Today is the Christian festival of St Michael and All Angels. In the traditional cosmologies of Christianity, Islam and Judaism angels are part of the created order, though in its heavenly rather than earthly dimension.
Interest in angels and angelic beings continues into the present day. Though none will be found in any museum of natural history at the very least it may be said angels exist in the creative imagination of human culture and its representations in the arts. Almost any British primary school child is capable of describing an angel.
In spiritual traditions angels are agents or messengers of God whose intervention or appearance signals a purposeful and wholly altruistic divine assistance. However there is also a dualism in some traditions. These posit the existence of demonic beings who are corrupted angels capable of masquerading as wholesome in order to extend the influence of evil.
One of the most significant differences in spiritual understanding in the world is that between those traditions which have adapted to the rationalism of the science -based public culture of modern European societies; and those spiritualities which were never nurtured in that cultural milieu or have reacted against it.
The majority of people with a spiritual dimension to their lives in the world today belong to the latter category and for them the creation without spiritual beings such as angels and demons is inconceivable.
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