The Essential Doreen Virtue Collection Part 10

"I knew that's what my angels were saying to me!"

My clients repeat this phrase to me practically every week, in one form or another. When I relay what I hear their angels saying, my clients often admit that they are aware of this advice. The angels may have urged my client to change jobs, take better care of her body, forgive her father, or move to a different locale. Very often, my clients admit the wisdom of the angelic advice, then add a "But . . ."

"But I don't have enough time or money."

"But I might fail and feel humiliated, and things might be worse than they are now."

"But what if the angels are wrong?"

"But what if G.o.d is really trying to trick me into a life of austere poverty and suffering?"

Just as the Law of Free Will prevents angels from helping us unless we ask, the same law means that we have the right to accept or reject the angelic a.s.sistance offered to us. Most of us would not consciously reject an angel's help. Still, we might mistakenly allow fear to talk us out of receiving good graciously.

After all, many of us grew up with teachings that implied that it's not right for us to accept gifts freely. We might have been scolded for not saying "Thank you" when someone gave us a present. Or perhaps we learned, "You can't get something for nothing," so we feel suspicious when someone-even an angel-offers to help us. We might wonder, "What's the catch?" as if G.o.d will ask us to reciprocate the favor in ways involving hards.h.i.+ps or austerity.

Know that you deserve help from G.o.d and the angels! You are a precious and holy child of G.o.d, and we all deserve good. If you have, or if you had, children, wouldn't you want the very best for them? Also, let's keep in mind that our higher selves are eternally one with G.o.d. So, in essence, when G.o.d gives to us, He is giving to His own self.

Never think that the angels are too busy to help you. Don't believe for a moment that your needs are too petty or trivial for the kingdom of heaven to intervene. This is just our lower-self ego, pus.h.i.+ng away help, because of deep-seated feelings of unworthiness. Your true self knows that you are very, very worthy. Your true self knows that we are all part of the divine perfection that is G.o.d.

If asking for, and accepting, divine a.s.sistance feels unnatural to you, ask your angels to help you change this tendency. Angels can heal away low self-esteem and any personality characteristic that gives you hards.h.i.+ps. They will gladly roll away the stones that block you from fully enjoying your divine inheritance, which is your birthright from your holy Creator.

Heavenly Surroundings

Your angels are with you wherever you go, so they aren't concerned about where you choose to talk to them. It's just that certain types of environments make it so much easier to hear their voices.

When I first started talking to my angels, they urged me to buy some cla.s.sical music tapes and some fresh flowers for my office. I balked at spending good money on flowers that would soon wilt, or for music that is freely available on the radio. Still, the angels urged me to stop at a florist shop and buy flowers, and to then go to a music store and buy a tape. They were quite specific!

Finally, I asked them what this was all about. They explained that, although my angel statues and pictures in my office set the atmosphere for an angelic conference, it would be better if I decorated with items from the invisible realm. Music, fragrance, and color are composed of vibrations that s.h.i.+ft our minds into a higher level, where we can more readily understand our angels' messages. Radio music is fine, but all the commercial interruptions interfere with the angels' music coming through.

So I purchased some tapes by Beethoven, Handel, and Vivaldi. Many baroque composers have strong connections with spirituality. For example, Antonio Vivaldi was a priest who spent his lifetime teaching orphans how to play music. George Handel told the king of England that angels helped him compose his famous "Hallelujah Chorus." The music felt as if angels channeled it. I instantly understood why they were so anxious for me to surround myself with glorious chamber music.

Months later, I discovered scientific research that supported what my angels already knew: People have more statistically verified accounts of telepathy when soft music plays in their room. I've also noticed that, when I play audioca.s.settes of nature sounds, my mind lifts as if I were actually outside.

I also took the angels' advice and bought the most fragrant flowers I could find, which turned out to be tuberoses and star gazers. These beautiful perfumey flowers lifted my spirits. I loved their fragrance so much that I'd bring my vase of flowers from my home office to my nightstand so I could smell them all night. Always, the flowers inspire wondrous dreams and easier interactions with the angels.

