My Personal Experiences with Angels and Demons

[Indigo Starshine]

Since I've noticed I pretty much have run of the place now that people just don't really check in or even comment anymore... I figured this is as good a place as any to talk about my personal experiences with Angels and Demons. My apologies ahead of time, I get very wordy! So this may be very long. Hell, I think I'll keep adding to this as I go along, since I'm not really expecting anyone to really comment any time soon. If you want to though, feel free to! It'd be nice to have some interaction here after a long dry spell....

Now without further adieu, here's my personal experiences with Angels and Demons!

My experiences with angels are not those that would match up most of the "traditional" religions. Probably because I was raised in a very atheist/agnostic way by my atheist/tentatively agnostic father and my mother who was sent to catholic school but hated never getting a straight answer to her questions and broke with all of that as an adult. I went into the New Age community more, but found things that don't match up even with that community. The more I've explored the angels (and consequently the demons when meeting my mate in this life) the more it veers away from the traditionally "accepted" views of those two. Even with finding out more about spirits in general have also shattered some of the preconceived notions I had before and contradicted much of what I was told by other people.

My experiences with angels are those who are born to families, can grow up, live, and die, like humans but in a much LONGER timespan and don't really age past a certain point - at least not visibly past what we would call the equivalent age of 20's to 30's. They are main of the Light Element, meaning that's their main Element that makes up most of their bodies and defines what they are sensitive to and what they are not. You are born an Angel and you can never change into a Demon through any means since Demons have the opposite Element of Darkness that is their main Element. Any "fallen" Angels don't actually fall onto this planet since the home of the Angels and Demons (among many other Races like different types of Dragons as I know them, Centaurs, Elves, Faeries, and the like) is in a different planet far from this one. (Though I will admit there are other beings that have enough of a similarity to the ones I know best that they end up being called the same names in English and confused as the same thing when in truth they're different in crucial parts and come from different worlds and had parallel evolution if anything that made them seem similar). Anything in regards to "fallen" is more in terms of "being banned or exiled" from the central heavens of the Light Realm, in as far as I know of it in my own experience. The central heaven of the Light Realm is the center of the main government so it'd be like being banned from ever setting foot in the capitals of your country in this world or ever holding a government-related job ever again. Mostly we talk of "corrupted" Angels, not "dark" Angels. Those that became bad, like to hurt others instead of help them, and want to revel in the pain and misery caused and spread it in their pursuit of selfish aims like immortality at the cost of everything and everyone else. Lucifer was (when he was alive, which was the time before June 6th, 2012 in Earth human time) one of the most corrupt Angels around. He never "fell and became" a demon though because that's as realistic as a human "falling and becoming" a lizard, or a jellyfish. A corrupt human is STILL a human, right? So a corrupt Angel is STILL an Angel. No matter how much the rest of us Angels may mutter and growl about them, they are still Angels.

Likewise, humans cannot "ascend and become" Angels. It's as realistic as a human "ascending and becoming" in all ways an eagle. Like in all anatomical ways on this planet. Not realistic at all, right? Very different species. It is my experience that any humans that "ascended and became" an Angel were actually an Angel all along who just took a human incarnation for that one brief period. Because Angels and Demons come from a higher-vibration dimensional plane, their actual forms are perceived as spirits to us (if we can perceive them at all), and often easily go right through what are solid objects for US... because to them our "solid objects" aren't there to begin with. THEIR "solid objects" are as noticeable to us as our "solid objects" are to them. So in their perspective we can easily go through THEIR walls and never know of it.

For an Angel or Demon to come and physically interact with this world and us physical humans, while some are able to make small short-term effects, it is very difficult to do so and most will opt to instead go through the incarnation gauntlet. Incarnation in this physical human world by necessity involves extreme amnesia about everything that came before this life and everything that will come again after it.

That's how (in my eyes) Angels can come down and walk among humans for longer than a short moment (those "short brief manifestations or materializations" are usually the guardian angels of the humans involved who have permission to intervene for a very short time to save their human's life but they always get shot back into being full spirit again after such brief incidents) and if they "become an Angel" after death, that's because their soul was ALREADY that of an Angel's soul and they're just returning to their regular life again after this brief interlude spent in a human incarnation. What really is a couple decades (even in a physical incarnation) to a species who regularly lives for hundreds of thousands of years? Not that much at all.

The long lifespans and very little - if any - aging of the Angels and Demons is something I can realistically see as being interpreted by unknowing humans as "immortal and unchanging" creatures when that's not the truth at all. Many humans have believed that mountains and certain land features were "unchanging" and "always there" when geological history proves that assumption as false. It just SEEMS that way to our very short mayfly lifespans, when those geological processes take place in the span of millions of years. As such, it could be realistic as well to see how Angels and Demons can be interpreted as "being created" that way, when in truth they were born like anyone else and had to grow up to this point like anyone else.

Another thing, for those who like to say that just because "God" created the angels so they therefore came into existence fully formed as we know them today, I'd like to say that the same source says that "God" creates every one of us humans ... but we're still born, have families, raise children, age, grow up and older, and die don't we? Why is this not likewise possible for Angels and Demons? Something to think about.

I can get into the whole "God" thing a lot later but for now this is more the very basics as I know them. And even these "basics" (as I see them) contradict popular and traditional thinking about Angels and Demons SOOOOO much that I've had to talk at length about this because I never see this discussed anywhere else. Ever!

