Yeah, but how many wings do those dancing angels have?
June 26, 2002
I thought this, also from Randi, was interesting too:
I'd been saying that in "holy writ" there was no reference to angels having wings, that the wings were the invention of 14th-century artists who started out differentiating between human figures and angel figures by placing tiny butterfly wings on the shoulders of the latter, wings that eventually grew into full, white or multicolored, bird-like wings. Well, this young man and another student � quite rightly � challenged my statement. So here's the "facts" on this mythology: the Cherubim and Seraphim, two of the nine celestial orders of divine, benevolent, spiritual beings, are defined as having wings. Angels, however, the lowest of the nine orders, do not have wings. The differences between angels and the winged guys, are very evident; you can tell 'em apart right away. A cherub is a chubby infant style of being, and a seraph (member of the very top rank of these critters) has either four or six wings. Think what a flutter that would work up!
Posted by Jody at June 26, 2002 09:59 AM