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The word ‘angel’ originates from the Greek ‘aggelos,’ which means ‘messenger.’ Many angel sightings have been recorded in the Bible; these angels appeared before the faithful to offer messages that provided assistance or hope.
Actually, angels have been recorded in the scriptures of many faiths around the world. Today, especially with the use of the Internet, it is very easy to learn more about them. People are sharing online their own testimonies, whether these involve proper angelic encounters or messages received by their angels.
They say that every one of us has a guardian angel, and I believe it firmly to be so. I have always had this intense feeling that I am being protected. In my travels as a youngster around Greece and Europe, whenever I needed assistance locals would come along out of the blue to help me out without me even asking. For example, if I needed an interpreter, to lift something heavy or if I was in danger of getting stranded somewhere.
However, one particular incident stands out because it didn’t entail the assistance of a human being and, to this day, I cannot explain it unless I put it down to an angel or two…
It happened on a wintry night in London back in the 1990s. I had just watched a marvelous show in a West End theatre and was running to the bus station to catch the last bus of the day to Hythe, Kent where I was staying at the time.
It had been snowing that day and there was ice on the roads. As I was running, all of a sudden I slipped, and then, everything switched to slow motion. I felt myself getting airborne, my body tilted sideways, my legs rising up to be almost parallel to the ground. Panic struck at my heart as I realized that I was going to fall hard and hurt myself badly.
At that point, I remember thinking with dread that not only was I not going to catch that bus home after all, but that I was probably going to spend the night in a hospital bed with a broken limb or two…
And then, something incredible happened.
Just like that, and even though my legs were parallel to the ground, somehow, I landed on my feet again! It felt like an invisible hand had just turned me upright!
Stunned, but with the urgency still at hand, I kept running. I am pleased to say I did catch that bus, but the mystery I never got to solve. Over time I’ve thought, about it many times, and the only logical explanation I can give is that my angels came to my aid that night.
That was the only time an angel came to my rescue directly. As I stated earlier, they normally help me by getting kind people to offer assistance instead.
But this doesn’t mean my angels stop there. Oh no. Often, they give me messages out of the blue. More often than not, these come on the days that I feel upset, or worried about something. This is their way to confirm their presence around me and, of course, it gives me strength every time. I am not talking about the typical white feather that you may have heard of, and which I often encounter on those days even in the sea while I swim!
My angels’ messages often come unexpectedly when I read something on my computer and have the radio or the TV playing at the same time. This is a wonderful way to get messages from your angels, by the way! The odd word will come to you from both sources at the same time, i.e. you will hear it from the radio or the TV at the exact moment you’ll be reading it on your computer or book or whatever.
But you mustn’t look for it. Just have the sound playing in the background as you read, forget about it, and see what happens in a while. It also helps if you take a moment beforehand to sit quietly to talk to your angels, present the problem, and ask them to offer guidance.
Other than the above, my angels love to communicate with me by touching my face. That said, it doesn’t feel like a touch – it’s like an electric pulse that comes and goes in a split second. I get to feel it just above my eye or high on the corner of my brow at my hairline most times, and I know it’s them. I always take a moment to say thank you when this happens.
Last, but certainly not least, my angels sometimes make small things move around the house when my attention is really required!
The first time this happened was a few years back and it really freaked me out. Yet, it was quite amazing, so I feel compelled to share this with you today:
That morning, I was working on my computer at home. Before my desk, I have a pinboard. A post-it note that I had pinned on it days earlier suddenly dropped and landed on my desk before me the right way up and the right way round. It felt like it had been put there for me to read. In this note I had written a quote (a paraphrase from Rumi), which read: “I am not a drop in the ocean. I am the ocean in a drop.”
Astounded, I read it back to myself as it lay before me, as if put there by an invisible hand, and I knew that moment it was an angelic message that spoke about inner strength. Here, I must explain that I work in a windowless room. All the windows in my house were closed at the time so this couldn’t have been caused by a draft. No music was playing either – so this wasn’t a case of sound waves causing vibrations.
A week later, my shoulder began to hurt more from an injury I had suffered recently. The pain kept increasing so I went to the doc and the diagnosis was frozen shoulder. The next five months were harrowing for me and the pain indescribable, especially at night. I slept very little during these five months. Every night ,I wandered around the house for hours like a zombie seeking a modicum of comfort as I rubbed heat-inducing cream on my shoulder and cried my eyes out.
Throughout those five months, somehow, despite the upset and the exhaustion, I didn’t miss a single day at my desk writing, blogging, and promoting my novels – even on the worst days when I could only type with one hand.
Of course, during that difficult time, the angelic message I had received kept reminding me how strong I was. I could see then in hindsight that my angels had warned me things were going to get tough so I could brace myself. I am forever grateful for that message, because it told me I wasn’t going to go through the hardship alone and that truly saw me through.
As I stated earlier, the first time something moved in front of me of its own volition it really freaked me out. Since then, my angels have communicated with me in the same manner on two other occasions – in both cases, to warn me that tough times for me or my loved ones were about to start. By now, I don’t get spooked any more when things move inexplicably; I just feel really grateful for this communication and it always fills me with awe.
