Wings are important symbology in Western and Middle Eastern religions where they are often associated with divine beings or spirits.  Wings are a solar symbol, so when associated with a deity, they indicate the deity is associated with the sun, usually the spiritual sun.  They often represent the power or ability to travel between worlds, between material and spiritual dimensions.  Fast traveling messenger gods usually have wings of some sort.  Outspread wings are usually a symbol of divine protection, especially protection from the burning fire of the sun (part of the phoenix legend says that each morning the phoenix would fly up into the sky and spread open his wings in front of the sun to protect people from it's harmful rays.  In ancient Egypt, a winged sun, or winged disk represented the divine or spiritual sun that "flew" across the sky each day.  In Buddhism, two wings represent wisdom.  In China, a winged dragon represents celestial or spiritual power.  In Christianity, angels are depicted with wings and the number of wings often represents the rank of the angel.  A seraph , or seraphim, a high order of angels, has six wings covered with eyes.