What Can Angels Do
for Us, and What Are
Their Limitations?
Often there is confusion about the role of the angel realm in our earthly life. Sometimes this confusion can even lead humans to feel abandoned or forgotten by the angels, which I assure you is never the case.
Why are some prayers seemingly not answered? Why do angels appear to intervene in some situations and not others? Why don’t angels spare us from every tragedy? Do angels help humans even when we don’t ask for help? What is the nature of our relationship to angels on a spiritual level? How do the angels relate to each other? Does Spirit have a set plan for our life? Are there aspects of our life path that we can negotiate with Spirit and the help of the angel realm? Does our highest good, which the angels always lead us toward, always feel good? Are there ways that humans can invite the angels to play a larger role in our lives?
We’ll discuss all these exciting questions and more in this chapter. At the end of it I hope you feel inspired, comforted, and curious. Most of all, I hope you will have a clearer understanding of how to best utilize all the resources the angel realm has to offer.
Fate, Free Will, and the Angel Realm
Your guardian angels want you to understand one of the most powerful dichotomies of earthly existence: fate and free will. There are certain aspects of your life that were fated, or planned out, before you were even born. Some of these are obvious: What family you were born into. Your cultural and racial heritage. The color of your eyes and hair. But did you know that much more than that was mapped out for you before you were born? Jobs you will hold, and certainly your callings. Archetypes inside you—like student, healer, mother, performer—that will be activated at specific times and via specific events? Challenges you will face, important relationships you will have—many of these unique aspects of your life were set in motion when you were still residing with the angels in the world of Spirit.
The knowledge that much of life is preordained can feel comforting. It’s not all chaos! There’s a path, lessons to be learned, rhyme and reason, a grand design or purpose to it all. And other times this notion of fate can feel stifling, suffocating. That’s when it’s time to contemplate, and exercise, your free will.
Like a big vacation, much of your human journey has been carefully researched and planned ahead of time by your soul, your soul family, your spirit guides, your guardian angels, and Spirit itself. Yet how you experience that journey, and the details of the journey, are up to you. What will you make of these relationships you’ll experience? How much will you work on self-improvement? How much love will you give away? How gentle and kind will you be toward yourself? How far will you take your potential as an artist or teacher? How will you mentor the children in your life? What career choices will you make? How will you heal from an illness, and how long will it take? Will you accept the help that Spirit sends? Will you rush through life or savor it? Will you stop to reflect and learn lessons or will you repeat the same mistakes over and over? Will you make the journey as difficult and unforgiving as possible, or will you make the journey as comfortable and joyous as possible? Where will you take risks and when will you play it safe?
Your guardian angels want you to know that so much of how you experience and interpret this journey is up to you, via the choices you make with your free will. That can feel liberating, but it can also feel intimidating. Relax—you’re not alone. Your guardian angels will be right there every step of the way, encouraging you through the signs and people they send, and through your own intuition, to help you make the best choices.
Your angels want you to have the most rewarding life possible. Your angels want you to make gutsy decisions that allow you to live up to your full potential. Your angels want you to protect yourself and create stability so you have a safe foundation from which to take off and soar. Your angels want you to recognize and accept the grace and aid Spirit offers during times of crisis and transition. Your angels want you to celebrate and experience all the joy and wonder life has to offer.
Your guardian angels want you to know that others, naturally, have free will as well. You might cry out to Spirit, “Please, don’t take my husband from me!” But if your husband wants a divorce, wants to leave you, that decision is, “largely,” the angels tell me, up to him. Angels cannot interfere with another person’s free will, even, the angels inform me, if they desperately want to. If they feel someone is about to take an action against their best interests—say, if your husband is acting rashly—angels can try and dissuade the person from taking action. But ultimately we all have free will, and it’s a mighty powerful force. The angels are reminding me that humans are powerful spiritual beings and free will is one of the main ways we exercise that power. It is a gift from Spirit, meant to be used, not usurped. The exception to this is if you are going to do something with your free will that goes expressly against your life path, the life path of another, or the will of Spirit. Then, in some cases, the angels can intervene in dramatic ways. More likely they will put up roadblocks to try and stop you from taking the path you’re currently headed down. If something doesn’t work out over and over, it might simply be that this aspect of your journey is meant to be challenging. Not all things are intended to be easy! But it might indicate that angels and Spirit are putting up roadblocks to get you to abandon this path and consider another. If you get quiet and ask the angels, you should be able to tell the difference.
Your guardian angels are here to drop breadcrumbs along the path, leading you through this earthly trip via the most advantageous route. A route of self-love, self-expression, service, wisdom, joy, and gratitude. The angels want you to watch for signposts from them along the journey. They lead you to advantageous choices and opportunities that facilitate the most dynamic version of the life you signed up for in heaven.
You could also think of your earthly existence as a dinner invitation your soul accepted. The restaurant is set. Your dinner companions are assigned. The time of your reservation is already on the books. That is all fated. But what will you wear? What will you order when the waiter hands you the menu? What will you discuss over the main course? Will you have coffee afterward and linger? Will you have dessert? Will you tip well? These are all matters of free will.
Free will and fate are like peanut butter and chocolate. Strawberries and cream. A burger and fries. Each element is good on its own, but they are so much better when paired. Together fate and free will balance each other out. Together fate and free will transcend to become something special, extraordinary.
How does your free will influence your relationship with the angel realm? The angel realm will support and guide you whether you acknowledge angels or not. Take your guardian angels, for example. It is their fate to help you. They will always be offering you love and comfort and guidance. However, the more you ask for their help, the more active a role they will play in your life—the more guidance they will offer, the more you will feel their presence. That’s because you are saying to the angels, “Hey, guys, I want more of you in my life!” This is your free will being exercised. When I asked the angel realm to show me a way to express how human free will works with the angel realm, they sent me an image of a flower being watered. Simply put, the more you communicate with the angel realm and acknowledge the presence of angels, the more your relationship with the angel realm will grow, just like a plant that is watered and well cared for will grow and flourish.
Your angels want you to understand fate and exercise free will to help you make the most of this soul assignment called earthly life. When both fate and free will are working harmoniously, it’s a recipe for alchemy. It’s how humans turn an ordinary existence into spiritual gold.
