MESSENGERS OF LOVE, LIGHT & GRACE

Getting to Know Your Personal Angels

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By Terry Lynn Taylor

New World Library

Copyright © 2005 Terry Lynn Taylor
All right reserved.
ISBN: 1-932073-14-0

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Contents

Introduction..........................................1
1. Messengers of Light................................11
2. Angel Consciousness................................45
3. Cultivating Resonant Qualities.....................69
4. Nurturing Angel Practices..........................103
5. Awakening Your Prayer Voice........................137
6. Touched by the Angels..............................169
7. In the World, but Not Of It........................237
Acknowledgments.......................................257
Resources.............................................259
About the Author......................................263

Introduction

Truth is a pathless land. (There is no need to seek it through any occult hierarchy, any guru, any doctrine....) The important thing is to free your mind of envy, hate, and violence; and for that you don't need an organization. -J. Krishnamurti

An epiphany is a sudden intuitive leap of understanding and consciousness, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence. Twenty years ago, in 1985, I had an epiphany regarding angels that profoundly changed my consciousness and my life.

Before this epiphany occurred, I had recently made a commitment to really be a "spiritual person." I wanted to do it on my own terms, without an organization guiding me and without having to adopt a set of beliefs someone else had established. Something about Krishnamurti's statement "Truth is a pathless land" resonated with me. I had been a student of spiritual philosophy and meditation since 1973, but I felt that I hadn't integrated the underlying philosophy into my daily life. So I set out on a new regimen, one that would take my spirit above all the earthly hassles of being human. I changed my diet back to no meat, started to meditate and pray more regularly, and of course read a great many metaphysical books. But I found that I had tricked myself. I had given myself a set of beliefs - something I was trying to get away from - under the guise of being spiritual. Instead of creating joy and bliss, this new set of beliefs just resulted in hard work.

One day while doing my spiritual reading and feeling particularly frustrated, I came across the old Scottish saying "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly." This simple saying hit my consciousness like a blast of light. The room I was sitting in sparkled and vibrated with light. I stopped reading and allowed a flood of exciting ideas and feelings to wash over me. Two very important insights occurred to me regarding my own spiritual quest. One, I was taking my life far too seriously, and spending too much time "trying" versus being, without respecting the lighter, more humorous side of God. Two, I was forgetting that angels are our spiritual helpers and personal guides in life. In my epiphany I experienced an expanded idea of what angels do and what they represent to us as spiritual beings having a human experience. Along with my expanded view of angels and divine humor came a deeper appreciation for life on earth and the importance of our human birth. Ironically the angels, who could be thought of as pure spirit, helped me begin to honor the importance of being human.

For as long as I can remember, I always knew that angels existed and I always thought that they were a good idea. My philosophy was: Why question something that makes so much sense? As a teenager, I tended to be a bit reckless, and I had a friend who shared this tendency. I remember that each time we had a close call, we would comment that our guardian angels were probably fed up with working overtime. We also discovered that our guardian angels could do other special things besides saving us. We figured out that if we asked them, they would help us get what we wanted. When I look back at the silly things we asked for, I see how truly patient and loving God is.

After my epiphany, I began searching in earnest for books and other sources on angels and their ways. Whenever I met someone, I would ask, "Have you ever seen an angel?" or "Do you believe in angels?" I never got an outright no. Some people would say, "I don't know if I would call it angels, but I've had a few things happen that I just can't explain." At the same time, my close friend Shannon was having similar feelings about angels, and we would compare notes. Most of all, we discovered how interesting, fun, and light life can be when angels are around in full force.

During this time, I couldn't find a book on angels that resonated with my newfound joy, so I said to a friend, "I should just write my own book." My friend said, "That's actually a good idea!" I said I was just kidding, but as we discussed the idea further I realized the idea wasn't that far-fetched. I had been keeping a journal of my emerging angel consciousness and the little practices I had been doing, and it became the basis for my first book, Messengers of Light.

My inspiration for writing about angel consciousness comes from various sources: experiences, literature, and the people I meet. The main source I have used for all of the books I have written has been my strong intuitions regarding angels, which arise from a synthesis of all the outside information I've taken in and all the inner information I have from a deep sense of knowing. Of course, I ask the angels to inspire me at all times. I never feel I channel angels in the traditional sense (which is actually like taking dictation from spirits on the other side), because I've found that angels speak to us in feelings and guide us by inspiration. Most of all, angels give me the feeling that I'm not alone in the universe, and that I am eternally loved. Even when I feel as if the moral, intellectual, and spiritual lights are going out all around me, the angels remind me that the light is on in my heart, and in the hearts of many.

I am still exploring the basic questions that guided me in the beginning awakening of angel consciousness:

What are the angels doing right now? What goes on in heaven that we need to be mindful of? How can we feel more at home being human? Can the angels help lead us to true happiness? Can we ask the angels for help on practical matters of living?

By working and playing with the angels, we make our way back to a natural and real experience of learning as much about love as we dare to while we are here on earth. The angels help us understand that we are called to love, and that we each have a unique way of expressing love.

Great experiences come when we take a risk and get past our fears so we can love deeply. Meaningful life experiences come from taking chances, not sitting back and thinking and wondering what it would be like, but getting out there and living our lives. Waking up and coming to our senses. What type of angel experiences are you cultivating? Calling forth? Going for? We have many experiences that are not tangible or physically measurable, yet they have a great power in influencing our lives. All of this needs to be factored into the mix.

I am often asked what my latest angel experience was. I always answer, "It is happening right now!" Now is your angel experience too, and the more you know the angels, the more multidimensional your angel experiences will be.

