Yes, I have met them

[brianedwards]

Thanks Steve, I wasn't aware of angels being described in Sumerian literature. Any links?

[oggiesnr]

Thanks Steve, I wasn't aware of angels being described in Sumerian literature. Any links?

This is quite an interesting read http://users.cwnet.com/millenia/eden.htm

This one is a more general overview of the field http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vida_ ... hers14.htm

In most traditions Angels seem to be linked either directly to creation myths or as a halfway house between what was knowable and what was unknown.

Steve

[Magpie Jane]

Brian, it's not so odd: theologising leads to nothing but more of the same.
And I don't actually "attack"; I attempt subversion instead, i.e. to reimagine, repurpose, reinvoke, reinvent, recombine some habitual conceptions.
Mind you, I don't fancy myself a campaigner; but I may – if only by accident or sheer pig-headedness – kick a wee dent in some associative automaticities here or there.
Believe in angels? Hmmm........ Depends on what you mean by "actually". To the extent that I believe in my own imagination, the answer is yes.
But then again, I'm no paragon of veracity.

Steve, that's some very interesting information. I haven't yet had time to study those links thoroughly, but I intend to.
And "... a halfway house between what was knowable and what was unknown." -- that's first-rate fertiliser for the inspiration.
Thank you for your contribution!

Jane

[brianedwards]

theologising leads to nothing but more of the same.

That's clearly not true Jane.

Believe in angels? Hmmm........ Depends on what you mean by "actually". To the extent that I believe in my own imagination, the answer is yes.
But then again, I'm no paragon of veracity.

I would have thought it was obvious, taken alongside the other views I have expressed, exactly what I meant by "actually". I was asking you if you believe that angels exist as observable beings. Of course you are free to imagine anything you like, but what exists in the mind is something entirely different isn't it?

Anyway, I'll not disrupt your thread any longer. It's a good poem and you seem like a friendly and intelligent (not to mention talented) woman whom I don't wish to offend.

B.

[Magpie Jane]

Brian, it's no disruption at all. I rather enjoy it. How often does one have the opportunity to discuss angels with complete strangers? *grin*
No offence taken (but I must admit, at an earlier point I suspected this was some bizarre initiation ritual for newcomers).

Yes. Of course I know what you mean by "actually". You got me there. I apologise for my flippancy and laziness in the reply. The fact is, if I were to give you a proper answer to that particular question, I'd still be typing away at sunrise.
I will try to answer you more adequately. But not right away; I shall have to beg your patience for a while.

It's been a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Still is.

Jane

[brianedwards]

That's good to hear Jane.

Steve, I forgot to thank you for those links. I'll get stuck into those later, cheers.

B.

[David]

No offence taken (but I must admit, at an earlier point I suspected this was some bizarre initiation ritual for newcomers).

Ah, well spotted, Jane. In fact, of course, "brianedwards" does not exist. "Brian" is simply the acronym for a rather aggressive piece of hazing software we have: "Bizarre Ritual - Initiation - Advanced Newcomers".

Mind you, he almost seems real sometimes, doesn't he?

Anyway, now you're no longer a newcomer I'll have him decommissioned in respect of your future postings. He won't bother you any more.

Cheers

David

[Ros]

Don't pay too much attention to that, Jane - it's just our Dual-Action Verification of Identity Device talking. Now we're sure who you are, I'll turn it off.

Ros

[Magpie Jane]

Aw cummon, David ..... have him restored again, this very instant. He is a pal of mine, and I demand immediate resurrection.

Besides, thanks for the "Advanced Newcomers"; makes me feel kind of grown-up.

Ros, do you mean to say I'm led to believe – when all & everyone has been turned off – that you will be the only one who is Real On Site?

Jane

[Ros]

Substitute 'robot' for 'real'

[nar]

["brianedwards" does not exist. "Brian" is simply the acronym for a rather aggressive piece of hazing software we have: "Bizarre Ritual - Initiation - Advanced Newcomers".

It's no acronym, it's an anagram for unwitting noob writers:

brianedwards
=
bard is warned

- N

[twoleftfeet]

Jane,

Sorry to go over ground that has already been covered, but you have used the word "angel" in a context that (imho)
doesn't fit anyone's expectations, so I can understand Brian's puzzlement and at the same time the ending, while creepy, did not shock me as much as it might have done because I was still thinking "yes, but why angels?"
Leaving aside the religious connotations, if you go online to AMAZON and do a search you will find hundreds of New-Age books about angels (No!, I haven't bought any!). The core concept seems to be that they are a link between man and the
Supernatural (Thanks for the links, Steve). If you are religious then they are God's go-fors - you don't find them, they find you.

So I think your poem would work far better if you were "visited" by an angel/angels so as to give false expectations to the reader.

I won't mention angles because that, in my view, would be going off at a tangent.

Geoff

PS You'll find that many of the Software Packages on this site masquerading as poets have been severely compromised by the Dementia2011 Virus - the big giveaway is that they can't resist using multiple smilies

[Magpie Jane]

Ros, if you say so. We're all ro(w)bo(a)ts under the full moon.

Nar, I believe you. Should've thought as much.

Geoff, thanks for sharing your views on the "a-issue". I'm seriously contemplating every contribution to this symposium. One certainly learns a lot.
Viral smilies too – now that was a surprise.

Jane

[David]

Jane, just a word in support of your angels. They work fine for me - not in any religious or quasi-religious sense, but just in an agreeably (and not namby-pamby) otherworldly way. They're not just the cherubic Christmas chorus line that people usually think of.

The Book of Tobit has an angel that I think is much more in your line. (It's Raphael, but in his Jewish guise, not Christian.)

I also have, awaiting a reading, A Time for Everything, by (deep breath) Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian. Apparently it's a best-seller in Norway, and features some fairly feral angels. (I read a review of it, and bought it.) Was that in your thoughts at all?

Cheers

David

[Nash]

Jane, just a word in support of your angels. They work fine for me - not in any religious or quasi-religious sense, but just in an agreeably (and not namby-pamby) otherworldly way. They're not just the cherubic Christmas chorus line that people usually think of.

Yes, for what it's worth Jane, I certainly agree with David's comment. I think that the angels are essential for this one.

[Magpie Jane]

David and Nash, yes. Definitely. That's what was on my mind. Thanks for your support!

I'll have a closer look at those two books. I knew about Knausgård's, but hadn't come round to it yet.

Jane

[Macavity]

hi Jane,
Pleased you kept the angels, sets up the rodent's smile. I thought I'd resurrect this to the front page since you are a regular 'visitor', and presumely, a reader

all the best

mac