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Theosophists call them "devas" or "Himalayan masters," the Indian yogis refer to their "masters," the
Christian Church speaks of angels, while Spiritualists refer to "guides," " helpers," and "the gatekeeper." Other schools of thought talk
about "higher consciousness" or the "over self". I will use the guardian angel image- although I do not personally associate this with a being with wings
but as higher beings from the spirit world.
You may not know your guardian angel while on earth, but as soon as you enter the astral levels of the next world you will immediately become
aware of such a presence. You will have the comforting feeling that a divine friend is with you. Some of us are fortunate, because we get to know our own guardian angel before
we die.
If you are mediumistic or open to spiritual forces, you may sometimes sense a guiding hand helping you through life. You may feel inspired by an
outside force,or may have a sense of moral guidance.
At a time of great danger or despair, have you felt an angelic hand lift and shelter you from your plight?
Angels are not a matter of belief but of experience.
Who Or What Are Angels?
What first pops into your mind when you think of angels?
All three major religions in the Western world, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, as well as virtually all of the world's other systems of religious
belief, include celestials in their cosmologies. Their scriptures all contain references to angelic interventions.
Angels, like people, belong to families or clans. Many names have been given to them, but in the opinion of a number of angel historians, the
most familiar can be arranged in three categories, or spheres, starting at the top with those closest to God, and moving down to those who are
connected to the physical
world.
The Sphere Of Angels
All angel writers would agree that there are many different kinds of heavenly beings that bridge the spiritual and physical realms. There are
numerous opinions as to how many categories exist, what they are named, or what the functions are of each one. The system of organization most commonly followed in the
Western world comes from a book that appeared in the sixth century. It was supposedly written by Dionysius the Areopagite, a disciple of Saint Paul. In it there are three
categories, or spheres of angels, with three orders in each one.
The word 'angel' itself is used both as a generic term to refer to all heavenly beings, and as a specific term to refer to the members of the third
sphere, those closest to the physical. So, too, the 'archangel' is often used as a generic term to refer to all the high orders of heavenly beings, although they are in fact but one of
the higher orders.
THE FIRST SPHERE
angels who serve as heavenly counselors:
Seraphim
Cherubim
Thrones
THE SECOND SPHERE
angels who work as heavenly governors:
Dominions
Virtues
Powers
THE THIRD SPHERE
angels who function as heavenly messengers:
Principalities
Archangels
Angels
ANGELS
The angels that you're most familiar with are in the last order. They are the ones who are closest to humanity, the ones most concerned with
human affairs. Within the category of angels, there are many different kinds, with different functions. The ones that you know best,and the ones this article is is primarily about,
are the guardian angels.
Because of shifts in their functions and your consciousness, it is useful to think of these celestial
beings as companion angels. As you
enter a time of increased light and love on the planet, they
will not need to guard you, but rather will be your guides to greater and greater consciousness.
ARCHANGELS
Beyond the angels are the beings you are used to calling the archangels. But we suggest that you
call them overlighting angels, since they tend the larger arenas of human endeavor. These beings
are a different family from the angels. There are many different kinds of
overlighting angels in this
larger family. The four you are most familiar with are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel.
PRINCIPALITIES
Beyond the archangels are the prinicpalities. They are the guardian angels of all large groups, from cities and nations to recent human creations such as multi-
national corporations. These might more accurately now be called integrating angels. There are many of these beings involved with your planet, and one particular integrating
angel who carries the pattern of a unified global order in its heart.
POWERS
The first order in the second sphere are those beings who have been known as powers. They are the bearers of the conscience of all of
humanity, the keepers of your collective history. The angels of birth and death are in this category. They are able to draw down and hold the energy of the diving plan the same
way trees draw down the energy of the Sun. In this way, the powers can send all of you a vision
of a world spiritual network. Just as you have a heart, liver, kidneys, and other
organs in your body,
all of the world's religions are diferent organs in the emerging spiritual body of this planet.
VIRTUES
Beyond the powers are another group of beings, the virtues. They are of particular importance to you
now because they are able to beam out
massive levels of divine energy. As more groups of you learn
to work with the virtues, there will be a greater infusion of spiritual energy available for your planet.
DOMINIONS
The dominions are the heavenly beings who govern the activities of all the angelic groups lower than they are. Divine bureaucrats, they also
serve to integrate the spiritual worlds. Although they take their orders from God, and rarely contact individuals, their work is still connected to your reality.
THRONES
The first order in the third sphere is the thrones. They are the companion angels of the planets. At this time in your history it is important or you to
be aware of the particular throne, the Earth Angel, who is guardian of your world.
