Depending on your point of view, asking an Angel for help may seem like an entirely whimsical fantasy or an incredibly presumptuous undertaking. If you asked for the presence of an Angel, what might you get? Perhaps a fellow like the Angel Clarence, who in his bumbley, stumbley and enduring manner helped Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or maybe something of more dramatic and ominous biblical proportions?

If you are not yet in the habit of asking Angels, the suggestion of doing so might even bring up a few worries: A major blunder and you could end up face to face with an Angel of the Apocalypse. A minor slip-up and you might get the metaphysical equivalent of an unpleasant house guest who, like some unwelcome in-law, takes over the living room for the duration. You may not feel you are ready for what seems such a high-stakes roll of the cosmic dice.

And yet, Angels are part of all major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and more. The also span all time – the experience of Angels predates Christianity and exists across many cultures for thousands of years. Angels are a powerful unifying presence for all of us regardless of our spiritual beliefs. As a matter of fact, when Americans were recently surveyed about their belief in Angels, over 73% said they did believe in Angels – much higher than the number who said they believed in God.

The Angel Gabriel who appeared to Mary to announce the coming of Jesus is the same Angel who appeared to Mohammed to inspire the Koran and seems to be the same Angel that has appeared in many other traditions as well. Angels are prominent in almost every major religion and their purpose and presence is almost universally consistent: they carry the message, or presence, of God to us in ways that we can experience and comprehend. The word Angel means “messenger of God.” It is derived from the Greek word for messenger, “Angelos.” Angels were created as servants of creation and their service is to work with each of us and each of us, regardless of station or situation, has equal access to Angels and their divine assistance.

Angels translate that which is beyond our ordinary consciousness into a form that we are capable of understanding. They choose the method of communication that the individual they appear to will be most receptive to- whether this be via our ordinary five sense or via our more subtle senses of visions, dreams, intuition, feelings or simply the sense of suddenly knowing something with absolute conviction- something that a moment before we were not even aware of. Angels carry and amplify the spiritual force of creation so that we are able, with our human senses, to experience a heightened sense of love, grace, and divine presence.

Angels bring us only good news. Truly, they bring us only good. They remind us of the good we carry within us, the good that we truly are. It is their mission to strengthen our awareness of our innate good so that our good will grow ever stronger within us. As we grow stronger in our own good we become more and more able and willing to share it.

Angels help us to express and to share our most precious possessions: the gifts we carry within us.

Our highest qualities, abilities, talents, feelings and perceptions of love that we carry within us are the jewels of our soul and the seeds of our heart. They are our most blessed gifts and we carry them for the giving of them to both ourselves and others.

Angels assist us in developing and expressing our gifts and stay with us throughout our lives for encouragement, support, guidance, and protection. It is their role to assist us in expressing our inner soul essence – our goodness. Our guardian Angels are devoted to helping us to express our noblest qualities.

Children believe in a gracious and all-loving presence instinctively. That is why it is so easy for them to believe in Santa Clause as a loving, king, generous giver of what they most wish for. A Santa that knows what they want and knows them intimately too: both their naughty and their nice sides. He loves them and brings them the gifts they most desire. Santa Clause, who can deliver every present in one night, is also beyond any normal constraints of time and space, able to give to all without limit and to give to all the children of the world simultaneously. How similar his nature is to the nature of Angels. No wonder we are able to embrace these archetypes so warmly.

the_angel_brideAngels, too, are beyond time and space, beyond language and culture, beyond any of the limitations we experience as human beings. In practical terms, this means that a single Angel, or legions of them, can be present to any number of people in any number of places simultaneously. In other words, there is no need to take a number or feel that you might be short-changing some other soul of an Angel’s attention. It is best to simply relax and let go of any limiting belief you may have about the power and presence of Angels. Their ability to help you is truly limited by only one factor: your willingness to allow them to.

The simplest way to ask an Angel for help begins with calling upon them. You can either call upon one by name, or simply call “all Angels that can help me now.” You may find resonance with one or more Angels as you speak or think their name, meditate with them, read about them, or contemplate upon them. Focus upon the Angel, or Angels, that you feel most drawn to. The most frequently mentioned Angels are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. The “el” in the names of so many Angels means “of God” and, traditionally, it is pronounced as an accented syllable. This means that speaking in the name Gabriel, rather than pronouncing it as we commonly hear it, we would say “Gab-rie-el.” For Michael, “Mi-chi-el” (sounding almost like “Mi-kai-el.”) How we pronounce their names is not as important as our intention in speaking them, but the sound of their names can be helpful in tuning into them.

There are many elaborate rituals from both the ancient age and the new age for calling upon the presence of Angels but there are no special words or mystic phrases that must be learned. Angels are invoked by the simple and sincere calling of our heart and soul. At a gathering of people from around the world who were sharing their methods of invoking Angels, the most touching came from a six year old boy who, with a big smile and wide open heart, shared his method: “I just say, ‘Come here Angels!’” he said.

When we call upon Angels it is not so much that we are calling them to us, as we are calling ourselves to be receptive to them. Angels are always present, always at hand to give assistance. They do not come and go any more than heaven comes and goes. They are not sitting in an Angel waiting room somewhere out past Pluto waiting for a service call to come in. They are with us in every place and at every time.

Then we call upon Angels in meditation, prayer, sacred ceremony, or with a simple thought in daily life, we are really preparing ourselves to receive communion with them. Our awareness heightens, our consciousness rises, our subtle senses begin to open and expand. Our energy increases and the frequency that we vibrate at also increases. Generally one of our senses leads the others in sensing heavenly Angelic presence. Whether this is feeling, seeing, hearing, heat, tingling, visioning, or knowing, one sense tends to be out front and, with practice, becomes the signal that we are making a deeper connection. You can trust and follow your own leading sense to guide you into ever more closer relationships with Angels.

As we ask Angels to work with us to help us bring forth our greatest gifts, often obstacles that we have long been struggling with will fall away. We find resources that moments before we did not realize were there for us. Paths open to us that we could not see before. Synchronicities increase and the loving hand of serendipity may touch us more frequently.

Remember that every time you ask an Angel, you are heard and the Angels help you. Be careful to release your expectations of how they will help you, how it will look, what you will receive. Your soul and the Angels know much better than your mind (and your mind’s desires) what will most serve you. Practice simple awareness and observation of what comes to you after asking the Angels for help. The small and subtle is often much more powerful than the dramatic and glamorous (think the mustard seeds and mountains adage here.)

Practice acknowledgement and gratefulness for each gift that comes – these are the stepping stones along the path of allowing Angels to be more present in our lives. I don’t do extreme sports but I do engage in ‘extreme appreciation’ for each gift of grace and I can vouch for its power in the art of manifesting your gifts.

The practice of calling upon Angels becomes more practical as we work with it. Stay with it. Like Santa, Angels help us to have the very things our hearts and souls most dearly wish for. Unlike our modern Santa, the gifts the Angels help us to express and give rarely come wrapped in gift boxes. Trust the wisdom of your soul for guidance and allow yourself move more deeply into relationships with the Angels – let heaven help you!