My Near-Death Experience: Are There Angels and Can We See Them?
Based on my life and after-life experience, yes, there are angels and yes, we can see them. Whether we can recognize them, – that is a different story.
Meeting an Angel
When I was in my thirties, I was browsing through books in a Costco store. I had opened a book just randomly to any page somewhere in the middle and I began reading in it. I closed the book, turned to another one, but came back to the book again. After the third time of opening, reading, and closing the book, I was ready to walk away when a tall, blond, slender man suddenly stood right next to me. “The book scares you, doesn’t it?”
When I was 3 years old, I was prodded, poked, and strapped down flat for weeks in order for doctors to find out why my body was poisoning itself. Because of it, I was hyper-vigilant physically to anyone approaching me. While looking at the book, I hadn’t even noticed anyone coming near me. I told him. “Yes, it scares me. I have written the same thing.”
During the next few minutes, our conversation went from my own writing about death while doing a writing exercise in Natalie Goldberg’s book Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within to The Lotus magazine to the Dalai Lama, to his story about reading Betty Eadie’s book to a dying friend and how his friend reacted to the book. The moment that my fear of the book had vanished and I had decided to buy it, the tall, blond man was gone.
I completely read Betty Eadie’s book Embraced by the Light that same night. Until then, I had never even heard of the word near-death experience. How was it possible for someone else to write about ‘my experience’. In contrast to Betty Eadie, who died as an adult, my near-death experience was that of a 3-year-old child. Similar to Betty Eadie though are my experiences with the essence of angels.
How to recognize an angel: Angels Come in Many Forms
During the past years, I have thought a lot about that tall, blond man and angels. Now that I am more than half a century old, I understand that he was the energy that I needed at that time to buy the book. Today I can see that energy not only in people but also in animals, objects, smells, sounds, and light.
Anyone can recognize the presence of an angel when one is aware that angels are energy. Some people might call it “just a lucky coincidence.” James Redfield described ‘coincidences’ and ‘energy’ in his book The Celestine Prophecy. I doubt that James Redfield was talking about angels, but for any reader familiar with his books, the coincidences and events that his fictional characters encounter is that of angels.
Here is a list of coincidences (that anyone might encounter) that can reflect the presence & energy of an angel:
1. A family member or someone you know calls you when you need them most.
2. A family member or stranger crosses unexpectedly your path and helps you in a time of need.
3. A stranger comes into your life who does or tells you something that changes your life.
4. An animal comes into your life (often a rescue animal) that has a positive impact on your life.
5. You incidentally read something that makes a difference in your life.
6. You write something that you had not intended to write or that you knew that you would write.
8. You hear an unusual sound that gets (or is supposed to get) your attention. This might be a bird, a dog, any other animal, a car, a person, a church bell ringing, or another startling, extra loud sound.
9. You see something (a person, an animal, an object) that you are supposed to pay attention to.
10. You notice a light that is brighter, unusual, or filled with an amazing energy.
11. You feel a sudden breeze or see something moved by the wind.
12. If you have ever been with a person or animal when they were dying, you might have seen the presence of an angel in the peaceful and happy look.
Some common questions that people have asked me about angels:
How do you prove that angels exist?
I think that this is similar to asking a blind man ‘how do you prove that the sun exists?’ A blind man cannot see the sun. He only feels the sun. A blind man can sense when he is in the sun or when he is in the shade. Angels are a similar energy and being human, we are often blind. However, I think for our own good, just like the sun, it is better not to look directly into that energy because we are not quite physically and emotionally equipped for that power – at least until we die.
If one looks closely at the paintings or pictures of angels shown in historical paintings, most of the art pieces depict situations. Those situations include scenes of death, scenes of being in need, scenes of a communication with a higher power, or scenes of receiving messages. Greek, Roman, or Norse mythology used people, half-gods, and gods to explain the unknown and to convey a lesson in understandable terms. I believe that art used the visual depiction of angels as a metaphor or symbol to do the same.
Are angels male or female?
I believe that depends on what someone needs. If the energy that you need is better communicated through a male than a female, then that is what that energy will be. Based on my experience, the energy (the angel) comes in a form that a person can relate to or listen to.
Bad things happen because angels, the energy, and the messages were not paid attention to. Most traumatic events are due to the human failure of not being aware of something. Based on my own near-death experience, I was not alone when I died and I know whatever I needed then was there. When I hear or see traumatic events like 9/11 or the Colorado shootings, my hope is that whatever those people needed when they were dying was there for them also. While we cannot control what happens in those situations, a realization that there might be angels or an energy that is trying to get our attention, might influence future events. Whether someone can see or recognize an angel is a personal choice and up to each individual. However, an increased awareness and ability to recognize the presence of angels, a guiding energy, or ‘coincidences’ might make a difference not only in one’s own life but also in the life of someone else.
More by Jasmine Thomas:
My Near-Death Experience: The After-Life and What to Expect
