Both Sides of Heaven Quotes

“Demon comes from daimon, which means ‘intelligence’ or ‘individual destiny’, whereas angel means messenger.  Originally daimones were always perceived as being positive entities.  The Greek philosopher Plato introduced the division between kakodaemons and eudaemons, or benevolent and malevolent daimons, in the fourth century BCE.  Seven centuries later in the third century CE, the Neo-Platonic philosopher Porphyry made an interesting distinction, this being essentially that the good daimones were the ones who governed their emotions and being, whereas bad daimones were governed by them. ”
― Stephen Skinner, Both Sides of Heaven: A collection of essays exploring the origins, history, nature and magical practices of Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons

“An old Qabalistic axiom states that "every blade of grass has over it an Angel bidding it 'Grow.”
― Stephen Skinner, Both Sides of Heaven: A collection of essays exploring the origins, history, nature and magical practices of Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons

“Psychodynamic theorists and psychologists of various traditions theorise that the sense of having fallen originates in our experience of birth. We are created in the body of woman and grow in the womb where all our needs are automatically met. Then we fall, in birth, into the human world, separated from our maternal Eden, but always remembering a heavenly place where all our needs were met. It should not be a surprise, but we now know that the baby in the womb can see and hear and remember. Any parent who has seen a placenta will know that it is made in the image of a tree, a wondrous tree of life that fed us until we were ready for birth. Is it any surprise that in so many traditions the symbolism of trees is so important? The tree of life is the first thing we see in the womb, we never forget this and psychodynamic theorists argue we yearn for this, all our lives, hoping to escape life’s frustrations by returning to a blissful womb like state. If this is true, is it any wonder that legends of fallen angels so fascinate and entice us? In these legends perhaps we see echoes of our own fall. Psychologically we identify with those with whom we share similar experiences; and the fallen angels can easily become mirrors in which to see ourselves.”
― Stephen Skinner, Both Sides of Heaven: A collection of essays exploring the origins, history, nature and magical practices of Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons

“You’re doing what Marcellus warned you against,” Richardson said, “judging them by English pictures. All nightgowns and body and a kind of flacculent sweetness. As in cemeteries, with broken bits of marble. These are Angels – not a bit the same thing. These are the principles of the tiger and the volcano, and the flaming suns of space.” (Charles Williams, The Place of the Lion)”
― Stephen Skinner, Both Sides of Heaven: A collection of essays exploring the origins, history, nature and magical practices of Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons

“As Dee’s aims were shrouded in the bookishness of prophecy, alchemical parable and cabalistic allusion, it is easy to identify them as part of the allegorical past rather than an experimental and observational future. John Dee is a complex transitional figure who promoted the development of the future, but, was equally conversant with the ideas of his own time. Perhaps the key to understanding Dee is his unshakable faith in man, as a star being, capable of anything he desired. Such beliefs led Dee into the dangerous territory of angelic communication; however, by seeking universal knowledge by heavenly means, he can be regarded as a complete Renaissance man.”
― Stephen Skinner, Both Sides of Heaven: A collection of essays exploring the origins, history, nature and magical practices of Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons