Case Study 2 : Angels

The Case Study/Explainations Segment Page 2
(Also contains basic observations, references and notes.)
Feel free to correct me on anything here if you feel that it's been wrongly explained via email.

Of Angels in Ah! My Goddess
Note : The Angels referred to in this segment are generally referred to as "she". This is purely a generic term used for simplicity's sake since the angels in Ah! My Goddess are all female. No offense of any kind is meant to any Christian or Biblical mention of Angels whatsoever.

Basic info about the "Real" Angels around us.
In the Bible, Angels are stated as the emissaries of God who do His work for Him on Earth. They are (to my eyes), extensions of God's will. Angels simply carry out God's orders, and all glory and praise still belong to Him, not the Angels themselves. God said "I will not share my glory with another." (Isaiah 42:8). Also, Angels are not to be loved nor prayed to, for God, not them, provide the miracles. Angels also do not come whenever we pray for them, The Lord provides for all our needs. And finally, an angel from God will not give you instruction or guidance that deviates from what God has already said in His Word (Galatians 1:8).
However, there are also the Fallen Angels who work for Satan, the Evil One who is the sworn enemy of God and all His people. It was said that a third of God's angels fell with Satan and that they wage a constant war with God to win more souls over to evil. When an angel begins to tell you things that change God's Word, you know you are not speaking with a holy angel from God but a demon from hell. Satan misquoted the Scripture to Jesus. He disguises himself as an "angel of light" to deceive people (2 Cor. 11:14). Angels do not come when you pray for them, those who do are not true Angels, but the ones who have fallen from Grace. Trust not the Devil, ever.
Enough about the bad stuff. Back to God's own Angels. It is said that Angels are as varied as the people God made, be the people black, white or yellow, with their own cultures and languages, and as different as you could want. Angels are made "no different" (bad pun!) from the way God made Man, some have wings, some burn like living flame. Angels appear not to be confined to any specific form or shape, but assume the shapes they are required to when performing a task for God. They may take the form of a man or woman, and they talk, act (without sinning, of course), or otherwise interact with us in a perfectly normal way to which we would never know whether one is an Angel or not.
By definition, the word, angel is: Aggelos: messenger, to bring a message, announce, proclaim. (Refer to first paragraph about Angels being God's Emissaries.) And no, Men do not turn into angels when they die.
The Bible states that "A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him." (Daniel 7:10), I would guess one million angels ministered to God himself while one hundred million (100,000,000) angels are there to heed his bidding.
Now that you've had enough basic info about angels both good and bad, it's on to the comparisons to be made in Ah! My Goddess.

For Reference :
The seven Vices and Virtues are :
Vices : Sloth, Greed, Lust, Pride, Wrath, Envy and Gluttony.
Virtues : Honesty, Compassion, Spirituality, Justice, Valour, Humility and Honour.

The five Elements of Nature are :
Fire, Wind (or Air), Water, Wood and Earth.

The Ten Commandentments are :
1) "Thou shalt not kill", 2) "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods", 3) "Thou shall not bear false witness", 4) "Thou must remember Sabbath day and keep it Holy", 5) "Thou shall honour thy father and mother", 6) "Thou shalt not commit adultery.", 7) "Thou shalt not bow down to any others before me." (Alternatively : "Thou shalt not have any other Gods before me."), 8) "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.", 9) "Thou shalt not steal.", 10) "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain."

Kami-sama, the term used in the Japanese language, refers to "God" to whom all Goddesses answer directly to. It appears that even though the english translation is "the Almighty", which might mean Odin, I have a feeling it's more towards the one God, since most religions appear to point to the Ultimate one being "God" himself no matter what the name. (The Chinese translation also appears to refer to Him as The Lord.) In Japanese too, normally Kami-sama means "The Lord" unless otherwise stated. I'm guessing Kosuke-sama blended a few of the religions together to get Ah! My Goddess. Makes for interesting reading.

Primary Study :

Angels : Just how different are they, and what are they like in Ah! My Goddess?
Unlike Biblical Angels, Angels in Ah! My Goddess indirectly follow God's (or Kami-sama's) orders. Instead, they follow the orders of their Goddess, who in turn listen to Kami-sama's orders. (Most of the time, anyway. Aren't we glad that He is so forgiving?) And these Angels do not live among men in the normal sense we are used to, but rather inside their Goddesses who live amongst men. (Well, read the Goddess Case Study. to see what I mean...) Still, they work wonders for Man. Also, Angels in Ah! My Goddess prefer not to speak, using their voices only for singing. If they have to communicate, they normally use body language and gesturing, or : (this is my theory) they speak to the Goddesses using some sort of telepathic link, so no words are ever needed. And so far, there are no such things as Fallen Angels in Ah! My Goddess, although there have been some mistakes..... (read Angel Eggs.) However, there are a lot of other things which seperate the Angels of Ah! My Goddess from the Biblical ones. In the coming Study, I'll try to cover all of the points I notice.

Angels : Their beginnings, their personalities and how they reflect upon their Goddess, relations to their elements and more!

