Saved by an Angel

"The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields, and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of exposure. Each thing creeps back into its own nature within the shelter of the dark. Darkness is the ancient womb. Nighttime is womb- time. Our souls come out to play. The darkness absolves everything; the struggle for identity and impression falls away. We rest in the night." --John O'Donohue from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom--

I remember the night as if it were yesterday; it is so clear. I was in my bed and just entering sleep when suddenly I realized I wasn't breathing. I'd suffered from sleep apnea for several years, but that night was, by far, the worst episode yet. I don't know if any of you have ever suffered with it, but it is such a dreadful and frightening feeling.  As I struggled to catch my breath, I felt like I was going to die and bolt upright in my bed. "This is it," I thought, "This is the end."

It was then that I saw it...the figure of a woman standing in my bedroom door.  I couldn't see her face in the darkness, but I knew that it was a woman; she was dressed in the most beautiful flowing white gown.."An angel, I thought...my  guardian angel."  Was she here to take me?  Was it my time?...Or was she here to save me?  At that point, so many thoughts were racing through my head.  "I don't want to die."  "My sons, what will happen to my children?" They were so young at the time. But, then as I sat there gazing at her, I felt my breath returning, and she began fading away.  By the time I was breathing normally, and my angel was gone.

Many of us have had encounters with angels or spirit guides...entities from another realm; they are a great help in times of need.  They are always with us and are simply waiting for us to call them into our lives or situations.  You may know that they are with you by a fragrance which seems to come from nowhere. Visually you may see them as a white light that you catch out of the corner of your eye, or you may even see them in all their glory... as in the case of the angel who saved my life. They guide us to make the right decisions and encourage ideas to transform our lives for the better.

Angels are many different things to different people.  The first historical records of these winged beings come to us from Zoraoastrianism, one of world's oldest religions; they had two forms of spiritual being--the Ahuras (angelic beings) and Devas (demonic).  The Hindus have their Gandharvas. They are not exactly angels, but perform similar functions.  The Native Americans have the Thunderbird, a mythological creature found in the spiritual lore of many of the first Nations of North America.  Shamans often take the form of a bird to travel into the different worlds in search for the person's soul fragments. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all have their angelic beings.  

Personally, I like idea of the Celtic Angel or Anam Cara (soul friend).  According to Celtic spiritual tradition, your soul shines about your body in a luminous cloud (an aura).  When you are open and trusting with another, your two souls flow together, and you form a bond. This deeply felt bond cuts across all barriers of time and space...an ancestral spirit.  Celtic angels were viewed as spiritual beings who take a very special interest in humankind...especially those who are spiritually aware or just developing their spirituality.  They play the role of guardians or companions very much like the totem animal does in other shamanic traditions.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.
--John Milton, Paradise Lost--

Angels help people in a number of ways; sometimes they will appear just briefly, while others may choose to spend an entire incarnation as a human on this planet helping others. Those  who choose to come to Earth in human form are those we call Earth angels. Ancestral guides are those who can claim some sort of kinship with you; there is a biological tie... a deceased ancestor. Some people say that these entities are reincarnated guides; they are the spirits of someone who loved us during their physical lifetime.  

I was truly blessed that night when an angel saved my life. I've not seen her since, but I know that she is there....watching over me.  Who was she?  A guardian angel?  Ancestral spirit?  My Anam Cara?  It's been over 30 years since that night, and I have never had another attack. I'd love to hear your angel tales if you have one.
 
"Angels appear to transcend all cultures, races, and systems. They are a part of human history and civilization, sometimes at the forefront, other times in the shadows, but they are always there. They don't belong to any one particular religion, although many modern people try to associate them with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. No one religion holds total responsibility for the belief in angels. In truth, these religions only support the existence of angels, they didn't create them."--Silver Ravenwolf