| Subject: Re: Angels |
Author:
Penny
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Date Posted: Fri, Nov 07 2003, 18:48:27
In reply to:
Penny
's message, "Angels" on Sat, Nov 01 2003, 19:54:23
The idea that people have guardian angels, or spirits that are appointed to protect them, is as old as human culture. In ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of Middle Eastern civilization, these protective beings were considered personal gods, known as "massar sulmi." This tradition was adopted by later civilizations in the region, such as the Babylonians and Chaldeans, who in turn were to influence Judaism, and hence Christianity and Islam.
The idea of a personal guardian spirit can be traced to cultures past and present throughout the rest of the world as well. In Japan this spirit is a Kami; in Burma, a Nat; and in ancient Greece its equivalent was a daemon. In pre-Christian Rome the genius and juno protected boys and girls respectively. Native Americans and all shamanistic cultures believe in spirit guides that manifest in any form, particularly as totem animals or ancestor spirits. In Islam, each person has two pairs of hafaza, one for the day and one for the night. These guardian angels protect the faithful from the demonic jinn and record the person's every act in a book to be presented at Judgment Day. the Koran states: "He [Allah] sends forth guardians who watch over you and carry away your souls without fail when death overtakes you."
In Jewish tradition everyone has a guardian angel assigned to them at birth. The Talmud states that each person has no fewer than 11,000 guardian angels, although a more prevalent belief is that there are two personal angels per person, one good, the other bad. This view is shared by the Catholic Church, a tradition dating back at lease as far as the third century C.E.
Guardian angels are not officialy part of Catholic dogma, despite Jesus's saying, of children, that "in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Mathew 18:10). Nevertheless, Catholic children are traditionally taught to recite a prayer to their guardian angel, to which Pope John XXIII referred on the Feast of the Guardian angels, October 2nd, 1959: "We must have a lively and profound devotion to our own Guardian Angel, and should often and trustfully repeat the dear prayer we were taught in the days of our childhood." In English this prayer is as follows:
"Angel of God who are my guardian,
Enlighten, watch over, support and rule me,
Who was entrusted to you by the heavenly piety.
Amen."
Catholics also believe in "tutelary" angels, who protect all places, from nations to the smallest communities, as well as families, alters, and churches. All guardian and tutelary angels are in the lowest angelic hierarchy, the Choir of Angels.
In the view of Tudolf Steiner, the twentieth-century Austrian philosopher, our guardian angel has been with us throughout all our incarnations and knows the entire history of our soul. It is the inner teacher, the "still small voice inside."
But how do we recognize it? How can we communicate with it? The first thing to do is to acknowledge its existence, not just as a possibility, but as a reality, however we choose to define that reality - psychic phenomenon, for example, or God-created spirit. The definition is not important; in fact it can be a good start to acknowledge our ignorance. Like all of Creation, this is a great mystery. But this time it's personal, deeply personal. This is an entity that knows us better than we know ourseves. That can be quite humbling, even alarming. If we are alarmed it is an indication that we have not yet reconciled ourselves to all of our doings.
But nothing can be hidden. A recapitualtion of our lives - all of our actions and experiences - is a very good preparation for meeting the guardian angel. This process can generate every kind of emotion, but, if we are able to let everything go, including self-pity, anger, hurt, and guilt, and accept responsibility for our story, then we can reach that very special, precious state where the true self resides: humility. This is where many of us first encounter, heart to heart, the endlessly patient, compassionate presence that knows us so well, the Holy Guardian Angel.
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