There are two ways of answering the question “Are angels real or imaginary?” One is by way of rational inquiry based on the principles of divine revelation; the other, by way of rational inquiry based on “the metaphysical principles of the real.” The conclusion is the same, “angels are real.” I shall explain these two ways of knowing angels below.

There is a third way of knowing angels, and this is by experiencing their presence in person. Personal testimony, however, is subjective and, most of the time, such experience involves only one person.

These experiences with angels are important since they form personal belief, but it is difficult to determine whether or not a subjective experience indeed conforms to an objective fact.

For this reason, I shall not treat this way of knowing angels in the present paper. The interested reader could find an abundance of this kind of testimony in other articles reported under this title.

My answer will rely rather on the “facts of revelation” and on an objective rational explanation of why we believe angels are real.

THE LIGHT OF REVELATION AND THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS

Concerning the question of whether angels are real or imaginary, the “fonts of revelation” and the “supernatural appreciation of faith of the people of God” leave no room for doubt. The existence of angels is a revealed truth. Angels are referred to as real existing beings.

Here is how Benedict XVI summarizes the facts.

“The word ‘angel’ means ‘messenger’ and throughout the Old Testament we find these figures who help and guide human beings on God’s behalf.

“It suffices to remember the Book of Tobit, in which the figure of the Archangel Raphael appears and assists the protagonist Tobias in every vicissitude.

“On the threshold of the New Testament, the Archangel Gabriel is dispatched to announce to Zechariah and to Mary the joyful events at the beginning of our salvation.

“A choir of angels brings the shepherds the good news of the Savior’s birth.

“And it was also to be angels who announced the joyful news of Jesus’ Resurrection to the women.

“We would be removing an important part of the Gospel were we to leave out these beings sent by God.”

From another angle there is also what is called the ’sensus fidei’. Through this “supernatural sense of faith,” believers know that God, in His ordinary providence, bestows a Guardian Angel to each human being who comes into the world.

“An Angel of the Lord will go before you,”

Enlightenment is when God reveals truth to the mind. The best analogy would be as light hits a mirror and reflects back. It is really more like the refraction of light that is given off by a prism or cut crystal gem, because the truth spreads out in many directions and encompasses many things and many people often hitting upon unexpected places with varied effects.

Enlightenment by God is a form of spirituality. It should in no way be confused with “spiritualism” which is 1) non-physical and 2) occult or founded on nothing more than metaphysical circumstances which may have bad results. God’s insight is always true and a sure thing driven by love. However, both kinds come with knowledge that is without inference to objective reality and both are arrived at without reasoning or preparedness. This means that enlightenment or “true wisdom” requires no formal education, critical thinking skills, nor genetic or mental agility. It does not require a team of experts, no matter how enormously paid, since it cannot be bought or sold. Truth is usually simple, straight-forward, noncontradictory and absolute.

Intuition is one form of Godly wisdom. We have all heard of a mother’s or father’s intuition which comes from the gut and heart rather than logic. It is the power of knowing intuitively and apprehending immediately. Christians call this “discernment of the spirits.” We see innate and instinctive behavior in animal species all the time. Fight or flight, mating, and parenting would be examples of instinctive behavior. Something is apparently hard-wired into everything and everyone’s brain that allows them to reproduce. Things get a little stickier when we think about conscience, ethics and fair-play. King Solomon is the best example of this kind of Godly common sense. He forced two mothers to make a difficult choice, thereby squeezing out the truth about who the real mother of a baby could be. When given the order to cut the child in two, the real mother offered to give the child away rather than see the child come to any harm. Only the real and loving mother would be so unselfish and compassionate.

Prophetic ability is a gift of God and although it is available to everyone as need dictates for God’s sake, not everyone is called to act as God’s servant or messenger. Prophecy is divine inspiration by God to predict the future or give instructions in religious matters. The words should always make reference to who is in charge – God – and contain grace and salvation

From a religious and atheistic point of view, the undeniable truth of the matter is that hell, a place of endless suffering for sinners, is simply an extended metaphor for a metaphysical nonexistence. The ambiguity of the concept of hell extends from culture to culture, changing with the differences in religious beliefs, but fundamentally keeping the same basis of belief; like fire, brimstone, and torture.