Our True Human Nature

We humans are amazing. We can reflect the light in ways that transform others, and we have our special talents, but we also stumble through life at the same time. One of the greatest aspects of angel consciousness is that it does not require you to be a saint, only good at heart. I am not a saint, and I don't care to be. My life has been an interesting journey, and I try not to judge where I end up as anything other than a set of experiences I am destined to encounter. I hope always to do my best. I've had the chance to shake hands with the Dalai Lama, and I've also shaken the hands of convicted murderers. In a humorous twist of fate, I have met almost every celebrity and spiritual teacher I idolized when I was young. They are as beautifully human as you or I.

My daily message to myself is simply to do my best and stay connected to the angels. This looks different from day to day, depending on conditions, yet I know no other way to be. So, in my continuing journey to do my best, I offer this book to remind you that, no matter how dark it may seem here on planet earth, we are connected to heaven and there are multitudes of angels reminding us that we are loved unconditionally. There is still a great deal of fun to be had while we are here as earthlings.

This book represents a "best of" all the angel books I have written. I put "best of" in quotation marks because there is so much I wanted to include and share that it was difficult to know what was truly best. Basically I took previous writings I felt would help you stay inspired, sprinkled them with some new light, added some new writings, and put it all in one volume. I wrote my previous books in response to what I saw evolving when the angels alighted in people's lives, as well as what people were sharing with me in letters or at workshops about the way their lives were changing. For example, I wrote Creating with the Angels to help honor and encourage the newfound levels of creativity the angels were helping people with. I wrote Angel Days as a guided journal for igniting our faith anew each day.

All of the ideas and promptings the angels give to us are as vital to our spiritual survival today as they were ten years ago, at the peak of the popularity of angel books. I like to say that I write "human books," with the hope of encouraging and inspiring people to team up with the angels to make our human experience meaningful. I've come to the conclusion after all my years of spiritual investigation that there are no "spiritual people"; there is only Spiritual Law, which is the Light. Our true human nature is divine. All we need to do is be true to ourselves, and then it takes no effort for us to be spiritual.

Knowing Your Personal Angels by Heart

Blood must flow for the garden to flower. And the heart that loves Me is a wound without shield. - Rumi

When we connect with the angels on a conscious level, our hearts expand to allow for more love to come and go. Now we have a problem of sorts, because our hearts don't worry about breaking or fret about the pain involved when we suffer losses as a result of our loving. When feelings come from the heart, we don't need to argue with, intellectualize, or analyze them. Sometimes we make fun of people who "live in their hearts." Instead, we are wise to honor the parts of us that are heartfelt.

The heart is mysterious. It continues to mystify medical scientists as the main organ keeping us alive, and it confounds the best of us as the origin of love. Discoveries about how the electromagnetic field of the heart responds to emotional stimuli are giving us insight into how important love and relationships are to the health of the heart and body.

The heart is the most natural and organic part of us. When something is natural, it is uncorrupted and untouched - free to follow its own true course. The natural course for the heart is to love openly and freely. The heart is a connecting point for our relationship with God. It is the home of our true intentions, which is what God and the angels respond to. If your "heart is in the right place," God knows right where you are.

Knowing and Loving Yourself

Suppose I came along and handed you a clear glass vase and told you it was filled with an actual part of God. Inside this fragile vase you'd see a beautiful and unique color of light brought forth straight from the realm of heaven. After this special light entered the vase, the angels blessed it and carefully brought it to earth. Now you'd have the vase in your keeping. What would you do? This vase is priceless - so valuable you would never let it out of your sight or awareness.

Most likely you would cherish this vase of God light, and you would probably only let certain people near it. You would protect it from harm and make sure it didn't break. It would be the most important item to you because it represented a living spark of the light of God and you'd know that you were in charge of it.

Well, that is exactly what you are - a vessel of actual God light. How do we usually treat our unique vessels of God? Sometimes we forget we are made of God, and we are less careful with our special selves than we are with our material valuables. You are precious and priceless. God needs your light to shine brightly with love for your Self - for God.

Understanding fully who we are and what we are doing here involves being able and willing to love ourselves. This doesn't mean loving ourselves as soon as we do a few more things to make ourselves lovable; it means loving ourselves right now. We may ignore or deny this love, but the truth is we are always capable of loving ourselves at this very moment. Angels are intensely active in the lives of humans. Many people are seeking the spiritual dimension, and whether they realize it or not, they are attracting angels. The main lesson the angels have for us is that we are love, we are God on earth, and it is time to love ourselves and open our hearts.

Book Note

My plan of action for this book is to introduce the angels in chapter 1; invite them into our consciousness in chapter 2; cultivate the qualities that angels respond to and that help the planet heal in chapter 3; create a deep and meaningful relationship with the angels by integrating their spiritual help in practical, nurturing ways in chapter 4; awaken our prayer voice and send a joyful noise unto the Lord in chapter 5; learn from and be inspired by our fellow travelers in chapter 6; and tie up loose ends, go over issues that arise in our relationship with the angels, and explore being in the world but not of the world in chapter 7.

Remember, the angels are messengers. Their main message is of love, light, and grace. I pray you will be forever blessed with love in your heart, light in your mind, and grace in your soul.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from MESSENGERS OF LOVE, LIGHT & GRACE by Terry Lynn Taylor Copyright © 2005 by Terry Lynn Taylor. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Taylor (Messengers of Light ) is already well known as the author of several popular books on angels. To her, angels are less the fearsome messengers of the awesome God of the Bible than divine friends and facilitators; she encourages readers to alert their angels to their goals, dreams, ideas, "noble thoughts and fantastic avenues," and gratitude. Taylor's tone is light and uplifting, as suits her subject. For most collections.

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