ABSTRACT

In this chapter, author wants to examine the notion of 'angel' in more depth, drawing mainly on some of the interviews he has been privileged to conduct with angels. This kind of angel is rooted more in a kind of folk lore that not infrequently crosses boundaries to become part of popular folk religion somewhat at odds with the angels of orthodox Christian theology. In orthodox 'hard' theology, angels are an order of spiritual being that includes cherubim, seraphim and archangel. There is evidence of the 'spiritual' in a meaningful response to the aesthetic, but the approach is pragmatic, reserved and singularly unsentimental. Mercer's discussion tends to posit adults as the more sentimental and gullible and children as the more pragmatic. Yniold at the time of writing seems to have fared better than some of his English peers, managing a career of popular TV appearances and a second angel recording alongside his serious Bel Canto training.