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My Personal Angel Theory

By Rachael T. Wolfe, January 3, 2003



     People of the world today dearly love the subject of angels. Books and TV shows about angels are quite popular, and angel folklore is increasing. But the definition of an angel, who or what an angel really is, still remains a mystery, because it eludes positive proof. Thus, each individual who desires to probe the mystery may do so.

     For years, I had accepted the concept of angels as divine messages, speaking to us from within our own higher, spiritual consciousness, saving us from whatever false beliefs we're entertaining. This definition makes angels the message itself, rather than the messenger. Yet, there are many stories in the Bible depicting angels in another way…as messengers, or individual beings who bear or bring the message, who are sometimes able to appear in physical form, bearing a message from God for people who were (for some reason) unable to hear the voice of God within. Angels seem to appear in different forms when visibly seen: some as ordinary people, some as individuals glowing with great light, some an ethereal form (I don't know if wings were ever actually sighted or part of folklore).

     So, I've read many biblical stories of angels and also individual angel experiences written by people in the world today; and still these questions remained for me: are angels the divine messengers, the message itself, or both? If angels are divine messengers, can and do they sometimes take material form, possibly because an individual needs help from outside himself or herself?

     What is odd is that my prayer about the mystery of angels led me to another answer, (a really different answer than I'd been seeking) and perhaps I'll write a book someday, detailing it all. But for brevity, I'll give the essence of it here.

      First, I felt led, in thought, to go to the parable of the prodigal son, the full text of which can be found in the Bible, Luke 15: 11-32. Paraphrasing this account:

     A man had two sons, and the younger asked his father to give him his inheritance so that he could leave the father and go away to a distant place. The father did as asked, but the younger son soon went through all that had been given him and came into a desperate place where his supply of good was gone, and he didn't even have enough to eat. While eating with swine, the younger son "came to himself" remembered his home and conditions with his father, and decided to turn his life around and go home, begging his father's forgiveness for ever having gone away in the first place. While on the way home, his father saw him coming and sent servants to attend to him. In addition, a great feast was planned for his arrival, at which time the older son became really upset and felt betrayed by the father; after all, the older son had never deserted the father's home nor company. The father consoled the eldest sibling by reminding him that he'd always loved him and "all that I have is thine". Yet, (the father continued) the younger one had been lost to them and was now found, was dead to them, but now alive again, and it was cause for rejoicing.

While reading this parable, I wondered what it had to do with angels. Then these words came to my thought: "sleeping angels and awake angels." And suddenly I saw this whole parable in a new light.

      I felt that this story may be showing us that in the spiritual creation of God, there are two types of angels, symbolized in this parable…the sleeping angels and the awake angels. In fact, throughout the spiritual universe, all God's children are the angels. Those individuals who never fell asleep and into the material dream of existence are represented by the older brother, who always still perceives and knows the presence of God, still in God's spiritual realm. These spiritual sons and daughters of God never left home for the dreamland of physical formation. The sleeping angels are God's children who, like the prodigal son, left the consciousness of their spiritual home and existence in God's realm, for a distant land…they fell into a materialistic sleep, (the Adam dream) seemingly separated from their spiritual Source. These 'sleeping angels' are us. As the sleeping angels, our spiritual memories seem to be wiped clean of our true home, until we, also, 'come to ourselves' (awaken spiritually) and remember our true existence in Spirit's heavenly home.

      Going further: might not the diverse angel experiences which people have even today, be our spiritual brothers and sisters, the awake angels, who are still fully conscious, trying to help their sleeping brethren in moments of nightmarish dreams? Someone who is awake can always see someone who is sleeping and tell if they're in distress; but the sleeper, perceiving only what's in the dream, doesn't perceive the awakened ones, unless partially awake himself. Maybe the fact that some people merely sense an angel presence, or hear a voice, while others actually see an individual in celestial or human form bringing the message or comfort, depends upon the spiritually mental state of the person involved at the time. And perhaps our awake brethren, who have never entered the belief in physical birth, life and death, but always remained awake to their eternal, spiritual life, help us out of love. When our material sense of existence becomes threatening, if we can but stay aware of spiritual reality in some way, our loved ones are there to be heard, seen or felt.

      Now, so the reader knows I've had a few of my own "angel" experiences (though none where a celestial one has taken physical form, though I wish it were so) here is an account of what did occur on one occasion:

      While driving back to work from lunch, one day, I was driving through the streets a bit too fast. Suddenly, an image formed in my mind, a mental vision, so to speak, of a small, blue car coming from my right, and smashing into my car. About three seconds of this scene played out, and I "saw" myself lying half out of the driver's door, either unconscious or dead. The mini-second this vision disappeared from thought, a loud voice was heard, as if in my car, "STOP RIGHT NOW!" I immediately pressed down on the brake pedal in obedience, and approximately two seconds later a little blue car came out of nowhere, from my right, on a narrow side street, ran a stop sign and passed before the front of my car, missing me by inches. Had I not pressed the brake pedal in obedience to that voice in my car, it would have hit me exactly where my mental vision had shown.

      All the way back to work, I spoke to the invisible presence in my car, "Thank you, thank you, thank you…but why can't I see you? Please let me see you!" But no one appeared to my sight. I think I just wasn't awake enough. Yet, that certainly felt like a guardian angel and a distinct presence to me! And it was a male voice saying those words to me, telling me to stop. That's why I believe other stories of similar experiences.

      Now in this case, my angel experience was a mental vision, a loud voice, and a feeling of an individual presence. Even if my own theory is wrong about sleeping and awake angels, I do think angels are saving or comforting individuals who perceive us extremely better than we perceive them. I also believe their messages are always of the divine safety and love that exists within our true experience, though we know it not. Whoever and wherever they are, from one who has been blessed by their presence…I still repeat, "thank you, thank you, thank you!"

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