Angel Prayer: Guardian angels, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
You Have Soul Contracts
with Your Guardian Angels
A book about angels is an appropriate place to discuss soul contracts, since you have important soul contracts with each of your guardian angels. I was introduced to the concept of soul contracts by soul contract astrologer and intuitive life strategist Robert Ohotto. Robert is a progressive author, radio show host, and professional intuitive with a fun bedside manner.
I believe that soul contracts are agreements you made with angels, spirit guides, relatives, coworkers, friends, institutions, places, and even Spirit itself before you were born. Your guardian angels have soul contracts with you wherein they agreed to guide and protect you throughout this lifetime, and possibly other lifetimes as well. Some soul contracts are what would be considered minor, and/or may only span a short period of time. Others, like the ones with your guardian angels, are significant in content and length.
Do you have a very close friend whom you’ve known since you were a child, or one you have stayed close with throughout your adult life? Even though you aren’t family, you might think of each other more like siblings than friends. That’s because you are soul siblings. No doubt you both entered into a soul contract with each other before you were born. Soul contracts are often made with people in our soul family, souls we were close with on the other side and have perhaps shared past lives with. What did you and your good friend agree to help each other with in this life? You can get clues to the details of your soul contract by examining things like: when you met, important lessons you have taught each other over the years, challenges you have helped each other overcome. You’ve probably learned much from this person and been greatly nourished by the relationship. It’s hard to look back on your life and imagine it without these soul siblings. I have a friend like this named Cathryn who has been a key part of my life for over two decades. Just hearing her voice on the telephone makes me feel so grounded, so myself. I’m sure we planned several details of our relationship (where and when we would meet, ways we would challenge and support and inspire each other) before we were even born. With people like this there is often a strong connection right away. You can talk to them about anything, you get along remarkably well, you may be struck by them the first time you see them—before you even get a chance to speak. Or you might have a strong negative reaction to them: find them incredibly rude or boring. Many times this negative initial impression changes to a positive one as you get to know the person. Or perhaps this negative initial impression later proves to have been a warning that this person is someone you should steer clear of in this life. I think a strong initial reaction, one way or another, is always worth examining for a possible soul connection.
Other soul contracts are only meant to handle a specific event or issue and are short in duration. Do you have a friendship or work relationship where you learned something significant from someone, but then the relationship naturally ended, or you felt it was time to move on? This was probably still a soul contract, made before you were born, but you weren’t meant to be a major player in the life of this particular soul. Perhaps you’ve had past lives together but always chose to be supporting as opposed to starring roles in each other’s lives. Or maybe you had a heavy and lengthy soul contract with this person in a past life and now you are sitting out the drama for a second! (A quick note on past lives: Having past lives is something that resonates strongly with me personally. I know past lives may not resonate with all people who believe in angels, yet I think past lives are worth discussing briefly in this section. If you’d like to know more about past-life theories, there are tons of books out there that can discuss the concept in greater depth.)
I believe you can also have soul contracts with souls you only know casually on the other side, souls who are not part of your soul family, and souls whom you have never met in a past life. Say for instance that you agree with Spirit to go through a certain challenge while you are on earth. Perhaps you agree to have a certain disease so you can help others heal, learn something on a soul level during your own healing, or teach others what you learn during your journey managing this condition. Another soul in heaven might say something like, “Hi! Spirit let me know what you are planning. I’m going to be down on earth when you’re there, helping people with that same disease. I really dig the way you will learn and grow and help others via this experience. I want to draft a soul contract to be your doctor.”
I don’t personally believe we always have soul contracts with people who help us. I think sometimes a problem or need arises in our lives and our guardian angels look around, see who is available and appropriate and send that person to us for the mutual benefit of both people.
Other soul contracts you might have are with some of your helper angels, who agree to step in at certain predetermined points in your life when you have a need for their particular area of discipline. You may have a soul contract with an archangel if your soul purpose has a particular need for that archangel’s specialty. Likewise I think you can have soul contracts with some of your spirit guides and ascended masters.
You also have an elaborate soul contract with Spirit itself. This details things you agreed to experience, teach, and learn here on earth during your lifetime. Are these contracts negotiable? I believe so, to a degree. It’s hard to negotiate things you aren’t aware of, and I feel that many items in these contracts are not known to our conscious minds. But I do believe some things can be negotiated, and that’s a great time to get your guardian angels involved. You can tell them: “Hey, I don’t know if I signed up for what I’m experiencing right now, but I really want to see if there is a way to change or modify our agreement on this one.” Maybe you have one child, but later in life decide you’d like a second. You try to conceive but can’t. You look into adoption but it’s more than you can afford. Ask your angels to help. You can write a journal entry to your angels, asking them to explain to everyone in heaven that you really feel a second child is right for your family, and you want some guidance and help to achieve this. Then watch for messages from your angels in the form of thoughts and feelings and even people and opportunities regarding this issue of a second child. There is an interesting movie that deals with this exact question of whether we can negotiate aspects of our fate with Spirit called The Adjustment Bureau. I was fascinated when I saw the film, and then later I heard Robert Ohotto mention the movie on his radio show and I knew I was on to something!
Certain aspects of our existence are obviously nonnegotiable: your natural eye color, the family you were born into. And while I believe other aspects are negotiable, I think some that could possibly be negotiable are often not (like wanting someone to be your life partner yet having the relationship never work out or the other person feel differently). But as you know, it never hurts to ask your angels to get involved. Even if something cannot be shifted, your angels are excellent at giving you intuitive wisdom about why some things are best left as they are.
What happens when a soul contract is up? Sometimes relationships we’re in and roles we play will leave our lives peacefully and easily. Other times there’s a big blowup and lots of drama. Both types of endings may signal the completion of a soul contract. Some soul contracts might be very important to your journey, but be relatively brief. An example is when two people get married and immediately have a child, but then quickly get divorced. Often the couple never completely regrets getting together because they created such a wonderful little person. They see there was a purpose to their union, but they also realize that they were not meant to be life partners. The soul contract was to have a child together and be co-parents, but that’s it.
