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CHAPTER 5

The Power of Angels

Using Prayer

As we awaken to our loving power within and our true godliness, many of us are now realizing that it is time to lift ourselves away from the trap of physicality and materialism. We find ourselves reaching as never before in our evolutionary pattern toward our highest reconnection with ourselves and with each other. That is why there is such a growing interest in transcendence. This age, which is more than 50,000 years in the making, according to the Hindu prophets, is a time for us to evolve into our true selves. As the great spiritual master Jesus of Nazareth said, “All these things I do, you shall do also.”

Individuals are questioning whether their needs are of any importance in the grand view of things, and whether their prayers are being heard. You should know that when prayers don’t seem to be answered it is not because they aren’t being heard. It is because the response is in keeping with the cosmic calendar, unlike our time frame on Earth, and in tune with our soul’s most beneficial requirements.

Whether we choose to believe it or not, our prayers are heard and considered. Prayers with prayer beads such as the Catholic rosary or Vedantic Japa Mala are intrinsically powerful because the vibratory level has been built up by thousands of devoted people faithfully repeating the same combination of words for hundreds of years. They raise one’s own vibrations, as well as those of the planet. Fervent, faithful, honest prayer is answered the most readily. Prayer by “rote” or repetition, garners a weaker response, but is not without value. Insincere requests, motivated by greed or selfishness do not belong in prayer. The most effective prayers for having our needs met are offered in our own words, expressing simply what is in our hearts and minds.

In truth, our life is such that its unconscious components are continuously present in all their multiple forms.—Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind

Years ago, when I was teaching yoga on Long Island, and making my way as a psychic counselor—an unheard-of vocation at the time—I was also breaking into regional media. My angels told me the time was right to reach a larger group of people than the local audiences I was used to, and they directed me to broaden my horizons. Television producers, who were beginning to take notice, seemed to agree. But rather than guest appearances or shows as I was promised, I was misused, I felt, by private requests for personal readings, gratis, with hints of something to come. Often I would return messages left by a show’s producers, usually long-distance, merely to be met with personal questions about love lives and careers. Now I am not one to object to offering help when one needs it, but these calls made me feel used, and were highly trivial, like “My best friend Elvira is in love with this guy, Johnny, but I know he really loves me—how do I get him to notice me?”

If I tried to steer the conversation to business, the answers were generally evasive, and non-responsive:

“Well, there are other psychics we’re considering . . .”

“Well, we haven’t made a decision . . .”

Fruitless interviews in offices, during which I was asked for personal readings to higher-ups of higher-ups, gave way to frustration and desire for a career which didn’t invite so much self-interest or potential for being used. On my way home one day, I stopped at a church.

“Please,” I implored, “let this come to an end. If I am meant to be on television then let it be. If I am not, then let that be.”

When I arrived home a message was waiting. It was from a different producer on another show, and a week later I was on Midday Live with Bill Boggs making my national debut.

Spiritual teacher and philosopher Rudolph Steiner conceived of a complex society of angels and spirits as the result of visionary experiences. Angels, according to his system, exist on the first level of consciousness above humankind; above them, in ascending order of levels, are Archangels, Archai (Primal Beginnings), Exusiai (Authorities or Powers), Dynamis (Mights), Kyriotetes (Dominions), Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim. Beyond the Seraphim is the Godhead. Each level of being has higher and broader responsibilities in terms of spiritual evolution, beginning with archangels, some of whom are responsible for leading races or nations

While prayer is asking, meditation is waiting, listening, and turning within. As a tool for growth, it enables us to tune into or achieve a higher state of consciousness and awaken awareness of our true selves.

While it may take years of practice and dedication to attain the perfect state of inner peace and universal awareness achieved by master teachers and yogis, sometimes just stopping and turning within can provide you with the answers or the centering you need. Many times when I am looking for something that I simply can’t find, or need an answer to a problem, I stop what I’m doing, clear my mind of thoughts, and ask for help. The answer or course of action doesn’t come like a thunderbolt, but generally enters my consciousness shortly thereafter.

Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view.—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

We have more control over ourselves and our experiences than we acknowledge. We don’t live in a haphazard universe where things work out in a hit-or-miss way. There is definite and perfect order to all things. The madness that we frequently see around us is the result of man’s improper use of free will.

Humankind’s free will, being supreme, is ever being exercised, and is manifest in all phases of life. The Creator, known also as the “The Ancient of Days,” or by any variety of names, interacts in and around our free will, in keeping with each person’s individual karmic pattern. Angels, ascended masters, saints, guides, and the omniscient “Lords of Karma,” who control how karma and prayers interact, are extensions of the Creator. While attuned to our earthly needs, they are bound by the universal laws of karma.

On Not Repeating Mistakes

Author Mark Prophet reports in his book, The Answer You’re Looking for Is Inside of You, “Saint Germain once told us, ‘I made over two million right decisions before I made my ascension.’”

When a karmic lesson is on the soul’s agenda, the angels are prevented from intervening. At that point they must pull their protection away from us. Yet if we are open to less-than-severe lessons, the angels will modify our karmic experiences, particularly if we ask for divine protection.

Being aware of our negative tendencies and earnestly trying to correct them can also help prevent karmic “backlash.” If we have prayed for protection while driving yet are due to have an accident, instead of a major calamity we may come out with just a minor dent. We may be spared serious damage to life and property if we have learned whatever lessons might have been forthcoming in a more serious accident. Perhaps by changing the habit of leaving home late, which caused you to make up time on the road in a reckless manner, you may have averted more serious repercussions.

Angels and humankind are but two branches in the family of God, who need to work more closely for the spiritual benefit of humans.—Geoffrey Hodson, The Brotherhood of Angels and Men

Turning Within

One night many years ago, I awoke from a terrifying nightmare. I dreamt that my face was being attacked by rats and that I was bleeding to death. Believing then as I do now, in the prophetic character of dreams, I felt keenly that I was at a crossroads, and that my life was nearing its end. I prayed to God, to the angels, and to my guides that this would not happen.

The next day, my brother, sister-in-law, and my husband, Jack, were walking at a beach at the east end of Long Island, New York. As I accidentally walked too close to an old beach wall, my face was suddenly slashed open by a long arm of rusty metal, which was projecting outward. The jagged piece was impossible to see, since it was razor-thin, and I was blinded by the setting sun.

“Don’t worry,” came the comforting words, “it will be all right.” Nearly an hour later, hurtling through Suffolk County to reach a hospital, and having bled through two beach blankets, I was calm, for I had been assured by the voice of God.

God, and all his extensions, are happy to guide, serve, protect, and answer the prayers of humans, not only because we need their assistance, but because they grow in spirit when they work with us. When we work, they work as well—through us, for us, and with us.

We have more control over ourselves and our experiences than we acknowledge. We don’t live in a haphazard universe where things work out in a hit-or-miss way. There is definite and perfect order to all things. The madness that we frequently see around us is the result of man’s improper use of free will.

Man’s free will, being supreme, is ever being exercised, and is manifest in all phases of life. The Creator, known also as the “The Ancient of Days,” “Sunat Kumara,” or by any variety of names, interacts in and around man’s free will, in keeping with each person’s individual karmic pattern. Angels, ascended masters, saints, guides, and the omniscient “Lords of Karma” who control how karma and prayers interact, are extensions of the Creator. While attuned to our earthly needs, they are bound by the universal laws of karma. All human ills arise from some transgression of universal law. The scriptures point out that man must satisfy the laws of nature, while not discrediting the divine omnipotence. He should say: “Lord I trust in Thee, and know Thou canst help me, but I too will do my best to undo any wrong I have done.” By a number of means—by prayer, by willpower, by yoga meditation, by consultation with the saints—the adverse effects of past wrongs can be minimized or nullified. Just as a house may be fitted with a copper rod to absorb the shock of lightning, so the bodily temple can be benefited in certain ways.—Master teacher Sri Yukteswar as recounted by Paramahansa Yogananda in Autobiography of a Yogi [chapter 16]