I have recently been getting back into the concept of Guardian Angels and their potential impact in my life. A good friend, Cathy, has always had a relationship with angels she says was cultivated by her Grandmother. I knew Cathy’s Grandmother and can say she was a very kind, compassionate – dare I say angelic like? woman. The Spring generally brings thoughts of going back to the Catholic Church for me, I am a sucker for the festive time of Easter, but this year I didn’t feel that pull. My Temple of Why group has been meeting now for 18 months and we focus on learning about spirituality, our spirituality and what spiritual practices work for us individually and for the group. I think it has supplanted my pull back to the Church.
Cathy wanted to lead a circle on angels. She did it last year too, everyone loved it, but a few people missed it. We all agreed it would be great to revisit. She did a well prepared presentation talking about her Grandmother and how she interacts with angels daily. She sees signs of their presence and told us if we begin engaging with our Guardian Angel we would see signs too. She shared all of us were assigned a Guardian Angel that has been with us from birth. Most of our Guardian Angels have been quite bored, not having anything to do because we generally ignore them. Cathy then led us in a guided meditation to help us connect with our angels. I have to say I did feel a warmth and a peace come over me that was pretty unmistakable, so I have since been looking for signs and…well…receiving them. Finding “unexpected” feathers, feeling this warmth again, seeing repeating numbers associated with angels.
I also had a unique experience while preparing to go to a site that is targeted for a lithium battery storage project. A group of us went to pray for protection of the land and habitat for the animals residing there. While waiting for the others to arrive, I was compelled like a magnetic pull to look at the clock. 12:21. ok, then again and again something drawing me to 12:21. So I said fine I will look up the symbolism of 12:21 and there she was, Haamiah, the Guardian Angel of ritual and sacred order. She is known to clear space and establish energetic purity. Needless to say I was blown away.
But who is Haamiah? I never had heard of her. It seems she is a part of the 72 Shem angels, a group of “celestial beings” in Jewish Kabbalah and Western esoterism. There names are derived from the Book of Exodus and each is said to have unique attributes and be messengers of God. Kabbalist and Hermetic tradition assigned one angel to 5 degree sections of the decans of the zodiac and therefore, we can all identify our own Guardian Angel by the Sun’s position in our natal chart. We can also identify the attributes of our angel. This was a new revelation for me and tied in everything I utilize in my spiritual practice; Astrology, now Angels, prayer, Tarot (there is a Tarot card assigned to each angel as well) and even crystals.
I have identified my Guardian Angel, Jeliel, and her attributes, reconciliation and harmony in relationships as my core tone or stable field surrounding me. I have also added the Guardian Angel of my Ascendent as my outer facing expression and the Guardian Angel of my Moon as my emotional layer or heart. This forms a triad of my inner, outer and emotional life. I have also applied this to the transiting Sun, Ascendent and moon so I can gauge the energy of the day. It has become a daily practice and one I feel lost with out.
Discovering the 72 Shem Angels has been transformative for me. I enjoy working with them, feel their presence and am learning to listen for and trust their guidance. I’ll share more, but for now a photo of my “Guardian Angel feather” that drifted won for me at the Chalice Well.