Sometimes life will create little dramas to help you leave a situation or relationship if your soul contract is up but you are having trouble walking away on your own. An example of this might be getting fired or laid off from your job. We can have soul contracts with organizations, and you might have had one with a company you worked for. Say you worked there for many years and were a faithful employee. You gained much from the experience. Maybe you’ve thought about leaving, and daydreamed about a different career, but were too scared to walk away. The job might end simply because your soul contract there is up, and it’s time for you to start a new career.
This is a good time to note that you should never be afraid to walk away from an abusive or toxic situation or relationship because you feel you will be betraying a soul contract. Taking good care of yourself and setting healthy boundaries trumps all, and your angels always want you to be safe.
If you feel you have an important soul contract regarding a relationship or situation in your life, it can be fun and insightful to ask your guardian angels to give you intuitive hints about the nature and length of this particular contract. I’m also being guided to tell you that another option is employing a helper angel who specializes in soul contract “law.” These particular helper angels are very astute and organized and are expert researchers. I’m seeing an image of one in a library wearing glasses, and this angel is surrounded by books and papers that no doubt contain your soul contracts and those of everyone and everything you are linked with. These soul contract helper angels are detail-
oriented, and very eager to share their expertise with us!
Angel Prayer: Angels, please help me see all the roles I play and relationships I’m in from a spiritual perspective, and help me remember that many of them were planned out before I was born.
Angels Are Action Heroes
We’ve all heard stories about angels swooping in and saving the day in dramatic ways. People have reported angels healing them, angels saving them from drowning, angels scaring away attackers and thieves. It’s fun to think of angels as action heroes. But more than wanting you to think of angels as action heroes, angels want you to see yourself as an action hero. While it’s true that angels may intervene and pull our chestnuts out of the fire when a situation is dire, more often angels give us guidance about action steps that we can take to save ourselves.
When you pray to an angel for help or guidance, don’t assume that means an angel is going to come in and fix everything for you. In fact, that is very rarely the case. Usually an angel’s help will arrive in the form of thoughts or feelings about action steps you can take to improve the situation yourself. Another way an angel will help is to send opportunities or people into your life. Again, it is up to you to utilize these opportunities and engage these people.
If angels are so loving and so powerful, why don’t angels just fold us up in their wings and take care of everything for us? Because we came to earth from the world of Spirit so that we could do big things here. You are a spirit starring in this human drama, and your role is to grow as a soul and help heal the planet and its inhabitants. That’s gonna mean some intense scenes! Cue the action montage! This is not a passive part you signed on for—you’re not an extra milling about in the background waiting for the catering truck to arrive. And it’s too late to call your agent and back out. You’re here, the curtain has gone up, and the rest of us need you to take your place center stage.
An angel rescuing you every time you need help would rob you of learning many of the lessons your soul agreed to experience here. And robbing you of those lessons further robs others of what you would have been able to teach. An angel doesn’t come in and save you for the same reason a mother doesn’t always jump in and save her child. She wants the child to learn to do for themselves. Spirit and the angels also want you to learn to do for yourself.
The angels have guided me to share a dramatic example of this from the book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by the talented storyteller Laura Hillenbrand. This bestseller is the true account of Louie Zamperini, an Army Air Corpsman whose B-24 was shot down by the Japanese. Louie spent forty-seven days on a life raft in shark-infested waters. At some point during that terrible voyage on the raft, Louie’s exhausted, sunburnt, gaunt face looked up to the sky and witnessed a miracle: A group of human figures floated high above his raft. (The angels are asking me to tell you that some of the most profound miracles you will witness will come during your darkest hours.) Louie counted twenty-one of these divine angels hovering above him, and “they were singing the sweetest song he had ever heard.” I believe with all my heart, as does Louie, that what he saw and heard was not a hallucination. I believe it was an actual group of angels—no doubt Louie’s guardian angels among them. These angels let Louie know, by allowing Louie to see and hear them, that he had not been abandoned. No doubt angels also gave Louie some of the ideas he had that kept himself and his fellow soldier on the raft alive: the rationing of food, how to filter seawater for drinking, how to evade the sharks, catching and eating birds, etc. However it was up to Louie and his friend to execute these ideas and make it through this ordeal. Why didn’t the angels save them and spare them this nightmare? The answer is complex, involving the free will of the people engaged in this war, the soul contracts of those people, and the “dark forces” (this is the description the angels asked me to use) at work in the world that brought this war about, but a big piece of the puzzle is that Louie would use surviving this experience to inspire millions of people—including me. People all over the world battling illnesses, despair, injustice—they have been inspired by Louie and his story to keep going. They have also been inspired to be kinder to others and to forgive people who hurt them because of Louie’s tale. To accomplish all that, Louie had to first have this experience.
Thankfully Louie’s experience is not an everyday one for most people. But it does illustrate that the angels want you to take more action on your own behalf, whether the circumstances you’re in are everyday or crisis level or even catastrophic. When you do take action, you often realize you didn’t need someone else, like an angel, to swoop in and save you. You are a dynamic spiritual being and capable of far more than you realize. You are stronger and wiser than you imagine. And remember, your angels will be with you every step of the way as you take action, sending you guidance and courage and cheering you on. Say yes to more opportunities. Get more involved in your relationships. If there’s something you’re unhappy with in your life, ask your angels for guidance, listen to your gut about action steps, and then take action. If there’s something you want to change about the world, figure out what action steps you as an individual can take to make a difference.
Angels are superheroes—and you’re a superhero too.
Angel Prayer: Angels, show me which action steps are most appropriate for me to take in my life right now.
When Angels Warn You
Angels can’t always warn you when something bad is about to happen. Some pain in life cannot be avoided, and it is part of the journey you signed up for before you came here, part of the growing and learning and healing your soul will go through during its time on this planet. For everything else—all those fender benders and tears and frustrations that don’t have to happen—your angels will often try to warn you ahead of time to save you headache and heartbreak.
