Angels are found in many religions other than Christianity. They are regarded as spirits or non-material entities who act as intermediaries between heaven and earth. Their roles are “to protect, influence and guide human beings.” The word “angel” literally means “messenger.”
According to the Catholic religion, a guardian angel is assigned by God to each person at the moment of birth to guide, counsel and protect him or her. It is also believed that there are hierarchies of angels with specific roles or functions.
St. John Paul II, whom I personally met and briefly talked with at the Vatican in 1986, emphasized the role of angels in Catholic teachings in his 1966 address entitled “Angels Participate in the History of Salvation.”
The Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, however, discourage the assigning of names to angels except Gabriel, Raphael and Michael, whose names are in the Holy Scriptures.
Some of the most common questions asked by people about angels are: How do I know if I have an angel? Are angels male or female? Do they have wings? Why can’t I see my guardian angel if I have one? Are there people who have seen an angel? What is the difference between an angel and a spirit guide? Where were the angels when over 55 journalists and politicians were massacred in Maguindanao, or more than 3,000 innocent people died in the New York Twin Towers terrorist attack? Why didn’t their angels save them?
Let’s try to answer these intriguing questions one by one.
Hitler’s angel
How do I know if I have a guardian angel? Why I can’t see him?
It is believed that everyone, even Adolf Hitler, has a guardian angel. Ordinarily, people are not aware of them because they are pure spirits, and therefore are invisible to the naked eye. But once our spiritual sight, or so-called “Third Eye,” is developed, we can see them.
They rarely appear to humans, but there are many documented cases when people have seen or encountered angelic creatures. One very prominent Swiss psychiatrist, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the world’s foremost authority on death and dying, once confessed in an interview with a popular American men’s magazine that her angel or spirit guide physically appeared to her and even shook hands with her.
Her candid revelation got her in trouble with her colleagues and almost destroyed her solid reputation as a scientist. But she adamantly stuck to her story.
Are angels male or female? Being spirits, angels are neither male nor female. In the Christian Bible, they are depicted as male, maybe because of the dominantly patriarchal culture at the time.
In the same sense, God has no sex. He is neither male nor female, but he is traditionally represented in the Christian religion as male. Polarity or duality exists only on the physical plane. Up to now, the Christian world could not conceive of a female God.
Do angels have wings? They don’t need wings to fly. But the human mind cannot imagine a creature moving in space without wings. And so the medieval artists depicted them with wings. According to another view, what people thought were wings were actually the aura or life force surrounding angels. They are reported to appear all the time as very bright, or surrounded by light.
Pure spirits
Is there a difference between angels and spirit guides? Some people believe they are the same, others say they are not. Angels are pure spirits who have not been born humans before, whereas spirit guides were once human and knew their wards from previews incarnations. They have agreed in previous lives to be a guide to the other in a succeeding incarnation, while the guide remains in the spirit world.
According to this belief, each of us has at least one spirit guide, but there could be more than one, depending on one’s responsibility or tasks on earth.
I have been told by no less than three separate individuals, one British medium, one American psychic and one Filipino clairvoyant, that they saw seven spirit guides behind me. I cannot see them, but I am sometimes aware of their presence.
Where were the guardian angels or guides of people who were murdered or died in accidents? Why didn’t their angels save them? It is believed that angels and spirit guides cannot interfere with man’s karma or destiny. They can only guide, influence, persuade or inspire, but they cannot change a destined course of events.
But there have been many reported and documented cases of angelic interventions in human affairs. In next week’s column, I shall give specific examples of these incredible angelic encounters from reliable sources. And there are thousands of them.
The next Inner Mind Development Seminar will be on Jan. 9-10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Rm. 308 Prince Plaza I Condominium, Legaspi St., Greenbelt Makati City. Interested parties may call tel. no. 8107245 or mobile no. 0998-9886292. E-mail: [email protected]
