Angels Help Us: Discovering Divine Guidance

By Jean Porche and Deborah Vaughan

Why do angels so fire the imagination of people today? Connecting with heavenly friends who watch over us, and care for us, brings great comfort in pain or stress. It also takes us into the realm of the divine, where we find guidance and companionship for the soul.

This lively overview explores historical and scriptural accounts, traditions from around the world, and diverse contemporary views about angels. There are stories of angelic encounters with ordinary men and women, and meditations for inviting angels to act in your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dundurn
• Release date: Sep 16, 2002
• ISBN: 9781459725959

Jean Porche

Former teacher Jean Porche is a prolific writer, reader, and channel. She has taught students from grades 5 through 12, and has conducted teacher trainings. Jean's previous book, Angels Help Us: Discovering Divine Guidance was co-authored with Deborah Vaughan and the two are known as the Angel Ladies.

Book preview

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Chapter 1

So You Want to Know about Angels

How many people do you know who have had angelic experiences? Probably not many, maybe none at all. Among those who believe in angels, there seems to be a code of silence. Discretion is the rule of thumb, and there is good reason for it.

Try this experiment: take a seat on a crowded bus or subway and announce to your neighbour in a clear voice that you believe the bus is filled with angels. Or, when you get to work, mention to co-workers that you’re going to send an angel to ease a difficult situation. To avoid the likely reaction of disbelief, ridicule, or worse, you probably won’t even consider trying the experiment.

Yet it seems reasonable to expect acceptance of angels. After all, angels are found in the scriptures of major religions. Anthropologists and archeologists have documented ancient references to angels and winged beings in the works of many cultures. Religious poetry and song echo the theme of angelic love and assistance. Worldwide, angels are found in traditions and art. Nevertheless, most people are not receptive to the idea that angels accompany them daily.

For many people, the real world is down to earth and, very often, a dull grind: working, supporting the family, paying the bills, and making it through the day. Angels are like Santa and unicorns, nothing more than pretty stories. Others are skeptics for whom only seeing is believing. Angels? You might as well believe that the moon is made of cheese of any colour.

Even among people with a strong faith, acceptance of angels is not usual. Few churches teach that angels are living beings who can help people in their daily lives. Many religious people seem to feel that they are unworthy of the help of angels. Others are uncomfortable with the idea that holiness can enter the here and now of ordinary life.

So the lesson is clear and easily learned: if you want to be taken seriously, use caution in discussing angels. No wonder so many of us opt not to discuss angels openly except in the company of those we trust and, even then, with some measure of caution.

However, you will notice that this book did not come in a brown paper wrapper. We feel that it is time for people to freely admit that they are fascinated by angels, that they believe in angels, and indeed, may even have had an angelic experience. If you have picked up this book, expecting to find angels explained away as legends or fairy tales, then you’ll be disappointed. It is our belief and experience that angels are very much active in the life of every single person on this planet.

That includes you. Whether it was genuine interest, idle curiosity, or a deep prompting from the heart that led you to read this book, you chose to investigate angels further. Why? And why now?

We ask this question of people frequently: Why are you at this workshop? Why does the topic of angels attract you? Here are some of the answers we have received, comments made to us by people in our workshops and in the course of countless conversations about angels.

I’ve always been interested in and drawn to angels.

I have collected angels for years.

I want to know if angels are real.

I want to know if I have an angel helping me.

I just couldn’t get it out of my mind.

I’ve always been skeptical about angels, but I couldn’t stop wondering about them.

I believe I saw an angel.

I’ve never really believed in angels, but the Bible is full of them, so I wanted to know more.

I think an angel saved my life.

I don’t know, really. I just had to be here.

Perhaps one or more of these comments speaks to your reason for reading this book at this time in your life.

Timing seems to be important. Some say they have repeatedly considered and chosen not to attend a workshop, but have finally found themselves walking through the door. Perhaps there must be a readiness that comes with growth and development. Perhaps now is the right time for you to meet the angels.

This book will provide you with an overview of what is known as angelology, the study of angels. As you read, you will explore the historical and scriptural understanding of angels, angelic traditions from around the world, and diverse contemporary opinions ranging from those of Billy Graham to Pope John Paul II. You will enjoy the stories of angelic encounters of ordinary men and women, people like yourself. You will discover what to expect when you invite your angel to act on your behalf.

As we have worked with our angels, we have encountered almost every conceivable reaction from the people with whom we share our stories. We have learned that everywhere there are people seeking angels, and what is more, it’s as natural as breathing to do so. Like us, angels are part of something much bigger than what we can see with our eyes. So consider your own interest in angels to be an invitation to a deeper understanding of your connection to all creation. Our prayer is that you will find within this book that which brings peace to your heart and ease to your journey.

Chapter 2

Angels through History

What is it about angels that so fires the imagination of people around the world? The idea of the heavenly friend who watches over us from birth to death brings great comfort in pain or distress of any kind. At the same time, it takes us into the realm of the unseen, the unknown, the divine. It takes us into the presence of something greater than ourselves that challenges our limited imagination and self-worth. Many of us on the spiritual journey have a difficult time accepting the angelic hand. Yet for many, accepting that hand is the first step in accepting the God they cannot understand or see.

From the beginning of recorded history— and before that, as ancient prehistoric relics have revealed — early peoples recognized the reality of a divine power and of lesser winged beings who attend upon it, serve as messengers, and assist humans. When we find such a conception shared across times and cultures, we take it seriously as a sign of a deep truth instinctively realized within the human spirit. The psychologist C. G. Jung referred to archetypes: symbolic figures that reflect aspects of the human unconscious that are common across diverse cultures. Many believe, as we do, that angels fall into this category, along with such concepts as mother, hero, seeker, villain. The archetypal symbol is reflected in the ordinary reality of mothers, seekers, and villains. And angels.

Always, the unknown has been a source of fascination for humans, whether it comes in the form of the cycle of day and night, or the flicker of fire, or the Source of All Being. Or angels.

Early times

Early people decorated their caves with pictures of what they knew: a hunt, animals they observed, tribal ceremonies and rituals. And sometimes angels. They didn’t have that word, and they have left us no detailed record of their beliefs, but there are winged beings depicted in the most ancient art — beings whose wings represented their role as intermediaries between God or gods and humans.

The earliest civilizations displayed angelic figures on stone cylinder seals and on steles, or stone panels. The first such angel carving, from the Near East circa 4000 BCE, shows an angel sharing the water of life with an earthly ruler, pouring it into his upheld cup. Even then, these divinely created beings were seen as having a function that connected humans to the divine and through which the divine could touch human lives in extraordinary ways. In culture after culture — Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman — we find lesser divine beings who functioned as intermediaries between the gods and the human race. Even today, floral offerings from loved ones are delivered by the winged messengers’ modern counterparts at FTD!

Old Testament days

The ancient Israelites envisioned the God of Abraham as the all-powerful defender who would champion their cause, but they were also aware of the ritual and moral demands placed on them if they wished to remain in his good graces. They interpreted adverse events, such as losses in battle, as signs of God’s disfavour, and were provoked to examine their own behaviour to see if it was in accord with God’s will for them. They scanned the heavens for anointed ambassadors of God, and God periodically dispatched angels to intervene in human affairs. Sometimes the angels delivered harsh judgements, such as driving Adam and Eve from the paradise of Eden. Sometimes they brought divine mercy, as in the dramatic last-minute reprieve granted Isaac from his father’s