Your angels can warn you through any of the normal methods they use to contact you (see chapter 3). The most common way angels warn us is through our gut instinct. You might meet a potential business partner for the first time and get an uneasy feeling about this person (you don’t go through with the deal, and later hear from a friend that this potential partner’s business went under or that they acted unethically). Or you might be saying good-bye to your spouse as they leave for work in the morning and get the feeling you should make sure they aren’t forgetting their phone (your partner tells you it was a good thing you reminded them to take it, because they had to make an important call on their train ride to work). You might be fighting with a loved one, and just before you are about to speak you get the strong sense that you should shut your mouth (you ignore the feeling, and end up saying something you regret that hurts your loved one deeply).
Another common way you might get a warning from an angel is by hearing an angel’s voice: “Don’t go in there!” or “Wait for the next train” or “Show up early for that appointment” or “Smile at him.” Dreams are also a place where angels can issue warnings. You might dream that if you handle a situation the way you are planning to, it will go badly (better come up with plan number two). Or you might have a dream where a friend confesses they are in love with you (if you don’t return these feelings, it could be a warning to be careful with your friend’s heart, or that you need to address the situation).
Your guardian angels’ job is to make sure you have the best version of the life you signed up for. One way they do this is to warn you when you are about to make a decision or take an action that will cause you or someone else needless pain. Think of your life as an old-fashioned train trip. Back when trains were the major mode of long-distance transportation, there were different places to sit on the train based on how expensive a ticket you could afford (this is still true, but long ago the differences between sections were more pronounced). You might sit in first class, coach, or freight (this is when you hop on for free and ride the rails—gets the job done, but it ain’t comfortable).
The good news is that you are always entitled to a seat in the first-class version of your life. The first-class version of your life is where you will live your highest potential and experience the most growth, excitement, and pleasure. Whether your journey is first class or not depends largely on the choices you make, and one of those choices is whether or not you will heed your angels’ warnings. Your angels are divine conductors always leading you to a seat in first class, but you may choose not to follow.
So what happens when you don’t listen to your angels’ warnings? Try not to beat yourself up for ignoring a warning. We all sometimes ignore that gut feeling, and then look back later and wish we would have paid attention to it. The important thing is to do a better job of heeding a warning the next time, because the more you pay attention to angelic guidance and your own intuition, the stronger both will become. Recently I had an angel warn me continually about something, and I ignored each and every warning! I was looking for something to increase my chances of conception, and thought I’d found a product that would do the trick. I read reviews online from other customers who used the product with quick, dramatic results. “You don’t need it,” a voice in my head said. I knew this was one of my guardian angels. But I was so excited about the positive reviews, and so desperate to get pregnant, I bought the product anyway. As I was purchasing the product online, one of my angels repeated, “You don’t need it.” Of course I bought it anyway. When the product came in the mail, I opened it and heard: “You don’t need it.” You guessed it—I tried it anyway. My angels were right—while this product had worked for other people, it did nothing for me. I had ignored my angel’s repeated warnings because I was so obsessed with accomplishing this goal, and so frustrated that it wasn’t happening. After I realized I’d wasted time and money on this product, I felt more frustrated than ever, more desperate than ever (my angels wanted to spare me this). I was definitely experiencing the freight-car version of my life! I got quiet and asked why I was having trouble getting pregnant. “Timing,” an angelic voice in my head said. This is what I had suspected, and one of my guardian angels had just confirmed it: The timing wasn’t right at this moment for what I was trying to bring into my life. I’d have to wait it out until the stars aligned.
Angel Affirmation: I am open to warnings from my angels and try to heed them. But when I don’t, there is no need to punish myself. I can simply ask my angels for more guidance about the next right step.
Asking Your Guardian Angels to
Communicate with Other Guardian Angels
Do guardian angels hang out with other guardian angels? I picture a celestial cafe where guardian angels can sit and rest their wings, unwind after a hard day, trade stories, and relax. Angels can most certainly communicate with each other, and one request you can make of your guardian angels is that they communicate with the guardian angels of someone you know on your behalf.
If you are going to a job interview, you might ask your guardian angels to speak to the guardian angels of the person conducting the interview. Your request could sound something like, “Dear guardian angels, please ask the guardian angels of the person conducting my interview tomorrow to make sure this interviewer is open to me as a candidate. Please ask the interviewer’s guardian angels to help the interviewer see all my strengths, my enthusiasm, and my willingness to work hard.” Your request should not sound like this: “Dear guardian angels, please ask the interviewer’s guardian angels to convince the interviewer that I’m the best candidate they have ever encountered. Please ask the interviewer’s guardian angels to convince the interviewer not to consider anyone else for the job, and to hire me on the spot.” Do you see the difference between these two requests? One asks only that the interviewer see the candidate for who the candidate really is, and that the interviewer be open to that candidate as a real possibility. The other request tries to control and manipulate the situation in a way that may not work out for the highest good of the interviewer, the candidate making the prayer request, or anyone else applying for the job.
Guardian angels cannot control the free will of another person for your benefit. Nor should they. Our free will is a divine gift we are all blessed with. Also, your guardian angels are always working for your highest good, and getting this job simply may not be for your highest good. Yet asking that the interviewer sees your strengths and seriously considers you can’t hurt anything, and is something your guardian angels can influence by speaking to the interviewer’s guardian angels. Other appropriate requests might be, “Please let the interviewer be in a good mood tomorrow” or “Please let the interviewer get a good night’s sleep.”
Occasionally I will ask my guardian angels to speak to my husband’s guardian angels if we’ve had a fight or can’t get on the same page about an important issue. A request of this nature might go something like: “Dear guardian angels, please speak to my husband’s guardian angels. Please ask my husband’s guardian angels to help my husband listen to me and see things from my point of view. Ask that his guardian angels help my husband have an open mind and not make any quick judgments. Ask his guardian angels to help my husband be open to a compromise so we can both be happy and feel like our needs are being met.” The following request is something I would never ask—no matter how badly I sometimes want to! “Dear guardian angels, please speak to my husband’s guardian angels and get them to convince my husband that I am right. Ask that his guardian angels make my husband feel eager to please me and follow my lead.” I’m sure you’re getting the idea!
