© 2006 Charles Olivea
© 2006 The Urantia Book Fellowship
“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom his love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.” This is a commonplace, popular prayer to one’s guardian angel. It is usually thought of as a child’s prayer, spoken in the morning or the evening. There is an endearing quality about it, innocence accompanied by power. How many of us, adults as well as children, crave to love and be loved by someone, of having the reassuring sense of being watched over and protected? There is great comfort and value in knowing we are not alone.
That is sufficient reason for us to study and know about guardian angels. An awareness of angels is an antidote to feelings of being alone or adrift in the vicissitudes of living. We know from The Urantia Book that humans have been aware of the existence of angels for thousands of years. Given the fact that human beings naturally identify with physical realities, I think the ancient emergence of a belief in angels, however vague or broad, reflected the attainment of an evolutionary level of spirit consciousness based on true forms. Angels were sent to us because, in the way the universe was designed, relationships between persons are of the highest value. Indeed, those who volunteer to become guardian angels or seraphic destiny guardians experience the highest level of personal relationship available to our unseen friends and allies. But the world has been slow to appreciate and understand the fuller meaning of this wonderful living truth.
In tracing the evolution of the idea of guardian angels, I will draw examples from a number of the world’s great traditions of wisdom. I will not touch on all of them, but I should be able to supply you with a sufficient number of examples to do justice to this delightful subject.
The early belief in angels in the ancient world assigned to them tasks that tended to take a more impersonal, divinely “official” approach. The notion of each person having a guardian angel took centuries to evolve, even millennia. Ancient civilizations apparently thought of the idea of spirit guardianship for individuals who were leaders in society or for persons who had some other special role or status; messengers, or heavenly spirits watched out for an entire community or society at large during war and peace or over a range of fortunes and misfortunes. The average man and woman in the ancient world apparently had limited access, if any, to direct celestial-mortal relationship.
The art of the Babylonian civilizations from the Tigris-Euphrates river valley is suggestive of an early concept of protective spirits. For instance, there comes down to us a carving in stone relief from the ancient Sumerians of a winged female spirit with both of her arms raised, facing the person or persons she is approaching with her hands open, thought to indicate a friendly, not hostile, intention. It differs from many Assyrian versions of protective spirits.
Assyrian images show a decidedly masculine image of winged beings in various roles or functions. They are frequently seen attending to the Tree of Life, as many scholars believe it to be. It would have been appropriate in a religious sense for spirit beings to attend to the Tree of Life. Some of the winged images have eagle heads, but most of the ones I have seen possess human heads, with very pronounced beards. These images, too, are carved in stone relief showing strong, rigid, feathery wings attached to very muscular bodies, firmly planted on the earth. Some protective spirits bore animals and food, such as goats and corn, as they went about their business.[1]
These Assyrian spirits were called Karabu, meaning to bless or to consecrate. Humans apparently viewed them as some kind of deity of protection, serving to guard the entrances of important buildings, such as temples and homes, or to guard the head of state, the monarch himself. Along with safety, they were relied upon for effective blessings over the kingdom’s prosperity through the appropriate fertility rites to produce a good harvest. A successful, recurring harvest and a good defense were the real basis of the king’s power and the general happiness or contentment of the masses of the kingdom.[2]
Other ancient societies had their equivalent of the Karabu and the belief in protective spirits continued through history. The Persians depended on a guardian spirit for the empire, named Dubbiel, who assisted them in greatly expanding their empire as he gained divine favor upon their behalf.[3] Zoroastrianism, an early monotheistic religion, included in their pantheon beings known as fravashi, whose primary function on earth was to guard individuals and help them to achieve higher spiritual levels. They have been described as “angel-like”[4] In the ancient Mithraic mystery cult originating from Persian culture and flourishing into late Roman times, there is an interesting example from one of its liturgies of how angels guided important mortals. After listing the names of angels who serve on the First Heavenly Strata, the liturgy explains that these “are the angels who bring around the opinion of the king and the will of great men and heads and the directors of the kingdom and leaders and confer grace and mercy on all those standing (before them) to petition something from them in purity. Perform this scrupulously and you will succeed.”[5]
The ancient Greeks were conscious of heavenly visitants and adopted from the Assyrians the practice of placing wings on them whether in a male or female form. Wings frequently symbolized the power of flight between earthly and supernatural realms, the ability to defy gravity. An example from Greek literature illustrates their awareness of protective spirits. Hesiod, a Greek poet, wrote the following:
“Aerial spirits, by great Jove designed
To be on earth the guardians of mankind,
Invisible to mortal eyes they go,
And mark our actions, good or bad, below;
Th’immortal spies with watchful care preside,
And thrice ten thousand round the charges glide.
