Angels
Your Spirit Animals
Many wisdom traditions and cultures features some form of animal symbolism. Animals are thought to be guides, teachers, messengers, or protectors for a person as they journey through life. They are referred to as spirit animals, familiars, animal guides, power animals, or totems.
Our spirit animals provide guidance or insight when we most need it, if we are paying attention. These animal guides can appear in our lives in many unexpected or interesting ways. Typically, an animal that appears over and over, or that one feels a special affinity to, should be considered a possible spirit animal.
There are animals that are life-long guides, which are typically more reflective of our own personality and unique gifts. Those animals that show up briefly, or only at certain times, are thought of as messengers or wayshowers to help us along our path. They often provide comfort, or convey an important message.
We can also call on animals to empower us in times of need, when we need a particular quality or inspirational or healing energy in our life, such as strength (lion), joy or playfulness (dolphin), vision (hawk), awareness (eagle), or peace (dove).
To discover your totem animals, think about animals you have always been drawn to, especially as a child, and consider the qualities of these animals. Then consider how these might apply to you, or how they have played out in your life.
Frankie, My Furry Protector In Spirit
I often say, if there is a cat in your house, you are never alone. And this reassuring notion not only applies to cats that are in this life, but also those who have passed on to the next. Just recently, I have received another wonderful visitation from a dear furry friend of mine who passed 25 years ago!
Frankie, a beautiful Blue Point Siamese, was my fur friend and my only ‘sister.’ Growing up she was always there. I picked her out of a litter when I was only two years old. Frankie lived a long, happy life, and in her final days her meowing sounded to me like she was saying, “Maryella.” So, that is what I named my next kitty: Maryella.
So, Frankie came to me the other night and told me that she is friends with the four cats that I own now, and that she is still around after all these years. She even showed me where she hangs out these days. It is a colorful place with a bridge. I will leave it at that.
Frankie told me that she has been my spirit animal for a very long time. I was not surprised, as I have seen her from time to time over the years. She always seems to show up during times when life seems to not be going so well for me. I have certainly felt her warmth and her compassionate, loving energy around me when times are tough.
I have also dreamt of her many times, but the other night was not a visitation dream. It was a full-on apparition. I was looking out the large picture window in my living room, and there she was… walking casually across the deck outside. Then she stopped, sat down, and looked directly at me. She stared right at me.
The True Meaning Of Surrender
When life becomes too challenging, and things begin to fall apart for us, we usually seek spiritual guidance and comfort. And in these circumstances we often tend to hear terms like surrender, release and acceptance. We are told to just let it go and simply be in the moment.
But what does it really mean to surrender? It’s a term often used in spiritual and metaphysical circles. Is there even such a thing? And if so, what does it entail? According to the dictionary, surrender means to stop fighting and admit defeat. It also conjures up the vision of waving a white flag. But is spiritual surrender truly nothing more than throwing in the towel, and graciously accepting our defeat?
I prefer to explore the meaning of spiritual ‘surrender’ through the metaphor of a painting I made, which is my way of meditating and reflecting on life. The painting is of an angel and I even named it Surrender. I chose this name, because it is the energy this angel emanates. His pose and posture also symbolizes the act of surrender.
At the time of working with the energy of this piece, I was in the process of leaving the security of a mainstream finance career, to establish myself as a full-time artist, energy healer and spiritual reader. Meanwhile, I was also very busy navigating a family separation and divorce. There were so many major changes in my life, and so much about my future and my life path that remained uncertain and unknown.
During my painting time, I felt connected to an energy that provide me with wise counsel. It was during a time in my life when I wasn’t feeling grounded in my own wisdom, and I needed a way to feel into it. This painting for me became the bridge in my understanding, as I navigated my new life changes.
Things Will Always Fall Into Place
During a recent interview for a paranormal podcast, I was asked what the wisest advice or guidance was that my spirit guide or angel had ever given me. The answer was easy, “Fear not, things will always fall into place.”
I was rushing around one day, hurried, feeling like there was just too much I had to do. I was feeling stressed out and anxious. All I wished for was to arrive at a place of stillness and contentment. But I forget at times that we can find stillness and inner peace right now, in any given moment. It is all about perspective and knowing that things change constantly, and our circumstances may very soon be different.