You can ask your guardian angels to speak to the guardian angels of anyone in your life: a coworker, a family member, a friend, an authority figure. One popular way to use this technique is for finding a romantic partner. The fantastic angel author Doreen Virtue often encourages her single fans to write a letter to their soul mate’s guardian angels. It doesn’t matter that you probably have not met this future romantic partner yet. Many of the major loves of your life are already written in the stars, so your guardian angels will know where to look to find the guardian angels of your next romantic partner. Your letter to your guardian angels might explain why you want a romantic partner, some of the traits that are important to you in a romantic partner, and how much you want to have a relationship. This is a powerful activation of your free will, basically deputizing your angels to bring love into your life. Besides possibly speeding up the meeting of two people who are fated to be lovers, I believe this can enable guardian angels to canvas other guardian angels to see if there is someone suited to you who is also ready to be in a relationship and fits your current life journey. I don’t believe that all relationships are written in the stars—there is always room for improvisation in our lives. (Keep in mind that meeting a soul mate can be largely about divine timing. You might also ask the angels if there is anything you need to work on first that would help you prepare for and attract a healthy relationship into your life.)
Angels are always happy to collaborate on your behalf, and asking your guardian angels to speak to the guardian angels of someone else gives the angels an opportunity to do even more teamwork.
Angel Affirmation: I can always ask my guardian angels to contact another person’s guardian angels on my behalf. When guardian angels work in teams, miracles happen.
Place a Dessert Order
with Your Guardian Angels
Now that you’re learning more about your angels, who they are and all that they can do for you, it might be an appropriate moment to ground yourself in an essential fact: Angels are not genies in a bottle. They cannot grant every wish. They cannot spare you every pain.
Your guardian angels want you to have the best life possible. That’s why they are always listening for your prayers and sending you guidance. It’s why they are constantly working behind the scenes up in heaven as negotiators and diplomats on your behalf, trying to broker the best deal they can for you in this life between what Spirit wants for you, what your soul family wants for you, what your own soul wants for you, and even what that cute, determined little ego of yours wants for you too.
Angels are like spiritual waiters. You see something you like on the menu of life and give an angel your order. Next the angel goes about offering you guidance on action steps you should take regarding this wish. Maybe one of your guardian angels talks to the angels of some people who could help you, and then sends those people into your life. One of your angels might scan the opportunities available to you and send what will be, from their angel’s eye view, the best-possible opportunity in the long run. And remember, your guardian angels are doing all this while integrating your current desire into your broader life purpose and destiny, as well as considering the free will and destinies of others—all that heavy stuff. The upshot is: Angels can’t make something happen simply because you ask them for it.
Nothing is ever given to you, or denied you, by Spirit as a punishment. Your guardian angels want you to know that just because they can’t always give you what you desire, that doesn’t mean that your angels love you any less. When a prayer isn’t answered the way you want, it does not mean your angels have forgotten or abandoned you.
You can’t always get what you want. But to help the medicine of life go down, your guardian angels want you to know that there is one thing you can always order and receive: dessert.
Dessert defines all those little treats in life that are available to everyone at anytime. You may be denied things, but you will never be denied dessert—aka life’s little mercies. You will know something is “dessert” because it will have a sweetness to it. Your guardian angel may not be able to secure that big grant you applied for to fund your work project, but your guardian angel can send you a phone call from your best friend out of the blue right after you receive the bad news, a phone call that makes you feel inspired and comforted. A phone call you treasure. A phone call that suddenly makes you feel glad to be alive. That’s dessert, and your life always has room for it.
It pains your guardian angels to see you confused or hurt or discouraged when a prayer is not answered as hoped, and when you feel this way your guardian angels want it to become an automatic trigger for you to treat yourself to something special, to nurture yourself in a deliberate way. Think “dessert” with these treats: rich, decadent, spoiling. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it has to be an indulgence. Something that makes you want to clap or squeal or do a little dance just at the thought of it. Something that gives you a break from big goals, and brings back that pure joy of living in the moment. That is dessert. Dessert might be sent your way by a guardian angel—like getting a coupon in the mail for a free massage after you’ve come home from a crummy day at the office. Or your angels might nudge you to treat yourself, giving you the idea to call in for a “staying at home well” day. Other fun ways you can treat yourself: A long walk through your favorite spot in nature. A picnic with a friend. A last-minute romantic dinner out with your partner. A splurge at your favorite store. Asking or hiring someone to do the spring cleaning for you. Taking yourself and a girlfriend to lunch or to get a facial. Blowing off chores or leaving work early to spend the afternoon playing basketball with a friend or your kids. A walk with your loved one along the beach or boardwalk at night. Star gazing on a park bench. Putting off homework or a freelance assignment to binge read a great book or binge watch a great show. Buying yourself flowers.
Next time you feel disappointed because you asked for your angels’ help with something, went out and tried your best, and things didn’t work out the way you hoped or expected, ask your guardian angels for dessert. You might say a prayer like: “Dear guardian angels, I’ve had the wind taken out of my sails. This situation didn’t shape up like I prayed. I tried my best, and I know you did the best you could for me, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I can’t help but feel disappointed. Can you send me something special for dessert?” Then be on the lookout for people or invitations or gifts that might have been sent as treats from your angels. Angels love dessert, and they’re good at baking it and serving it too. When you get your sweet treat from the angels, or they send you inspiration via a thought or a feeling about a way you can go out and treat yourself, it will remind you that your angels do care, and that they are always listening. Just because everything you ask isn’t given, doesn’t mean angels aren’t right there taking the orders.
Your angels hate to see you crushed and discouraged. They would shield you from all pain if they could, but they can’t. That’s simply not what this life is about. Letting your angels serve you a squeal-worthy dessert is like letting a mother bandage a child’s knee after a scrape. You’ll feel better when you order dessert, and so will your angels.
Angel Affirmation: Just because I didn’t get what I asked for does not mean I am being punished or abandoned by my angels. I can always ask them to treat me to a special dessert just to feel their presence and remind me that I am loved.
Where Are Angels When Tragedy Strikes?
When our world falls apart because a loved one is taken from us, or we’re left quaking in the aftermath of an act of extreme violence, we might find ourselves asking, “Where were the angels?” As I discuss throughout this book, there are many spiritual factors in play during a tragedy: the fate of the people involved, their free will and the free will of others, the intention each of these souls had when they came to earth regarding what they wanted to experience and accomplish here. Another very important piece of the puzzle is how the tragedy will affect, both negatively and positively, every individual, institution, and culture that the event touches. That said, we might never fully understand why a tragedy was allowed to happen, and even having faith in a spiritual “bigger picture” in the wake of a tragedy does not lessen our grief or outrage, or even our anger at Spirit.