Today, I also burn incense when I'm consciously contacting the angels. Beautiful, flowery incense also elevates the spirit and increases the vibrations so that channeling is easier.

Lighting is also part of the invisible realm, since the rays and beams emitted by candles and colored bulbs are not tangible. The angels suggest using an a.s.sortment of lighting in your meditation area. Angels resonate with any lighting that is soft and natural, but they also appreciate playfully colored lights because they cast a fun mood. And you've read how much the angels enjoy us relaxing and having fun!

Developing the Habit of Asking Your Angels for Help

From the angels: "We speak to you continuously, nonstop from on high. We gleefully join you in fun times, and cheer you in the sad ones. We beseech you to listen further, for we can boost you in ways yet unknown. We help you in countless and numerous occasions, and our 'thanks' is your happiness. When you truly delight in opening your ears to The Angelic Realm, you will experience a music in your life beyond all comparison. If you could know how delightful your life can truly be, you would wait no longer to hear our beck and call!"

The angels want to communicate clearly with you. They have so much to give you! They can bring you information, guidance, protection, moral support, and a pat on the back. In fact, they continuously try to do just that. Yet, a giver cannot give unless there is a willing recipient. Are you willing to receive the glorious good that is being given you right now?

One way to become more receptive to angelic communication and a.s.sistance is by clearing any blocks you may have that prevent you from receiving. Write, read, and say the following affirmations several times a day, and within two weeks, you will heal much of your resistance to angelic help:

"I graciously accept good into my life."

"I am willing to release all fears of receiving love."

"It is safe for me to be loved and cared for."

"I deserve love and a.s.sistance."

If you're accustomed to taking care of everyone else, you'll need to be patient with yourself while you develop the new habit of accepting help from the angels. Sometimes it doesn't feel safe to receive a.s.sistance. Perhaps you fear that if you don't do everything yourself, others won't need you. You may also fear losing control of the situation if you aren't taking charge of everything yourself. You might worry that the angels are too busy to help you or that you don't "deserve" angelic a.s.sistance. Or, you just may automatically do things on your own and need reminders to ask your angels for help.

All these blocks to angelic intervention are understandable and very, very normal. If you simply forget to ask your angels for help, place visual reminders around your home, car, and office. Angel statues, cards, and posters give cues to jog your memory whenever you need help.

If you are aware that, deep down, you have blocks that prevent you from asking for help, the angels can heal these blocks away: If you need more faith or belief, ask G.o.d and the angels to help you!

If you feel undeserving of Divine intervention, ask G.o.d and the angels to help you!

If you worry that your problems are too "trivial" for heavenly help, ask G.o.d and your angels anyway. Remember that G.o.d and The Angelic Realm can help everybody simultaneously, since time and s.p.a.ce do not limit them. Your request for Divine help doesn't pull G.o.d or the angels away from helping somebody else.

Whatever you need, G.o.d and the angels can help!

Remember: G.o.d and the angels love you, and they love to help you so that you can easily feel, enjoy, and give love.

Purifying the Channels of Divine Communication

From the angels: "You can hear us so much more clearly when you purify the air around you. Think of divine communication as coming through a mist, which is really the buffer in the atmosphere differentiating one spiritual realm from another. The finer the mist, the easier the communication between us can be. But a dense mist covering prevents us from clearly hearing your thoughts and seeing your deeds, and is more likely to create misunderstandings about our intentions for you. By purifying yourself, to the extent you are able, we are joyful because we are much more reachable as far as you are concerned, when the mist around you is refined and purified."

When the angels talk about "purifying the air around you," they aren't referring to clean air in the traditional sense. They mean, instead, that your thoughts and lifestyle actions affect your aura and the energy field around you. It's a little like clearing the static from a telephone line so you can hear callers more clearly. Angelic communication is easier to understand when you purify your aura and energy field.

All purification steps are best if they come from your desire and willingness. It's best not to force yourself to take any step that feels like you are "denying yourself." Only undergo those steps for which you feel ready. Undertake these new habits with the joy of knowing that they bring you to a closer understanding of your true G.o.d-self nature.

