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Biblically Accurate Angels

How do Angels Really Look?

There are popular memes online where angels are depicted “according to the Bible” as eldritch constructs made of wings and eyes. Often they tell “be not afraid”, to which the human onlooker replies something like “dear sir, I’ve never been so terrified”.

Do they really look so creepy?

Short Answer

Angels do not have material bodies and therefore, strictly speaking, they have no visible form at all.

But when they need to, they appear before humans in whatever form they choose to be seen in.

So where did the memes come from? Let’s find out.

First, We Clarify Terms

God created many spirits. Most of them were and remain good, while some chose to become evil.

The Greek word angelos means “messenger”, and originally it referred not to every spirit, but only to those sent by God to humans. However, there is a long-standing tradition of calling all good spirits “angels”. We will use the word that way.

Images of Angels

Looking through history, we soon see that angels, when assuming visible form, usually prefer to look like human beings. Most often as young men, sometimes clad in white, sometimes armed.

The most obvious example is the angels at the tomb of the risen Christ.

Abraham welcomed three angels as travelers, thinking they were ordinary men.

At the end of the plague of Rome in 590, the Archangel Michael appeared as a warrior with a sword.

The Archangel Gabriel was “standing” by the altar when seen by Zechariah. Later he “entered” the house of the Virgin Mary; She was not startled by his appearance, but only troubled by his words. It is safe to assume that he, too, had taken an ordinary human form.

Sometimes angels appear as women. In her letters, St. Teresa of Avila imentions a vison of an angel: “a young maiden with wings, holding lilies”.

St. Brigid of Sweden described an angel as “a maiden with long golden hair, clothed in blue, whose wings shone with light” (Revelatio VI).

St. Francis of Assisi witnessed at Mount La Verna in 1224 an angel “in the form of a beautiful woman, clad in white, with a face shining like the sun and wings like a dove”.

It seems that angels may also take the form of animals. In the life of St. Don Bosco, there was mysterious dog named Grigio (“the Grey”), who appeared in dangerous situations to protect him, then vanished without a trace. Many of the saint’s contemporaries believed that this was his guardian angel.

Where do the many-winged wheels of eyes come from, then?

Mostly from the Old Testament books of Isaiah and Ezekiel. This is how Ezekiel describes his vision of the glory of the Lord:

Ezek 1: 5-23, RSV-CE
And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the form of men, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another; they went every one straight forward, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. In the midst of the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.
Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of a chrysolite; and the four had the same likeness, their construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. The four wheels had rims and they had spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body.

There are two or three other similar places in Scripture. The impression is always the same: nothing makes sense, yet it feels utterly otherworldly.

So, do angels sometimes really look like that? Why?

There is no definitive teaching on this, but here are my own thoughts.

I believe that in special situations, such as those experienced by the prophets, when an angel becomes visible to a human, but does not deliberately assume a specific form – then the human reason constructs the form of this angel from the images that, to them, best correspond to the essence of this angel.

The prophets saw “the glory of God”, so their minds assembled the symbols that for people of their age and culture embodied the concept of glory: a chariot, fire, wings, eyes, bulls and lions.

If a modern person stood beside Isaiah at that moment, they would see something entirely different – something that better conveys the idea of “glory” for us: perhaps a composition of airplane wings, spotlights, microphones and flying banners.

Meanwhile, Isaiah would still see the angel in his own way.

This may sound strange and hard to grasp; however, it reveals not the strangeness of angels’ natures but rather the limits of our perception.

Angels and Demons

Satan “disguises himself as an angel of light”. There are ways to tell a true angel from a demon or a figment of imagination – but that deserves a separate article.

In general, demons are vainglorious, they like pomp and spectacle. Angels tend to appear in a humbler way, but there is something formidable about them, a sense of threat.

That’s why their trademark greeting is “be not afraid”: not because they look monstrous, but because angels are powerful and dangerous entities – and we instinctively feel it. A single angel could erase all of humanity in the blink of an eye, if God ever gave such a command.

Personal Take

I must admit that I rather like these “winged wheels full of eyes”. They at least convey the majesty and mystery of angels; far better than little putti cherubs with harps. Angels are, to some extent, to be feared: this is a healthy thing.

There was a time when the Church sought to make the faith more vivid and engaging as a counterbalance to the ascetic coldness of Protestantism. This took form in the Baroque style with its chubby infant angels.

I do not like them and believe such imagery of angels is wrong and misleading. Perhaps it served a purpose back then, but it did more harm than good to the faith in the long run.

Standard Latin Prayer to the Guardian Angel

Angele Dei, qui custos es mei: me, tibi commissum (-am) pietate superna, hodie, cras, nunc et semper, illumina, custodi, rege et guberna. Amen.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here; ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Bonus: A Story From My Own Life
Once, my friend and I probably saw an angel. He looked like a man of about forty or fifty, wearing regular clothes, gray trousers and jacket – but with a face that eludes memory, no matter how hard I try. It happened in a difficult situation (not life-threatening, though), and he helped us immensely.
Why do I suspect it was not an ordinary person?
1. He appeared suddenly, as if out of nowhere, and then vanished just as quickly.
2. We said nothing, and he asked nothing – yet he knew exactly what our problem was and immediately showed us where to go.
3. We had no way of knowing about the passage he pointed out.
4. And there was one more telling sign. But unfortunately, I cannot tell in greater detail, because the friend who was also part of this story has not given permission.

For a wide audience.

1000 words — short article. There’s a long Old Testament quote under a spoiler, and a bonus story (about 150 words) at the end.

For the short answer, see the beginning of the article.

A pedantic but theologically accurate answer to the question “can angels look like winged wheels full of eyes?” would sound like this:

“By their nature, angels have no visible form at all — whether wheels, humans, or anything else. However, an angel may look so if he chooses to appear that way; or if a person happens to see an angel at a moment when the angel does not intend to take a specific form, and for that particular person the shape of “wheels with eyes” happens to express this angel’s nature most precisely”.

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