Etymologically, “angel” means messenger, or minister. Stemming from the Hebrew word mal’akh, Angel is a name that indicates office and not nature, as Saint Augustine says.
Angels can be defined by its creation of purely spiritual substances, created by God to be superior to man.
Beings of pure spirit, angels do not possess a body, although some writers have attributed a certain corporeality to them. They are an intermediary between heaven and earth, between God and man, which God uses to make pronouncements to humankind and to have His will carried out on earth. The Hebrew term has been translated into Greek with “anghelos” from which our word “Angel” is derived.
Angels are the inhabitants of an intermediate kingdom between God and man, and as such they fill a void and, in their contact with the human world, can take absolutely unpredictable forms.
Perhaps the very name, Angelo, is inappropriate in relation to the immense possibilities of these beings. Although deriving from the Greek “anghelos” which means “nuncio” or “messenger” the Angels are much more than simple bearers of news. They are true executors of the divine will. According to Christian canon, everything that exists in the immensity of creation falls under their jurisdiction and control.
The oriental term “Deva” with which Angelic creatures are defined, also expresses their essence. “Deva” derives from the Sanskrit word for “resplendent,” or more precisely, a “Being of light.” The word’s etymological root is “Dyaus” which, in English, can be translated as “little divinity.”
To understand who the Inhabitants of the invisible worlds are, where they are and what they do, it is necessary to study the relationships between God, the Great Architect of the Universe, and the Hierarchies of the Celestial Beings that occupy the many different steps of the ladder, seen in a dream by Jacob, which extends from man to God.