I'll leave this first post like this for now, but may come back and edit as I go along and add more information. My following comments will be whenever I think of something else to share and have the energy and wanting to share it. I've found a huge amount about Angels and Demons in the past four years, which were a rollercoaster ride of mayhem and revelations and world restructuring and upheavals in its own right! I just get so damn tired of always seeing the same old thing said and parroted back and forth, and never seeing anything that matches up with my personal experience with Angels and Demons. So this thread will seek to give voice to that, at last.

Over and out for now!

[Indigo Starshine]

In terms of Angels with religion here on this planet I will share what I know and have experienced (and remembered in my recalled memories) as well as learned from talking with fellow angels (those currently in spirit form, not physical form, mind you).

Angels are simply messengers here on this planet. Messengers of whom to who? Basically any deity on this planet that wants to give a message to a physical human. Or even just of the general "Source" that underlies a lot of things. Or of the Universe Itself. Not just "God" or "Allah" or "YHWH" (I personally see them as just one deity whom oversees what I call the "trinity" religion of monotheism. After all, Islam gave rise to a branch that split off and called itself Judaism, which then gave rise to a branch that split off and called itself Christianity. Different ways of seeing things, doing things, and worshipping the same deity in my eyes.) but many other deities. Groups of those deities may have formed pantheons to combine their followers and stop getting as many wars between each others' followers and thereby killing off yet another source of their power. I see deities as relying upon prayers and devotion of their followers to sustain their own lives and personal power. Angels and Demons and many other creatures do NOT need to do this and have no need for it, so this is the crucial difference between deities and all the other spirits in my eyes.

Angels, by contract with the deities and people of this particular planet, come in as guides and guardians, messengers, and some of those who ferry the souls of the just dead to wherever they're supposed to go. By the same contract they are forbidden from intervening directly unless it is direly life-threatening to their chosen human to protect for the duration of this human's lifetime, and even then only if the human has chosen to live and needs outside help to do so, may they manifest for a short period of time and intervene before being shot back into their distant spirit form again. Archangels have a bit of a wider influence and can answer the calls of many people at once and do not need to be tied to one particular person for the duration of that particular human's lifetime. There are many Angels who are "in-between" humans in their guardian or guiding duties, new ones being trained who are tagging along the experienced ones to learn the ropes, and yet many MANY more who have no interest in sticking by any particular human and just helping other guide and guardian Angels now and then if they need backup. There are OODLES more Angels back in their homeworld who have absolutely no interest in this planet or any planet aside from their homeworld and just work to maintain their homeworld, that is all.

There are indeed other spirits who can be and are guiding and guardian spirits, who are not Angels in the least bit. Demons, animals, recently deceased loved ones, aliens from other planets, mystical creatures (we humans believe they are mythological, therefore only existing in the space of myth and legend, but they do exist even if they have not been seen here for some time, so I call them mystical instead), and so on. These are generally referred to as "spirit guides" and "spirit guardians." (Important Note: PLEASE for the love of all that is good in your life, DO NOT use the phrase "totem animals" or "power animals" since these are ripped from specific tribal beliefs of certain Native American tribes and are thus appropriation. It is not good, please do not do this. You do more harm than good to do this. Thank you, that has been your PSA for today.)

In getting back to Angels, it used to be that they could intervene more directly in the past. The contract was different then. They - like other beings - could come as they are and be seen and interacted with by humans on the same physical level. However, much of that technology has been lost, the magic needed to fuel the technology and processes has dwindled away for some strange and disturbingly unknown reason, and the contract itself has changed to forbid such direct interference again by the Angels in human events. I... remember that change and I know why things changed *quiet voice* but that's a story for another time...

Demons on the other hand, have NO contract with this planet. Any they may have had in the past, they broke or ripped to pieces in disgust and horror at being villainized one and all by the people of this planet. I mean, if everyone and their dog were using your species name as the go-to insult and synonym for EVERYTHING evil, vile, horrific, corrupted, villain-worthy, despicable, and the worst of the worst of people... would you REALLY want to stick around if you had a choice? My mate is still very incensed at that repeated disparaging and corrupting of his species name and I have been making sure to not ever say "demon" unless I actually mean an actual demon. To use "devil" instead because that's close enough to a word already used for corrupted demons or just corrupted Hell-dwelling beings in general. All the good and nice demons left in droves after the hate against them rose to unbearable levels and they generally tend to view this world with disgust and apathy. Corrupted and nasty demons may remain or even flock here in the absence of the good and nice demons to keep them in check. In doing so, they give the species an even WORSE reputation in the minds of humans and cement all the nasty connotations and associations... which serve only to drive away MORE of the good and nice demons and make them hate humans even more for that intolerance and hate directed at them. It spirals into a nasty cycle that feeds onto itself. Don't be surprised if a demon doesn't want to do anything for you as a human or may even harbor rage for the human species after all that mistreatment and are still nursing hurt after that. Their anger is valid in my eyes, as is their hurt at being so cruelly treated by humans.

I see a similar pattern happening with Dragons and humans as the humans attack those they don't understand and depict them as the lowest of the low - things to kill and destroy and never worth of equal respect. At least some places on this planet still respect Dragons and don't speak ill against them, but Demons tend to have a worse reputation in general in the human species' collective mentality.