- Purify your thoughts.

From the angels: "We're not asking you to try to be a saint upon the earth, but do your best to monitor the words, phrases, and ideas you speak to yourself and to others. Any fear-based thought, such as jealousy, compet.i.tion, resentment, victimhood, or retaliation, makes your energy field dense and dark. Unforgiveness-toward yourself, a situation, a person, or a public figure or agency-blackens your aura like thick smoke."

I have clairvoyantly seen what thought-forms look like. Immediately after you have a thought, you release a bubblelike object with a life of its own. The size of the thought-form seems to correspond to how much energy you put behind the thought. Thought-forms serve your every command. They go out into the world and create whatever you've thought about.

For instance, a client of mine really wanted a certain job. During the job interview, I saw her release a huge thought-form that looked like a thick, s.h.i.+mmering soap bubble about four feet tall by one foot wide. It had a life force of its own, and a forward thrust energy. When my client called me a week later to report that she'd successfully secured her new job, I wasn't surprised. The energy she'd released into the world marked "This is the job I desire," guaranteed that she'd receive her wish.

There are no neutral thoughts, nor are there moments in the day when your thoughts don't create thought-forms and their causative effects. Your fearful thoughts act like bloodthirsty henchmen that bring terror back to you, their master. Your loving thoughts obediently bring you joyful situations and relations. It's your choice.

Many people who are drawn to channel angels feel the need to avoid negative media. So, they may stop watching television, listening to the radio, or reading the newspaper. They may become distanced from friends who chronically complain, and they may choose to leave careers that feel inconsistent with a positive outlook.

Channeling angels requires that our thoughts be attuned to the highest frequency of love. Any worries or fears interfere with our channeling abilities, as these thought-forms create static on our psychic telephone line. In the chapter called "Angel Therapy," you can read about a very effective method for quickly releasing these ego-self thoughts.

- Purify your motives. Give your motivations to G.o.d and the angels and ask that they be purified. You can do this simply by asking G.o.d to help you. Say, "G.o.d, I give you my motivations and ask your help in purifying them so all my motives are aligned with truth and love." Very soon, you will feel a strong sense of relief, as the Love reorganizes your thoughts and feelings. A deep sense of peace and order follows this.

Your highest motivation is to give glory to G.o.d in all ways. Of course, since your higher self is one with G.o.d, you are actually giving glory to the true you, along with the true self of every other child of G.o.d. Lower-self motivations occur when you believe that you want to give glory to yourself alone, as a special person. Everyone is equally special. So, when we want a separate specialness, we trigger the pain and loneliness that comes from believing we are separated from G.o.d and our spiritual siblings.

- Purify your actions. Before doing anything, ask your higher self, G.o.d, and the angels to guide you. Know that this Divine guidance will direct your actions from the one power of love. In this way, you are a.s.sured of continually floating in a sea of miracles that will astound you in their beauty. You will always be in the right place at the right time.

- Purify your home. Environments absorb negative energy, which comes from a variety of fear-based sources. Anything tinged with fear that is in your home-newspapers, magazines, mail, television programs, radio talk shows, arguments among family members, or fearful thoughts held by past occupants of the house-can bring dark energy into your surroundings.

You'll want to clear your home, office, or any environment you frequent. Clearing allows the light to freely circulate and lifts your surroundings' energy to the highest level possible. Some ways to purify your home include painting the walls; shampooing the carpet or recarpeting; placing bowls of rubbing alcohol in every room of the house for a minimum of 24 hours; setting clear quartz crystals in the sunlight for four hours (to clear them of negative energy) and then putting the crystals in different rooms of your home; and burning sage weed or incense throughout each room.

Still, perhaps the best way to clear any environment is by calling upon the angels. Mentally ask for Archangel Michael and his Band of Mercy to circulate the area and draw away all dark energy or earthbound spirits. You may be able to see Michael with your spiritual vision. If so, you'll watch him lead other angels in a posse, gathering all lower-energy forms that could interfere with your divine communication and joyful living.

