Alan Green, Senior Rabbi, Shaarey Zedek Synagogue

Since angels make many appearances throughout the Bible, Judaism naturally has lots to say about them. The Hebrew word for angel is MAL’ACH, which literally means "a messenger." So the classical definition of an angel, in Jewish terms, is "a messenger from God." 

While it’s true that Jewish theology emphasizes the oneness of God in a diverse creation, the Jewish universe actually looks something like a corporation. God, of course, is the Chief Executive Officer, but He’s assisted by various department heads — the archangels who, according to our prayer book, "stand at the summit of the universe, and proclaim together, loudly and with awe, the words of the living God."

There are also several lower classes of angels in the Jewish universe. There are the Ofanim — literally, "wheels," who apparently circulate about God, constantly chanting Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh—Holy, Holy Holy. There are the Chayot Ha-Kodesh, the "holy beings"; there are the S’rafim, the angels of fire; and also, the K’ruvim — or as we say in English, cherubs — the cupid-like angels of love. 

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, a modern Kabbalist, speaks about angels in terms of feelings. He urges us to always take our feelings seriously, because feelings are messengers — MALACHIM — from the heavens that we carry within. They deliver the information that we need to know about people and situations that we wouldn’t necessarily get through our senses and intellect alone.

Most important are the angels that surround us every day: the holy, hidden, righteous people, who make it possible for life on earth to continue and progress. Jewish tradition tells us that there must be at least 36 such people — the Lamed-Vav Tzaddikim — alive at any one time for the world to exist. But certainly there’s no upper limit to the number of such people. So, every so often, I believe, it’s possible for ordinary people like us to know and to interact with a real, hidden Tzaddik — a perfectly righteous angel in human form.

Shaarey Zedek Synagogue welcomes people of all faiths to their Jewish spiritual services, mornings and evenings at 561 Wellington Crescent. For more info call 452-3711 or visit www.shaareyzedek.mb.ca.

Monica Curry, writer, spiritual seeker

Were you ever sick or in pain and suddenly you felt comforted by some unexplainable force? Perhaps a friend called just when you needed someone to talk to or a television program provided the answer to a problem you had been struggling with. Some people call these events coincidences, but many believe they are the work of angels. So do I and a few people I know.

My Story: Guardian in the Window

I sat on the edge of the hospital bed, my life crumbling around me, and began to pray. 

A year earlier, my marriage had ended and I was now struggling through my first year of university. 

The stress had taken its toll: on that grey day I was being hospitalized for severe depression. The rainy spring weather made me feel even worse. And "help" was the only plea I could toss up to heaven that day. 

After I had prayed awhile, I glanced out the window and saw a beautiful white dove sitting on a ledge about twelve feet away. I stared at the bird in amazement. I had never seen such a pure white dove before. It appeared even more brilliant against the dingy brick and the overcast day. A minute or so later, another white dove flew over and sat next to the first one. 

As I watched the two birds, I began to feel calm. The tension in my body started melting away and everything became still and quiet, as if someone had turned the volume down around me. After a few minutes I began to feel better, and one of the birds flew away. Shortly after that, I watched the second bird take off and turn into a white speck in the grey sky. 

Then, everything went back to normal. The bustle of hospital noises returned and the calm from those few tranquil minutes soon passed. But from then on I felt a little stronger, somehow.

On that dreary March day, I believe my prayer for help was answered. My guardian angel came disguised as a beautiful pair of doves to comfort me and assure me I was not alone.

Kim’s Story: A Comforting Presence

I was going through a very difficult time in my life, coming to terms with the serious abuse I had experienced as a child. Sometimes the emotional pain was unbearable. One evening, as I was trying to make sense of my parents’ cruelty, an angel appeared right in front of me. It was quite tall, all in white and standing there watching me. I didn’t feel frightened by it and, although no words passed between us, I felt incredibly at peace in its presence. Over the years I’ve continued to see other angels during difficult times.

