JULY
12, 2004
CULTURE
New angles on angels
 The
angel craze of the '90s was dismissed by many as a pop culture fad, but new
polls show belief in angels continues to rise. From new books by best-selling
authors to edgy graphic novels aimed at teens, angels are embraced by a widening
spectrum of traditional and nontraditional religious beliefs.
While Americans'
belief in God has remained relatively constant for decades, belief in other
supernatural beings continues to increase. Seventy-eight percent of Americans
believe in angels, according to a May Gallup poll, up from 72 percent a decade
ago. Two of the best-selling popular writers in the '90s about angels, Joan
Wester Anderson and Sophy Burnham, have new books about angels coming out in
the fall.
New views of angels
draw on a variety of theologies in which these messengers are important. Some
understandings are more occult or dark; not every messenger brings glad tidings.
Current interest in gnosticism and mysticism has inspired interest in religions'
more esoteric lore about angels.
Why it Matters
Angels are important in religions, especially Christianity, Islam and Judaism,
but their popularity also reflects people's interest in spirituality apart from
organized religion.
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National sources
• Albert Winseman
is the religion and values editor at the Gallup Organization. He says the steady
decade-long rise in belief in entities from the beyond reflects persistent spiritual
values even as secularism in society increases. Different generations have more
-- or less -- optimistic views of the beyond. Angels and demons express culture
wars cast in religious terms. Contact him in Gallup's Omaha office, 402-951-2003,
al_winseman@gallup.com.
• Sophy Burnham is the author of A Book of Angels: Reflections on Angels
Past and Present and True Stories of How They Touch Our Lives (Ballantine).
A revised and expanded edition of the book, originally published in 1990, is
being published in October. Contact Kim Hovey at Ballantine publicity, 212-782-8274.
• Lynn Schofield Clark teaches about youth, religion and popular culture
at the University of Colorado in Boulder and is author of From Angels to
Aliens: Teenagers, the Media and the Supernatural (Oxford University Press,
2003). She studied the response to the television show Touched by an Angel.
She says that recent interest in angels has related them to contact with the
dead and that angels are a flexible and ambiguous symbol with appeal to both
the traditionally religious and nontraditional, "spiritual" people.
Contact 303-278-4171, lynn.clark@colorado.edu.
• John Richard Williams is staff editor of
Angels on Earth, a publication of Guideposts, the inspirational
magazine begun in 1995 by Norman Vincent Peale. The magazine, with a circulation
of 600,000, receives 1,000 submissions a month from people who say they have
experienced angelic encounters. Williams says angels, understood as winged messengers,
are a uniting symbol of diverse cultures. Contact 212-251-8138, jrwilliams@guideposts.org.
• Angel Sanctuary is a line of graphic novels based on Japanese
manga and anime by artist Kaori Yuki. The high-school-age central character
is a reincarnated angel who is in love with his sister. The epic story of good
and evil employs esoteric
angel lore and mythic figures. Angel Sanctuary's San Francisco publisher
is Viz. Contact public
relations manager Evelyn Dubo, 415-644-9238.
• Robert T. Carroll is the author of The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection
of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions and Dangerous Delusions (John Wiley,
2003). The former Catholic seminarian teaches philosophy at Sacramento City
College and runs the web site The
Skeptic's Dictionary, which includes an entry
on angels. Contact rtc@skepdic.com.
CHRISTIAN
• Joan Wester Anderson
is the author of the best-seller Where Angels Walk: True Stories of Heavenly
Visitors (Ballantine, 1993) and the forthcoming In the Arms of Angels:
True Stories of Heavenly Guardians (Loyola Press). Contact her through Loyola
Press publicist Mary Edsey, 773-529-5411, edsey@loyolapress.com;
or contact Anderson, joan@joanwanderson.com.
JEWISH
• Vanessa Ochs teaches Jewish studies at the University of Virginia and
is author of The Jewish Dream Book: The Key to Opening the Inner Meaning
of Your Dreams (Jewish Lights, 2003). Contact 434-924-6722, vanessa@virginia.edu.
• Morris B. Margolies is the author of A Gathering of Angels: Angels
in Jewish Life and Literature (Jason Aronson, 2000) and rabbi emeritus of
Congregation Beth Shalom in Kansas City, Mo. Contact ravmargolies@bethshalomkc.org.
MUSLIM
• Gisela Webb teaches religion at Seton Hall University in South Orange,
N.J. She wrote the entry on angels in Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (Brill,
2002). Contact her assistant Maisie Mountcastle, 973-275-2011.
MORMON
• Armand L. Mauss is a professor emeritus of sociology and religious studies
at Washington State University and a Mormon authority whose many works include
The Angel and the Beehive: The Mormon Struggle With Assimilation (University
of Illinois, 1994). Contact almauss@cox.net.
SPIRITUALITY
• Doreen Virtue is a psychologist who has written extensively about angels.
Her books are popular in the alternative spirituality market. Her web site is
Angel Therapy.
Contact her through her California publisher, Hay
House. Hay House also publishes the psychic Sylvia Browne and in April released
a paperback edition of Sylvia Browne's Book of Angels.
Background
• A June 18,
2004, Fox
News poll found that 78 percent of Americans believe in angels.
• A May 2004 Gallup Poll also found that 78 percent of Americans believe
in angels, according to a May 26, 2004, Religion
News Service story posted by Biblical Recorder.
• Beliefnet.com offers Angel
resources, including message
boards, columns,
a quiz,
and an interfaith
guide to angels.
Online encyclopedia
entries about angels
GENERAL
• The Wikipedia
entry on angels
includes different religions' views.
JEWISH
• Angelology
at JewishEncyclopedia.com.
CATHOLIC
• Angels
and guardian
angel in the online Catholic
Encyclopedia.
• Angel
FAQs and the nine
choirs of angels at Catholic
Online.
MUSLIM
• Primary concepts: angels
in A
Media Guide to Islam, part of the News
Watch Project of San Francisco State University's Journalism Department.
• Entry for angels
(mala'ikah) in the online glossary at IslamiCity.
MORMON
• A collection
of teachings about angels drawn from basic works.
MYTHOLOGICAL
• Angels
in the Encyclopedia Mythica.
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