- Purify your relations.h.i.+ps. Although you've undoubtedly experienced pain in relations.h.i.+ps, you have the choice of healing the residual emotions to clear any heaviness or darkness. This is an important part of the clearing work that will help you to easily have conversations with your angels. Whether you carry old pain from your childhood, adolescence, or recent past, you can release negativity that holds you back.

The angels first remind you that every negative feeling you hold toward another has a boomerang effect. It is impossible to judge or blame another person and not feel emotional pain. As much as we would like to see ourselves as separate from a person we view as "bad," ultimately such a separation is impossible. We are united with each other-forever. That is why you feel depressed when you become angered at another person. The anger you send outward acts like a laser beam pointed toward a mirror, and it instantly comes back and hits you.

Other people are our mirrors! When the angels speak of the necessity of forgiving, they don't want you to forgive because of moral codes. They know that judgment, blame, and anger are burdens upon your soul. They ask you to unburden yourself, and this is the true definition of forgiveness. It means setting yourself free.

If you don't feel ready to forgive someone's actions, then forgive the person instead. See that person through the eyes of an angel. The guardian angel sees only the good, the truth, the G.o.dness of that other person. Angels look past the surface personality, errors, and mistakes of a person and see straight into the individual's heart. If you've read about or experienced a near-death experience, you've heard about the guide that accompanies us. This guardian angel's unconditional and all-consuming love burns away all fear from those who are crossing over to heaven.

You, too, can have a great healing effect upon the world-and simultaneously heal your relations.h.i.+p with yourself and all others-by modeling yourself after the guardian angels' viewpoint. The more you train your mind to see the angel residing within each person, the more you will know and appreciate the angel who you are in truth.

- Purify your schedule. We sometimes procrastinate spiritual growth by creating a busy schedule. Busyness ensures that there is no time to explore the inner self. For that reason, the angels ask us to purify our schedules by eliminating unnecessary or redundant activities.

You may want to take an inventory for two days and write down how you spend your time. Then look for areas of wasted time. We don't mean relaxation, since the angels definitely believe resting is a worthwhile activity. Instead, look for the moments where you are busy, with no meaningful results. These are the activities you engage in out of habit or fear. Once you identify your habitual time-wasters, you'll probably easily change to healthier habits.

However, if you are staying busy out of fear, you may resist the angelic guidance to restructure the way you spend your time. After all, when you are continuously active, there's no time to think about your life purpose, your true self, and G.o.d. Yet, these are such important endeavors, aren't they? After all, nothing is more important than fulfilling the sacred mission for which you were born! Nothing in this world yields even a fraction of the joy compared to your life of right livelihood and right relations.

If you write your top five priorities-in other words, what is truly important to you-you can compare these areas to your actual schedule. Then ask yourself, "Am I spending my time in ways that fulfill my priorities?" If not, then diligently seek ways to cut out time-wasters, and replace the new gaps in your schedule with something more personally meaningful to you. You'll find that purifying your schedule heightens your energy and enthusiasm level more than just about any other step you can take.

The angels strongly counsel you to spend time alone in nature as frequently as possible. Make this one of your top priorities. The healing effect of nature, combined with time alone, gives the perfect opportunity for you to really hear your true self, G.o.d, and the angels speak to you. The nature angels will soothe and comfort you. In this natural setting, you'll more easily hold honest conversations with yourself and the divine spiritual realm.

- Purify your body. If you are being called to channel angels, you have undoubtedly received inner guidance about your diet and lifestyle. This guidance urges you to eliminate sugar, stimulants, meats, alcohol, dairy products, or other foods from your diet. These are very real messages, sent to you from heaven.

Their dietary advice is part of answers to prayers in which you asked for help in hearing the voices of G.o.d and the angels. The reason why your angels intervene into your diet is that your body is being prepared for a reattunement. The vibrational frequency of angels is at such a high and fine level, that your body must be retuned before you can hear them. It's similar to tuning a piano, so that when the pianist's finger strikes its keys, the piano can emit harmonious music.

