Aviva Directory » Faith & Spirituality » Spiritual Entities

Spiritual entities are difficult to define.

The term "spiritual" is generally used to differentiate the incorporeal from the corporeal, as in having the nature of a spirit rather than flesh and blood, but it also has religious connotations, such as pertaining to God, his Spirit, or his Law, or to the nature or soul of man. Sacred might be a close synonym.

Of course, the word has other definitions as well but, for the purposes of categorization here, we are referring to spiritual entities. To Christians, the Apostle Paul is no doubt considered to have been a spiritual man, but he was flesh and blood so this wouldn't be an appropriate category for online resources on Paul the Apostle.

Angels, on the other hand, may have a body, but they are not comprised of human flesh or of a human body, and there is no universal consensus that they have a definite form, as angels are described in various ways, so we would consider angels to be spiritual entities.

Also for the purposes of categorization, topics in this category or its subcategories should be associated with an established religion. Although their beliefs may differ, several religions include angels in their cast of spiritual characters so, again, that would be an appropriate topic for this category. The traditions of Islam include a belief in djinn, so they are on-topic here as well.

It could also be argued that the categories for Demons & Demonology and Satan & Satanology should be subsets of the Angels & Angelology, since many established religions believe that demons are fallen angels, and Satan is their leader. There is also a belief in Muslim theology that demons are evil djinn, so the Djinn or Jinn category might also be called into question. However, we have elected to categorize these entities separately.

Online resources that focus on two or more of these entities may be placed directly beneath this category.

By the nature of the categories, there will be some overlapping areas within this and our paranormal categories, particularly its cryptozoology subcategory. In such cases, the category that is the most specific to the topic would be the appropriate placement. For example, many people believe in vampires, and there may be a spiritual aspect to vampires, but we have a subcategory specific to vampires within the cryptozoology category, so that would be the more appropriate category.

The Christian God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are spiritual entities, although Jesus was also flesh and blood for a time, we have specific categories for them within the Christianity section.

Categories for other spiritual entities may be added here if enough online resources for them are available. Otherwise, websites focused on spiritual entities other than angels, demons, djinn, or Satan may be submitted directly to this category or to another appropriate category.

Related category: Cryptozoology.

Categories

@God - Trinity

Angels & Angelology

Demons & Demonology

Djinn or Jinn

Satan & Satanology

 

 

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