We know that angels can intervene in our lives in dramatic ways: appearing as a stranger who shuts down a piece of heavy machinery just before it injures us, whispering in our ear to take a different train or driving route so we avoid a fatal collision, pulling us from a burning building just before the roof collapses. But what the angel realm desperately wants us to understand is that there are times when angels are not allowed to intervene. Again, this is due to a complex set of circumstances that we will examine many times in this book. So, if angels are not allowed to intervene in the tragic death of an individual, the question remains: “Where were the angels when all this tragedy was unfolding?”
As I finished the final edits of this book, a horrific act of violence was committed in Charleston, South Carolina, that took many innocent lives. The day after nine parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic house of worship and political activism for the African American community in Charleston, were shot and killed, I asked myself this very question: “Where were the angels?” While I and the entire country experienced rage, sorrow, confusion, and indignation, I assumed that this must have been a situation where the angels’ wings were tied, for reasons we can guess at but may never fully comprehend or even be able to accept. Surely, if the angels could have intervened to save those nine precious lives, they would have. I believe strongly that the angels were giving the shooter messages that what he was planning was terribly wrong. Angels can try to convince someone that the path they are on is dangerous, and in their own way angels will try to talk someone around, tirelessly, by sending signs, gut feelings, and thoughts. Sadly, as in this case, people do not always listen to angelic guidance. And if the angels weren’t allowed to intervene in a more dramatic way in this situation, what exactly were they up to at the hour this dark event was taking place? We know what they did leading up to it: tried to convince the shooter not to do this, and surely even tried to give friends and family members clues that the shooter was planning something awful. But what did the angels do next?
After working with angels for so many years, I should have known the answer to that question, because I know that there is one thing you can always count on with angels: They will never abandon you. It doesn’t matter where you are, or what you’ve done, angels are always at your side, especially during the most trying moments of your life. But I think my mind was so blown by the enormity of this cruel, sinister mass murder that I needed the angels to walk me through it from their perspective.
The angels immediately sent me answers, through images, feelings, and intuitive knowing. First, the angels want you to comprehend that when something like this happens they are feeling the exact same emotions as the people who are suffering. The angels shared with me their emotional experience when they saw the shooter walk into that church. With video surveillance cameras, the police had a clear image of the shooter as he entered the church. Because this image was circulated to the public in order to identify and capture the shooter, it was this moment that came to mind when I queried the angels.
The angels felt pure terror, dread, and extreme anxiety when the shooter entered the building. They tell me they were hoping “right up until the end” that this wouldn’t happen. I am told by the angel realm that not only were there “thousands” (this is the number the angels gave me when I asked how many angels were present) of angels at the church directly before, during, and after the shooting, but the guardian angels of every parishioner inside were surrounding their charges. These guardian angels stayed by the sides of the people they love and are sworn to protect. I got an image of an angel with his hands on the shoulders of one of the people who was killed in the church. Not only were these guardian angels with their charges at the time of the attack, but they were literally holding on to them.
And the shooter? The angel realm informed me that when someone who has committed actions like this dies and reaches the other side, they will be made to feel all the pain and fear that each of their victims and those connected to them felt because of their actions. This will be done not so much as a punishment, but as a lesson for the soul. It will in effect be a terrible, harrowing experience. The angels are telling me that this is what hell is. Hell is not a place, but an “experience,” the angels say. A temporary experience on the other side, in heaven, where each of us feels the emotional cost of all our actions here on earth. I have also received information from the angel realm that while offenders like the Charleston shooter are in the midst of experiencing the nightmarish consequences of their actions in heaven, there will be angels and an ascended master by their side, and that ascended master will be Jesus. What do the angels want us to gain from this knowledge I am sharing? That there is “no end to the mercy and unconditional love,” the angels tell me, on the other side of this life. It is true for absolutely everyone. That includes you, as well as the most deranged and dangerously mentally ill among us.
The angels showed me through images that they too weep during these kinds of events. Even when angels are not able to intervene in a dramatic way, they desperately want to. They feel your pain as their own. When angels cannot prevent a tragedy, they stand with us, often holding on to us tight, waiting at the ready until the moment they take us back home to heaven.
As we already touched on, one way that angels will participate in a tragedy when they are not allowed to simply prevent it is to encourage humans to act angelically. Angels will convince someone, by putting thoughts in their mind and feelings in their heart, to act on the angel realm’s behalf. And sometimes people actually listen! The angels have told me that this was the case with Willem Arondeus, a resistance fighter in the Netherlands during World War II.
1Willem was not Jewish, but he was sympathetic to the unthinkable suffering the Jewish people were enduring during this time. Living openly as a homosexual in a period in history when being honest about such things was taboo at best and life-threatening at worst, Willem knew what it was like to be unfairly persecuted for simply being yourself. And as a homosexual he knew what it was like to be one of the people the Nazis were committed to exterminating.
But saving himself was not Willem’s main motivation when he joined a unit of the Resistance that falsified papers for Dutch Jews to hide their Jewish ancestry from the Nazis. In 1943, Willem led his unit in an attack on an Amsterdam registry office, setting it on fire to destroy records against which false identity papers he had created for Dutch Jews could be checked. Thousands of files were destroyed, and many Jewish lives saved. Days later Willem and his unit were betrayed, arrested, and executed. The angels are telling me that this outcome “was a risk Willem was willing to take.” The angels say Willem had that “fighter” or “warrior” spirit. Like Martin Luther King Jr., Willem was willing to risk his life fighting for what he knew was right. The Vikings believed that those who died in combat were received in Valhalla, and I believe there is a special section in heaven for those who die fighting for what is right.
Willem saw something very wrong happening in the world, found a way to do something about it, and was willing to risk his life for another group of people. The angel realm is informing me that Willem was very “bighearted”—that’s the exact word the angels gave me. An incredibly ethical person who was very concerned with standing up for what is right. This was the perfect person for the angels to encourage to act in a heroic, compassionate, protective way on their behalf. Is it any wonder that his last name, Arondeus, contains the word deus, the Latin word for God?
