SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
I receive hundreds of emails to my website and from my magazine and newspaper column about angels. Many people are interested in their own angels in particular. But many more people just want to know what an angel is and what an angel isn’t!
Here are some of the most frequently asked angel questions I have received, and some of the more unusual ones.
There are also hundreds of fascinating angel quotes, some which reference questions here, so I have included some of them too.
What is an angel?
A short question with a long answer but I will try to be brief. Angels were made by our God essence or energy The role of angels is varied but many angels have been created specifically with the purpose of looking after God’s children – us.
‘An angel is a spiritual being created by God, without a body, for the service of Christendom and the Church.’
MARTIN LUTHER TABLE TALK
Can my Grandma be my Angel?
Human spirits cannot be our angels insomuch as an angel can never be human and a human can never be an angel (with the exception of the Archangels Metatron and Sandalphon – see ‘Archangels’, page 147). Most traditions say that humans can never be angels. Having said that, the loving spirits of passedover relatives can and do watch over us from the other-side. They are able to send us loving energy in a similar way to angels.
Humans are spirit in the body-vessel, but angels are pure light energy.
‘The angels are a strange genus; they are precisely what they are and cannot be anything else. They are themselves soulless beings who represent nothing but the thoughts and intuitions of their Lord.’
C. G. JUNG
Many people see their relatives visit them from ‘the other-side’ where they appear in a body-less form, often surrounded by a white light. This is where the confusion may arise. Our loved ones can watch out for us and often make it their specific task to act as our ‘guardians’ by passing us messages of warnings and so on. There are vast numbers of recorded incidences where the loving spirits of our relatives who have gone before, appear to ‘guide and protect’ from the after-life.
Shona wrote to tell me about her own experience:
‘When I was 14 my grandma passed to spirit and I was devastated because we were really close! About two weeks later I could not sleep and felt guided down the stairs to the kitchen. No lights were on and there were no windows from which a light could have shone from outside! Yet there was the most brilliant white light over the boiler, and it was full of peace and calm. I felt drawn towards it and just stood with this energy. It made me feel so serene just like my Nan always had! I know it was her!
When my mother-in-law passed to spirit, it was a very stressful time for my husband. His Dad, who was left behind, lives in Bournemouth and we live in London, which is a big distance away!
We went up to visit once a month. The first time we went the energy was so cold and deadly! The next time I called to my mother-in-law Dorothy to tell her I was really stressed and needed to know she would help, and when we arrived at the flat it felt warm and lived in! My husband always multi-checks everything before leaving a house so I know all appliances had been switched off!
I know if you ask, spirit will come but just not always as you expect. Often lights flicker, TVs turn on and off, and things get moved, but I say “God bless” each time, knowing my loved ones are always close!’
Are angels like ghosts?
Not at all, and this is a common confusion. Ghosts are the ‘lost souls of the dead’, or ‘spirits in visitation’, from the ‘other-side’. The confusion with angel guardians arose with the birth of Spiritualism, and the belief that the spirit of our loved ones are ‘watching us’ from the after-life.
Angels just ‘are’, and are beings without spirit at all, who exist in the realms of heaven.
How can an angel help me?
Angels do not have a full understanding of what it is to be human, so they do not always understand our problems totally. Angels are good at placing the right people into our path when we need them (set up as a useful ‘coincidence’ for the purpose of guidance and moving us forward with our pre-birth life plans), and specifically at sending us loving energy and support.
Angels do have speciality roles and we can call upon a specific angel to help with certain tasks {see the Angel Almanac, page 33, for a detailed list).
‘When you are lonely or frightened, talk to your guardian angel. You can do it out loud or inside your head – your angel can hear you. Ask your angel to be near you, to put his or her hand on your shoulder to give you courage and protect you.’
JOAN WESTER ANDERSON WHERE ANGELS WALK
Angels are very good at bringing the right information to our attention and placing the right people into our path.
‘Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.’
ANONYMOUS
If we have angels around us, why is it that things go wrong in our lives?
As spirit we move into a human body to work through lessons and goals that we set for ourselves before birth. (We pre-plan skills that we need to practise.) Angels are not allowed to interfere with this plan (or they would be meddling with our curriculum).
Sometimes these lessons are much harder than we ever imagined they might be and this is how an angel can help. They can ease a difficult situation and help us through the pain. They can bring along sympathetic people to help us achieve our goals and support us in times of difficulty. There is one important proviso: we have to ask our angels for their assistance. They need our permission to get involved in our lives. Of course, emergencies are different!
‘Angels do find us in our hour of need.’
AMY HUFFMAN
How can I give my angels permission to help me?
Nothing complicated is needed here-just ask! You can ask by talking to your angels out loud, or you can ask in your head, write them a letter or use some other symbol of request. Nowadays it is easy to find those little ‘guardian angel pins’ or tokens and coins with the words ‘guardian angel’ printed on them. All of these act as requests for help. Every time we look at these little symbols we think of our angels and this strengthens the contact.
‘You don’t need a formal prayer or invocation to call the Angels to your side. Simply think, Angels, please surround me, and they are there.’
DOREEN VIRTUE, DIVINE GUIDANCE
If you like to be a little more creative in your approach, then the section on Communicating With Your Angels (page 281) may help you.
What can I do to