They can reward with glory or with gold;
Such power divine permission bids them hold.”[6]
We owe much to the classical civilization of ancient Greece for creating or advancing philosophy, history, theater, science, math, sports, architecture, sculpture, and the rudiments of democracy. Greek culture also contributed the word angel “angelos,” originally meaning, “messenger” or “to deliver a message.”[7] Showing these angels with wings indicated that they were lesser than the higher gods, since those gods had no need for wings. Certainly, a messenger can never be greater than the author of a message.[8] Of course we know from The Urantia Book that they have no wings.
Spirit beings could sometimes bring good luck to people and protect them when they went on a journey or watch over human souls as they departed into the afterlife. There was a general belief that the average Greek citizen could access their help and have his petitions taken to the heavens with the appropriate attitude and rituals. The Romans carried forth from the Greeks, as they did with so many Greek ideas, similar notions about ordinarily unseen spirits that assisted humans.
The idea of angels or invisible spirits existed in the major religions of Asia; indeed, beliefs in such beings appear throughout the world’s religions.
Buddhist art is replete with the images of celestial beings that maintain a connection between the higher realms and this world. We should not expect descriptions of spirit beings to be identical or even all that similar in many respects among the various religions of the world. Yet, there exists a broad similarity among them in how spirits function between mortals and higher divine beings. This point should be kept in mind when comparing or contrasting angels in one culture or another.
In Buddhism, an Apsaras or a pair of Apsara frequently accompany deities or highly advanced mortals as sacred work needs to be done. They are female in nature and are sometimes described as celestial nymphs who will test the moral fortitude of men attempting to ascend the scales of spirituality. In such cases the Apsara would be sent directly from the deities to see what kind of moral discipline holy men actually possess. [9]
One of the ways flight is suggested in the iconography of Buddhist art is through the use of swirling draperies or cloth that an Apsaras would use to create the illusion of visual movement as they stayed aloft. In some pictures or sculptures the swirling draperies are almost cloud-like, achieving a floating sensation to the viewer. In other pictures, an Apsaras would simply project the power to stay in the air through her own will without any aid.
It would not be unusual in the East Asian cultures of Japan, Korea, and China or in Tibetan Buddhist art to see them on temples, paintings, or on stone relief as they flank the left and right side of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. Aspara would be available to help certain mortals in the struggle to reach salvation or blissful union with the Infinite.[10]
In Hinduism there are guardians thought to be lower deities that seem to function in ways very similar to ancient notions of protective spirits. Kshetrapala is one such deity who protects villages. He characteristically will, while traveling on horseback, patrol a village and its adjacent lands by night with a number assistants. He, or his equivalent, will guard the fields of a village and even keep a watchful eye over the boundaries of the community and over all who leave or enter. Similar to any agricultural society, these beings may be prayed to for a good harvest, rain, and community improvement.[11]
Eastern and western traditions were not the only ones to subscribe to unseen friends and allies. An example of another culture, across the world, far from Asia or the Middle East, is the one Native Americans developed in North America with their own ideas about guardian spirits.
A guardian spirit is a “being of power that establishes a special relationship, sometimes lasting a lifetime, with a person as a consequence of a vision experience.”[12] The vision quest is central to Native American religion. The goal or aim is to acquire wisdom, insight, and foresight, to augment your skills to solve problems and do things, and to have a sense of connection between the natural world and the supernatural world. A guardian spirit, sometimes called a “familiar,” will work with you.
A mortal’s identity may be directly affected in some way by the presence and sight of the guardian spirit through the vision experience. It is a profoundly individual happening. In remaking or transforming his or her own identity, a mortal may very well take on aspects of the guardian spirit according to what was learned from the vision experience. This in turn will affect how a person might respond to future circumstances in war, hunting, disease, drought, or a natural disaster. By virtue of the vision, the human in need can expect aid from the guardian spirit. Should the situation turn against the individual, the tendency was not to blame one’s guardian spirit but attribute failure to another factor such as a ritual not done correctly. If an outcome proves to be a positive one, then only gratitude would be expressed to one’s guardian. [13]
Not all attempts at establishing a relationship with a guardian spirit are successful, probably reflecting a failed vision. A guardian must be “earned” with a successful rite of passage, for example, fasting, sacrifice, and purification. There are Indian nations that strengthen the new relationship with a guardian through special ceremonial dances of the spirit. The stakes are high. A mortal thought not to have a guardian is assumed to be weak and ineffectual in the struggle of life. The powers of a guardian are usually organized in various classes according to their abilities: to confer the wisdom of a shaman, the insight to diagnose disease, or a lay power relating, say to hunting. It would be possible, but more difficult, to acquire multiples of the above through a more complex vision experience.[14]
The individualism of the Native American concept of guardian spirits is closer to the idea of guardian angels in the Christian tradition than Hebrew culture.
