David A. Cooper - Invoking Angels

My first contact with God and angels occurred when I was ten years old. I lived on the north side of Chicago and was experiencing my very first infatuation. She lived across the street, and her name was Carole. A ten-year-olds love can be all-consuming. I remember clearly one day absolutely needing to tell her something. To my dismay, she was not home, and I could not find her anywhere. So I made one of those impulsive moves that can somehow affect us for the rest of our lives. I called out to the great, mysterious unknown and made my bargain: If there really is a God, I promise I will believe in you forever if you help me find Carole right away!

Now, over fifty years have passed since that moment, and it still rings clear in my mind. It so happened that only a few minutes after my rash (but heartfelt) commitment, a friend (angel) walked up to me and said, for no apparent reason, David, I just saw Carole at... I was dumbstruck! This was a terrific lesson for me, but at that point getting to Carole was more important than enlightenment. So I did not stop to ponder my awe, but ran instead to meet my beloved. Nonetheless, although this promise to believe in God forever was born in an impulsive childhood moment, it continues to sit in my heart to this day. I must say, however, that my perspective of the meaning of God and the purpose of angels has changed dramatically over the years in a way that has turned out to influence profoundly the direction of my life and the work that I do.

More than thirty years had passed after that initial experience when my wife, Shoshana, and I moved to the Old City of Jerusalem. It was in the mid-eighties, and we were on a serious spiritual quest. While living and studying in the Old City for many years, we frequently experienced a curious event that most residents there take for granted. Almost every time we would discuss the need to meet someone or to invite someone to a meal, that person would appear. Strangely and almost miraculously, within hours, the phone would ring, or we would run into that person on the street. This happened so frequently that any time someones name came up in conversation, we simply assumed that a meeting with this person was imminent.

We all experience synchronistic events like these throughout our lives. We can approach this unique phenomenon with scientific curiosity, but we are not likely to get far. Events like these do not easily lend themselves to evaluation, repetition, or measurementeach of which is a necessary component of the scientific method. Yet, we know them when they happen because in those moments something deep inside of us is comforted in a tender way; we experience an inexpressible sense of satisfaction, of feeling connected with a mysterious something that holds the world together.

People who live in Jerusalem say that this synchrony happens more often there because the city has a mysterious kedusha, a word that means sanctification or holiness. I came to realize, however, that it seemed to happen more often in Jerusalem because we who lived there were far more aware of and prepared for mystical experiences to arise. We were more aware because we immersed ourselves in biblical studies many hours every day, and we discussed written and oral religious traditions on a regular basis.

We all have had the experience of learning a new word and then suddenly hearing the word everywhere. We learn a new skill, such as painting, and then we start seeing colors through new eyes. We learn to play a musical instrument, and from that time forward we hear all music with new ears. The same phenomenon occurs when we engage deeply in certain types of studies. In the Jewish world, the study is of the Torah and all its commentaries. Immersed in these studies, one begins to see the world in a different light, a world filled with new mysteries. Included in those mysteries are realms beyond our ordinary reality, filled with supernatural energies. They are not real in the ordinary sense that we can measure them to meet scientific criteria, but they are real on some other level. They speak to us, guide us, protect us, caution us; they are voices and visions that appear clearly in the minds eye.

There are many names and descriptions of supernal characters that show up in spiritual literature. There are thousands of them that fit into many different categories. One of the most popular categories is the realm of angels. A wide variety of angels are described in Christianity and Islam, as well as in Judaism. Moreover, they are not limited to Western tradition. There are many angels described in Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. Indeed, angels can be found in a wide variety of traditions.

This book is not designed to be a dictionary of all the different angelic characters that exist in a multitude of traditions, but rather to be a guide to introduce to the reader ways to invoke and work with specific characteristics that are connected with well-known angels. We will therefore discuss only a select number of angels that have been described extensively in the literature of Western tradition. In this process of exploring qualities associated with certain angels, we discover new possibilities of manifesting new capabilities within ourselves.

You should know that I have considerable skepticism when it comes to fanciful ideals about invisible beings who affect our lives. Anyone who has read my book God Is a Verb knows that I do not subscribe to the idea that God is a father figure who runs the creation, but is rather a process that is continuously in motion.

In the same spirit, my approach to angels does not delve into realms populated by critters with wings and halos. I have instead a deeper and much more subtle relationship with angels. As you will discover, I have an ongoing interaction with angels that evokes certain characteristics in a way that continuously informs my life. Evoking these characteristics is an empowering process. It can lead to greater strength in helping ourselves or others when working with difficult situations. This is not a skill that is unique to selected individuals; it is something that all human beings can access and develop if they wish.

The popular characterization of angels in Western tradition is that they are hidden beings that sometimes reveal themselves for various purposes. We have seen them in movies and on television; we read about them in the Torah, the New Testament, and the Quran; and we often talk about them when special things happen to us. When we read about or see angels like this, they are often mistaken for people; but they usually have magical powers, the ability to see ones past and future, and they appear and disappear at will. There are many books written about supernatural angels like these.

While the book you are now reading describes in some sections this more traditional perspective on angels, the emphasis is on how we can empower ourselves by invoking energies associated with specific angels. Doing so allows us to open up new possibilities for bringing blessings, protection, and healing to ourselves and others.

Each of the traditional archangels, for example, has unique attributes associated with it. Through the use of imagination and visualization, we can develop a psychospiritual relationship that brings these characteristics alive within us. In this way, we are able to access our own hidden strengths that we often do not realize we have. The process is similar to the discovery made by athletes who are able to improve their performances by visualizing success as they push themselves beyond their best efforts. In the same way, we can call in angelic images to help give us strength in dealing with any number of situations.