This open access book explores the various manifestations of the archangel Michael in history, politics, and popular culture. One of the most venerated intermediate beings of the belief systems of all Christian traditions, the archangel Michael has assumed multiple roles that go far beyond the ways in which he has been defined by his major cults.
Chapters explore how the archangel Michael has often accompanied processes of Christianization as well as being the divine messenger par excellence. Covering a broad variety of academic perspectives and historical contexts, the book explores how the archangel Michael has subsumed ancient cults, been endowed with magical and ritual powers and guided religious and secular leaders in their exploits. The figure of the archangel Michael is shown to have even inspired educational systems, and in more recent times become a “commercial brand” of blessings and protections.
Going beyond orthodoxies, this book reveals how the history and interpretations of the Archangel’s manifestations have been redefined by Christians of Adventist beliefs, by politicians using religious apocalypse in their rhetoric, and by New Age leaders in highly innovative and individualistic manners.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the University of Bergen, University of Oslo, Austrian Academy of Sciences, University College Cork, University of Liverpool and Fundatia Noua Europa.
List of figures Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors Introduction 1.“The archangel Michael looked just like me”:The iconization of the archangel Michael in twentieth-century Moldova, James A. Kapaló, (University College Cork, Ireland) 2. “Latent archangels”: The archangel Michael in Romanian fascism, Roland Clark, (University of Liverpool, UK) 3. “Menacing, powerful, and frightful captain of the heavenly host”: The archangel Michael in early modern Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Ovidiu Olar, (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria) 4. Can a celestial warrior become a healer? The archangel Michael in the manuscript and oral traditions of Romanian charms, Emanuela Timotin (Institute of Linguistics of the Romanian Academy) 5.Letters from Heaven: The archangel Michael as God’s messenger in Western Christianity, Alexandros Tsakos (University of Bergen, Norway) 6.“Who is Michael?”: Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Protestant tradition, George D. Chryssides, (York St. John University, UK) 7.Playing with the dragon: Michaelmas celebrations in Steiner schools as hybrid rituals in the making, Marie von der Lippe,(University of Bergen, Norway) and Camilla Stabel Jørgensen, (NTNU, Norway) 8. “Mr. fix-it archangel”: Michael in American New Age spirituality, Cecilie Endresen (University of Oslo, Norway) Index
Alexandros Tsakos is Scientific Director of the Manuscripts’ and Rare Books’ Collection at the Special Collections of the University of Bergen Library, Norway. Marie von der Lippe is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Bergen, Norway Alf Tore Hommedal is Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural History at the University Museum of Bergen, Norway.
Reviews for The Archangel Michael Beyond Orthodoxies: History, Politics and Popular Culture
This compelling volume expands even further the purview of the seemingly limitless capacities of the archangel Michael. These learned essays uncover unexpected activity and care of Michael: in Steiner schools, for Jehovah’s Witnesses, as archangelic author, fascist leader, and more. Bodiless and ethereal, Michael is revealed in this book to be infinitely present, material, active, restrained only by our imagination. * Glenn Peers, Syracuse University, USA * This is a boldly eclectic collection on the many faces of archangel Michael in European and American cultural frameworks. A supremely malleable figure, the archangel lurks or jumps at the reader in unexpected or lesser-known roles, whether cultic, intercessory, or political, but pointedly outside the realms of dogma or orthopraxy. The rigorous analytical case-studies employ a variety of interpretive methods. They both fill in gaps and venture into new venues in exploring the archangel’s multitude of functions, whether as a charmer, healer, messenger, warrior, nationalist symbol, role model, New Age companion, or indeed divine being. Peppered with true gems of telling detail, the essays admirably complicate and illuminate our understanding of the archangel’s manifold tasks in a variety of settings. * Nikolaos Chrissidis, Southern Connecticut State University, USA * Angels have a remarkable ability to change with time, space and circumstances. This fascinating book presents the archangel Michael outside established Christian institutions, and the authors analyze his roles in popular religion, new religious movements, educational practices and politics. Their thorough and engaged studies of the archangel shed new light on this well-known figure. * Ingvild Sælid Gilhus, University of Bergen, Norway *