CHERUBIM
Beyond the thrones are the cherubim. They are the guardians of light, and of the stars. Remote from
your plane of reality, still their light
touches your lives, the divine light that they filter down from Heaven.
SERAPHIM
The highest order of the highest hierarchy are the seraphim, the celestial beings said to surround the
throne of God, singing the music of the spheres, and regulating the movement of the heavens as it emanates from God.
According to Abigrael, there are four orders within the heavenly hosts that particularly concern us now: angels, archangels, principalities, and
thrones.
While it looks like there is a higher and lower echelon, it's more accurate to visualize all these orders in a great circle, with the "highest" and the "lowest" holding hands. For example, seraphim, who appear to be closest to the Creater, also serve the God in us.
The belief in angelic beings is of course ancient, and spans many cultures. In the West, many associate angels with Christianity, Judaism and
the Bible, but references to angelic beings can
be found in Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam.
Even some Native American teachings include angels, and other shamanistic spiritual belief systems include interaction with birds or other
winged creatures who bring guidance. Created prior to these more "recent" religions, depictions of angelic beings can be found in ancient Egyptian art, and Isis is traditionally
depicted with angel wings. In all of these religious cultures, angels are believed to be messengers of God, aiding and guiding humans through life.
The word "angel" derives from the Greek "angelos" which means "messenger."
The New Age Dictionary defines angel as:
1. Messenger, heavenly envoy (Greek)
2. Someone who understands and manifests the Order of the Universe in daily life (Michio Kushi).
This second definition brings to light a lot of questions about angels.
Are angels fundamentally a different kind of creature than humans?
Is it true that angels have no free choice, as humans do, and never live in the physical as humans?
Is it possible to become an angel when we die?
Do angels really have wings?
Are angels real? |
I long believed that angels were the same as spirit guides, and that they have been traditionally depicted with wings because they are not bound
by the laws of gravity, being spiritual/non-physical beings. I still consider this to be a possibility, for I know that Spirit can present itself to us in whatever form we are most likely to
accept and understand. Spirit translates its energy into forms that make sense to us.
Someone who believed deeply in angels, for instance, may tend to see guides from spirit with wings, while someone who was a UFO buff may
have experiences of meeting with benign creatures from other planets. The same spirit can present itself in different forms, depending on what that form might mean to the
person receiving the energy of the spirit. It's similar to how a man's wife in spirit may show herself to him at the age of 20, the age at which they married and were most in love,
rather than with her aged appearance at the time of her death.
She may present herself to a beloved caretaker who only knew her in her last days, however, as an elderly woman. Just as with experiences of
loved ones or guides in Spirit, there is a range of intensity
or rather "physicality" to angelic experiences. For someone who is in high vibrational harmony with the non-physical world, angels may appear only telepathically.
I have noticed through the years that the more refined my abilities, the subtler my experiences become. When I was first opening psychically, I
literally perceived spiritual energy with my physical eyes, and physical manifestations such as books flying off the shelves or other physical "signs" were common. Now there is
no need for Spirit to go to such extremes, for I know how to recognize and "hear" or "see" spirit within. Depending on one's primary mode of perception (visual, auditory or
kinesthetic) and level of spiritual vibration, an angel may be seen, heard or its presence felt.
Sensing the presence of an angel from within involves the least amount of physical perception, it is like the spirit in the triad of mind, body and spirit. It is
intangible, but no less real than the vapor that water transforms into when its vibration (temperature) is raised.
When a vision of an angel is seen or heard, this is like the mind of mind, body and spirit. It involves the mental perception of light or sound waves, and may be seen either with
the physical eyes or with one's inner vision, or heard within or through the physical ears. It may occur when one is either sleeping / dreaming or awake.This is like the perception
of a thin film of water. We can see it with our eyes,
though if we try to try to grasp it with our hands, it slips away from us and evaporates.
To physically experience an angel, either as another human being or through physical contact, correlates to the body of mind, body and spirit. It is like a big hunk of
ice that we can touch with
our physical hands. It is believed that angels can take the form of humans, that they walk
among us here on earth.
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers,
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
Hebrews l 3:2
I recall a fascinating story by Penny Donovan, who channels the Archangel Gabriel.She
told how one day as she was walking from one room to another, she ran right into something
in the doorway. She could not see anything with her physical eyes, yet there was something
solid there, nonetheless. She stopped, backed up, and reached her hand out, and felt a very
distinctive "body" there, a male sort of chest, very large. This was her first encounter with
Gabriel, hence the "gross" energy of the experience.