“To the Israelites, angels were usually invisible, unapproachable, and unaffected by human needs. Jewish angels were never as popular, nor as numerous, as Christian angels would become.”[15] While the Jewish people did have a sense of the presence of angels in relation to individual humans, their perspective toward them seems to have been shaped largely by a religious nationalism. Like the ancient Greeks, they had a word for heavenly messengers, mal’akh. This exemplifies, I think, their consciousness of the profound connection between the absolute divine source, God, and the mortal estate below. Angels served that connection, mainly to worship God and to convey His periodic revelations to the Jewish people or to protect them from their enemies.
Michael, the archangel, was their greatest angel, their national protector. Indeed, Jewish religious thinking recognized four classes of spirit beings, listed here in the order of their importance: seraphim, cherubim, archangels, and angels. (The word “angel” can be employed interchangeably as a generic term designating all of their kind or indicating the lowest level or class in traditional western theology.)
Generally, seraphim and cherubim stayed close to God and supported His throne and venerated Him. They seemed to be at a great “distance” from humans. Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael stood out as primary spirit leaders from above. Uriel, a fourth one, is referred to in some Jewish writings. But the first three listed were the “official” ones. Otherwise, Jews expected angels to serve in the roles of messengers or as warriors for the Jewish army in battle.
Perhaps it is not all that surprising that the idea of protective spirits was not emphasized in Hebrew culture. Personal guardians were not all that necessarily needed given the Jewish concept of an absolute, all-powerful God. Since God is supreme, why would He, in the scheme of things, structure the world and universe requiring intermediaries for every mortal?[16]
Yet, in Jewish commentary, there was some provision for a relationship between an individual Jew and angels. If not a deeply personal one, it was still a possible connection that could be made if one was sufficiently righteous. This relationship carried with it the portent of spiritual protection from evil spirits. From Tanhuma, Numbers 19, is written, “If a man perform a religious precept, one angel is assigned to him; if he performs two precepts, two angels are assigned to him; if he performs all the precepts, many angels are assigned to him; as it said ‘For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all thy ways.’ Psalm 91:11. Who are these angels? They are his guardians from the harmful spirits; as it is said ‘A thousand shall fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand.’ Psalm 91:7”[17]
To a certain extent, Christianity built directly upon the Hebrew tradition’s knowledge and lexicon of angels.
Curiously, and I think profoundly, it was Paul of Tarsus who first added a significant change to the early Christian angelology. Paul created the basic biblical backdrop or foundation for what would eventually become the Nine Angelic Orders of Christianity itself.
To the four Hebrew classes of angels already established, he added five more groups for a total of nine Christian classes. The five he identified were: thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, and authorities.[18] Interestingly, Paul is not widely known or appreciated for this contribution. He had a towering intellect with a mystical orientation toward the supernatural side. Evidently, he was permitted to “see” some of the activities of Jerusem. I have wondered what his sources were for adding five more categories of angels? Perhaps they were partially revelatory?
In any event, by circa late fifth century to early sixth century, another person came along named, oddly enough, Pseudo-Dionysus (also known as Dionysius the Areopagite) who appropriated and systemized the nine classes Paul had articulated. Dionysius created the Nine Angelic Orders. They were essential to the medieval scheme of the universe. God presided majestically at the highest circle of Heaven and the earth was located at the center of the universe, far below heaven. For Christians, then, angels served to link the earthly mundane with the heavenly sacred.
Dionysius designated the Nine Orders in this way, with the highest class first and the lowest class last: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Authorities, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The Nine Orders are referred to in Christian theology as the Celestial Hierarchy. They were in turn re-grouped into three sub-categories consisting of the first three, middle three, and last three as a measure of status and function.
Guardian angels came from the “lowest” category, denoted simply as “angels.” That category was thought to be the best one to provide revelations of one kind or another to human beings, to assist mortals to be more pious and to help the members of humanity in diverse hardships.
It is curious, isn’t it, that our beloved guardian angels were from the bottom of the Celestial Hierarchy. The Christian explanation parallels the point in The Urantia Book that spirit beings are at greater risk in terms of the potential for error the closer they are in function to human beings. The trade-off is that they can and do work more directly with manifestly imperfect mortals. A Divine Counselor could hardly be a guardian angel!