When angels are not allowed to intervene in tragedies directly, they often look to bighearted people and inspire them to get in touch with the angelic nature of their own souls.
Angel Affirmation: Angels surround me during the darkest times of my life. They intervene when they can, but even when angels cannot prevent a tragedy they never abandon me.
Divine Timing—Spirit’s Clock
You may want something to happen faster than it should. Why must you wait? Because of divine timing.
Some things you want will manifest for you very quickly—faster than you desire, even. That is because you are more ready than you know, or whatever is coming into your life is desperately needed there. At these moments your guardian angels will be with you to help you digest and manage the transition. Other times you may wait years for something you want that is indeed meant to be part of your soul’s experience here on earth. You can try your hardest, pray your hardest, and still end up … waiting. Your guardian angels are with you then too, giving you patience and wisdom and encouraging you to concentrate on the blessings you already enjoy.
Spirit and your guardian angels can see your life from what I like to call an angel’s eye view. They see all your relationships, responsibilities, and growth opportunities in a way you never could. They can see the past, present, and future possibilities as well, and know when is the ideal time for an event to take place. When Spirit feels the divine timing is right, the angel realm will be able to help you manifest your dreams.
Have you ever wanted something desperately, had to wait for it, and because you had to wait you were able to make a better decision, get a better deal, meet a more appropriate person, or even change your mind completely? Has something ever happened faster than you felt ready for, but came along just in time to save you from disaster or promote you to the next level? You benefited from divine timing.
If divine timing has you in a holding pattern, your guardian angels can feel your current frustration. But they are sending you signs to slow down and accept this period of waiting. Work on surrendering the desire to control the timing of this situation. Take a break from this dream and count your other blessings. When the divine timing is right, your dreams will be given the “green light” as they say in Hollywood, or as the angels say in heaven—the white light, the blessing of Spirit.
If divine timing is bringing something into your life before you feel ready, your guardian angels sense your apprehension. They are sending you confidence because Spirit knows you are more ready than you think. Angels are sending you guidance to help you navigate this new development. And they are sending you love to help nurture you through this transition.
Angel Prayer: Guardian angels, help me trust the divine timing of Spirit.
Angel Exercise:
Strengthening Your Emotional/Energetic
Boundary with Help from the Angel Realm
Earthly life exists on a physical and energetic level. The energetic level is largely unseen by the human eye, but it is just as present and substantial as the physical. The angels are showing me images and sounds of a loud city street: honking cars, yelling people, crying children, crowded sidewalks. The angels are telling me that just as you would want to block out these physical sights and sounds created by others that can be stressful and overpowering, so do you want to block out the emotions and energy created by others that can be overwhelming. Perhaps you walk into work and feel the collective stress of an office full of people on tight deadlines, and suddenly you are stressed too. Or maybe your spouse is dealing with long-term unemployment or health challenges and you slowly become as depressed as they are.
The energy and emotions of others don’t just affect your own energy or mood—there are also physical consequences. The angels are showing me that just like getting punched in the stomach, negative or overpowering energy that you encounter can have an adverse effect on your body and your health. Remember, the energy and emotions of others that can overpower us doesn’t always have to be negative. Intense joy, excitement, or focused determination can also make our hearts beat too fast or fry our nervous systems.
This exercise will enable your guardian angels, and probably some helper angels who specialize in emotional health, to create a stronger emotional/energetic boundary for you. Anytime you feel overwhelmed by the energy or emotions of others, perform this exercise. It will help strengthen your invisible energetic buffer, as well as remind you, on an intellectual level, that there is nothing to gain by taking on the energy and emotions of others. This is something that highly sensitive people need to be reminded of often, as it’s so easy for these folks to tune in to the emotions of others and absorb the energy of a room. Feeling sympathy for others is noble and appropriate, but taking on their emotions or energy as your own doesn’t help them—and it can only hurt you.
The angels are now showing me an image of someone plugging in to another person, as if that second person were an outlet. Then the angels show me the person who has been plugged into being drained—slumping over and shriveling up. This is a reminder that there are some people who will want you to take on their energy or emotion. They will try to plug into you like you’re an outlet. Perhaps it feels comforting to these folks that they are not alone in their intense feelings or life challenges if someone else is mirroring their emotions and energy back to them. But the best way for you to help anyone is to stay strong and healthy and somewhat emotionally detached.
For this exercise you are simply required to relax and let the angels’ divine healing skills take over. Energy is like Spirit: We can’t see it, but it is one of the most powerful forces at play in our world. When you work with energy healing, you can make rapid and dramatic changes to your spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual self.
In a room where you can be alone, close the door, and block out noise, get in a comfortable position, either seated on the floor or lying down on a bed or couch. Address the angels out loud, in a soft, calm voice: “Angels, I need your help strengthening my emotional/energetic boundary. Please create a protective barrier around me now and always, that will guard against the emotions and energy I absorb simply by being in the world—the fear and pain I see on the news, the anxiety and urgency of my bosses and coworkers, the chaotic energy of crowds I walk or drive through, the intense highs and lows of my family and friends. Let the emotions and energy of family and friends seep in through this protective barrier only as much as is necessary for me to understand their problems and help, comfort them in their grief, or celebrate their victories. Let this protective barrier block me from absorbing the emotions and energy of my family, friends, and clients to the extent that their emotions overwhelm me, or that I take on their emotions as my own. I know taking on the emotions of others does not serve me or my loved ones. I know that being grounded in my own emotions and energy field is the best way for me to aid my family and friends, do the work Spirit brought me here for, and walk through the world. When I absorb the energy and emotions of others I am no longer in tune with my own energy or emotional needs. Let this angelic protective barrier you create or strengthen today make me feel more centered in my own emotions and soul.”
Now imagine several angels around you. They have beautiful feather wings and flowing garments. They open their mouths and blow a white, foggy substance from their lips. Slowly this ethereal mist builds up and surrounds you on all sides. There is enough room for you to exist comfortably within the cloudy walls of this angelic mist. You can see the world outside, and this mist is permeable enough to let some things pass through. You feel safe and at peace here within this angelic chamber.
