Fairies and Angels

[Napoli]

I am curious about how these two groups of spirits function differently in the scheme of the universe and the roles they play in humankind's spiritual evolution. What do these two types of creatures have in common? Do you have any special preference for working with one over the other? If yes, why?

[WillowDarkWytch]

Motumbá Àse, Napoli

In a theosophic point of view you have various authors, but Leadbeater in his book "The Hidden Side of Things" explains a lot about elementals, devas, angels and their relation with Human Kind in an evolutionary manner. You have this graphic in the book:



If you find the book, it'll be very helpful. Ofcourse, I always take theosophy very carefully because most oif it's literature is very old minded (and the new is based on the old too, so it's not that different) sometimes racist, prejudiced, as it is like white europe "spiritual" folks in the 40`s and such. BUT, if you know HOW to read it, it might give you a lot of insight on the subject.

Saravá
Idansi

[Shinichi]

The Abrahamic Tradition has a tendency of calling any spirit that shows up on behalf of God to do good deeds an Angel, while any spirit who causes mischief and drama is a demon. In this respect, depending on which one you meet or how much you piss them off, any of the Fae could be viewed as both Angel and Demon.

In more pragmatic Occult terms, in my own academic opinion and experience both, the Fae and the race of beings that the Abrahamic Tradition most often calls the Angels are two entirely different things. The Western Mystery Tradition acknowledges this difference by calling the Fae "Elementals:" the Gnomes, Undines, etc. I cannot think of a single school or initiate of the Western Mystery Tradition who would consider the Elementals and Angels to be the same or even remotely similar. Most often, the Fae are treated as inferior to the Angels, working on the lower and baser levels of Earth while the Angels work on a higher level.

The Angels aren't too fond of me anymore though, so I shouldn't really be considered an expert on them. [razz]



~:Shin:~

[Napoli]

Most often, the Fae are treated as inferior to the Angels, working on the lower and baser levels of Earth while the Angels work on a higher level.

~:Shin:~

I have always been confused as to why the fairies and other elementals are presented as lower levels of spiritual beings than the angels, when it is clear that the traditions the former comes from has technically no angels at all.

[Shinichi]

Typical Christian dominance, for the most part. As the Western Mystery Tradition became more Christianized due to the general Christianization of Europe, the Initiates who had long accepted the reality of the nature spirits like elementals had to figure out how to mesh that together with the spirits of the Abrahamic Tradition and the other Lineages that also influenced the Western Mystery Tradition. So, they just kinda absorbed everything into a hierarchy. The demonic spirits are at the bottom because they are evil, the elementals are neutral and just tending to nature to keep everything running smoothly, the planetary beings govern things on a higher level but are also relatively neutral, and so on and so forth until you get to the Angels and God. Different Orders and schools of thought have different diagrams describing their own versions of this hierarchy, but it's basically all just a meshup of the spirits of numerous traditions (the ones that influenced Hermeticism in particular) organized in a way that pleases the Abrahamic mythos.



~:Shin:~

[violetstar]

I am curious about how these two groups of spirits function differently in the scheme of the universe and the roles they play in humankind's spiritual evolution. What do these two types of creatures have in common? Do you have any special preference for working with one over the other? If yes, why?

A neat way of understanding the difference is to see Angels as forces linked to heavenly realms and fairies as by-products of nature or 'Elementary'.The actual interpretation will be from a point of view and ultimately personal belief.

[the_spiral]

I am curious about how these two groups of spirits function differently in the scheme of the universe and the roles they play in humankind's spiritual evolution. What do these two types of creatures have in common? Do you have any special preference for working with one over the other? If yes, why?

In my limited experience I think they are very different. Faeries are elemental spirits tied to a specific region in the material plane who are extremely powerful in that region. I won't say any more as I've mostly had negative experiences with them so there's some bias there. Angels operate a different plane entirely and appear abstract and complex to a frightening degree when you encounter them here. They speak through song, poetry, mathematical equations and vision. I also agree with Shinichi that you need to take into account Abrahamic dualism and the way various beings have been shoved into the "Angel" category over time whether or not they fit there. But all that said, St. Michael Archangel is beautiful and ever-present and you can call on him any time.