Later Christian writers, especially in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries would elaborate on describing or interpreting the specific duties and functions of the Nine Orders in the Dionysian classification; but they all followed, including Dante and medieval mapmakers, Dionysius’ angelic framework.[19] The concept of a personal guardian angel was well established among Christian men and women by the thirteenth century. The theology about angels written by the Church doctors came to full flower in the 1200s. Yet ideas about angels as personal guardians were not always taken as a given in Christian thought.
This last statement must appear a bit strange to many readers, given the universality in the belief in guardian angels today. Many in the Christian church were wary of such an idea. How would a person distinguish a good angel from a bad one? That was the Church’s concern. Augustine cautioned about it. Thomas Aquinas was less concerned. But church authorities pointed out over the centuries that the belief in guardian angels is not solidly based on biblical scripture, notwithstanding Jesus’ declaration in Matthew’s gospel that children are held up to the Father by their angels. The strength in Christian theology concerning guardian angels rests largely on the writings of various doctors (theologians) in both Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Today these churches do accept the existence of personal guardian angels for all mortals as a fact. Pope John Paul II asserted in remarks on guardian angels that, “Each one of us has a Guardian Angel, our silent and discreet counselor, whose intercession and watchful care bring us immeasurable assistance in facing the challenges of life.”[20] The Catholic Church even has a holiday or feast day set aside for them, October 2nd.
But what were the historical factors behind this acceptance? For that we must go back to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. I once spent an entire summer studying the following question about these angels. Why did the cult of personal guardian angels surface, as it apparently did, in late medieval Europe between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries? I was also curious about the way late medieval painting may have reflected this shift in spiritual perception.
It is my hypothesis that the combined effect of certain traumatic events of the 1300s, with their influence reaching far into the 1400s, helped to cause the formation of a cult of personal guardian angels among Christian believers who were seeking greater spiritual security.
Those events were:
The psychological and spiritual consequences of these events shook the foundation of Christians, giving urgency, even desperation, to the term, “soul searching.”[21]
And there was a further complication. The movement to venerate saints, no doubt in response to the traumas besetting society, had gained considerable momentum by the year 1400. There was a counter-reaction to this. Saints were former mortals, humans; angels were divinely created, spirit beings. By the fifteenth century, increasing numbers of Christians craved a source of security supernatural in nature. The cult of personal guardian angels emerged in Europe and was destined to spread throughout much of the world. This new level of belief in personal guardian angels provided a higher, greater source of protection and reverence (not worship) in the context of personal affection.[22]
At the time, this new context was beautifully exemplified in the paintings done in Book of Hours, medieval prayer books. Men and women who wanted a spiritually oriented book for their comfort and edification commissioned Books of Hours. (Bibles were rare.) Typically, and apparently for the first time in art, mortals were shown in a picture painted with their guardian angel, usually positioned very close to them. In one particularly lovely example, painted around 1460, the believer expresses the following wish, placed outside the picture in the border: “Preserve and guard me, day and night and at every moment.” An image of God with two angels playing music at the top of the picture, above the man who is kneeling. The guardian angel, very near the man, is between them. Written above the angel’s head are the words, “If you desire life, walk with the servant sent you.” Lastly, also placed outside the picture in the border, are the words, “I will send my angel…who shall go before you and keep you in your journey.”[23]
By the twentieth century, the existence of personal guardian angels attached in loving service, a relationship without having to be earned by special rituals, would become a well-established and widespread belief. Probably, all those who are reading this essay have had actual experiences with their guardian angels, or know of other people who have described their experiences, or both.
I own dozens of books on angels, especially guardian angels. They contain hundreds of personal accounts of firsthand experiences of these beings. As I have indicated, probably all of you could relate numerous stories yourselves.
Characteristically, these stories often involve being saved from danger, receiving comfort by them when hard times hit, or the satisfaction felt when you were used willingly in service to be at the right time and in the right place for someone else. The illustration of the first instance is taken from my own life.
According to my mother, when I was a baby young enough to be in a crib, an incident occurred that saved my life. At the time we were living in an “up and down” apartment house on the second or third floor in the Bronx in New York City. An “up and down” meant that the building had no elevator.
My mother told me that after she put me to bed in my room, she went into the kitchen to wash and dry the dishes. As she was doing that, she said she was “seized” suddenly by an overriding fear that my life was in mortal danger. Following her impulse, she rushed into my room and picked me up and then ran out of the room. Later on she realized that if she had taken time to think about it, I might have been killed or at least badly wounded.
