Wild Angels-Catalog-small-with-cover

W i l d A n g e l s carry messages of birth. They arouse special interest in the Jewish tradition. Abraham’s “three visitors” arriving at his tent, belong to this group. Some identify them as the ministering angels who announce the forthcoming birth of his son. Maimonides states that they should be perceived as prophetic figures; as images that appear in Abraham’s dream. Maimonides regards prophecy as a form of divine knowledge, as a genre of higher education. When Abraham sees the angel, his mind ascends to the highest of places and he beholds the secrets of the universe. Seeing an angel is not fortune telling, but rather, a rational vision of world order; a kind of (rational) revelation of Merkabah mysticism. Throughout the history of philosophy, it is not for nothing that angels have been perceived as “disembodied intelligence,” and are regarded as a form of intelligent existence; an ideated reality. The angel may be the image of the rational; the representation of intellect. In that sense, one can view the appearance of angels as a flow of divine wisdom to Earth, an event of human education. This is also the meaning of “emanation” in the philosophical and mystical traditions. Emanation is the flow of light coming down from the angels’ spheres, flowing down towards the domain of Man. The angels are, indeed, named bodies of light (in the Jewish tradition they are sometimes referred to as “bodies of fire”). Their appearance illuminates the world and enlightens it. And what form do they take? The form of a vision. Every angel appearing on Earth and roaming it is an idea that materializes in a vision. But as the later prophecy books tell us, no one possesses the skills any longer to interpret the appearances of angels. The sight of an angel descending to Earth has since, become an enigma. Being of “disembodied intelligence,” the angel is a superhero in the metaphysical tradition – a messenger and a teacher of the first order. Just as he has come to serve as a teacher of prophecy and liturgical singing, he has also played a role in the history of thought as a supreme figure of wisdom. Ibn Sina, Maimonides, and Thomas Aquinas understood the existence of angels and their mission as a “disembodied intelligence,” which points to the philosophical preeminence of these thinkers of the Middle Ages. Modern era philosophy has discarded angels, just as it has discarded God, demons, and other spirits. The angels have disappeared even from dreams. In contrast, art hearkens back to the angels’ finest hour. Indeed, we should be aware of another mission of the angel descending to Earth: that of the messenger of art. Not the exaggerated efforts by early modern era artists to capture the image of the angel who appeared before Abraham at the entrance