Angels and demons...how to approach these two subjects from a Wiccan perspective can be tricky (to say the least). They play a role in both mythology and occultism in countless cultures, and to dismiss them out of hand would be simply foolish. In my 25 + years of studying both the occult and the mystical, I have encountered energies that would be described by many as angelic or demonic...and a few that seemed a little of both. What I have learned has both enriched my understanding of the unseen world around us, and given me acute insight into subjects many would never dream of exploring. i not share some of these with you.
Angels
Angels are all the rage in some circles. Yea, a veritable cottage industry of cutsey bumper stickers, key-chains, coffee mugs, and more all extol people to remember the unseen spirits who guide their path. What would shock many of you is that I actually believe in angels.
Of course, these spirits are not the haloed, cherub-faced cuties that adorns the above paraphenalia. Nor are they connected to any one religious path or tradition (though many have tried to lay claim to their celestial coat-tails)_. No, the "angels" that I have encountered are ancient beings who are not of the flesh, and have never been human. I'm not sure if they were created before us by the Gods as part of the general spiritual landscape, or envisioned by us and animated by the Divine like so many pantheons are. However, I do know that they are welcoming, gracious, and very, very wise.
There are many other names for them in many different cultures...spirit guides, watchers or watchtowers in some esoteric circles, animal totems, ascended masters...so long as their purpose is to educate and enlighten human kind, then they can be counted among the angelic forces who seek us out and help us for no other reason than our common origin as children of the Divine source. No religion owns them, but all can draw from their wisdom and their strength.
Ok, enough with the easy part...now, on to
Demons
Those things referred to as "demons" actually fall in two distinct categories: Sentient spiritual beings who have been mistakenly lumped into a mish mash of demonic lore, and fairly nasty experiences of a distinctly destructive variety.
As for the first, such "demons" are ones that most average people will never meet. Interaction with them is not accidental, and usually as a result of some sort of necromancy performed by a Western ceremonial magician. Again, these are just spirits, and not really malevolent. they're not as philanthropic as angelic forces, and thus those approaching them must show some care, but they're not out to "get" you. I wouldn't have even included them if it were not for various occult literature that mis-labels them as "demonic" (Crowley's translation of the Goetia comes to mind).
The second sort of demon, the nasty kind, are what most refer to when speaking of "demons" in general. They are malevolent, nasty, and quite evil. I have encountered them personally. And yet, I still don't believe in one big boss man demon, no "Satan" or "devil" calling the shots for the forces of darkness. To understand this, we have to understand just where demons come from.
(Note: The following explanation comes from no one book, source, or resource, but is a practical occult theory born out of 25+ years study of the arcane. It has held up to constant scrutiny and practical testing, though I of course expect none here to accept it on faith...but as something to ponder.)
Have you ever walked into a room where there has been a bad arguement, intense grief, or even physical violence, and "felt" something "not right"? There were no outward signs of disturbance, and personal knowledge of the event may be long in coming, and yet you feel extremely uneasy and out of sorts just entering. This, my friends, is what is known as "Negative Energy". It is the psychic residue left behind by intensely negative emotions, and can cling to an area for days unless dispersed (some particularly strong occurances can leave traces decades afterwards). Most often the negative energy gradually dissapates, and the area becomes neutral again. It can be actively cleared by someone trained to do so.
Sometimes, however, that pocket of negative energy doesn't dissapate. Perhaps it's because it's constantly reinforced by other negativity being heaped upon it (like in habitually abusive households), but it only sits and festers. It's free-floating negativity inspires even more negative feelings by people around it, and thus, instead of fading away, the negative energy only grows. It can even break free of a particular location and drift about, finding people far away from it's point of origin.
One of the basic hermetic principles is "like attracts like", and in keeping with this these free-floating pockets of negativity are attracted to people facing a lot of negativity in their lives. The person's anxiety and/or depression then feeds the negativity, or "demon", ahich then grows stronger and thus engenders even more negativity. Most of us send these things packing of our own volition...we come to some sort of realization, feel better about things, and the "demon" goes off to find someone more in tune with it's dismal state.
Sometimes, the "demon" encounters someone of some untapped psychic ability, and actually manifests itself as unsettling psychic phenomena...disembodied banging, frightening apparitions, cold spots, even levitation of objects. These events, frightening to the uneducated, trigger abject terror in the unrealized psychic, and it gets a supercharge of negative energy. This leads to even more phenomena, and chaos reigns. If this untapped psychic comes from a particular religious tradition that holds these things to be torments from the devil, then that expectation is fed to the demon along with the negativity. Being a bit of free-floating energy, and thus a bit of a blank slate, these demons begin to feed this expectation back to the focus of their attatchment, and take on the guise of a classic "demon".
Once thus charged, this demon can continue to approach other people in a particular way, i.e. as a stereotypical "demon", to people of different outlooks and beliefs. Most exorcism and deliverance rituals don't actually destroy the offending entity, but just send it away from the people who have been previously tormented. These are then free to find fresh people to attack (for the programming done has made them aggressive in a way not before possible), and to spread legend of demonic lore throughout cultures. (If asked, I would say that this is what Quotefiend encountered all those years ago)
Thus, demons are real, but they are a real by-product of our own existence, not a legion of "Satan's Army". This is the conclusion I have reached after decades of occult and paranormal research and field work. I believe it is important to test this theory even more, for if it bears up to scrutiny in the field, then it could revolutionize the way investigators deal with this phenomenon. Instead of just breaking the link with the "demon", these pockets of negative energy could be distroyed, or at least severely weakened. We could do real good, instead of just sloughing off our problems on others.
Thus, you can see that my beliefs are hardly orthodox, but they are plausible. And something to think about.
Blessed Be,
Taliesin