The Archangel Michael Beyond Orthodoxies

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 *