Us Angels have positive discrimination instead of the overwhelmingly negative and hateful discrimination against the Demons and the generally negative discrimination against the Dragons. Even if we do have more positive discrimination, discrimination is STILL discrimination and can still ultimately cause harm and hurt upon others.

The positive discrimination against Angels that I have noticed are the many misconceptions that revolve around them in the general human mindset. Things like: they were BORN/created SOLELY for service of humanity, and have no other life or purpose or reason to exist outside of being the utmost loyal and faithful followers and butlers of humankind (Have you not read where Lucifer apparently defied "God" because he didn't want to bow to the humans that were created after the angels were made?); they're pure and good and holy and sweet and will never do you harm ever and always of Light and love and shining and joyful and will never lie to your face (you DO know Lucifer was an Angel, right, and he FELL, right?); selfless and subservient and obedient and embody all of the good traits and never the bad (what, were you dozing when they covered how Angels often were sent out to KILL HUMANS because "God" said so in the Bible? And FOUGHT amongst each other during Lucifer's fall?); are sexy sexy gals or magnificently muscular men, and for some reason always pale-skinned with blond hair and blue eyes because those are "light" colors because they're "close to white" and "white is holy" (do you know nothing of colorism and racism and anti-blackness in this world? Why does everyone look like idolized white men and women? Why is there no diversity in body shapes, colors, skin tones, appearances, and the like? And why did you never seem to pay attention to them being described as ANDROGYNOUS in your religious texts that you apparently read so well??? How the heck does "androgynous" - as in looks in-between guy and gal so could be one or the other or even both - translate in your mind to super busty curvy women and big macho men with rippling muscles? HOW?); only exist in relation to Christianity (sorry no even the Torah and Quran mention angels and if you look at the basic function of "winged or flying messenger that passes things between the deities and humans," then you can see them pop up all over the godsdamn world); are completely obedient to "God" and will never stray and always carry out every order with utmost loyalty and obedience and never question it (...did you SERIOUSLY NOT READ the part where LUCIFER DEFIED "GOD" and fight against all of Heaven and how many of the other Angels CHOSE to side with him too? SERIOUSLY???); can look like little fluffy-winged babies and those babies are called "Cherubs" for some godsforsaken reason or sometimes "Cupids" as well (That's a freaking "Victorian Romantic Era" BS you can thank. The actual Cupid in Greek mythology was a full-grown MAN. The actual Cherubim in the Bible was described as Ezekiel as some freakish monstrous-looking four-headed conjoined-wings lion-bodied oxen-feet being. The little fluffy-winged babies are called putti, putto in singular, and are not the same thing!!!)

I can go on and on here all night, folks. Most of these are inconsistencies I notice in the popular thought of Angels that contradict what even historical myths and sources once said. If they can't even get it right with their own mythological and religious sources, how can they get it right with the actual truth around Angels? I highly doubt it.

Even the original sources are suspect in my eyes since most of them were passed down orally from person to person and often embellished before being written down. And even after being written down, translations can really bring in errors and make gibberish out of the original text if you don't do it carefully. The Bible itself was translated several times from the original Aramaic that Jesus spoke in, to Hebrew and Greek, and then onwards to other languages. All the gospels were written decades to centuries after Jesus' death. Try recalling word-for-word a conversation you had with a family member or a friend several decades ago perfectly. Unless you're one of the very few with perfect memories, odds are you'll keep missing things that maybe that family member or friend remembers while you don't, or vice versa. Who's right? You, them, both, neither? Human memory is fallible and prone to embellishing. In addition to that, people try to figure out what they have never seen before and use metaphors and analogies to try to convey that to someone else who has never seen this thing themselves. Symbolism, metaphor, analogies, are often used to describe weird events and sights to those who've never seen them. It's framed in a way that the people (both the speaker and the listeners) can understand with their personal life experiences. Context matters. Different groups of people with different lifestyles will explain the same object in completely different ways. Unfortunately if you take those things at face value... you can get very confused.

One example: It's raining cats and dogs.

Makes sense to an American English speaker who understands the context around that idiom right? It's raining very hard. To someone who does not have that context and is learning English as a second language? You think maybe they're being literal and get very confused. But that's how metaphors and analogies work. Context is everything.

We have the words still but we lost the context. Now it's hard to figure out what they could've originally meant. What was literal, what was figurative? It's almost guesswork for us now, when it would've been self-evident for people living back then with the right context. There would be no need to explain something they feel everybody else knew. That assumption becomes the bane of all future historians and archeologists the world over. Hell, we still don't know the location of one country that was Ancient Egypt's most prolific and best-loved trading partner. Why? Because they never bothered to write it down. Why not? Because it was something "everybody knew" and so writing it down was considered redundant. However, now that we don't have that context anymore... now we don't know where they were!! Context is everything.

I believe that it is that lost context that makes a lot of the depictions of Angels in the religious texts of the Bible, Quran, and Torah so damn confusing. We don't know what is or isn't a metaphor, and even what they meant by a particular turn of phrase. Were they literal in this section? Figurative? Was it an analogy? Based on what context? We don't know for sure in this modern day and age.

I think this leads to a lot of confusion in angelkin, celestialkin, divinekin today. Not to mention demonkin, and other less known and talked about species. But that's just me at least.