She explained that as she was in the process of running out of the room after she had grabbed me, an object came through the window directly over my bed and broke the large plate glass, shattering shards of glass all over my bed. It turned out that the object was a rock. My mother learned later that a boy threw the rock in an effort to test his ability to see how high he could throw a rock and still miss a window. Boys will do things like that.
She and I attributed the action that saved my life to my guardian angels. I think that assessment is quite reasonable. The thought to run into my room and grab me, not knowing why, appears not to have come from her. I do not think it could have; there was no reason for her to suddenly run to my rescue in the context of calmly washing dishes. I think this experience suggests something about the ministry of guardian angels.
There seem to be few material guarantees in human existence. Looking at the situation objectively, my mother could have ignored the warning or taken time to think about it, exercising her free will in either possibility. It appears that my guardian angels had to rely on my mother’s free will to act in the physical realm. If the implications of these observations are correct, then even guardian angels with all their power have limits within the universe design for mortals. While this point is not new to any of you, it is, I think, worth remembering.
This story will have to serve as an illustration of what must amount to millions of similar incidents. Stories of being comforted or being used through prayer in benevolent service to others would have to be added to our knowledge of, and gratitude toward, the intelligent love and guidance we receive from these marvelous beings.
It took a long time for a clearer light to be shed on the nature and mission of guardian angels. With due regard for other wisdom traditions, I think the evolution of the belief in personal guardian angels in Christian theology since the fifteenth century may have prepared the groundwork for an easier acceptance of the revelations of Seraphic Destiny Guardians in The Urantia Book. The Fifth Epochal Revelation holds the promise for its readers, intellectually and spiritually, of developing a much more effective working relationship with these angels.
It is my opinion that The Urantia Book presents the most sophisticated and deepest presentation on guardian angels than any previous source in human history. The knowledge given of guardian angels in The Urantia Book ought to assist us mightily in our endeavor to create a more conscious connection for doing good. It would be worthwhile to sketch some of the important highlights from the book on the nature and mission of our unseen friends and allies.[24]
The phrase to “guard and guide” is used at least twice in The Urantia Book to characterize their mission to us. [UB 12:7.14], [UB 40:5.2] They carry out that two-fold mission while fully respecting our free wills. While they will certainly try to influence us for the better, in the end they are dependent on our decision-making.
We all receive guardian angels either on a group basis or personal basis. There are three classes of human beings, subnormal, normal, and supernormal, based on intelligence, spirituality, and destiny, that factor into the angelic assignments. Those of subnormal capacity receive ministry on a group basis from the seraphim and the cherubim. Each person in the third class, consisting of supernormal individuals (those who demonstrate great decision-making and definite potential in the fruits of the spirit) is always given two personal guardian angels.
Mortals in the second class, most of us, will have angels assigned on a personal basis if they qualify in one or more of three factors:
Otherwise, human beings who have not achieved one or more of the above remain in the care of seraphim and cherubim as part of a group.
For the majority of us the key to receiving a pair of personal guardian angels rests on our psychic circle attainment. The ratio of angels to circle attainment is as follows:
So the type of relationship possible is directly determined by the unity and the quality of one’s character in terms of emotion, mind, and soul, not one’s political status or performance in rituals.
I might add that they have a somewhat difficult time understanding how fear lodges so strongly in the minds of agondonters of Urantia. I would think that an important part of their mission is to help us reduce or eliminate the fear-response mechanism to human life’s challenging circumstances. Notwithstanding this, their goal for most people is to see them achieve the higher psychic circles.
Angels become known as “guardians of destiny” when a person attains the third psychic circle. Of course, there are two other options as indicated earlier. Linking the term, destiny, to the role of these angels is suggestive of their primary focus. They “guard and guide” us with the ascension scheme in mind; personality survival must come first. This idea gives new meaning to the “guardian” in guardian angel (or destiny guardian.)
They labor for us in a variety of ways. Guardian angels work hard at harmonizing the many spirit influences on us, such as the Adjuster, Spirit of Truth, the Local Universe Mother Spirit, and so forth. These angels personalize in a sense many of the impersonal and pre-personal forces at work in the universe and on our world. Their role at the spiritual level may be considered one of “coordinator.” They serve as correlators or interpreters when trying to inspire material mind insights based on Morontia. Guardian angels may be called “manipulators” when utilizing Master Physical Controllers and/or the midwayers when desiring changes in the terrestrial environment.
