With regard to the human soul also, Blessed Augustine teaches that when the soul is separated from the body, “the man himself who is in such a state, though it be in spirit only, not in body, yet sees himself so like to his own body that he cannot discern any difference whatever” (City of God, Book XXI, 10; Modern Library edition, New York, 1955, p. 781). This truth has now been amply confirmed in the personal experiences of perhaps thousands of resuscitated people in our own times.
But if we speak of the “bodies” of angels and other spirits, we must be careful not to ascribe any crudely material characteristics to them. Ultimately, St. John Damascene teaches, “the form and definition of this substance only the Creator understands” (Exact Exposition, p. 205). In the West, Blessed Augustine wrote that it is all the same whether we prefer to speak of the “aerial bodies” of demons and other spirits, or simply call them “bodiless” (City of God, XXI, 10, p. 781).
Bishop Ignatius himself was perhaps a little too interested in explaining the “bodies” of angels in terms of the 19th-century scientific knowledge of gasses; for this reason a minor dispute arose between him and Bishop Theophan the Recluse, who thought it necessary to emphasize the uncompound nature of spirits (who, of course, are not composed of elemental molecules as are all gases). On the basic point, however — the “subtle covering” which all spirits possess — he was in agreement with Bishop Ignatius (see Fr. Georges Florovsky, Ways of Russian Theology, in Russian, Paris, 1937, pp. 394-95). Perhaps some similar misunderstanding on a secondary point or question of terminology was responsible for the opposition which arose in the West in the 5th century when the Latin Father, St. Faustus of Lerins, taught this same doctrine of the relative “materiality” of the soul, based on the teaching of the Eastern Fathers.
If the precise definition of the angelic nature is known to God alone, an understanding of angelic activity (at least in this world) is accessible to everyone, for of this there are many testimonies both in Scripture and in Patristic writings, as well as in the Lives of Saints. To fully understand the manifestations that occur to the dying, we shall have to know in particular how the fallen angels (demons) appear. True angels always appear in their own forms (only less dazzling than they are in reality), and they act solely in order to carry out the will and commandments of God. Fallen angels, on the other hand, although they appear sometimes in their own form (which St. Seraphim of Sarov described, from his own experience, as “hideous”), usually assume various appearances and perform numerous “miracles” with the powers they have in submission to the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). Their special habitat is the air, and their chief function is to tempt or frighten men and thus drag them to perdition with themselves. It is against them that the struggle of the Christian is directed: Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness under the heavens (Eph. 6:12).
Blessed Augustine, in his little-known treatise “The Divination of Demons,” written when he was asked to explain some of the many demonic manifestations of the ancient pagan world, gives a good general view of the activities of demons:
“The nature of demons is such that, through the sense perception belonging to the aerial body, they readily surpass the perception possessed by earthly bodies, and in speed, too, because of the superior mobility of the aerial body, they incomparably excel not only the movements of men and of beasts but even the flight of birds. Endowed with these two faculties, in so far as they are the properties of the aerial body, namely, with keenness of perception and speed of movement, they foretell and declare many things that they have recognized far in advance. At this, because of the sluggishness of earthly perception, men wonder. The demons too, through the long period into which their life is extended, have gained a far greater experience in events than accrues to men because of the brief span of their lives. Through these faculties, which the nature of the aerial body has allotted, demons not only foretell many things that will occur, but also perform many miraculous acts” (“The Divination of Demons,” ch. 3, in The Fathers of the Church, vol. 27, p. 426).
Many of the “miracles” and spectacles of the demons are described in the long discourse of St. Anthony the Great contained in St. Athanasius’ Life of him; here also the “lighter bodies” of the demons are mentioned (ch. 11, edition of Eastern Orthodox Books, Willits, Calif., 1976, pp. 19-29). The Life of St. Cyprian the former sorcerer also contains numerous descriptions of demonic transformations and miracles as related by an actual participant in them (see The Orthodox Word, 1976, no. 5).
A classic description of demonic activity is contained in the seventh and eighth Conferences of St. John Cassian, the great 5th-century Father of Gaul who first transmitted the full teaching of Eastern monasticism in the West. St. Cassian writes: “Such a multitude of evil spirits fills this air which is spread out between heaven and earth and in which they fly in disturbance and not idly, that the Divine Providence for our benefit has hidden and removed them from the gaze of men; otherwise, from fear of their attack, or of the frightful spectacle of the faces into which they are transformed and changed by their own will, whenever they wish, men would be struck with unbearable terror and ready for collapse....
“And of the fact that the unclean spirits are governed by the more evil powers and are subject to them, we are instructed, not only by the witness of Holy Scripture, which we read in the description of the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees who slandered Him: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons” (Matt. 12:27) — but also by clear visions and many experiences of saints.
“When one of our brethren was travelling in this desert, having found a certain cave after nightfall, he stopped there and wished to perform the evening prayer in it. While he was singing psalms according to custom, the time passed and it was already after midnight. After finishing the rule of prayer, desiring to rest his exhausted body a little, he lay down and suddenly began to see innumerable hordes of demons coming together from all directions; coming in an endless file and a very long row, some preceded their chief, while others followed him. Finally came the prince, who was both taller than all in size and more frightful in appearance. After a throne had been placed, he sat down upon an elevated tribunal and with careful investigation began to examine the activity of each one. Those who said that they had not yet been able to seduce their antagonists he ordered to be banished from his sight with reproof and abuse, as inactive and careless, reproaching them with a roar of rage that they had wasted so much time and labor for nothing. But those who declared that they had seduced those assigned to them he let go with great honors, to the enthusiasm and acclaim of all, as most courageous warriors, glorified as an example for all.
“One most evil spirit from among their number stepped forth and reported with evil joy, as of an illustrious victory, that he had finally conquered a well- known monk, whose name he gave, after fifteen years of ceaselessly tempting him, having enticed him this very night into fornication.... At this report there was extraordinary hilarity among everyone, and he departed, exalted by the high praises of the prince of darkness and crowned with glory. With the approach of dawn, all this multitude of demons vanished from sight.” Later the brother who witnessed this spectacle learned that the report of the fallen monk was indeed true (Conferences VIII, 12, 16; Russian translation of Bishop Peter, Moscow, 1892, pp. 313, 315).