Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by the unseen world. Angels, intuition, and spiritual guidance are not abstract concepts to me—they are living forces that touch my life in both subtle and profound ways. In all my books, from the publishing phenomon A Book of Angels to the most recent, The Wonder and Happiness of Being Old, I recount my personal experiences of sensing the spiritual dimension, recognizing signs, and understanding how they guide, comfort, and teach us; and showing others how to see and connect to these beautiful spirits.

This blog explores how tuning into the spiritual realm can transform our perspective, deepen our connection with life, and illuminate paths we may never have imagined.

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The Reality of Angels

I am lucky. I have had direct experiences with the spiritual dimension. I’ll quote Carl Jung, who was interviewed once by the BBC. “Do you believe in God?” he was asked. He answered simply: “I don’t believe,” he said. “I KNOW.” (The interview was reported in the London Times without the punctuation. “I don’t believe I know.” What a world of difference one little period makes.) Therefore I say, I don’t merely believe in angels. I KNOW that there are angels and spirit guides waiting to help us. I have had my life saved dramatically by an angel.” I see them around the people I give readings to.”
To me angels are not merely poetic ideas—they are living presences offering guidance, warmth, comfort, healing and love.

My experiences are personal, intimate, and profound. For me, angels are a reminder that we are never truly alone, and that the universe—or God, however we understand that word—is a living, loving, majestic and magnificent energy (I don’t understand it, but it’s not found for me in church so much as in nature) that wants more and better for us than we can possibly imagine.

Now, how do you connect with IT? How do you come to “know?” There’s the question. Just ask!

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Intuition: Listening to the Subtle Voice

We need nature… Just being alone in nature changes our brain waves… It is when using the deeper brain waves that I am able intuitively to become aware of solutions. I think it is when using these deeper brain waves that I am able to give psychic readings, see spirits. Or even to hear what a horse or cat is telling me.

A hunch, a gut feeling, a tap on the shoulder, a quiet nudge, a sudden clarity, or a feeling that something is “wrong.” Intuition is the language of the holy , the spiritual dimension. I have found that cultivating this awareness requires patience, stillness, and trust. Taking a walk (forest bathing as the Japanese call it) letting your mind meander idly without direction allows this communion with the divine. So does creative work: poetry, painting, knitting, music, when you become lost in the endeavor itself. Intuition sometimes comes as a physical signal: the hair rising on the back of your neck or your arms, a tingling in your hands, a leap of the heart.

Whether through quiet reflection or in moments of solitude, (different, mind you, from loneliness), iIntuition tells you what. It will never tell you why. “Jump!” it cries, and if you stop to argue, you may discover the poisonous snake hiding in the brush. The question is, will you trust the messages when it comes?

A second important bit: all the times when you made a mistake (I knew I should have taken that path, and I didn’t listen!”), all your mistakes are to be thanked. Next time you know the marks of your own intuition. Next time you will listen, trust and act.

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Stories of Guidance and Protection

Throughout my life, I have experienced signs and interventions that can only be described as divine:

• Feeling the presence of angels during moments of danger or uncertainty. Or just at a moment of quietude and peace.
• Experiencing an inner voice , a Knowing or Showing, as Julian of Norwich called it, that has leads to pivotal life decisions.

These encounters are not always dramatic; often, they are subtle whispers that, if noticed, lead me always to green pastures, new discoveries. It’s curious, isn’t it, that God is on our side?

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How to Cultivate Spiritual Awareness

1. Create Quiet Space: Set aside time for reflection, meditation, or prayer. Stillness allows subtle spiritual signals to emerge.
2. Walk in Nature: Trees, animals, and even the rhythm of the seasons can help us attune to energy and life beyond the visible.
3. Listen to Your Intuition: Trust your inner voice, even when logic or fear challenges it.
4. Practice Gratitude: Acknowledging the blessings in our lives opens the heart to spiritual guidance.
5. Record Signs and Messages: Journaling your experiences can clarify patterns and deepen understanding.
6. Keep a God Box. This can be a lovely enamel box or a brown paper bag: it doesn’t matter. Write out your prayers, no matter how small or big and drop them in your god box. There! You have given it to God. You don’t have to think about it anymore. Every six months or so go look at it, take out answered prayers, and leave the others there. You can also start an answered prayer box.

