The idea that people have guardian angels, or spirits that are appointed to protect
them, is as old as human culture. In ancient Mesopotamia, the
cradle of Middle Eastern civilization, these protective beings were
considered personal gods,
known as "massar sulmi." This tradition was adopted by later civilizations in the
region, such as the Babylonians and Chaldeans, who in turn were to influence Judaism, and hence Christianity and Islam.
The idea of a personal guardian spirit can be traced to cultures past and present
throughout the rest of the world as well. In Japan this spirit is a Kami; in Burma,
a Nat; and in ancient Greece its equivalent was a daemon. In
pre Christian Rome the genius and juno protected boys and girls
respectively. Native Americans and all shamanistic cultures
believe in spirit guides that manifest in any form, particularly as
totem animals or ancestor spirits. In Islam, each person has two
pairs of hafaza, one for the day and one for the night. These
guardian angels protect the faithful from the demonic jinn and record
the person's every act in a book to be presented at Judgment Day. the
Koran states: "He [Allah] sends forth guardians who watch over
you and carry away your souls without fail when death overtakes you."
In Jewish tradition everyone has a guardian angel assigned to them at
birth. The Talmud states that each person has no fewer than
11,000 guardian angels, although a more prevalent belief is that there
are two personal angels per person, one good, the other bad. This
view is shared by the Catholic Church, a tradition dating back at lease
as far as the third century C.E.
Guardian angels are not officially part of Catholic dogma, despite
Jesus' saying, of children, that "in heaven their angels do
always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Mathew
18:10). Nevertheless, Catholic children are traditionally taught
to recite a prayer to their guardian angel, to which Pope John XXIII
referred
on the Feast of the Guardian angels, October 2nd, 1959: "We must
have a lively and profound devotion to our own Guardian Angel, and
should often and trustfully repeat the dear prayer we were taught in
the days of our childhood." In English this prayer is as follows:
"Angel of God who are my guardian,
Enlighten, watch over, support and rule me,
Who was entrusted to you by the heavenly piety.
Amen."
Catholics also believe in "tutelary" angels, who protect
all places, from nations to the smallest communities, as well as
families, alters, and churches. All guardian and tutelary angels
are in the lowest angelic hierarchy, the Choir of Angels.
In the view of Tudolf Steiner, the twentieth century Austrian
philosopher, our guardian angel has been with us throughout all our
incarnations and knows the entire history of our soul. It is the
inner teacher, the "still small voice inside."
But how do we recognize it? How can we communicate with it?
The first thing to do is to acknowledge its existence, not just as a
possibility, but as a reality,
however we choose to define that reality - psychic phenomenon,
for example, or God created spirit. The definition is not
important; in fact it can be a good start to acknowledge our
ignorance. Like all of Creation, this is a great mystery.
But this time it's personal, deeply personal. This is an entity
that knows us better than we know ourselves. That can be quite
humbling, even alarming. If we are alarmed it is an indication
that we have not yet reconciled ourselves to all of our doings.
But nothing can be hidden. A recapitulation of our lives - all of
our actions and experiences - is a very good preparation for meeting
the guardian angel. This process can generate every kind of
emotion, but, if we are able to let everything go, including self-pity,
anger, hurt, and guilt, and accept responsibility for our story,
then we can reach that very special, precious state where the true self resides:
humility. This is where many of us first encounter, heart to
heart, the endlessly patient, compassionate presence that knows us so
well, the Holy Guardian Angel.