Destiny guardians are responsible for keeping a record of our decision-making during the course of our mortal lives. One of the angelic pair will take this on, using the administrative assistance of at least two cherubim, who serve at the direction of the seraphic pair ministering to a mortal. Muslims know something of this, for it is written in the Qur’an that, “And surely there are keepers over you, honorable recorders (angels), they know what you do.”[25]
One of the most fascinating aspects of the destiny guardian’s work concerns the juxtaposition between them and Thought Adjusters. The angels work from the outside, while the Adjusters work from within. The angels encourage a person to pray; the divine spirits encourage worship. Guardian angels probably are more effective during a person’s waking hours in the daytime. Adjusters meet less resistance during the night season. Seraphim are better positioned to effect changes in the mortal environment during the normal, active course of the daytime activities of those in their care. The indwelling spirit must needs work from the super-conscious on down to the upper reaches of the conscious mind, which is probably done best when a person is calm and restful, usually at night. They do not appear to communicate directly, yet are able to complement each other to promote the real progress of a human being.
The guardian angels are responsive to prayers that focus on the growth of character or the acquirement of wisdom. On the other hand, they will carry out the directions of their superiors, that is, what is good for the soul or the intellect of the human beings under their charge regardless of our “passing whims or changing moods.” [UB 113:5.3]
After the experience of mortal death, we look to the attending angels and the Adjusters to vouchsafe the integrity of our reappearance on the mansion worlds. Essentially, the seraphic responsibility calls for ensuring the safety of our soul, along with our life-records, in transit to the first mansion world, our destination upon leaving Urantia. The Adjuster will preserve our actual identity from Urantia to the mansion world. Our personality, identity, and soul (our Morontia form) are joined together there. The whole process appears quite complex and serious in its implications for eternal life, high stakes indeed. Again, this process gives new and additional meaning to the adjective “guardian.”
But what a prospect! “It is…an epoch in the career of an ascending mortal, this first awakening on the shores of the mansion world; there, for the first time, actually to see your long-loved and ever-present angelic companion of earth days; there also to become truly conscious of the…presence of the divine Monitor who so long indwelt your mind on earth. Such an experience constitutes a glorious awakening, a real resurrection.” (Emphasis mine.) [UB 113:7.1]
Another beautiful prospect of the relationship with personal guardian angels is that they will follow our universe ascension careers with us! Those who had group guardians in their life in the flesh will enjoy the friendship and guidance of permanent angelic associates some time prior to leaving the mansion worlds. We will work and socialize with them, a friendship of the ages. They will witness our fusion in eternal union with our Thought Adjusters. They will accompany us throughout the local universe to Jerusem, Edentia, and to Salvington. Afterwards, we will continue to journey together through the various sectors of the superuniverse, reaching Uversa itself. Leaving the superuniverse, some guardians of destiny accompany their friends from time throughout the billion worlds of Havona. Other destiny guardian angels do not stay with us on Havona, but rejoin us, even greet us, as we land on the shores of Paradise. In the latter case, these angels will have attained the circles of Seraphington, a place special to them that offers experiences that will qualify these angels to eventually enter the ranks of the Seraphic Corps of completion, marking them as finaliters along with many one-time mortals.
“For seraphim, the surest way of achieving the Paradise Deities is by successfully guiding a soul of evolutionary origin to the portals of Paradise. Therefore is the assignment of guardian of destiny the most highly prized seraphic duty.” [UB 113:7.7] This last statement ought to provide the necessary perspective for us to appreciate the true potential of the role of guardian angels in our lives in a way that was far more than previously possible before the advent of the Urantia papers. Among the many, many treasures in The Urantia Book, some of the most precious are descriptions and insights on who the guardian angels are, why they are here, and where they will be going, and with whom they are going after Urantia. I think we should take this new knowledge as a great blessing.
Through the mature perspective, intellectually and spiritually, on the nature and mission of guardian angels provided in The Urantia Book, we ought to be able to engage in the search for truth, beauty, and goodness more effectively, what the Divine Counselor referred to as “spiritual wisdom.” [UB 19:1.5] There is always real value in praying cooperatively with one’s angels to develop deeper insight and clearer foresight about character and destiny. Guardian angels are ideally suited to help us transcend the present moment, yet to live more fully in it, by guiding us to learn the eagle’s perspective and to integrate it with the ant’s, if you will.
The presence of guardian angels in our lives demonstrates something very important about the nature of God’s divine intent in the design of the universe, even the universe of universes. Our beloved Universal Father has seen to it that the goal of time and space is pre-existent in the means. The Father has said, “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect.” The ministry of guardian angels is intended to help us to do just that; it is a primary example of how evolutionary action matches divine word. And even we agondonters here on Urantia enjoy fully the fruits of this ministry.