Interestingly, in the Koran, Gabriel is the archangel who conveys God's message to all God's prophets on earth. It is said that Gabriel conveyed
the messages of the Koran to Muhammad, the Gospels to Jesus, and the Torah to Moses. While Gabriel and other "archangels" may have specific and grand missions, angels
in general are seen as servants of God, their purpose being to protect and bring guidance to the living. It is said that each of us has angels who are appointed to watch over us.
They are like intermediaries between humankind and divine non-physical realms. I believe that
thephysical is no less divine than the non-physical, they just exist at different
levels of vibration.
Just as we on earth have our shamans, mystics, seers and healers, angels have the unique ability
to travel between the worlds; they're
like shamans from the other side. It is said that the difference between humans and angels is that angels do not have free choice, their lives are dedicated to service.
Perhaps those who also dedicate their lives to doing the work of Spirit in the world become "angels"
in their own right, for they give up the free choice to follow
the whims of the ego, making service to humankind their main priority. Those who later allow the ego to overcome them again, might be said
to be fallen angels. This does not mean that anyone who does not commit their lives to the service
of God is a fallen angel. A fallen angel would be one who knows better, one who has attained the consciousness of and seen the light of God, yet has chosen the desires of the
ego anyway.
There are many ways to undertake opening to an angel experience without creating a major crisis in our lives. These same techniques can be
used for trying to contact any being in spirit. If you're not already in conscious communication with Spirit, I recommend asking for an angel to come to you in a dream. Our dream
selves don't have all the limiting beliefs about what is possible and not possible that our conscious minds do.
Ever notice how anything is possible in a dream? One way to ease into such conscious communication is through starting in the dream state. As
with all psychic/spiritual work, I also recommend beginning a program of regular meditation. This does not have to mean sitting silently for long periods of time. Any period of
time in which you get quiet and more aware of your thoughts and feelings, and the things you are normally not aware of (such as sounds, sights, and energies in your
environment) can be meditative. If you finding sitting in meditation difficult (and many Westerners do, you're not alone!) try a walking meditation, where you are in heightened
awareness of every movement you make, every breath you take, the feeling of your body as you slowly pick up one foot and then set it down, the shift of your weight from one foot
to the other.
My favorite form of meditation is running. It allows me to blow out unwanted residual energies and reconnect the flow of energy from the highest spiritual bodies down through the
physical.
If you're open to more direct methods of contact, you might try sitting down with a nice piece of paper and some colored pencils, markers or
crayons, and begin allowing your inner spirit to inspire you in drawing a picture of your guardian angel. Just allow whatever comes to mind to flow through onto the paper. You
may even find yourself hearing messages or seeing symbolic visions. Write them down!
Of course, you can always take the old-fashioned approach of prayer. Sit quietly and reach out
with your heart and mind, letting your desire for contact from an angel to rise up and flow through you.
| Over the years I have received many stories from people who reached out in a time of personal crisis, and got amazing results in the form of
contacts from angels or Spirit, many of which involved physical contact such as feeling someone holding their hand or stroking their hair. If you have trouble getting results with
the above methods, or simply lack the patience for really applying yourself to them, you can certainly explore the possibility of having someone who is in regular communication
with the non-physical (such as a psychic or medium) act as intermediary for you. Once you achieve contact with an angel or non-physical being, it's wise to question and evaluate
the experience. |
Jesus taught "By their fruits you shall know them."
Angels always point the way to God, or to greater love and compassion.
In this way, anyone who aims to uplift and expand love and peace is
doing the work of an angel.
Angels help us to grow spiritually, to overcome the challenges in life.
They underscore our faith in the benevolence of the Universe and in
our own ability to create positive changes in life.
At this unique turning point in history, people are rumbling with a deep spiritual hunger.
It is most comforting to know that whether we view angels as divine messengers from
heaven, or as any being who is devoted to doing the work of God or Spirit.
Angels are real, and never far away.
Parts of these eports are quoted from the book, "Ask Your Angels",
by Alma Daniel, Timothy Wyllie, and Andrew Ramer. /Ballantine
Publishers. This book was written by 3 people, and 4 angels. It
speaks truths, just as messages I have myself received. This
is a vital book for these times we are in, and the times just ahead.
A fascinating book to read and absorb. Go check it out.
Barnes & Noble
As you go to sleep, ask your angels to caress and cradle you;
To massage your body and your soul.
- Dan Martell,
"About Angels"
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