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Seeing the Light in Others

The first time I saw people as light, I was overcome by the beauty of us humans. We are spiritual beings living inside miraculous self-healing organisms that we call a body, in order to have a physical experience. (As pure spirit , before we’re born, we don’t get to experience, fear, doubt, anxiety, envy, jealousy, lust, uncertainty. It is such a privilege to be born!) Even physically, however, light shines out from us as an aura. And it is not only a few inches off our skin; you may throw it eight or ten feet away. Can you see it in others?

When I resent someone, or find myself having difficulty relating to someone, I remember to look at their light—and suddenly I remember they were are all spiritual beings, formed of the stardust of God-ness— as is that tree, the dog, the squirrel swarming up that tree. Instantly I find resentment gone. We are all stumbling and bumbling along as best we can, and we all making mistakes.

Do you want to see the light? It’s easiest to see in soft or muted light. Not bright sunlight. Squinch up your eyes tight, and when you open them, soft-focus not on the person’s face but at the air around the head or the empty triangle formed of the head and shoulder. Some people see colors. Others see only white light, like heat waves rising from a tar road on a hot summer day. Don’t look with your physical eyes. You see this with your heart. Look with your spiritual eye. Look with the eyes of love.

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More on auras or the light

Do you want to see the light in yourself. Spring the fingers of your hand and see if you can discern the light around each finger.

Or put your fingertips together and pull them slowly apart. With soft focus, can you see the line of light like a road between your fingertips? Now ask a friend to break the light by passing their hand through the light. Do you feel the aura cut?

Another way is to close your eyes. Bring the loose palms of your together until you feel a resistance, a ball between them. It might the size of a tennis ball, or the size of a soccer ball. Play with it. Turn you hands around the ball of energy. This is your energy. This is your aura that you are holding between your hands.

 

Integrating Angels and Intuition Into Daily Life

Spiritual guidance is not separate from daily living—it enhances it. By acknowledging and communing with your angels, spirit guides and your own intuition, you can:
• Make decisions with greater clarity and confidence.
• Find comfort during times of challenge, difficulty or grief.
• Experience joy for no reason whatsoever.
• Deepen connection with others; replace loneliness.

The practice is simple—and so hard: open your heart, and be willing to notice signs, symbols, and subtle messages. Gradually you will even begin to trust them. And when you do, you wait for the messages of the spiritual dimension before you act in any way.

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Forgiveness

We all need to be forgiven. And we all need to forgive someone else. Sometimes it’s so hard to forgive. At first your prayer might be, “Give the bastard what he deserves.” But as you continue trying, praying and wanting to forgive the person who offended you, even if you can’t yet want the best for this person, you find that the initial hurt is slowly diminishing. To forgive does not mean you forget. It means that you choose the path to happiness.

Who was it said that holding resentments is like swallowing poison and expecting the other person to die? We need to forgive, and to do it over and over and over. But the person we need most to forgive is our own selves. Once we realize that everyone makes mistakes (we can’t be perfect), once we recognize that our mistakes are merely lessons and sometimes surprisingly lead to unexpected blessings, then forgiving our own blunders becomes easier.

Be gentle with yourself. When you are tired, rest; when you’re hungry, eat; when you are lonely pick up the phone and call a friend; when you are angry, tell someone else – get it off your chest. Do it for yourself. And only when you have cooled down, do you decide how and when to talk to the person who hurt you. Calmly. Without anger, if you can. And only then is it time to let go your hurt. Pray for the person for two weeks: I assure that the person will change, or the situation will change, or you will have changed. Suddenly you have forgiven. It’s remarkable.

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