Within God’s divine plan there are at least four manifestations of His flawless wisdom that are reflected in the angelic mission: Love, Relationships, Learning and Hope.
Love is at the heart or center of the universe of universes. The deep affection and intelligent care our angels feel for us is drawn from the grace of God’s love. It is a sisterly manifestation of that perfect love. This highlights my second point; angelic ministry to mortals is a living expression of the great truth that relationships between persons are primary in the entire universe while everything else is secondary. Thirdly, angels guide us as well as guard us, a demonstration that the universe is essentially one big school in the search for truth, beauty, and goodness—the search for the reality of God. Learning, then, is key to the evolutionary process aimed at achieving perfection, as God has mandated. The angelic mission is fully committed to this process and goal. Lastly, the presence and work of guardian angels spreads hope throughout the human race on Urantia. While of course this is true for all normal inhabited mortal spheres, for agondonters on relatively isolated worlds such as ours, where greater and deeper faith is required, angelic ministry takes on an even more intensely poignant reality for us and for them!
Father, I wish to take this occasion to express to You my heartfelt gratitude and soul-saving appreciation for providing, providentially, for the beautiful ministry of our guardian angels.
I started this essay with a prayer to one’s guardian angels, so now I would like to conclude by sharing with you some charming prayers and expression of affection for our unseen friends and allies. There have been some local cultures (i.e., in Italy and France) in which when two or more persons are greeting each other, also include a greeting to the other person’s angel. For instance: “good morning to you and to your companion,” or, “Good evening to thee and to thine.” They signify a mindset, a consciousness, quite different than the modern mainstream (which I offer more as an observation than a criticism). Yet, everyday language reveals what one values.
Angels have been characterized in poetically charming ways. They have been known as a “Glory of Angels,” a “Cloud of Witnesses,” a “Liturgy of Angels,” “Angels of Peace,” (especially guardian angels) or, quite commonly, a “Host of Angels.”[26]
Finally, I wish to offer this tribute, an angelic sampler, presented as a further token of respect to our spirit friends and for the spiritual edification of you, the reader.
…angels have some part in the enlightenment of faith. Moreover, men are enlightened by the angels not only concerning what is to believed, but also as regards what is to be done … Each man has a guardian angel appointed to him. The reason for this is that the guardianship of angels belongs to the execution of Divine Providence concerning men. —Thomas Aquinas [27]
Guardian Angel watches keep
While the little ones asleep. —Post Card message[28]
“Hello Central, give me Heaven, for my mama’s there; you can find her with the Angels on the Golden Stair; she’ll be glad it’s me who’s speaking, call her, won’t you please; for I want to surely tell her, we’re so lonely here.” —The chorus, from nineteenth century sheet music, Hello Central–Give Me Heaven,( A child’s effort trying to reach her deceased mother through the angels.)[29]
Continue to love each other with true brotherly love, don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it. —Hebrews 13:1-2 [30]
The guardian angels love the homely ways of men, they desire to share the hours of labour and of ease; the love of children and their play, and all the happy atmosphere of the home. They would guard men’s homes, keeping away all influences of danger and strife, of darkness and disease. —Geoffrey Hodson [31]
How lovely, how charming the sight, when children their teacher obey!
The angels look down with delight, this beautiful scene to survey.”—19th Century Reward of Merit [32]
Lord, keep us safe to-night, secure from every fear,
May angels guard us while we sleep, till morning light appears.” —Post Card message [33]
A guardian angel must be ever beside his charge from the beginning to the end of life…to incite to good. In sorrow he is a comforter, in weakness, strength; even in death he is faithful…
and after death he bears the spirit to St. Michael, the Lord of Souls.”—Clara Erskine Clement [34]
But most of all, see that you despise not one of these little ones, for their angels do always behold the faces of the heavenly hosts. —Jesus (Emphasis mine) [UB 158:8.1]
The angelic hosts are a separate order of created beings; they are entirely different from the material order of mortal creatures…The Angelic hosts have…a spiritual kinship with the human race…and they are neither all-wise nor all-powerful. But all of the loyal angels are truly pure and holy…if you had your spiritual eyes anointed, you would then see the heavens opened and behold the angels of God ascending and descending…Many of these angels are engaged in the work of saving men…these angels [are] very much concerned with the means whereby man’s spirit is released from the tabernacles of the flesh and his soul escorted to the mansions in heaven. —Jesus (Emphasis mine) [UB 167:7.2-6]
I have read The Urantia Book for many years as part of my decision to consciously search for God made a few years prior to finding the book. My interest in angels started as a boy when I prayed to them for comfort and assistance. While I have always worshiped the Father, I have long recognized our largely unseen friends and allies as essential to the history and destiny of human society. Currently I am researching the nature and ministry of angels, guardian and otherwise, by culling the best from human literature and art, as well as revealed truth.