In Ah! My Goddess, all Angels are linked, physically and mentally to their Goddess. Angels cannot go against their Goddesses' will and must do everything that the Goddess wishes of them. (They are referred to as servants to God in the Bible, who willingly do His will without question, so don't feel bad for these Angels.) Different Angels of different Elements do things their own way, their methods reflecting the Goddesses' choices if they were the ones doing it. Normally, Angels are used by Goddesses to accompany them in doing something so as to enhance its effectiveness, or as a means of attack (to which the Angel will use its element to its most destructive ends), or as a quick alternative to a basic action, such as saving someone. Since the Goddess may not have time to cast the spell required to save someone, the Angel provides a very fast, physical means of accomplishing the same task. And although Angels respond to a Goddesses' mental calling when needed, they respond more strongly to emotional callings, which are likewise more powerful in nature.

In Ah! My Goddess, Angels are seen as beings summoned by their Goddesses and are connected to their Goddesses (quite literally) in some way. Each Angel comes from an "Angel's Egg", a small, tiny egg no larger than a teenager's thumb. Goddesses who accquire enough control and power are allowed an Angel's Egg, which they swallow. Inside, the Angel will "hatch" and develop along with their Goddess, their age in proportion to the Goddess in question. It appears that an Angel is normally as young as, if not younger than the Goddess herself. Could be because the Angel represents the youthful hope each Goddess has for their age? Angels are supposed to be mirror images of a Goddess, their personality and self seen in the Angel. Each Angel is also the embodiment of an Element of Nature, which they use to the best of their abilities to achieve their Goddesses' wills. Each Angel comes with their own wings (naturally), and always appear to be female. (And although this could depend on who swallowed the egg, I highly doubt there will be any male Angels in Ah! My Goddess)

However, there is the possibility that an Angel will turn out bad. If a Goddess who doesn't have enough power swallows an "Angel's Egg", there is a possibility (Purely theory here) that the Angel will grow unrestrained and without any fixed affiliations, to which the chances of it turning bad are very, very high. Although they may be "sealed" by other Goddesses until such a time as is that the weak Goddess can control their Angel, Goddesses appear to resent doing this as some of them have appeared to have killed or sealed more than one Angel gone bad. Angels which do turn out bad and are sealed are returned to their egg forms (I think), where they wait to be reborn when their Goddess is ready. But there is, of course, the consolation that even a young Goddess who doesn't have that much power may have an Angel who turns out perfectly good, but not very strongly bound by the Goddess. In this case, the Angel has much more freedom in her movements and may leave her Goddess' side even without Goddess instruction. This isn't exactly bad, but Angels are generally always too willing to help their Goddess and will need some constructive restraint in case they get a little too overzealous, even though the Angel is still bound by the Goddess and cannot go against her word. (Well, not completely against her word anyway....) Also, "Angel Eggs" themselves are not spared from errors. Sometimes apparently, when a Goddess "orders" an Angel's Egg delivered, the egg will somehow be an evil one, which will then spawn some sort of creature on its own which definitely does not resemble any Angel of any sort. (How do Goddesses order them anyway?) However, an Angel, once hatched and therefore determined what she is, will remain that way. My guess is, if another Goddess swallows a sealed Angel, that Angel would still be herself although I highly doubt she would reflect that Goddesses' personality or be bound by that Goddess.

Interestingly enough, it appears that a Goddess may actually have more than one angel inside of her!
That, or she can actually replace an angel already within her body with another. (See Urd, Book 13.)

And the Angels in Ah! My Goddess definitely do not follow the naming system of those in the Bible. Names like Holy Bell, Noble Scarlet, World of Elegance and Gorgeous Rose are more akin to descriptive terms of the more beautiful things in life. ^_^ It appears that almost all the Angels have names which carry a positive adjective in conjunction with a common noun. (Urd could be an exception since she's half Goddess, which may be reflected in her Angel's name.) Angel names in the Bible are always a single syllable.

Example : These could be other possible Angel names that carry an adjective and a noun. - Silver Sapphire, Silky Amber, Humble Blade.

It's explained by Belldandy in Ah! My Goddess that each Angel is like a mirror image of their Goddess, a visual piece of truth about the Goddess herself. Each Angel is the Goddesses' best friend, closest sister, and all-round confidant. All Angels are beautiful for sure, but they are more than just a replicate of their Goddess with a personality and face of their own. (Although an Angel's general appearance does depend on the Goddesses' personality... see below on Angel Uniqueness) Each Angel (so far) is also the embodiment of an Element of Nature, which might or might not also be a reflection of a Godddesses' general personality.

The significance of an Angel's elemental in the aspect of a Goddess : If you want me to give examples, it could be that.....

Belldandy is like the wind, smooth and gentle (I've yet to see pure wind that hurts.), almost always happy with moments of anger, (Breezes and gales.) largely there - you can't see her it but you know she's there for you, (Have you seen wind before?), and she's hardly harmful. (Sure, gales do kill, but it has to be really strong, and only for certain events like sailing is a gale normally dangerous.)