[Indigo Starshine]

What are Angels in general? (Now that I've fleshed the basics out more above... And note this is all my experience alone and my memories.)

Creatures that have a main Element of Light, and have a humanoid form with wings that they use to fly with. The Angels I know only have one pair of wings (though other kinds of Light beings could have more, like four wings or two pairs total). They can seem to have more if they're powerful and their excess Light element is building up and arcs out of them and back into them in a manner that looks like additional wings. Especially powerful ones will seem to burn with Light and be shaped entirely of Light when they're very pissed or using a lot of magics. Their eyes in that state are the only facial feature visible and often glow with a different color than the main whiteness of Light, and have no pupils or sclera at that point. Just two glowing points of color among the mass of white Light shaped into a winged (or multi-winged if you count the energy arcs as other "wings" aside from the main single pair) humanoid. Even the clothing that they were wearing seems to disappear behind all the overwhelming Light glow.

I remember the warning signs of a Light being getting too angry was little "Light sparkles" around them that would increase in number and frequency the more their Light element got charged up for an eventual blasting at their hapless target. Another sign is the eyes glowing with white Light (they only glow with colored light against the mass of white light of the rest of the body once the rest of their body starts glowing that much) or sometimes they might "flash" with those briefly white glowing eyes if fighting back anger or a sudden surge of the Light element for whatever reason (maybe even wanting to put a spell on someone). Then the hands will glow as the last warning sign before the launch a Light blast at someone. Depending on the power, they can really destroy something to ashes or just scorch them a bit.

There are many other Races that have a main of Light Element but are not Angels where I come from. Races like Angelos (like Angels but often can't fly and are more connected to Nature), Ligerah (bipedal humanoid felines with wings always out and this is as "human-like" as they can look), Angel-Cats (like Angels but also have a winged cat form and some of their features can be cat-like as a result, such as cat-like pupils, longer and sharper canines, pointed ears, etc.), and ones that aren't as similar to Angels like Light Elves, Light Dragons, Light Unicorns, the Sunbird (or Light-element bird that's a cousin of the Fire-element Firebird or Phoenix), Light Faerie, Light Pixie, Silstruum (merfolk version of an Angel), and many others. Just because you can use the Light element and it's your main one, doesn't automatically mean you're an Angel, even if you have wings.

It can be confusing when some government positions have "angel" in them such as Guardian Angel/Angel Guide, Archangel, Ark-Angel, etc. when any Light being can work their way up to that position and have that title without being the actual Angel Race. And an actual Angel may not have any government position at all, nor any connection to the human species of this planet as a result of that.

Angels, Angel-Cats, and Angelos all have a lot of similarities and function in nearly the same ways but with key, crucial differences. Angelos are nature-oriented, and while they have wings (as extensions of their power) they cannot fly but can glide for a short time, unless they have another Race mixed in that allows them to fly. Angel-Cats have their feline side as mentioned above, and feline instincts to deal with alongside the bird-like instincts of the Angels and Angelos. And the Angels themselves can shapeshift to a limited degree by changing the features and particular colors and traits of their humanoid forms (but nothing that's animal-like though or anything outside of that), but otherwise have rounded pupils, round ears, rounded teeth (as long as they're full Angel and don't have any other Race mixed in) and are the predominate Race of the Light Realm so of course they're the most well-known here too. All three (including many other Light Races like Ligerah and Silstruum) are very good at singing and often love to partake in the singing-rich culture of the Light Realm. Songs can even be another form of spellcasting for them, and an especially good method for a group spellcasting if everyone harmonizes on the same song.

They also developed the infamous blessed light technique, which they use to turn regular water into holy water, regular salt and oils into holy salt and blessed oils, as well as "bless" or charge weapons with the blessed light. This technique (and the objects made with it) hurt and can poison Darkness-using beings, as well as cursed beings like werebeasts (werewolves, werecats, werebirds, etc.) and eat away like acid those made of cursed magics like Strigori. Even just a blast of blessed light from someone who knows what they're doing can severely burn and even painfully kill by slow disintegration anyone who belongs to the above categories. Other Races and species tend to look on the Light beings' general love of drinking holy water and eating things made with holy water, holy salts, and blessed oils, with disgust, horror, and confusion. It is hard for them to understand the appeal and draw of eating and drinking such things for Light beings, since those objects increase our Light element and make us stronger, while they can hurt or have an ambiguous effect on those who don't have the Light element.

All Light beings are also able to see better in bright light and sunlight than the other Races and species. They have a quicker and easier time adjusting from a darkly-lit area into a brightly-lit one, compared to the longer period of temporary blindness they get (more than other beings) when they go from a brightly-lit place to a darkly-lit space. Since every Light being has a subtle, natural glow that comes from within them due to being made mostly of the Light Element, they have to consciously dampen that glow if they wish to walk in a dark place without sticking out like a gentle nightlight (or even a glaring beacon if their natural glow is strong enough). It's easy for them to create new light sources if they are left without a flashlight or something like that. Sometimes, if strong enough, the natural inner glow can seem to "wash out" their actual skin, hair, eye, and wing colors and make them seem several shades paler than they actually are. They often enjoy the sunlight and being in well-lit places but some "weird ones" exist that prefer darker and shadowy places more - usually because they have plenty of Light element already and need more Darkness element in their environment to help balance them out and not absorb too much Light at times. They can get poisoned by Darkness element which is painful and slowly kills the Light being if not treated quickly and carefully.