Gilbert Highet, “An Iconography of Heavenly Beings,” Horizon: A Magazine of the Arts, Volume, III, Number (November, 1960) p. 33; Saggs, H.W.F., The Babylonians, London: The folio Society, 1999, pp. 316–317. ↩︎
Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of ANGELS, A to Z, Washington, D.C.: Visible Ink Press, 1996, pp. 138–139. ↩︎
James R. Lewis., Evelyn Dorothy Oliver, Angels: A to Z, Washington, D.C., Visible Ink Press, 1996, 138–139. ↩︎
Wendy Doniger, Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of World Religions, Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 1999, p. 359; Smart, Ninian, The World’s Religions, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 223. ↩︎
Richard Valantasis, ed., Religions of Late Antiquity in Practice, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000, pp. 311–312. ↩︎
Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, A Dictionary of Miracles: Imitative, Realistic, and Dogmatic, London: Chatto & Windus, 1901, p. 503. ↩︎
W. E. Vine., An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words with their Precise Meanings for English Readers, Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming, H. Revell Company, 1940, p. 55. ↩︎
Horizon, p. 28 ↩︎
Keith Crim, ed., Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions, Nashville, Tennessee: Parthenon Press, 1981, p. 44. ↩︎
Horizon, pp. 38-39; Dietrich Seckel,The Art of Buddhism, New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1964, pp. 119, 175, 204–206. ↩︎
Jonathan Z. Smith., The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995, p. 399. ↩︎
HarperCollins Dictionary, p. 399 ↩︎
HarperCollins Dictionary, pp. 399-400. ↩︎
Arlene Hirschfelder, Paulette Molin, The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions, New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1992, pp. 109–110. ↩︎
Charles Panati, Sacred Origins of Profound Things: The Stories Behind the Rites and Rituals of the World’s Religions, New York: Penguin Arkana,1996, p. 2. ↩︎
Sacred Origins, pp. 61–66, 72, 74–80. ↩︎
Andrew Wilson, World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, New York: Paragon House, 1991, p. 257. ↩︎
Steven Chase, translator & ed., Angelic Spirituality: Medieval Perspectives on the Ways of Angels, New York: Paulist Press, 2002, pp. 12–13. [Some biblical references: Colossians 1:16, 2:10, 2:15; Ephesians 1:21, 3:10, 6:12; 1Corinthians 15:24; Romans 8:38; 1Peter 3:22. Chase lists Paul’s additional groups of angels as Rulers, Authorities, Powers, Lordships, and Thrones. While Chase’s translations of Paul’s names of angelic categories vary with other biblical translations, such as the King James’ Bible, the concept-designations of these angels are essentially the same.] ↩︎
Angelic Spirituality, pp. 25–31. ↩︎
Arnold Nesselrath, Angels From The Vatican: The Invisible Made Visible, Alexandria, Virginia: Art Services International, 1998, p. 7. ↩︎
Barbara W. Tuchman., A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978, Chapters 4, 5, 16. ↩︎
J. Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages, London: The Folio Society, 1998, Chapters 12 and 17, especially, p. 162. ↩︎
Roger S. Wieck., Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art, New York: George Braziller, Inc. 1997, pp. 18, 107. ↩︎
The Urantia Book, Chicago: Urantia Foundation, 1955, Paper 113, “The Seraphic Guardians of Destiny.” ↩︎
Qur’an, Surah 82: 10–12. ↩︎
Clara Erskine Clement, Angels in Art, Boston: L.C. Page and Company, 1898, pp. 25, 33, 34, 140. ↩︎
Robert Maynard Hutchins, Great Books of the Western World, Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 1952, (Volume 19, Thomas Aquinas:I) pp. 569, 577. ↩︎
Author’s collection, early Twentieth Century post card, circa 1910. ↩︎
Chas. K. Harris, “Hello Central—Give Me Heaven”, Milwaukee: Fred K. Fullworth & Bros., circa late nineteenth century. ↩︎
Bible, (New Testament). ↩︎
Geoffrey Hodson, The Brotherhood of Angels and of Men, London: The Theosophical Publishing House LTD, 1927, p. 2. ↩︎
Author’s collection, circa 1860s. ↩︎
Author’s collection, early 20th Century post card, circa 1911. ↩︎
Angels in Art, pp. 139–140. ↩︎