From the dawn of religious belief, hell has always existed as an equilibria, or counter balance, to the popular notion of Heaven. This counter balance existed as an insurance policy for the indoctrinated. Without the existence of hell, there wouldn’t have been any motivation for the populous to lead a “good” life.

This is the belief from which the christian doctrine of hell extends. It is believed that if God created an all good kingdome of love, he would also have to create a place for those spiritually unclean.

While this belief may be sound, the concept of hell shared among today’s populous is a misinterpretation of a dogmatic concept. The origin of the abrahamic definition of hell, in fact, has nothing to do with torture or fire, but purely of nonexistence. When translating the bible from Hebrew to English, there were three words believed to have the same meaning, which were translated into “hell.” The first two words were “sheol,” and “hades.” These words were literally held to mean “unseen/ grave.” The third word “Gehanna,” was a tangle place; it was a trash pit outside of Jerusalem which was constantly on fire.

When translating these words from Hebrew to English, the translators felt it appropriate to use the old English word “hel.” At this time, the translation was valid; the literal meaning of “hel” was the same at “sheol” and “gahenna;” unseen.

During the time of translation, a story was written which edited the concept of hell to incorporate fire and torture. This story is popular referred to as Dante’s Inferno. This divine comedy was a pagan adaptation of a long held notion of the underworld. It incorporated pagan gods as well as christian beliefs.

While just a story, the catholic church adopted its fundamental ideas of hell, and incorporated it into their teachings. The reasons for this, as well as the outcomes, are subjects of other articles. One lesson to be taken from this information though is that hell is not the place of fire and brimstone everyone believes it to be!

Today children are taught that if they misbehave, there is a cozy domain of pain and suffering awaiting them. This concept is simply wrong; hell is not a physical place, but a state of nonexistence. The bible describes it in great detail; Once a person dies, their spirit goes to hell. This is to say that their spirit is at rest and unseen; it doesn’t exist in the normal tangible realm of existence. During Jesus’ second coming, the spirits will rise and walk again, awaiting his second judgement.

Those who are found holy will be allowed entrance into the kingdom of heaven, while those who are found unholy are said to be cast into the lake of fire. The literal quote from the book of revelations is that “hell and death are cast into the lake of fire.” Logic is proof that hell could not be the lake of fire if is is cast into the lake of fire! Once casted into “gehanna,” the souls of the unclean are destroyed, and are once again nonexistent.

This is proof, beyond a doubt, that hell is not a literal place of fire and brimstone, but rather an extended metaphor for a state of nonexistence.

Power of the Pendulum

It is believed by those who seek wisdom and guidance from the metaphysical realm, such as Wiccans and spiritual readers, that the forces of one’s psychic energy can be harnessed through the power of the pendulum. Modern day Wiccans believe that we all have the divine within and one should develop their natural gifts for divination or forecasting.

Pendulums have been used throughout history as a dowsing tool and date back thousands of years to the ancient Orient. Dowsing or divining is the practice of attempting to locate hidden water, metals, ores, gemstones, earth radiation or even missing persons without the use of a scientific device.

The pendulum, a simply designed divinity tool, is nothing more than a chain or string weighted down by a crystal or other heavy object. Pendulums can be purchased or homemade using items such as a good luck charm or family heirloom that has personal significance. Traditional pendulums are pointed at the to aid with divination or forecasting. The point represents the culmination of the energies one channels while searching for answers.

Purists would recommend cleansing the pendulum prior to use. Cleansing encompasses using incense or a sage smudge stick (sage is considered one of the most potent herbs to remove negative forces) and light to create smoke. Next pass your pendulum through the smoke several times to complete the cleansing.

The correct way to hold a pendulum is to grasp the top of the chain lightly between ones thumb and forefinger with the wrist pointing downward. When one is asking for guidance, energy vibrations will focus on the pendulum and result in the following six potential answers: yes, no, maybe, don’t want to answer, probably yes, and probably no. Pendulums are used to connect oneself with their own higher power and spiritual guides to help point them on a meaningful journey through life.

It is also suggested that one should focus intently on the pendulum and clear one’s mind prior to asking for predictions or answers. The idea is to power the pendulum with as much of ones own energies as possible prior to using. It is thought that one’s divine being will have more control and influence over the pendulum if their positive energies reign supreme. Some even carry the pendulum with them for days or weeks in order for it to absorb all of their energy.

