According to NTEC, human entities exist at all times as either Angel or Human. Which form is the ground state has not, at the time of writing, been identified. Angel-form populations and Human-form populations intersect at critical periods of life, called "birth" and "death".
"Birth," according to NTEC, is defined as the transition from Angel form to Human form. This transition occurs at a specific point in time (the time of birth), and space (the vagina--she is quite specific on the anatomical point-- of the human mother). No mention has yet been made of Caesarian births, but these can be easily assumed. All human beings are angels until they pass through the mother's body (at the specified point), and become human.
"Death," similarly, is defined as the transtion from Human form to Angel form. The leaving transition, viewed as it is from the human perspective, seems more variable than birth, but she readily allows that, on the angel side, the appearance may be similarly skewed to regular entry, followed by varied circumstances of exit.
Hazards to the family unit have been identified during transition, so that it is imperative that all angel-form family members remain in close contact post-death, to ensure that timely births maintain the family structure. Provisions must also be made for the house and personal effects of the dead (angels), to ensure that those effects are not misappropriated to other living humans during the absence (angelhood) of the family. This is of the utmost importance if family continuity is to be achieved.
It is of further interest that angels must be carefully differentiated from fairies (small, humanoid creatures that exist in the human geometry but just outside the spatial-temporal plane of humanity). This is important to note as there may be, at times (often at the edges of sleep, or in shadowed doorways), angel-human or fairy-human proximity sufficient to produce sensory phenomena. Angels and fairies are easily differentiated, even with relatively little training, by wing structure. Angels are possessed of feathered wings, much like those of a bird, which are sufficiently sturdy to support flight in normal-human-sized organisms. Fairies, on the other hand, have membranous wings more like those of an insect. The obvious physical limitations of such wings may point us to reasons for their small stature.
The duration and experiential specifics of the angel-form phase remain opaque, and will perhaps be the subject of future discussions. There was also something in there about diamonds, and a persistent interest in Van Eyck's depictions of angels. Perhaps for another post.
