Visions of Angels Described in Bible May Have Been Lucid Dreams

Well, the idea that people who claim to have seen angels/demons/aliens may have been hallucinating or dreaming or in some kind of altered mental state isn't exactly new (as Hobson says).

My problem with the study is that the subjects were told in advance to think about a story that involved an angel. It isn't that surprising that they dreamed about what they had been thinking about.

I'm guessing that people who have allegedly seen angels, such as people mentioned in the Bible, weren't planning to see an angel in advance. At least, that's how the stories make it out to be.

I have heard of cultures, such as Native American cultures, where people use mind-altering substances to try to force themselves to have specific kinds of visions. I think that would be more in line with what the study is showing.

Dreams, perhaps, as when Joseph of Nazareth is told that Mary's child is of the Holy Spirit; but the angels we read of are seldom if ever the vacant faced, puffy cheeked creatures we see on greeting cards and the like. Where those look like they'd say "Pardon me, am I interrupting something?", biblical angels say, "Fear not!"

At least until they explain themselves, they're terrifying; and as often as not they give messages that complicate the recipient's life immensely. (Isaiah ends his earthly sojourn by being cut in half; and even Elijah's departure in a chariot of fire comes at the end of events he would probably not have chosen for himself.)

In short, not the sort of being I'd go looking for if I were consistently lucid. But, [I]chacun a son gout[I]. What's needed here is a follow-up. Angel visits, just like the visions of American Indian spirit quests, result in dramatic, lifelong change. What is the situation with these directed dreamers? If their lives go on as before, I'd only conclude they are susceptible to suggestion.

I agree that the angels of the bible were nothing like the puffy-cheeked greeting card angels. The latter are more modern western cultural icons.

I'm more inclined to think this is about suggestibility.

I have found in my experience that dreams seem to take motifs or subjects that we are familiar with and can associate symobology to. It is natural to me that as a symbol evolves, so would the dream portrayal of it. But that is assuming that the angels come not from lucid dreams, but dreams in general. They're actual source in my opinion is a matter of personal belief.

Biblical accounts of angel "visits" include some that are consistent with dreaming and some - such as the warning to Joseph to flee to Egypt with Jesus and Mary - which are specifically identified as dreams; but I can't think of any that strongly suggest lucidity.

The Book of Revelation, Ezekiel's Valley of the Dry Bones, and other prophetic visions are certainly consistent with dreaming; but where are the "instructor/trainers", and how would it ever occur to them to come up with subject matter like that?

I'm not so sure about motifs we're "familiar with". It's possible that we've heard of them at some point in our lives; but they manifest in ways which are, putting it mildly, outre' and, speaking for myself, sometimes the symbology is indecipherable. What you are saying is valid but, were it that simple, we wouldn't need this forum!

I might say that, though I am a believing Christian, I wouldn't necessarily take the appearance of an angel figure in a dream as authentic. Context and impact are all. I can say that, absent overwhelming contrary evidence, I'd assume that one appearing as the typical vacant faced, puffy cheeked Christmas tree or greeting card angel was a phony, or perhaps a comic figure.