The Light Realm is full of beautiful and abundant light all around. It never gets darker than a gentle twilight in Terran human terms, during the "darkest of night" for them. Even when overcast during the day, there's still plenty of light and brightness. A full clear and sunny day is especially intense. The clouds have rainbow sparkles and iridescence whenever they're full of rain or about to rain. Most beings of other Elements can get light-blindness very quickly if they don't have a special spell or amulet to help them be able to see past all that ambient light in the environment. Even then, the sky is a blazing bluish-white in the Light Realm, compared to the regular deep cerulean with purplish tint sky in other parts of the planet. Everything seems to love to reflect light. Most things are made to emphasize this or to accentuate the reflected light with plenty of color (stained glass windows are especially popular for this reason). The general foliage have pale-green leaves and tan bark rather than the darker greens and browns found in other places. Colorful (as in many different shades of the rainbow) flowers and plants are common, even outside of the greens and browns that would be more familiar to human eyes. Buildings, structures, and public statues are generally made of long-lasting white or pastel-colored stone. Buildings are generally in what humans would call a "gothic cathedral" style from the outside and often have high ceilings and wide corridors within. Many of the public buildings are two storied or a bit taller with additional entrances on the second and above levels (made for flying beings). Porches is a common feature in houses, apartments, and homes of all kinds. Even or especially upper story porches. Everything is made to last since Angels, like the other Races of their homeworld, live for hundreds of thousands of years on average.

I can go on for longer and in more detail but I think this works for now. Enjoy!

[Indigo Starshine]

A note about Angel appearances. Aside from what I've already said, they have a wide variation of skin colors from very pale, almost white, to the darkest brown, almost black. Beautiful golden-brown hues and reddish-ochre hues also are found in-between, varying from a light beige to a deep, rich woody brown. If they have other Races mixed in, they can have even green, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, and grey skin color variations, with purest white and purest black as well. Their hair colors can likewise be incredibly varied from pure white to pitch black, and every rainbow color in between, and even "streaks" of color that look like they're dyed but are actually natural. Iris colors are also incredibly varied and they can even have heterochromia (each eye is a different color than the other) that can be far more striking than any heterochromia found here in humans. The sclera (the "white" part of the eye around the iris in human eyes) is usually white but can be red, yellow, brown, grey, and even black depending if certain other Races are mixed in. Pupils are usually black but can, again, be different colors depending on the Racial mix. And of course, depending on the personality, they can have all sorts of styles of clothing with different colors and patterns - many of which you would never find here among humans.

Wings are again a huge explosion of variety in color, hue, pattern, shape, form, length, width, style, and proportional size to the body. The prevalent thought among humans of white wings = good and black wings = bad and the darker the wings the greater the "taint," is just complete and utter bull. Just like birds, Angels and other winged Races have an incredibly variety of wings and feathers that can be found among them. Unlike the species found here on this planet, all those colorful hues are naturally created by the person's body and is not reliant upon a structure of the feather (structural colors like blue, purple, and partially green) or a certain pigment ingested in a diet (often the reason behind intensely red, orange, or yellow feathers in birds). It's naturally made by the body like melanin and eumelanin is made by the human body for the skin and hair pigment (and some Terran birds, like the turaco, can make their own special green pigment that is not dependent on their diet or on the structure of the feather itself in combination with a light source).

For most people, the wings are retracted into the back to protect them until they're needed for flight and then pulled out again. So a full Angel with human-like coloring and their wings retracted will not have too much separating them visually from a regular human (aside from tiny little details that a casual observer will probably not pick up). The wing size can also be adjusted from being small little fluffy wings that are not too much bigger than one's head (meant for cuteness or a nice little "accent" with one's outfit and appearance), to a middle size where the tips of the flight feathers go to the waist or almost the butt (for general day-to-day living without having to worry about accidentally sitting on one's wings), to a big size where the tips of the flight feathers almost brush the ground (not quite the full size but still good for intimidation or awe purposes), and to the full size which can be considerably HUGE but makes flight a lot easier over all even if it's almost impossible to walk along the ground with those big wings (much dragging of feathers will be done if attempted). And there's a smooth but muscular curve of the back (not flat, never flat for a winged Race) if the wings are retracted into the back.

The back is still extremely sensitive though, and there's a certain spot right in-between the shoulder blades that if struck will debilitate the person with incredible pain and make it difficult for them to either retract their wings (if their wings are already out) or take their wings out again (if their wings are already retracted). Only winged Races have this weak spot due to how the underlying anatomy, nerves, muscles, and bone all crisscross under the skin around there. Another thing is if there's a serious enough injury to the back while the wings are retracted, the wings themselves can also be damaged and may never be able to be unfurled again and always be stuck inside the back (It's a horrible fate.) A last cute thing after that seriousness is that it's very tricky to preen one's ruff (my term for the central part along the spine, that's in-between each wing connection and still has a lot of feathers there for smoothing out the contours of the wing-to-body connection) by oneself so you often need outside help for that. It is a measure of extreme and great trust for someone to have someone else preen their wings like that, so it's usually done between very close friends, lovers, partners, family, and mates.

