They are benevolent and celestial individuals who often times guide and protect humans though their lives and prevent them from being corrupted by evil. Angels are often depicted as the good counterparts to demons (or devils).

Judaism
Judaism was one of, if not the first religion to establish the existence of "messagers of god" or "holy ones". Daniel mentions several angels by name such as Gabriel (God's primary messanger), Michael (the holy fighter who primary fights demons), Raphael (the Healer), and Uriel (the angel that guides mortals to the afterlife in heaven). This religion also established a hierarchy that list the ranks of angels.

Christianity
Christianity largely inherited many of the aspects of angels that Judaism had many centuries earlier, describing them as messangers of god who protect humans from evil. In the New Testament, several angels play a major role, in one section, Archangel Gabriel meeting the Virgin Mary during an event known in the bible as the Annunciation, where he forshadows the birth of Jesus Christ. An angel is also depicted as being present during the birth of Christ at the Navtivity.

As Jesus becomes a young man, Angels make numerous appearances, such as comforting Jesus at the garden, and after his initial death by crucifixation, one appears at Jesus's tomb announcing that the tomb is empty and that he has be resurrected.

Islam
Like the previous Abrahamic incarnations of angels, in Islam, angels take on supernatural appearances that often act as messagers of God, and are occassionally mentioned by name.

The belief that Angels exist is a fundamental concept in the religion.

Description
Angels are often depicted as being human in appearance and possessing large, white wings, which allow them to fly between Heaven and the Earth. They often wear clothing that is primarily white, symbolizing purity and are either barefoot or wear sandals. Many angels give off a halo-like glow and some are depicted as having halos over or around their head.

In the bible, God forbid the representation of Angels being depicted as female, as evidenced by the fact that all archangels are given masculine names. However, more mordern depictions (including art), have largely depicted angels as being primarily female in appearance.

Many angels are assigned to different tasks, such as sending messages to and from Heaven and Earth, fighting evil, and protecting humans from danger.

Different types of angels have appeared in religous texts and cultures:
 * Archangels are the highest ranking angels in Heaven, who are tasked with the most essential jobs, these individuals include Gabriel. Michael, Raphael, and Uriel.
 * Guardian Angels are special angels assigned to protect specific humans on Earth.  These types of angels guard humans from evil influences and are often the ones attributed to miracles in which human's lives were saved from certain death.
 * Fallen Angels are darker type of angel that has been expelled from heaven for various reasons (such as committed evil actions against God's will), many (though not all) of these angels become demons/devils and desend into hell at some point.  In many incarnations, Satan is often described as one of these types of angels.