These messages from my angels have inspired me to write The Amulet, a delightful romantic comedy with angels that even features the aforementioned pinboard incident.
Do you feel the presence of angels around you? How do they communicate with you? Some people see or hear them, others feel their touch, and others perceive their presence through wonderful aromas, like the scent of roses when there are none around. If you know what I’m talking about, do leave a comment and share your experience with us!
Whoa! Life keeps throwing me curve balls this year. Just as I’d thought a death and a life-threatening illness among my family members weren’t enough since April, another hit of iron-deficiency anemia had me literally tumbling down last week. I can tell you, spending the last six days in a dark room with nausea and migraine has been no fun either. Okay, I’ll admit it. I got depressed. I cried. I thought to myself, why the hell this keeps happening to me? Why can’t I enjoy my life like the next person? But then, I thought of all the happy times in my past. And the fact that life likes to test us. And let’s just say that I like to get ballsy with the Fates every time they strike me down. Instead of giving up, I always ball my hands into fists and shake them at the sky, affirming hardship can only harden my determination to never let go of my dreams.
I’ve mentioned more than once in my interviews that I believe in angels. Many times I’ve felt their presence at my lowest points, and have even received unexpected messages from them when I needed strength. Like two years ago when frozen shoulder set in. From January to June that year I remember very little. I slept sparsely because the pain never let up. I spent every night wandering around the house like a zombie rubbing in heat-inducing cream and crying my eyes out. And yet, where was I every morning? At my desk. Writing. Promoting myself and others. Even on the days when my shoulder was so painful I couldn’t lift my hand off my lap. On those days I typed with one hand. I was slow. But I didn’t miss a single day’s work. That’s how I affirm my determination to the cruel Fates.
A few days before my shoulder began to freeze that fateful January, something weird happened in my office at home as I was sitting at my desk…
A post-it note fell off the pinboard on the wall before me and landed on my desk the right way up and the right way round. In this note I had written my favorite quote: “I am not a drop in the ocean. I am the ocean in a drop.”Astounded, I read it back to myself as it lay before me delivered by an invisible hand, and I knew then it was a message. And, during the five harrowing months that followed, I often thought about that note. It was meant to remind me how strong I am. It told me to brace myself.
And would you believe it? Before my mother got ill with the big C and my beloved Corfiot grandmother passed away on the island of Limnos (both last April and at the same time!), again my angels sent me a prior message. You guessed it – another item fell by an invisible hand in my office as I worked. Now, I realize I risk sounding like a rambling fool. Many will say, “it’s coincidence”, and others may even suggest earthquake tremors. And it’s your right to believe what you must. I’ll just say nothing else has ever moved of its own accord at any other time in my house. At least not when a gust of wind or very loud sound waves can explain it. Plus, my office is a tiny, windowless room and I always work in utter silence.
As with the first message, this second one came a few days before my family life turned into hell, as I explained before. This time, it was a DVD that fell off the shelf. I wasn’t anywhere near it at the time; I was working on my computer when I heard it crash to the floor. I looked down and my blood turned to ice. It was the British series, The Village. Back then, my parents and grandmother were holidaying in the village of Lychna, in Limnos – my father’s homeland. Since they’d left Athens in January I’d been having a bad feeling… like I wasn’t going to see my granny again. So when that sign came, I knew something horrible was going to happen soon. And the message was a fair warning. A way to assure me that, whatever it was this time, I wasn’t going through it alone. And again, it saw me through.
So, here I am today making a point to tell you that a) I have reasons to believe every single one of us is protected. We are not alone. If you care to believe it, it will help you through the hardest times b) I also find strength in the caring thoughts of others. For one, in the incredible love of my mother who, despite her own ordeal with chemotherapy/radiotherapy, kept bringing in cooked meals and squeezing oranges like a mad thing for me for the past few days while I was anemic.
And do you know what makes us strong? It’s love. Love for ourselves and others. And if you doubt that, just consider a hater for a minute. Won’t hard times make them bitter? Won’t they make them begrudge the joy of others? You bet. And that’s why that person has no strength. They have nothing to hold on to except for their pitiful, weakening, catastrophic hate. But love… love for our fellow humans, not just our friends and family, burning desire for our dreams, love for what we enjoy in life will see us through and help us move on in no time.
As always, we have a choice.
Even though none of us can avoid hardship, we always have the choice of how to react to it.
First, to say that Kayelle Allen’s blog, Romance Lives Forever, has presented me with the Top Blogger award and is featuring The Ebb on their left sidebar for a month as a result. If you can spare a minute, please visit Kayelle’s site and share a random post from her blog. Thank you! I’m sure she’ll also be very appreciative.
Secondly, I’ve just created a book trailer for my next book, The Amulet. And, surprise-suprise, it has angels in it! I hope you’ll enjoy it:
Update: The book is now available on Amazon in kindle and paperback. Visit now!
Till next time, keep smiling and keep believing!
Katie has a guardian angel . . . she just doesn’t know it.
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