I can go on and on about the wings to be honest. Hell, I've written up a very concise and thorough document about 25 pages long of wing and body anatomy, wing gestures and body language, movement of the body in flight, and the features of what I call the "Sky World" (i.e. the clouds, storms, winds, layers of the sky, and all the human English names for the different kinds) so I literally can go on and on, lol! For now this works. Enjoy!

[Indigo Starshine]

Now for some things I've learned about Demons from my mate and awesome boyfriend.

They have a main of Darkness and therefore (as I said above) they can get badly hurt by blessed light and salts, as well as holy water and oils. But regular Light can also hurt them more than it would hurt someone of some other Element (not of Light or Darkness). Darkness beings are in danger of Light poisoning, the same as Light beings are from Darkness poisoning. While a Light being will enjoy visiting a holy site like a Church here on Terra, a Darkness being cannot stand to be near it and will gradually get sicker the longer they must stay within such a Light-focused place without help or protections (long-term slow Light poisoning). It'd be the same result of a Light being had to stay too long in a place with strong Darkness element, which all Darkness beings would love to be in, but the Light beings would suffer slow Darkness poisoning if they are not adequately protected to start with.

This kind of poisoning is very painful, and can spread like venom in the system to infect all of the person from surface layer to the deepest layer surprisingly quickly.
Frequent symptoms: an increasing headache, nausea that just gets worse, unpleasant tingles that increase into bone-deep aches, sometimes stabbing pain like hot needles thrust over and over into the flesh, increasing urge to vomit to just hack up all the poison the old-fashioned way, increasing exhaustion, listless and dulling mental faculties, slowing thought, an urge to cough or dry coughing a lot, shaking or shivering, urge to curl up and do nothing, and a fever developing.

Both Light and Darkness beings get similar symptoms from ingesting or absorbing too much of their opposite Element. It causes the balance of the Elements within them to get dangerously out of whack, so often the things needed to restore that balance again is to purge one's system of the opposite Element and absorb more of one's main Element. This kind of problem is NOT limited solely to the Light/Darkness duality.

Any other Element that has a counterpart will have beings who are vulnerable to getting poisoning if they get too much of their opposite Element in their system. Light/Darkness, Water/Fire, Earth/Air, Life/Death, Lightning/Dream, Time/Space, are the 6 pairs of 12 Elements total. The last Element, Spirit, is the thirteenth Element and has no counterpart. That means Spirit users do not need to worry about poisoning from any other Element. Likewise, the Spirit Element cannot poison anyone of any other Element. This makes them one of the most powerful healers possible. The Spirit Element is considered the balance of all the other Elements, and is the one Element that can bridge the divide between all the Elements as needed. Instead, Spirit users must be wary of getting TOO much of the negative side of Spirit (which is Destruction, compared to the positive side of Creation) and thus getting unstable and out of balance as a result.

Now that those basics have been outlined, here is more stuff focusing on the Demons and Darkness beings themselves!

Just like there are many Races of Light beings aside from the most well-known of Angels, there are a lot of Races of Darkness aside from the most well-known Demons. I know of the following so far: Demons, Demon-Cats, Sphinxes, Nagas, Tengus, Drows (Darkness-Elves), Dark Elk, Kelpie, Selke, Legriph (type of Griffin that looks based on a cheetah), Incubus/Succubus (same Race, Incubus is the man while the Succubus is the woman), as well as Darkness Dragons, Darkness Unicorns, Dark Faeries, Dark Pixies, and many others.

Instead of a Light being's permanent subtle glow, the Darkness beings have faint wisps of shadow that come out of them and can wreath their bodies and heads and hands. Instead of getting white glowing eyes whenever they get mad, their eyes darken gradually until they're almost "glowing" with those black shadows. The Darkness element looks like a semi-liquid, semi-mist, swirling substance that flows around, is colored pitch-black, and has some purplish and reddish tints to the overall color. Looking into it is like looking at something colored with VantaBlack, which is the darkest substance that humans have come up with of late. It seems to absorb all the light around it with no evidence it was ever there. Darkness users who are skilled with working their main Element can even "walk through the shadows" to walk into or dissolve into shadow at one end and pop up somewhere else far away as long as there's a shadow there to come out of. Instead of being a mere "absence of light" the Darkness Element has an actual presence and active effect on others and on things just like the Light Element does.

Both Light and Darkness are counterparts, two sides of the same coin, necessary parts of the same duality, and balance each other out. Without the Light one could not see the sun or a rainbow, but without Darkness one could not see the stars at night or have cooling patches of shade during the hottest day. The very Elemental Personifications themselves, Light and Darkness, are actually in a very committed and devoted mate relationship. This is why, to our eyes, Light and Darkness are counterparts in this Universe and are so needed to balance each other out. They are opposites but yet so needed for each other's continued balance and survival, that the term "counterparts" is often a better one to use to describe this sort of dependent relationship.

[Indigo Starshine]

Just like the Light beings above, the Darkness beings have an incredible variety of skin, hair, and eye colors. Those that have wings (Demons, Demon-Cats, Legriphs, Tengus, some Sphinxes, Darkness Dragons, Darkness Alicorns [winged unicorns], Darkness Faeries, Darkness Pixies, etc.) have the same incredible variation that the Light beings have with their wings. Just like not all Darkness beings have wings, not all Light beings do either.

