Newcomb - An angel treasury: a celestial collection of inspirations, encounters and heavenly lore

We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us, and God has provided for this by appointing his angels to be our teachers and guides.

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

I receive hundreds of emails to my website and from my magazine and newspaper column about angels. Many people are interested in their own angels in particular. But many more people just want to know what an angel is and what an angel isnt!

Here are some of the most frequently asked angel questions I have received, and some of the more unusual ones.

There are also hundreds of fascinating angel quotes, some which reference questions here, so I have included some of them too.

A short question with a long answer but I will try to be brief. Angels were made by our God essence or energy The role of angels is varied but many angels have been created specifically with the purpose of looking after Gods children us.

An angel is a spiritual being created by God, without a body, for the service of Christendom and the Church.

MARTIN LUTHER TABLE TALK

Human spirits cannot be our angels insomuch as an angel can never be human and a human can never be an angel (with the exception of the Archangels Metatron and Sandalphon see Archangels, page 147). Most traditions say that humans can never be angels. Having said that, the loving spirits of passedover relatives can and do watch over us from the other-side. They are able to send us loving energy in a similar way to angels.

Humans are spirit in the body-vessel, but angels are pure light energy.

The angels are a strange genus; they are precisely what they are and cannot be anything else. They are themselves soulless beings who represent nothing but the thoughts and intuitions of their Lord.

C. G. JUNG

Many people see their relatives visit them from the other-side where they appear in a body-less form, often surrounded by a white light. This is where the confusion may arise. Our loved ones can watch out for us and often make it their specific task to act as our guardians by passing us messages of warnings and so on. There are vast numbers of recorded incidences where the loving spirits of our relatives who have gone before, appear to guide and protect from the after-life.

Shona wrote to tell me about her own experience:

When I was 14 my grandma passed to spirit and I was devastated because we were really close! About two weeks later I could not sleep and felt guided down the stairs to the kitchen. No lights were on and there were no windows from which a light could have shone from outside! Yet there was the most brilliant white light over the boiler, and it was full of peace and calm. I felt drawn towards it and just stood with this energy. It made me feel so serene just like my Nan always had! I know it was her!

When my mother-in-law passed to spirit, it was a very stressful time for my husband. His Dad, who was left behind, lives in Bournemouth and we live in London, which is a big distance away!

We went up to visit once a month. The first time we went the energy was so cold and deadly! The next time I called to my mother-in-law Dorothy to tell her I was really stressed and needed to know she would help, and when we arrived at the flat it felt warm and lived in! My husband always multi-checks everything before leaving a house so I know all appliances had been switched off!

I know if you ask, spirit will come but just not always as you expect. Often lights flicker, TVs turn on and off, and things get moved, but I say God bless each time, knowing my loved ones are always close!

Not at all, and this is a common confusion. Ghosts are the lost souls of the dead, or spirits in visitation, from the other-side. The confusion with angel guardians arose with the birth of Spiritualism, and the belief that the spirit of our loved ones are watching us from the after-life.

Angels just are, and are beings without spirit at all, who exist in the realms of heaven.