All over the world. and all through history, various kinds and degrees of beliefs have existed about spiritual beings, who mediate between heaven, in its many forms. and our physical world.
In the west, these beings are called angels when believed to be benevolent and demons when malevolent. In most eastern, anceint and indiginous cultures, such beings are not so easily catagorized. They often can be either good or bad depending on the circumstances.
In Islam, spiritual beings are catagorized as mala'ikah (angels), shayatin (demons) and dijinni (genies).
In the east these mediators include avatars and bodhisattvas.
The totem animals in Native American beliefs readily spring to mind as do the faery folk of the European indiginous (pre-Christian and/or non-Christian) beliefs, and the nature spirits found in indiginous and non-literate religions around the world. If we difine "angels" as any non-human beings who help bring us closer to the creator, we could also include most of the gods and goddesses found in these religions as sort of super archangels.
We could also include dragons who according to legend can be very helpful and enlightening when treated with respect and courtesy.
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