A pendulum board is often used in conjunction with a pendulum and can be purchased or homemade as well. The pendulum board image can be as simple as a five-point star surrounded by a circle, or more personalized with images of a higher meaning to the owner. Once the design is set, the next step is adding the six answers so that the pendulum can sway in the appropriate divine direction.

Whether for fun or serious contemplation of life’s pathways, the power of the pendulum is a unique way to seek answers to the unknown.

###

How and Why To Raise Your Vibrational Frequency

“If you want to be rich, live with the rich. If you want to be poor, live with the poor.” This popular adage was overheard during my formative years, and translated by a malleable twelve year old it meant that if one was born into poverty, there was little means of escape. It also meant that if one were born into the middle class, one would remain middle classed. It meant that unless one was born into a life of riches and luxury, one could surely never hope for anything significantly different. It is the American version of the caste system.

Predecessors planted the seeds as a means for ensuring semi-complacency, for training the future work forces into not expecting too much. The world needs great numbers of workers to accept their lots, to accept structure, to take direction with little question. The world depends upon a large number of youth growing to join ranks in Military and blue collar and even white collar positions. Apathy is cultivated by reward or punishment, and is necessary to the point where employees are trained to tolerate the time clock, the quotas, and the demands of employment. The sprouts of lethargy grew long before the collective consciousness began an awareness of vibrational frequencies, took unyielding root decades before the metaphysical “law of attraction” became mainstream cinema. Lack of interest supports the status quo. Life is smooth and easy; at least that’s the common sense approach to living.

Then came along an undercurrent that questioned, “Is this all there is?”

And for many, it wasn’t enough.

Work “harder, longer, strive to do better” came the messages. Then came burnout and women working and an economy where both parents found themselves working “harder, longer, [striving] to do better.” And families became broken, and children became victims, and parents over-indulged and became guilty. And lethargy grew deeper. But the complacency began to fail and the questions arise again, “Is this all there is?”

In the meanwhile, physics and meta-physics began to meet head-on, not in some wild entanglement of debris, but in a meeting ground of common theory. Books were written, groups were formed, self-declared, “masters” were born, procedures were developed or borrowed and tweaked, and the world zeitgeist shifted. A lot.

Perhaps the change was subtler than it appears in hindsight, but the transformation is unarguably profound. Anyone in the sales field has attended

Finding ourselves after a journey of pain; the very words, “journey of pain” can make one cringe, and yet, a journey of pain can bring great rewards and insights, as to the purpose of a challenging life experience. Humanly speaking, there are many things that can cause or create a journey of pain: a forced change in residence, a change in a relationship, loss of a loved one, a change in finances. A spiritual awakening can also cause or create a journey of pain.

A journey of pain, no matter how you look at it, is going to cause life from being in the norm and the status quo, to change and demand our immediate attention. It is safe to say that we (husband, myself and our daughter) have experienced all of the above. Our journey of pain was our awakening on our spiritual journey. Now, mind you, the pain that came was our lives changing from the everyday norm of doing and living life, based on how life is moving around us, to awakening and activating our intuitive knowing.

We were born with a tremendous amount of intuitive knowing and feeling. Once I began healing my childhood imprinting, life began to level out a bit for me, for awhile. As I had always been empathically and intuitively aware as a kid, once my healing began, my intuitive sensing began kicking in more than normal, and so I began finding ways to develop and understand more of my abilities. Things were normal and life was good for awhile, until I began teaching psychic and intuitive development and teaching the Tarot. And then one day life changed drastically. We were no longer in the realm of the metaphysical new age. Our energy was graduating and evolving and we were no longer able to view or perceive life from our normal human eyes.

Arguments and disagreements were no longer allowed to be viewed or resolved from this limited perspective, and if we couldn’t heal something with balance, awareness and understanding with another, then the relationship dissolved itself and we were guided to move on and move forward, while processing this change from deeper within us, based on soul guidance and not on having the last word to win the argument.

A journey of pain forces us to reevaluate our lives, from the inside. It forces us to assess what is important and what needs our immediate attention to detail. A journey of pain, humanly speaking, is a spiritual awakening. It brings us into a deeper part of ourselves and allows and guides us to look deeper for our answers, based on our own soul

THE POWER OF PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS

Present moment, what is it? Most of us do not have the slightest clue! Why is that? We simply forgot! This forgetfulness is in complete correlation with our present culture of scientific materialism, which dismissing any metaphysical explanation beyond matter. The scientific explanation of life is so widely accepted in our society that writing on spiritual matters can be rather daunting. A portion of the scientific community is aware of the spiritual undertone of life however, they keep the knowledge secret rather than risking the label of nutty professors.