Kim is a university student and office clerk in Winnipeg.

Brenda’s Story: Angelic Intervention

I was lying in bed that night, extremely worried about my new baby. There had been complications during his delivery and he was still in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), seriously ill. When I had brought my milk to the NICU for him that day, I was told he may not live through the night. 

It was difficult to get to sleep that night, but when I did I had a very strange dream. I dreamt I was talking to two tall figures dressed in white. They asked me if I truly wanted this baby, and I told them "yes." They then reminded me how hard it would be for me as a single mother and asked if I could still love him in spite of all the difficulties ahead. I told them that I loved him very much and that I wanted him to live. The two figures then went into a huddle as if they were discussing something, and I woke up. 

I went to the hospital as usual the next day. When I arrived the nurses told me that during the night my little boy had taken a miraculous turn for the better and that he would be able to go home soon. The doctors and nurses couldn’t explain his recovery at all. 

I know it was my angels that allowed my son to live.

Brenda (not her real name) lives in Winnipeg with her healthy and happy son, Andrew.

Monica Curry is a freelance writer, spiritual nomad and artist living in Winnipeg.
 

Dr. Denyse Appelmans, Homeopath, Medical Intuitive

Angelic guides are a radiant force of love that connect us to our truest selves. They are a source of healing for those individuals on the path of becoming consciously integrated in a predominately unconscious world. 

Our angelic guides can be present for us in the most painful times and the most blissful, inspiring us to recognize the guidance of our inner voice. For many of us, this inner voice is accessed through prayer, meditation, visualization or yoga, or simply by sitting still and allowing our heart to speak. By tapping the wisdom of angelic guidance, we remember who we are and the life lessons we have incarnated to learn. 

According to many great teachers and healers, there are only two real states of awareness: love and fear. 

In moments of fear or great challenge, communication with our angelic guidance can become fuzzy. We may even experience a "spiritual blackout." Our sense of compassion for ourselves, our light and our love, can become lost. At such times, we completely forget why we came here — we "forget to remember ourselves." Disconnected from angelic guidance, we no longer see, feel or hear the subtle callings of our inner selves. 

By turning inward at such times to listen to our inner voice, a sense of inspiration or deep inner knowing can guide us back to a place outside our everyday mind, reconnecting us to love rather than fear, to inspiration instead of "perspiration." 

Key to integrating angelic guidance into our conscious life are practices that balance our physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual selves. Deep prayer and meditation can, without a doubt, help open all our channels to clarity and inner wisdom, creating an inner stillness and vision. Neglect of the physical body and careless self-expression and behaviour can leave a void inhospitable to spiritual wisdom. Living consciously in an inspired state and actively engaging in life's daily challenges allows the spirit to fly and creatively express its inner truths. And this frees the intellect to connect with angelic guidance. 

The holiday season offers us a prime opportunity to begin integrating angelic guidance into our daily lives. Take a moment to breathe deeply, relax, visualize a peaceful place and ask for guidance along your journey. Allow your angels to speak and begin integrating their wisdom into your everyday life. Care for and nurture your body. And always remember the value of love even in the most challenging moments. 

Denyse Appelmans uses angelic guidance in her medical intuitive readings at the Lotus House of Integrated Wellness, 130 Sherbrook Street, (204) 774-2402.

Richard MacKenzie, Minister, Spiritualist Fellowship Church

As spiritualists, the existence of angels and spirit guides are central to our belief. We believe the spirit world is all around us. Our loved ones are not in a far-away, inaccessible place; they are often very close to us, helping, guiding and loving us as they did before passing into the spirit world. We view death as a transition, a continuous existence of spirit: from spirit world to the physical, and back to the spirit. 

Communication from spirit does not come to us with messages of fear, condemnation and punishment, but with messages of love, Natural Law and its operations. 

