Discourse on the Angels or Spirits of Empires

...the angel of the Persians, Greeks, and Hebrews, who provided for their own peoples according to the law of the Prophets; and likewise among Plato and all the Platonists, the "local Gods" This refers to the daemones or tutelary deities in Neoplatonism who were thought to guard specific geographic areas. who are set over cities, kingdoms, and men. But the same author explains this very matter more extensively in the Heptaplus, Book 3, Chapter 3 The Heptaplus (1489) is a mystical seven-fold commentary on the Book of Genesis by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola., where, following the tradition of Saint Dionysius Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a 5th-century theologian whose work The Celestial Hierarchy defined the nine ranks of angels., he establishes three hierarchies and further says: The Supreme hierarchy, as it is free for contemplation alone, is rightly represented by the "waters which are above the heavens"—that is, they are established above all action concerning worldly things, whether they be celestial or earthly, and they praise God unceasingly with a perennial song. The middle order, however, since it is assigned to celestial duties, surely could not be more fittingly represented than by the firmament, that is, by the heaven. The last Hierarchy, although by nature it is above every physical body and above the heaven, nevertheless cares for those things which are under the heaven. Since it is divided into Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, the entire operation of all these is focused only on those things which are under the Moon In the ancient and medieval worldview, the "sub-lunar" sphere was the realm of change, decay, and human life, as opposed to the unchanging heavens.. The Principalities deal with republics, kings, and princes, as we learn from the Book of Daniel. The Archangels deal with mysteries and sacred ceremonies. The Angels devote themselves to private matters, and individuals are assigned to individual men. Rightly, therefore, this sub-celestial army is represented by the sub-celestial waters, as it both presides over things that are fleeting and perishable, and is subject to that order which is engaged with celestial things. And likewise the same author in Chapter 4 says: Just as the Platonists did, so also our own teachers believed that various spiritual substances were set by God over the various things of this corruptible world. Wherefore Augustine Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD). also constantly asserted that there is no visible thing among us which does not have an angelic power presiding over it, and that all bodies are ruled by the rational spirit of life; a point which Gregory Pope Gregory the Great (c. 540–604 AD). afterwards confirmed. Origen Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–253 AD), an early Christian scholar and theologian. says similarly in his Commentaries on the Book of Numbers: the world has need of Angels who preside over the beasts, and over the births of animals, and even over the shrubs and plantations, and...