Thankfully, there are also many thinkers in society, which regardless of public opinion are willing to put pen on paper and give voice to the long forgotten past.

Historians of the ancient world telling us that throughout the ages, members of Secret societies were able to communicate with both the created and uncreated, including gods, angels, heavenly bodies and animals. Slowly, the wheel of evolution drove these societies underground to give way to scientific materialism. With the birth of Western Democracies and the separation of State and Church today, the competing world -views are diminishing.

Giving more and more attention for the importance of material comfort, men began to forget how to communicate with the rest of creation.

Young children remained naturals of living in the present moment however; we remake them by education to become scientific materialists.

When observing the mind, becomes clear that it is concerned with the present or the past. For ions it worked like that and reluctant to move in the present moment because of fear of the unknown.

Why do we want to remember the long forgotten past and experiencing the present moment? The answer is to be enlightened!

Jesus told us that the kingdom of Heaven is within you and the Buddha declared; be enlightened, enlightenment is the end of human suffering!

Experiencing the power of present moment takes an element of belief and initial effort to open the tightly locked door of the present moment.

A Course In Miracles ( by Helen Schucman) stating that it is the human will where change is happening thus, a split second can be sufficient to provide the necessary shift of the mind.

The ancient Sufi master Jalal-Ud-Din Rumi is offering the following how to experience the power of the present moment:

“Ground yourself, strip yourself down

to bring loving silence

stay there until you see

You are gazing

Perception is defined as: “the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.” This sensory information is your mental processing; which determines what your perception of reality is. Perception is usually done in two phases; internal perception, and also external perception. How you process these thoughts when they enter your mind will determine what your mental perception is.

Rene Descartes asked the question: “Do I exist?” Freudian psychology claims that “self perception” is an illusion of the ego. So, the question remains to be asked; can our perceptions allow us to experience the world as it really is? And can we “really” relate to another point of view; other than our own mental perceptions?

Internal perception (proprioception) relates to the perception of our bodies such as: sensing limbs such as arm and legs, the feeling of sitting or standing, hunger, feeling excited or tired.

External or sensory perception (exteroception) is the perception of events or activities outside of our bodies such as: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. All of these sensory perceptions are permanently entered into our minds; to be recalled each time a sense is recognized. These are the external senses which drive our lives, and plays a part in our emotional perceptions of life.

The most philosophical problem with perception is the way in which we gain our knowledge. However, in order to better understand our perception we must first look at our metaphysical viewpoint. Is our viewpoint to reality: “direct realism, indirect realism, or idealism? How we perceive these external perceptions will then determine what our outlook, or viewpoint is.

Extrasensory perception (ESP) is another type of perception to be considered. ESP is the ability to “acquire information by paranormal means; independent of any known means.” This term ESP was coined by Duke University researcher J. B. Rhine to “denote psychic abilities.”

ESP has sometimes been referred to as the sixth sense. This sense is all about: gut instinct, hunch, or intuition. Parapsychologists usually regard such tests as the “ganzfeld experiment” as compelling evidence for ESP. Whether this sixth sense has any influence on our perceptual senses is undetermined; due to the disputed evidence base.

Among the most common beliefs is that our third dimensional perception starts in early childhood as “naive realism,” in which you believe that what you see, is also true about

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Can dreams predict the future? I must admit, this is a question that used to keep me up at night, when I first began my journey in metaphysical studies, back in my 20’s. When I was 16, recuperating from my second knee surgery, as I had been on pain meds and spent a lot of time sleeping and healing, I noticed that I kept having this dream about a band of traveling gypsies. And in this dream, I saw all of these beautiful colored tents, and life was lively and spirited, and I remembered watching this wise woman, holding another’s hand and just looking at the hand. I also remember these very beautiful colorful cards, spread out on this very colorful cloth. I had this dream almost 10 times, before I finally mentioned it to my mother. That’s when she shared with me that the dream I was having was about my grandfather (my father’s father) and how he traveled with his adoptive family, through Europe reading cards, doing palmistry, basically telling fortunes. I was 16 when these dreams began. So, the question is; Can dreams predict the future?