G.o.d is calling you to be a transmitter of angelic messages. Your nervous system can only handle the angels' frequency if your body vibrates at a sufficiently high level. A poor diet creates static on the angelic communication lines, so your angels ask you to purify your body. You may receive the angels' dietary suggestions in any number of ways: as gut feelings or hunches; as "coincidentally" meeting a dietician or being drawn to a vegetarian book; as hearing an inner voice; or seeing visions about food.

The angels say that all food has internal messages and that these messages affect us, long after you have digested the food. As you attune your body to a higher and higher frequency, the angels will ask you to eat whole and natural foods.

Usually, the angels first ask you to eliminate red meats. Next, they request that you remove chicken and turkey, followed by fish. Animal flesh interferes with divine communication because it carries the energy of pain that the animal endured during its life and death. Pain energy has the lowest and densest vibration of all, and if you consume pain-filled food, your nervous system cannot reach its highest frequency potential.

Next, the angels will probably counsel that you cut back on stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, chocolate, and certain herbs. They may ask you to stop all stimulants completely, or they may guide you toward a gradual cessation. They will also eliminate other mood-altering chemicals, such as alcohol and nicotine.

Then, your angels may guide you to cut out some or all dairy products, as these foods can clog up our thinking and feeling channels. If this happens, you will either receive guidance that sends you to a good nutritionist or nutritional book, or the angels will ask you to eat vegan protein subst.i.tutes such as tofu or nuts.

As you purify your body more and more, you'll naturally gravitate toward a diet rich in fresh, organic produce, and baked goods made with sprouted grains. Your dietary changes won't feel like deprivation, but will, instead, feel rooted in love and joy. You'll easily adapt to each lifestyle change toward which the angels lovingly guide you. Each step of the way, you'll be aware that you ultimately have the final say-so about your diet.

Nevertheless, since you desire to hear the heavenly voice, you'll naturally choose to take all steps that clarify your channel of communication.

Clearing Your Relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d

Sometimes people become estranged from G.o.d. Perhaps they suffered a huge disappointment and believe G.o.d let them down. Or they may have suffered pain at the hands of members of a religious group. Very often, estrangement from G.o.d stems from confusion about spirituality, religion, and the nature of G.o.d and man.

It's difficult to hear the voice of G.o.d and the angels when you feel distanced from heaven. However, since our higher self is eternally united with its Creator in heaven, we can't completely absolve ourselves of thoughts of G.o.d. Deep down, we long to enjoy the comfort of complete oneness with the angels and G.o.d.

Do you wonder sometimes if G.o.d loves other people more than you? Does it seem that others receive greater attention and rewards than you do? Did you suffer a loss that caused you to question G.o.d's motives? Were you raised to be afraid of G.o.d?

G.o.d and the angels know just how you feel. They know, because your feelings and thoughts are plainly visible in the spiritual world. All of your disappointments, hurts, and fears flash like giant neon signs around you.

The angels really want to help you regain the joy of loving G.o.d! They ask for your willingness to hand the entire situation over to them for repair. Tell G.o.d and the angels about all your cares, upsets, and fears. Don't worry-there are no repercussions for honesty, especially since they are already aware of everything you're going to say. Mainly, your heavenly supporters ask you to get your feelings off your chest.

After you've leveled with G.o.d and the angels about all of your frustrations, disappointments, and fears, they will ask if you'd like to exchange your painful thoughts for a more peaceful set of beliefs. If you agree, then, the angels will immediately set about to heal your relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d and heaven. Miraculously, you'll find that your thoughts and feelings s.h.i.+ft to a new perspective.

This healing is on a very deep level. First, since your higher self is one with G.o.d, you'll find that your healed relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d extends to a better self-relations.h.i.+p. You'll feel happier about who you are, because you'll truly be loving your self as you love G.o.d. Second, since all the angels and earthly creatures are one with G.o.d, you'll feel greater compa.s.sion for, and a deeper connection with, others.