Close your eyes and meditate for five minutes, or longer if you choose, on these images of angels building a protective emotional/energetic boundary around you, and your feelings of peace, safety, and grounding inside it.
When you open your eyes thank the angel realm for helping you build this emotional/energetic boundary. This boundary will be with you always, but know that anytime you feel overwhelmed by the emotions or energy of others, you can close your eyes and picture your guardian angels strengthening your emotional/energetic boundary with their sweet, gossamer breath.
The angels are guiding me to tell you that if you ever again feel the emotions or energy of others making you frazzled, take stock of your emotional/energetic boundary. The angels are showing me a picture of a piece of cloth that has holes in it, like Swiss cheese. At any time, you can close your eyes and picture the current state of your emotional/energetic boundary. Is it healthy—sturdy, smooth walls of cloudy mist? Or are there patches and holes in the boundary where it has been worn down lately? If it’s looking like Swiss cheese, think back over recent events and see if you can locate some situations or people that may have drained you more than you realize. You might need to take a little break from these situations or people, and also do some self-care. Don’t forget to ask the angels to do a little repair work on that emotional/energetic boundary too!
Angel Exercise:
Ask Archangel Michael to Cut Energetic Cords
Along with your physical body, you also have an energetic body. And just as you do regular maintenance on your physical body (get a massage, complete a spring detox, have your hair cut) you need to also perform regular maintenance on your energetic body. An excellent way to keep your energetic body light and vibrant and healthy is with cord cutting.
Energetic cords are energy bonds that connect you to another person, much like an umbilical cord connects a mother to a child. These cords are invisible but they are very real. A cord can stretch through time (maybe you still have a cord to someone you haven’t spoken with in years) and space (you can have a strong energetic cord that runs between you and someone on the other side of the world or in heaven). You probably share energetic cords with anyone you have an emotional relationship to—coworkers, family, friends, and even people you don’t get along with at all. You can also have energetic cords to organizations or groups, like a company you work or volunteer for, a church you attend, or a neighborhood you live in. Normally these cords aren’t a problem—it simply means these folks or groups are part of your life and you care about them. But what about people you don’t like, or groups you want to move on from? Those don’t sound like fun cords! Or what if you do like someone, but you can’t stop thinking about them and it feels smothering or unhealthy? Or what if you love someone dearly but you had a big fight with them recently and can’t seem to move past it? Or what if you can’t seem to get over a relationship with someone or an organization that ended long ago? These are all scenarios when you may have an energetic cord that needs to be cut.
Sometimes cutting an energetic cord between you and another person will help you end a relationship you need to get out of. Or sometimes it will help you keep the relationship, and simply start fresh—enabling you to get over a recent fight or unhealthy pattern. Or cutting cords can help you forgive someone for a past wound they inflicted on you or help you move on from that person and that wound to a new level of healing.
We can also have cords to ideas and places. Maybe part of you longs for adventure and change, yet you are having trouble moving away from the town you grew up in. Perhaps a ceremony cutting the cord between you and your hometown will help. Or maybe you have an old idea of yourself as always being poor, or always struggling with your weight, and cutting the cord to that idea might help shift this pattern for you.
Whatever kind of cord you need to cut and whatever your reason for severing it, Archangel Michael can help. Because Archangel Michael is a divine protector who always carries a sword of light, this angel is perfect for the job.
For this exercise, go to a quiet room where you can be alone and shut the door. Think of the person, place, idea, pattern, situation, organization, or group that you feel you need to cut cords with. Tell Archangel Michael, out loud in a calm, soft voice, who or what you want to cut cords with. For example, you might say, “Archangel Michael, I’m asking you to come here today to help me cut any energetic cords I have to the idea of me living in poverty.” Or, “Archangel Michael, I need your help today cutting cords between me and my old boyfriend.” Or, “Archangel Michael, my dear friend and I got into a nasty fight. Can you help me cut the cord that represents this fight?”
At any point during this exercise, don’t be alarmed if you feel a significant presence near you or feel the energy of the room shift. That is just Archangel Michael answering your call—if you are sensitive to energy you will definitely feel his significant presence!
Tell Archangel Michael a little bit about this cord, and why you want it cut. You might explain that you live modestly and work hard but are always struggling to pay your bills and don’t have any savings. Or you might tell Archangel Michael that you and your ex-boyfriend broke up years ago, yet you still have angry thoughts about him regularly. Or you might explain the fight you had with your friend, and how you two are having trouble moving past it.
Next, tell Archangel Michael how you hope cutting the cord will help. Maybe you hope cutting any cords with poverty will help you get better at managing money, help you psychically break out of a cycle of poverty that has been part of your family’s history for generations and may be subconsciously affecting your decisions around money, and encourage you to go back to school for a better-paying job. Maybe you hope cutting the cord between you and your ex will help you heal from the hurt that happened during the relationship and really work through your emotions, energetically help you attract a new partner, and enable you to trust potential new partners more. Maybe you hope cutting the cord that represents the fight you had with your friend will bring you two closer together, allow you to forgive each other, and help you respect each other’s opinions and emotions more.
It might be helpful to close your eyes during this next section of the exercise. Just read one step, close your eyes and imagine it, and then open you eyes to move on to the next step.
After this cord-cutting exercise, don’t be surprised if you feel differently. Common reactions are: feeling drained or tired, feeling lighter, feeling giggly, feeling emotional, feeling sad, feeling sentimental, feeling peaceful. These feelings will fade as the day goes on. Remember, you must follow energetic work with work on the material level. If you want someone out of your life, don’t take their calls. If you want to have more space in a romantic relationship, don’t spend every spare second with your partner. If you want to move on from a painful relationship in your past, seek counseling or read a book on emotional healing. If you want to move away from where you are currently living, talk to a friend who made a big move, research new towns, or start by taking a small trip.
The energy work you’ve done today will help facilitate the change you seek, but you have to follow through with other actions. If the cord between you and this person, place, idea, pattern, group, or situation is very old or very strong, you may need to perform this ceremony more than once. But wait a few weeks and rest for now. You did a lot of big work today, and change takes time!
1 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org)