Based on where my life’s journey has taken me in the last 25 years; Can dreams predict the future, or are our dreams our guide, about the path and the life that we are most meant to live; a life that is more in alignment with who we are, deep within us, not who we should be, based on life going on around us? Well, anyway back to the dream part ~ I started to or was called to learning and developing my own psychic/intuitive and empathic abilities in my 20’s. As each layer and level to my life began to unfold, pretty soon, spiritually-based concepts were introduced into my life and soon the blending of these modalities became conscious awareness and everything being energy. I have moved 30 times, in the last 19 years. Yes, trust me, it is a lot, however based on what my life’s path was meant to be, travelling to different areas, each time, another level of awareness was to be integrated, afforded me this learning experience, in a very direct way.

Going back to the dream, my great grandparents were a travelling band of gypsies, telling fortunes and traveling around Europe. I would say there is a pretty close connection to their life and the life I would eventually live. I used to think that dreams could predict the future, until I started looking at how my inner life was unfolding. Prior to my husband and I reconnecting and getting married, I was hanging/dating someone else, but the connection didn’t feel right and I knew that

Mark and I were at the weekly metaphysical book study group that we love to attend when one of the members commented, “I don’t notice Abraham-Hicks saying much about the Buddhist concept, ‘we are all one.’ “

The group had, in weeks past, read Abraham’s latest book, Money, and the Law of Attraction. Even though we’re now reading other books (currently one by Sonia Choquette), the group often relates concepts from the various books we read back to the philosophy of Abraham. And if a question connected to Abraham arises, the group sometimes looks to Mark and me for a response. We’re not experts in Abrahamology, but we are, well, obsessed with the teachings. No, not really obsessed. More like OBSESSED. Ha. We adore the clarity and depth of this philosophy, and we chat about it at home and in the car often.

So…chatting about the question that arose that night, we had to admit that we weren’t sure what Abraham has to say about the idea that humanity is all one, all inter-connected. We certainly didn’t feel that Abraham would disagree with the concept; after all, they’ve said that everyone on earth right now is from the same family of energy. (Could someone please break that news to a few of our warring factions?)

But Abraham doesn’t seem to emphasize the “we-are-all-one” concept that many New Age teachers refer to often.

It occurs to me, now, how much the message of Abraham is about individual creation. We are each the manager of our own thoughts and thus the manager of our own vibration. It is our vibration that attracts, courtesy of the ever-on-duty Law of Attraction, the events and circumstances of our life. Abraham has repeatedly emphasized that nobody, no one, no how can “jump into our experience” and create in our lives – only if we give that person or situation our attention.

Creation is all about mental focus, and that is a decidedly singular process. Even when large groups of people experience events – wonderful or horrible – that are unique to their particular group, it is always a case of each individual being a vibrational match to that circumstance. Groups do not create vibrationally; individuals create vibrationally and often rendezvous with others who are creating vibrationally in similar ways.

Last night, Mark had a further insight about this “oneness” concept vis-a-vis Abraham, and he rushed upstairs where I was sitting at this very computer, doing intense work and/or emailing goofy jokes.

“I’ve got it!” Mark declared with excitement. “The oneness that Abraham recommends is oneness with…”

“Omigosh, oneness with our Inner Being!” I broke in, with a sudden sense of revelation and on-going commitment to finishing my guy’s sentences.

“That’s it!” Mark exclaimed. “As we view life increasingly from a good-feeling vantage point, we become more and more like our Inner Being. In fact, when we’re in a state of appreciation, we’re actually blended beings, Abe says. We have merged with our joyful Inner Being. We are one!”

“Yes! And that’s how we allow the well-being that is always knocking at our door to come on in and sit down for a spell! By jove, I think we’ve got it! THIS is the oneness that Abraham talks about!” I proclaimed.

Mark and I high-fived. (Or was it high-tenned…I forget.) Thanks to a timely question by a friend in our book group, we had pondered what we knew of the Abe philosophy and had come up with some answers.

Questions…answers. Problems…solutions. Desires…manifestations. It’s an on-going journey of choosing good-enough feeling thoughts that we arrive at our destinations, having a heck of a good time in the process

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