Angel

Messenger; in the Bible often the figure who speaks in a dream.

The word angel comes from the Greek angelos, messenger. The Hebrew malach also means messenger. In the Bible angels are first of all messengers of God: they bring a message, protect, warn or show the way. They are not deceased people and not gods, but created beings in the service of God.

Angels appear strikingly often in dreams in the Bible. In the Gospel of Matthew Joseph, the husband of Mary, is guided in a dream four times, three times explicitly by an angel: he need not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, he must flee to Egypt, he may return, and he must go to Galilee. Each time Joseph gets up and does what he was told. In Jacob's dream too, angels ascend and descend the ladder to heaven.

The first words of an angel in the Bible are often: do not be afraid. An angel in a dream is therefore usually read in the Christian tradition as comfort, protection or guidance. Well-known names are Gabriel, who announces the birth of Jesus, and Michael, who appears as protector in Daniel and Revelation.

At the same time the tradition calls for discernment. Paul warns that Satan too can disguise himself as an angel of light, and writes that even an angel who brings another gospel should not be followed. A dream with an angel is therefore tested against Scripture, prayer and the judgement of people you trust.

In Islam too angels, malaika, are important: Jibril brought the Quran. And in many spiritual movements angels are seen as protectors. On Dreamkin you can read per tradition how an angel in a dream is read.