Sometimes we can become trapped in a way of thinking that isn’t good for us. We get into a rut and we feel there is no way out, or that things won’t ever change. But they always do in the end. That is the thing: knowing that circumstances always change and energy is always shifting.
Instead of being sucked into this kind of negative thought pattern, try the following strategies instead.
Keep a positive attitude. Become the energy you wish to attract. Like attracts like.
Visualize to materialize. I like to do this literally right on the cusp of sleep. It really makes things manifest for me easily this way for the next day, or days ahead.
Our Loved Ones In The Realm Next Door
Someone very close to me recently had an unusual near-death experience. It was a profound event she says she will never forget, and it reminded me of the fact that our loved ones are always around us, whether we believe it, or not.
My dear friend had to go into the hospital for an iron infusion. She was severely deficient and the iron supplements she had been taking, weren’t doing the trick. Not looking forward to the procedure, and having been told that she could have an adverse reaction to the infusion, she was not at all excited to go to the emergency room.
Soon after they started the infusion, she passed out! But this was more than just her fainting. While she was in this altered state of consciousness, she had repeated encounters with both her deceased parents. She felt their warm embrace comforting her and telling her all was going to be okay, and not to worry.
“We are both with you, we love you and we are here protecting you,” they told her. “It is not your time, you still have things you have to do and people around you who love you, and care a lot about you, and need you.”
The experience was quite traumatic for my friend. She came to twice, and then passed out again. Three times in total. Being that she is over 70, and considered very weak for her age, the medical staff were concerned for her safety. Thankfully, all went well in the end. Today she feels much stronger and has more energy, as her blood was build back up thanks to the iron infusion. But she says she doesn’t think she will be getting such an infusion again anytime soon!
The Angel Messages In Repetitive Numbers
Numbers show up as spiritual signs in the lives of many people these days. When we keep seeing certain numbers, or number sequences, our Angels are encouraging us to seek information or advice on the deeper meaning of these numbers. Each number has its own metaphysical correspondence and spiritual meaning, which represents the vibrational energy frequency of each number.
You may spot these repetitive numbers, or number sequences, on vehicle license plates, clocks, watches, house numbers, car pedometers, road signs, and anywhere else numbers may appear in daily life. For example, you begin to notice that every day, whenever you happen to look at a clock or watch, the time displayed is always 11:11. Or, you may find you are handed the same small change over and over, every time you pay for something in cash.
Personally, I have been seeing a lot of double and treble numbers on the TV screen and on my phone. Whenever this happens, I thank my Angels for trying to get my attention. Then I sit quietly in a moment of contemplation, and request their guidance in understanding the message. I also ask them to impress upon me any additional information I may need to know.
Below are some numbers most commonly asked about. Once we accept the universal energy which they are endowed with, they really can help guide us along our spiritual path. Keep your mind as clear as possible, once a certain number has made a repeated impression upon you, and then check this list to see if the Angel number symbolism resonates with your thoughts or plans at that particular time.
Prophetic Dreams – A Heads Up From Your Angels
Many of us experience prophetic or psychic dreams, often without even knowing it. What is a prophetic dream? Well, let me share a few prophetic dreams loved ones have shared with me recently.
I had a dream for example, that a family member would rummage through another family member’s basement, looking for items to take without their permission. In my dream I saw myself receiving repeated text alerts urging me to go over there and see for myself what this person was up to. So, I actually got up and went over there, only to discover that the family member in question was indeed there, busy removing several items from the basement!
I also had a dream that there were thieves coming in through my window, only to wake up and find that my neighbors had in fact been robbed during the night. I also had a package stolen from my porch recently, and a security camera nearby captured the person stealing it.
I dreamt of a my grandmother. I was visiting with her and we were in her bedroom, where we had spent a lot of time having chats throughout my teens. Currently on my music playlist there is a song about how our relatives are still with us in everything we do, and live on in our hearts. Lately, whenever I get to that song, it always freezes right on that song – the phone just pauses on its own!