Angel Invitation

Well, I decided to host the archangels a third time. Seemed like a nice, balanced number. Three visits from five archangels when, after each visit, I "send" them to three friends. Three time's a charm. Something like that.

And when I say "host," that means host them in a fairly ethereal sense. It isn't as though they eat a lot. Or make a mess. Or knock things over. There's no statue that gets mailed to symbolize that they've arrived. It all plays out in the mind's eye - simply, but powerfully.

I do think this is the final formal visit for me. (Of course, they're always welcomed at any time!)

So far, it's been really great - again. It all will evolve as the days progress.

With the past two visits, I've written about them after it's over (here and here). This time, however, I'm writing about it while in progress. This is because I'm including in this entry an invitation to anyone who has wanted to host the angels but either didn't, or couldn't, for whatever reason, ask me if I would include them in the next round.

So here's the invitation: if you are interested in hosting the archangels from December 1 to December 6, you can. You don't even have to email me to let me know (though you can, if you want).

All you need to do is think it (or say it aloud) no later than this coming Friday by 10:30 p.m., that you want to host the archangels, and they will appear on your doorstep at 10:30 p.m. on December 1.

Normally what has happened is that, when they leave my house after five days (always at 10:30 p.m.), I have given them the names and addresses of three people who have agreed to host them next. And I could do the exact same thing this time. But it feels like there is something more that can be done here.

So this time, when I give them the names and addresses of three people, the third "person" will be all the people who have said (aloud, or in their minds) that they want to host the angels after me on December 1 - with the address known by the angels themselves.

I figure - hey, angels know. Don't they know? They don't really need a zip code, do they? Also, I figure that if my third "person" is a multitude - well, that doesn't matter either. Really, a big part of this archangel hosting is that we ask. We invite. Angels can be everywhere, always - if they are invited.

So that's my experiment. And my invitation. That you agree to host these five archangels for five days. Tell me, or don't tell me. But be sure and tell them between now and Friday at 10:30 p.m., so they know that you are one of the households included in my "everyone who's said they want you to come visit on December 1" statement on this coming Friday night.

This is how it works. There are five archangels - Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, and Metatron (who apparently was first mentioned in early Jewish writings, as well as the Talmud - protector of children, is what I've gathered). They arrive at 10:30 at night on the designated day. They stay for five days, which are counted according to 24-hour periods (five overnights total). You get three wishes - one for the world, one for your family, and one for yourself. Write them down. Get a candle that stays lit while the angels visit. (I've used a battery-operated candle for when I'm out of the house, so that there is no danger of fire while I'm gone.) Also, get a white flower and an apple. (You'll eat the apple after the visit's over.) Put the written-down wishes under the apple. Right before the angels arrive (at 10:30 p.m. - time zone unimportant - on December 1), light the candle and then open your front door at 10:30 p.m. and let them in - they've arrived!

Thank them for coming - thank them (in advance) for granting your wishes - and then, the next five days... see what develops. You may want to sit with them and talk. You may want to invite them along for your daily events. You may want to journal, perhaps in a free association way, and see what comes up. They seem to get most active at night - when all else is quiet - so anticipate interesting dreams and/or waking up in the middle of the night, restless.

Expect little miracles - or big ones, I suppose. Mostly, expect the unexpected. Be aware of things beyond the daily routine. By staying alert, you will see more, I believe.

If you want, you can line up additional people to host the archangels after you're done. The angels "rest" for five days between visits (again counted as 24-hour periods), so that the next hosting period is December 11-16 (and so on). But it isn't mandatory to line up additional hosts. It's just nice. (Imagine all the households hosting angels around the country, and the world, because of this additional piece.)

Actually, I imagine that all parts of the process are optional - the candle, the apple, even the wishes... I think all the concrete gestures are to solidify for us the process of hosting angels. We have free will - if we want something, we can ask for it - or we can refuse it - up to us each individually... I did have one friend who never wrote down her wishes, used a lamp as the candle, and ate the apple halfway through the angel visit because she was hungry! So - totally up to the individual, how to interact with these heavenly hosts. (Oh, how interesting - we are "hosting" these heavenly "hosts". I never noticed that until just now.)

At the end: At 10:30 p.m. on the fifth full day (in your case, December 6), open your front door. It is time for the angels to depart. Be sure to give them any names and addresses you have for them, for the next hosting location(s). After they're gone (for me, it's been the next day), burn the paper with the wishes on it and put the ashes in a stream of water - it's a whole "return to the Earth" sort of thing. You can wash them down your sink if you want - that's a stream of water (though I've been taking the ashes down to the Spokane River). Also, put the flower somewhere that it can biodegrade (I've taken the flowers down to the river as well, and placed them in the bushes there). And eat the apple! It's got nutrients of all sorts, by this point.

One piece (optional, I suppose) is to put the wishes in an envelope. While I've done that, I haven't known what to do with the envelope. Do I burn it with the wishes? I ended up feeding the envelope to our mechanical goat at the river. He is like a vacuum - you push a button off to the side, and he sucks in whatever trash you "feed" him via that vacuum. Here's a photo of our goat:

So, hope you take up the invitation. If you do invite the angels for December 1 - have fun!

AND - for anyone reading this later than December 2010 - I do think you can create your own invitation cycle - the idea is that we are opening our doors to them by asking them to visit - not necessarily that they are coming from someone else - so why not issue the invitation spontaneously, even if there is no friend currently hosting to send them on to you? It's like inviting an old friend to come visit again. I know friends who have done that very thing. Well, and the angels are always there - as I say above, this is about creating our own consciousness and deliberately inviting them to visit.