Encyclopedia of Angels
Albert the Great, a Dominican monk and teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas, wrote that each of the nine choirs of angels had 66,666 legions, and each of these had 6,666 angels, making a grand total of almost 4,000,000,000—four billion! Other scholars of the day came up with a much more modest figure: 301,655,722. I still think the answer to the question is, “as many as necessary.” I’ve included in this book all the angels that are relevant today, no matter what your interest in angels may be. All the major Christian, Islamic, Judaic, and Zoroastrian angels are here, for instance, as are all the main angels invoked by magicians. However, I also deliberately excluded a number of angels for a variety of reasons. The Enochian angels are a highly specialized and complex group. Because it would involve doubling the size of this book to cover them all, they are better served in books on Enochian magic. Consequently, I have included only a few of the more important angels in Dr. Dee’s system. Many angels are known solely by their names. I have excluded them also, as there seemed little point in including thousands of names with no other information. I also excluded most of the angels who probably never existed. These were created by people who thought of suitable names and added “el” to turn them into angels. Most people will probably use this book for reference purposes, but I hope others will enjoy browsing through it and reading the entries that appeal to them. I hope you enjoy this book and receive both knowledge and pleasure from it.
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