However, the wings I outlined for Light beings above are feather-based wings. Darkness (or Light) Dragons will often have scaly bat-like wings with claws on the tips of their fingers and thumb, while some sub-Races have feathered wings or furry bat-like wings, and some have no wings at all. Darkness (or Light) Faeries and Pixies tend to have wings reminiscent of insects (but far more durable, often translucent, and do not have a dust covering or need of one). Demons often have bat-like wings (sometimes with spikes) unless they have other Races mixed in that might modify their wing appearance. Demon-Cats, Tengus, some Sphinxes, Legriph, and others have bird-like wings. Angels have bird-like wings, same with Angel-Cats, Angelos and Ligerahs, but like I just said some Light Races don't have bird-like wings (and some don't have wings at all). The type of wing really depends on the Race itself, not on whether they are a Darkness or Light being.

Another thing that separates a Light bird-like wing from a Darkness bird-like wing, is whether it glows with white light or with the shadowy mist. Black wings on a Light being tend to have a lot of iridescence and reflect light from a light source. Sorta like a regular Terran bird wing and yet a bit more iridescence than that. Black wings on a Darkness being tends to absorb light from a light source, seem to have a bottomless black feeling to it, and if they do have iridescence then it's way subtler and can be harder to see at times. Black wings on beings of other Elements tend to vary depending on which Element you're talking about, but most tend to be similar to Terran birds but paired with emanations of their particular Element. White wings on a Light being tend to complement the natural glow a lot more and even emphasize it, and have a lot of rainbow sparkling iridescence from that as well. White wings on a Darkness being tend to look "dull" compared to the Light being, absorbs the light, and seem more a flat white than anything. Sometimes they even have a grayish tinge from the Darkness element seeping out of them and seem very solid compared to the Light being's wings.

Some known extra shapeshifting [or not] powers depending on the Race are as follows:

1. Angels have the power to modify their humanoid form, but no ability to take an animal form. They have a main humanoid form and can shift out and retract wings at will.
2. Demons interestingly have the same abilities as Angels. The difference between the two is that one is a Light Race with bird wings (Angels) and the other is a Darkness Race with bat wings (Demons). Demons also have tails while Angels don't. Their tails are long with a spade tip. If they have no other Races mixed in, then they don't have horns or hooved feet. The Races that have horns and/or hooved feet are needed to be mixed in for them to have that as well.
3. Angel-Cats have their winged cat form that they can shapeshift between that and a fully humanoid form. Their animal form can be as small as a housecat, or as big as a tiger depending on their mood or inclination. Even in their most human-like they still have cat-like pupils, longer and sharper canine teeth, subtly pointed ears, and short, pointed nails that are actually claws.
4. Demon-Cats are the same as Angel-Cats; except they are of Darkness, not Light. They also have bird-like wings, same as Angel-Cats. However, there are a few Demon-Cats who don't have wings and never were born with them. There are no known records of Angel-Cats who were born without wings.
5. Angelos have nature-based powers and are able to communicate with nature better and feel a stronger connection with wild spaces. They can only glide with their wings, not fly. They cannot shapeshift into any other form, aside from a fully-human looking form and a human with wings appearing form.
6. Tengus can shapeshift into any animal species they want to, as long as they do the requisite long hours of study and practice until such a form shift comes smoothly and naturally. Because of the huge amounts of focused concentration, long study, and ample practice needed to master any one form, most tend to stick with just a few trusty forms that they go between. Their natural animal form (that they do not need to study and practice to attain) is that of a crow or raven.
7. Ligerahs cannot shapeshift into a fully humanoid form, and the most human-like they can appear is a bipedal feline with a tail, human-like hands, cat feet, faces a blend between human and feline, some longer hair on their heads, and have bird-like wings. They cannot retract their wings, unlike most other winged Races. Their full animal form is a large winged feline with feather crests on their heads and down their spines, on either side of their tail tip, and down each limb from elbow to wrist or ankle to paw. The feather crests can fold down and seem to disappear from sight so it's rare to see them fully out. On average, they tend to be more experienced flyers than most other Light Races. They have no other form, and no other Race-related powers.
8. Nagas can shapeshift between a fully humanoid form and a full, giant snake form. Their midway form is the one humans are most familiar, with a human head, arms, and torso, and a snake body from hips down. They also have scales scattered over their faces and ears, up their spine, and from their elbows down to completely covering their hands. They have a characteristic "diamond shape" of scales on their forehead. Their fangs are still there even in humanoid form and fold back against the roof of their mouths. Like snakes, they can open their jaws far wider than most other creatures, and have forked tongues. Their venom is characteristically extremely corrosive and the older they are, the more corrosive it becomes. Additional powers are shapeshifting into different animal forms like the Tengus, but with more ease. However, they cannot have wings, unless they are specifically in an existing animal form that has wings, or they have Racial mixing that brings in wings from another Race.
9. Sphinxes are similar to Demon-Cats but predominately do not have wings (some can have wings however), and their feline forms are always lion-like. All genders have a mane in their animal forms and in their midway forms, and a thin tail topped with a tuft at the end. Their full humanoid forms often do not have manes for the sake of blending in better. They do have powers of divination but this needs to be practiced and developed.
10. Kelpies can shapeshift into a horse (often with a damp mane and tail) when on land. Underwater, they can change into any aquatic species they wish to. However, another Kelpie will always be able to see their true form underwater. Their hair (or mane and tail) take a long time to dry when out of the water, which is why they often appear damp. Contrary to their reputations among humans, they do not really want to kill and eat any human they drag into the water. They will object strenuously if someone tries to ride them while they are in horse form however, and often run into the water to encourage the human to jump off and leave them in peace. They can have fully humanoid forms in addition to this, of course.
11. Selkes can shapeshift into a seal or sea otter when on land, and can have some ability in shapeshifting into other aquatic creatures underwater. This does not come as easily to them as it does to the Kelpie however. Like the Kelpies they can see the true nature of another Selke underwater. They do not have as much problems with damp hair when out of the water since it shakes off easier for them, while it tends to cling to the Kelpie hair. They can have full humanoid forms as well.
12. Incubi/Succubi don't seem to have other forms unless their Racial mixing allows them to. Their main form is humanoid and often are extremely sexy or desirable to others. Even asexuals can feel some desire for them due to the magical aura they have to entice others to have sex with them. They actually feed off the sex act itself so they do need regular bedroom time with others. Any sex with a Succubus/Incubus is often an amazing good time due to the magics they can use to amplify the sensations experienced. They can even use this charismatic aura to manipulate others into doing what they want by fogging up their minds with that desire and getting them to agree to what the Incubus/Succubus asks of them. Some are easier targets than others however.
13. Insakka are a little-known Light Race have a seductive and mesmerizing beautiful voice similar to Sirens. However, while Sirens only have that effect if they speak in a sing-song or fully sing, the Insakka have the mesmerizing effect even when they talk normally. They are often beautiful with long and elegant proportions, with their appearance made to hypnotize their enemies. They can have a full humanoid form, as well as an animal form that is horse-like with hooves, cat-like hunter features, and feathers on the back (or sometimes wings). Their wings (when they have them) can seem to be made out of glass or crystal and stunningly iridescent. Even their animal form can hypnotize onlookers into standing still and forgetting where they are.