The medium is the connecting link. The more spiritual the medium, the more wonderful the communication. As the medium grows and develops spiritually, higher guides are attracted. Spirits having greater development would naturally not wish to communicate through mediums of a coarse and unspiritual nature. Only through the most highly developed mediums may the truth come without impediment.

To each person, God sends guides. They come to lead us toward our destinies, to save us from conditions which would interfere with our destinies, and to leave to us certain decisions which belong to us and are necessary to make as free moral agents. Without their guidance we would not feel the warmth of reassurance in our times of great distress and we would be without our greatest inspirations. 

Spirit guidance goes much farther than simply saving us from shocks and disasters; indeed, it does not save us from either if they are necessary for our growth. Beyond guidance is destiny. No individual was ever put into the world without a purpose. To us, our guides are bringing strength, health and ambition. They are bringing out our greater qualities. With their broader vision, more intimate knowledge of Natural Law and more dependable conception of God, our guides can see and feel what we do not. As we move along life’s journey, the spirit world sees how different results can be achieved in a variety of ways and our guides select paths which are best suited to our journeys. 

Our guides are given to us in accordance with our merits and needs. Sometimes we are receiving guidance from those who were among the Earth’s greatest. It is possible to go from cradle to grave without once realizing that the things we thought were ours were actually given to us, that we were helped to rise each time we stumbled, and that courage which came to us in the depths of despair was transmitted to us from the spirit side. While our guides are helping us, they also have guides in the higher spheres from whom they receive impressions and communications, and we of the earth have guides in the higher spheres that never come into intimate contact with us. While they are our guides, they are God’s Messengers. When we pray to God, our guides hear our prayers. 

Angels are spirits sent to bring messages. According to the Bible, angels have existed from the beginning of time. People can talk to angels, out loud or in their minds, and angels hear them. Some angels can be seen, some felt and some heard. They can take forms such as cloudlike balls of energy or intense fog. Angels can only perform miracles when guided by God’s will. The Archangels who stand before God are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel and Zadkiel. There are angels who preside over various levels of heaven, over each day of the week. The Angel of Death is usually not considered by spiritualists to be a fallen or evil angel. He may be several angels delegated by Metatron. To each of us is given a guardian angel to watch over our destiny. 

Some of our spirit guides are with us a part of every day from birth until death. Others come only for a period of time, and when they have guided us past that stage of our journey their work with us is done. 

Wherever we go, whatever we do, though we travel to the ends of the earth, our guides are with us.
 

The Spiritualist Fellowship Church holds services every Sunday from 7 to 9 PM in the Harrow United Church Sanctuary, 955 Mulvey Ave. For more information, call (204) 222-0071.

Syd Baumel, writer, editor, activist

The conventional metaphysical wisdom is that humanity is caught in an awkward straddle between the animal kingdom and the angels. Ironically, it’s the animals who have an angelic effect on me. 

Angels are supposed to bring us closer to God. Yet — more readily than anything else in the world — animals remind me of God. Quite a feat for an agnostic. 

Whenever I observe or interact with a nonhuman animal — usually one of my cats, but virtually any wild or domestic animal will do — very often a feeling I can only describe as (don’t laugh) sacred adoration comes over me. Inwardly I find myself uttering sweet religious nothings, like "bless you, bless you, bless you! And bless the Hand that made you. It is good. Oh, it is so good!" In the animal, I see and feel the tender, loving hand of its Creator; and in my delighted outpouring of goodwill toward this miracle of creation, I love it as its Creator does. The animal angel doesn’t just remind me of God, it brings out the God (or the angel?) in me.

Why do animals have this spiritually invaluable effect on me (and perhaps you)? I believe it’s because — uniquely among earthly creatures — they embody an awesome purity, wholeness and integrity, like a great work of art, only orders of magnitude better. And it’s in the apprehension of this awesome perfection that I discover the divinity in the other and the divinity in me.

When I’ve learned to love people as I love animals, I too will be an angel.

This fall, Aquarian Editor Syd Baumel founded eatkind.net. His animal angels made him do it.