A few weeks ago, I attended a class that my yoga instructor was teaching about angels. My previous experiences with organized religions left me reluctant to accept belief in any of the entities that crossover between the teachings of Christian denominations and some of the other spiritual beliefs and practices that I am learning. I honestly don't know if angels exist, but I want them to and I like the idea of angelic beings who provide spiritual guidance. Since the idea of angels has sparked an interest to know more, I joined the Angel Chatter group on Facebook a few months ago and have been reading about angels. In the class I learned different theories and ideas about angels and about what purposes they have. Other class attendees shared interesting stories about angelic interactions in their lives and I left feeling that I lean more to them existing than not. I also left the class agreeing to "Host the Angels" in my home.
Hosting the angels is a spiritual practice that my yoga instructor learned from her friends in New York. Someone who is currently hosting the angels passes them on to three other people (Sounds a little like those old chain letters, doesn't it?). The angels reside with each person/family for 5 days and are then passed on to three more people. They travel and rest for five days and then arrive at the homes of their new hosts. To host the angels you write down three wishes and put the paper in a sealed envelope, you find three more people who are willing to host the angels after you and write their names and addresses on another sheet of paper and place it in an envelope, and you prepare an altar consisting of the two envelopes, a white candle, an apple and a white flower, bouquet of white flowers or live plant with white flowers. The angels arrive at 10:30 PM on the designated day, which is five days after they left the last host, and you greet them by opening your door and reading a welcoming statement. They reside with you for five days and leave at 10:30 PM on the last day. There is a small good-bye ceremony that consists of opening your door, thanking them for visiting and for granting your three wishes (this is done with the belief that the wishes will be granted), reading the names of the next three hosts, then burning your envelopes and eating the apple.
I have no idea how this hosting practice started or why. A Google search revealed that there are various angel hosting traditions that vary in the number of days the angels stay and what, if anything, needs to be done to welcome them or to prepare an altar. Some of the other hosting practices sound easier with little or nothing to be done or to prepare, but I like the idea of the altar and the preparation and ceremony involved - maybe that is my old Catholic upbringing, but there is something soothing, grounding and peaceful about a spiritual practice whether it is preparing an altar, meditating, chanting, or any other such ceremony. Others had more specific and detailed instructions, such as what types of wishes you can request (one for Mother Earth, one personal and one for your family), how to write and word your wishes, when and how long to burn the white candle and one even said that your house must be clean and tidy. I like that the hosting I did had some instruction and ceremony, but not too much, allowing for some personal expression and not making the process too rigid or complicated. One angel hosting I read about named specific angels who come to visit: Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel and Metatron. I don't know who visits but any angel is welcome!
I enjoyed my experience of hosting the angels. Each morning I lit the candle and sounded my Tibetan Singing Bowl, a personal touch I added, and wrote in my journal. The candle stayed lit during the day as long as it was safe to do so and someone was around to watch it (the candle can be replaced with an electrical or battery-powered white light if you prefer). This version of the hosting ceremony does not require any daily practice other than using the candle or light, but adding some of your own favorite practices makes the experience more personal. If you pray, chant, journal or meditate, doing so near the altar seems to intensify the practice. I truly felt my home was more peaceful during the five days I hosted the angels and when I passed them on to the next three people, I felt a little sad as if a good friend had come to visit and then left.
Most people are interested in hosting the angels for the benefit of the three wishes. My yoga teacher said one of her three wishes was granted soon after the angels left her home. One of my wishes was very specific and I asked that it be granted by a certain date. Until asking for the angels' assistance, I had no hope that this wish would come to pass at all and certainly not by that date. Two days after the angels' departure what I wanted came to pass. Did the angels grant it or would the same thing have happened if I had not hosted the angels? Who knows? Now, I wait patiently for my other two wishes - one of which was not time limited and which I think is slowly being realized and the other which has a time limit several months in the future and which has not been granted as of yet.
My partner, who is a skeptic at heart and veers away from anything very spiritual in nature, also felt a difference while I was hosting the angels and liked the atmosphere in our home during those five days. He ended up hosting the angels himself and now I am hosting them for a second time.
All of this might be hokey hogwash. Anything I felt or thought I felt might have been my imagination. The wish that came true may have come true anyway. I cannot say that any of those statements are untrue and I really don't care. I ENJOYED the practice. I FEEL better for having hosted the angels. That's all I need and all I want. After all, do any of us truly KNOW what is out there in the Universe? Do any of us truly understand why or how we and this world came into existence? We may BELIEVE many things or nothing, but what do we KNOW, truly KNOW? I know what I feel, what I experience. I cannot confirm or deny what you feel and experience and you cannot deny my feelings or experiences. This life we each live is personal and we relate to one another through our personal experiences and understandings.
One of my wishes, as you may have guessed, was about manifesting my retirement and my new home in Mount Dora. I believe that manifestation is my responsibility, but I will accept the help of any angels who want to assist me! Let's see what happens. . .
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