A Brief History of Angels and Demons

by Sarah Bartlett

Throughout history, the human quest for knowledge of the divine has ruffled feathers. This book not only traces the history of angels and demons from their earliest roots to their modern day renaissance, but also reveals their most intimate secrets. Whether through personal stories, literature, myth, religion, or art, this book is the story of how belief in angels and demons has cast a powerful spell over the popular imagination.

Genres: Demons, History, Nonfiction

380 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 1905

About the author

Sarah Bartlett (D.Psych Astrol) is the author of international best-selling books including The Tarot Bible, The Little Book of Practical Magic, The Witch's Spellbook and National Geographic's Guide to Supernatural Places. As contributing astrologer to media such as Cosmopolitan, She, Spirit & Destiny, the London Evening Standard and BBC Radio 2, Sarah now practices and teaches tarot, natural magic, astrology and other esoteric arts. She lives in the countryside.

Reviews

[MichaelK · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competently written survey of angel and demon myths throughout history, from the ancient Mesopotamian mythologies of the Bronze Age, through the Ancient Greeks, Romans, Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians and Muslims, all the way to twentieth century New Age spiritualism. The sections dealing with each topic are only a few pages in length; it is easy to imagine each sub-chapter as blog posts that were then collated into this book. The information is interesting enough to keep you engaged, and Bartlett does not linger on one topic for too long.

Obviously, you will find some sections more interesting than others, depending on what you're after. Bartlett does not go into much depth, and the book is not very scholarly. Some of her assertions seem quite questionable, and the book is sometimes let down by the tone of the writing: she implies that she knows some massive secret about angels (the blurb says that this book will 'reveal their [angels] most intimate secrets'), and occasionally gives us hints to this secret, sometimes in brackets which disrupts your reading flow. The massive/intimate secrets never come or, if they do, they are too underwhelming to count.

Please note: I read this because I am interested in mythology, not because I believe in angels and demons.

[Rabia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative. I enjoyed reading the book. How angels and demons were somehow connected with different civilizations. Nice.

[Heidi’s Zee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoughtfull exploration putting the religion surrounding these spirits in context.

Heathen conceptions and the medieval dualism are familiar, but I never gave much thought to the amount of dialogue taking place in between. What really grabbed my interest were Jung’s takes on religion, and the angel cults! Try it out?

[ZaBeth Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent resource for historical references to angels and demons. Follows the evolution of angels and demons from before Christ to New Age books in a variety of religions including Christianity, Jewish, and Middle Eastern Religions.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reference to a bigger picture, I mostly read for sources of where to continue.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good history of Angels and Demons. I am going to read more books on this subject.