I can go on but I'll leave you with that. Some extra explanation for what each can look like is provided for the lesser-known Races. Both Darkness as well as Light Races are provided above. My apologies if I did not elaborate on certain ones you wanted to see; I went with the ones I remember best and could describe in any way, shape, or form.

Other ones I remember as being definitely other Elements, not of Light or Darkness are as follows: Kitsune (Earth), Banchee (Death), Dryad (Earth or Life), Nexies (Water), Siren (Air for the bird-like, Water for the fish-like), Taniwah (Water), Wraith (Death), Chimera (Life), Sh'varian (Air, humans call their female members Harpies), Merfolk (predominately Water), Griffin (can be different Elements), Hippogriff (can be different Elements), Dragon (can be different Elements), Faerie (can be different Elements), Pixie (can be different Elements), Elf (can be different Elements), Dwarf (Earth), Centaur (can be different Elements), Unicorn (can be different Elements), Alicorn (can be different Elements), Pegasus or Winged Horse (Predominately Air, can be other Elements), among others.  

Angels of Darkness are a weird thing. I believe they are extinct by now (due to rabid persecution by both Darkness and Light Races during a terrible War a long time ago), but when they were around they could be considered something of an enigma. They had bird-like wings and could wield BOTH the Element of Light as well as Darkness with ease. They looked and functioned like Angels but had an additional charismatic, sexy aura that was similar to the Incubi/Succubi. Like the Incubi/Succubi they were very good at sex and could use that magical aura to give their partners even greater pleasure. Back when they were around, they were often called "Fallen Angels," which was a nasty slur and also highly inaccurate. One could only be born an Angel of Darkness. A pairing of a Demon and an Angel only resulted in either a Demon or an Angel, never a mixed child, let alone an Angel of Darkness. The Angels of Darkness were their own completely separate Race when they were still around.

I went on, lol, but this was to share what I remember and know of some of the different Races of my homeworld whom live alongside the more well-known Angels and Demons.

Disclaimer: Again, my disclaimer stands that other planets and worlds can have similar species that developed via parallel evolution and are referred to by the same name by humans as the ones I talk about, but they are not related in the slightest bit despite the superficial similarities. If you think you might be a creature on this list, please keep an open mind that maybe you are another species that resembles the ones I talk about and came from a different world than the one I came from, but you can still definitely use the human name for them if you find it works for you as well.

Important Note to Read!: Names that are NOT human-given, that are ones I found specifically from my homeworld are as follows: Ligerah, Legriph, Insakka, and Sh'varian. Angel-Cat and Demon-Cat to limited extents. If you mean bipedal winged humanoid feline, then please say that or something like that, instead of Ligerah. If you mean a cheetah-bird griffin then please say that instead of using Legriph. If you mean a hypnotizingly beautiful horse-like creature that has a beautiful voice, then unless you're sure you ARE from my world and are an Insakka, then please use something else as a name. If you mean a bird-human mix that humans call as Harpies then use the word Harpy, instead of the specific name of Sh'varian that comes from my world. To clarify, I do not claim total ownership of those looks and appearances, but I DO claim ownership of those names used (Ligerah, Legriph, Insakka, and Sh'varian) since they are translated Race names from the predominate language of my homeworld (written in English as close as possible to how they actually are pronounced). So please don't use those four in relation to yourself unless you are absolutely sure they actually apply to you and that you did indeed come from my homeworld.

Thank you for reading to this point! <3