Urd is like fire because she has a hot temperament, she can burn you hot with passion (but try too hard and get burnt), she's not always the same, (Urd can be a wise woman one minute, then a stoned alcoholic the next. Like a flickering fire.) and she has her good and bad points. (fire's useful but destructive) Mostly, Urd is more destructive than helpful, or destructively helpful, and fire is something like that.

Skuld is like the water because she still can't find a shape to resemble, (water takes the form of its container, and Skuld's "container" a.k.a role model is Belldandy, although she's slowly finding a shape of her own) her temperament's like the water, moving from one mood to the next, sometimes unpredictably, and she's also both helpful and harmful, although water's more helpful than harmful unless something makes it harmful. (Water and Fire do not mix too, which could be why the two are always at loggerheads.)

Peorth is a down-to-Earth Goddess, and she's like the Earth because she's mostly unmovable in any great amount and any significant amount that is moved though remains for a long time, (her dislike for Goddesses from other offices, especially Belldandy, seemed unchangeable.) she is the most direct, (Think of the phrase "Here's the dirt on this....") she can be deceptive although not for an evil purpose, (Earthquakes, volcanoes, Peorth trying to hide something from Urd, notice the relation?) and besides, she likes roses, which grow on the ground.

Note : This is the interesting part; You might or might not have noticed it by now, but each Angel's appearance (although it only appears to be the hair) is also dependent on the Elemental they represent. Take Holy Bell, Element of the Wind for instance. She has nice, smooth, flowing hair, which seems to give the Wind a form in her hair. (When a wind blows on you, don't you feel the wind is like what her hair looks like?) World of Elegance, Element of Fire, has hair that resembles a small flame, since it twists and turns and normally points upwards in a graceful manner like that of a flame although it will waver. Noble Scarlet, Element of Water, has hair that resembles rivulets of water flowing down a surface smoothly and lapping on another surface like a wave. Gorgeous Rose, Element of Earth, doesn't just have hair that resemble the roots of a tree which hang down erratically into the rich Earth to recieve its life-giving essence, she wears rose vines which normally like to hug the Earth. (It's the stalks and flowers of the vines that reach skywards.)

An Angel's dressing also depends on the Goddesses' personality, although it's not to say much... most Angels generally dress in white cloths which form an upper piece which twines around the Angel's arms, and the long, twirling, twisting lower piece of cloth which is basically all that makes up an Angel's lower torso. Angels don't really have legs, although traces of the lower torso can be seen. Angels don't really need legs anyway, since they always fly. Generally, an Angel's legs end wherever the first empty space in the lower piece of cloth can be seen. Of course, deviations in clothes may occur depending on the Angel (and her corresponding name.) Angels need not always be linked to their Goddesses physically, in which this case the linking cloth would just taper off into nothing. Generally, Angels stay by their Goddesses' sides because they've not been instructed to leave, which may explain why Angels always appear connected to their Goddess. However, Angels are connected to their Goddesses when summoned. However, an Angel is quite free to roam about by herself without constraint.

Modest Belldandy is reflected in Holy Bell's dressing, who covers herself in wide, loose, flowing cloths which provide for ample modesty yet sensuality. Sexy Urd's World of Elegance dresses in thin, but still flowing, cloths which only provide for the necessary coverage and sometimes not even then (although she covers up *unconsciously* when that happens. ^_^U), which retains a perfect feel of sensuality with sexuality. Noble Scarlet has a simple, large butterfly shaped cloth clinging to her chest and the usual twisting cloth. She's cute and adorable, and perfect just the way she is, just like the spritely, young Skuld. In daringly sexatomicbomb Peorth's case though, Gorgeous Rose wears rosevines in a most... interesting manner. Peorth's preference for roses and her Angel's resulting name is probably the primary cause for Gorgeous Rose wearing those thorny rosevines, while showing us quite clearly Peorth's own personal preference of dressing and her liking for Roses. (Don't those thorns hurt!?)

Referring to the above statement, it was mentioned that Angels were like a mirror image of their Goddess, a visual piece of truth about the Goddess herself. However, Angels themselves are like individuals. They have their own personalities, their own wills, and emotions. While Goddesses feel what their Angels feel physically, they don't seem to feel their Angels' emotions. However, Angels can read their Goddesses' mind and feel their emotions, as well as knowing their Goddesses inside out. Angels can be hurt by remarks from people, they can interact with others as if they were normal people, and do things their way unless specifically ordered to by their Goddess. Angels probably don't question their Goddesses' instructions because they implicitly trust their Goddesses' decisions, good or not. Each Angel is unique, both because they are themselves, and because they are part of their Goddess. They may be reflections of their Goddesses in a way, but they act as individuals, not simple extensions of a Goddesses' will. The only ways which Angels seem to be an extension of a Goddess is that Angels care for their Goddess as if they were their own bodies, protecting them, caring for them, carrying out their orders, and living in them. Also, Angels might or might not be more individualistic since it's not known whether Angels can die without affecting the Goddess who's linked with her, or if the Angel dies if her Goddess dies. If given a chance though, Angels would become characters in their own right in the manga series.... (like individuals such as Megumi or Ootaki.)

When you're finished with these, come back with me to the FAQ page!