fandomhigh | Supernatural Studies, Wednesday, Period 1

"Welcome back," Jack said, clearly more relaxed now that he was on his second week on the job. He deistributed a stack of handouts as the students took their seats. "For our first class, I thought we'd talk about the first supernatural creature many children who grow up in Western cultures on Earth hear about -- angels. In several religions, angels are seen as benevolent creatures who carry out the will of God on Earth. Traditionally they act as messengers, guides and protectors to humanity."

He moved over to bring up a PowerPoint slide. "The modern image of an angel is something like this," he said, bringing up a slide of an extremly cute being in a white robe with wings and a harp. "But that wasn't what the first people to believe in them saw at all. Descriptions of angels in ancient spiritual texts include seraphim, who were on fire and had six wings. Traditional depictions were more like this."

He regarded the image for a moment."It's said they glow so brightly humans cannot look on them. Satan, the lord of Hell, is described as a fallen angel. Another named angel, Samael, brings death; Michael performs acts of justice and power. in the original stories, they are not meant to be especially nice." That point, he thought, deserved some emphasis. "But in addition to seeing angels as warriors for God, early on people began to believe in 'guardian angels.' This is the concept that an angel watches over each of us at each minute. Some early religious leaders believed this, some did not, and it ended up firm in the popular imagination. Even now, people who are not terribly religious may refer to their 'guardian angel' when they feel spared in some way. Other people may say we're all angels for each other -- that sometimes God moves a human to do something angelic."

Jack wasn't sure he believed any of that, but he would admit it was a nice idea.

"That brings us to our discussion," he said. "What do you think about the concept of heavenly beings who intervene in human lives? Is it something you feel you've seen, or a fairy tale we tell children?" He was prepared to intervene if the discussion got too heated, but asking the question seemed safe enough. "Also, the office seems to think I have a second TA. Charley Brewster, come see me after class."

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Sholeh's culture didn't have anything approaching angels, but she was looking dubiously at both images. "I don't see how either of these are supposed to be helpful," she said. "I don't think one is old enough to fly on its own and the other wouldn't be useful unless I needed protection from over-heating or something."

"I don't believe they're limited by their physical forms," Lucrezia explained. "An angel is a being with powers of the divine. One may look like an infant, but he still would possess knowledge and abilities that far surpasses that of any person."

"Then why choose to look like something that can barely hold its head up on its own?"

Okay, that might have been a little more Zeela slipping out than normal.

"Because infants represent all that is innocent and beautiful in this world," Lucrezia said, softly, thinking of her Juanito. "They are not sinful, or sinister; they simply are."

Sholeh was not as fond of infants as Lucrezia seemed to be.

"Because they can't do anything on their own. As soon as they can, they turn into toddlers and toddlers are awful."

Might be missing the point a bit, Sholeh.

Lucrezia couldn't help laughing at that, thinking of all the trouble her little one would soon be causing.

"What crimes have toddlers committed against you, my love?" she asked with a smile. "That they are loud, and demanding, and shockingly self-concerned?"

=Much like a certain sibling...= Zeela snickered.

"Pretty much," Sholeh said, ducking her head down and blushing a bit. "They snatch and take and make things messy and Mother help you if you're not paying them attention. It makes it very hard to read. Both my sisters love children, but I'm...less enthused."

"And yet, as women, we're expected to produce heirs," Lucrezia sighed. "Whose children were these, that you were forced to watch? It sounds utterly frustrating, but I have heard the matter changes when the child is your own."

She had heard. Not that she had personal knowledge, of course. Really.

Sholeh shrugged. "Just the children of neighbors. When you're one of the older children, you get saddled with babysitting duties when everyone else is busy. Mostly, though, I hid and let my older sisters deal with them."

Beat.

"That came out sounding dreadful, didn't it?"

Lucrezia laughed, not unkindly.

"No, my love," she said. "Children are like people: some are kind, some are sweet, and some are abhorrent. I was never made to watch others' children, so I can't say what I would have done."

Pawned them off on Cesare, if they were too aggravating.

Supernatural Studies, Wednesday, Period 1

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