A Christmas Angel: True Stories of Gifts from Angels at Special Times

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HarperTrueFate

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First published by HarperTrueFate 2015

FIRST EDITION

Text © Jacky Newcomb 2015

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Source ISBN: 9780008144432

Ebook Edition © December 2015 ISBN: 9780008144425

Version: 2015-11-03

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Chapter 1: Love and Valentines

Chapter 2: Angels and Christmas

Chapter 3: Births, Birthdays and Deaths

Letter to Readers

About the Author

Also by Jacky Newcomb in the HarperTrue series …

More by Jacky Newcomb

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter

About the Publisher

Introduction

An angel is a common symbol at Christmas. I mean the gold and sparkly ones we use in decorations, of course! We place them on top of the Christmas tree; they decorate our Christmas cards and we light our candles in angel-themed holders. It was the Archangel Gabriel who told the young Mary that she was carrying a child. That child was the baby Jesus, and so Gabriel became known as the Christmas angel.

The angels were given the special task of watching over the small family on their journey to Bethlehem. One of them also told the shepherds that the Christ child had been born. Many witnessed the angels that day and readers of the Bible will recall that the poor shepherds were terrified at the sight. Much as I love angels, I’m sure I would have been just as frightened if several angels had suddenly appeared overhead while I walked with my sheep! Wonderful though their visit must have been, I’m sure the subtler visitations we experience today are much more comforting.

What is an angel or guardian angel? That question is on many people’s lips. We have all seen angels represented in paintings, statues or figurines as winged beings or glowing figures, but is this who they really are?

Angels are said to be manifested by the divine being, the one true creator – or God, as we tend to call ‘him’. It is said that God made the angels just before, or just after, he created humans (depending on which source you believe!). Some feel that God is an energy source (like a cloud of electricity), and all of his creations are like sub-clouds that separate from this heavenly being. Like drops of water in the ocean, we and the angels are not separate from each other or from God, but are all parts of the ocean, all parts of the energy cloud, all God. He/she is whole in all of us: in the souls on this side of life, in the souls on the heaven side of life, in the angels and in beings on other planets, too.

Many believe that angels watch over and guard us. But this is just one of the tasks they seem to take on. There are stories of their interactions with human lives that go back as far as you can imagine, before humans even began recording their history – whispered experiences passed down from one generation to the next.

While some don’t believe they exist, these stories of angels interacting with human lives have been around for many thousands of years. If they are not real then why do people talk about meeting them, seeing them, hearing them or experiencing these beings of light? I am an ‘experiencer’. I have been lucky enough to have a great deal of contact with God’s angels. They have helped me and communicated with me many times. They reach out to us in their own way, and although contacting us through many different layers of consciousness can be a challenge, they still seem to manage it.

Some people believe that I personally hear and see angels all the time. This isn’t true, sadly. I live a normal life; I’m a wife, mum and grandmother (‘Nana Jacky!’), and on occasion I have had some unique, extraordinary experiences. Some might call them mind-blowing (I know I do). It seems to be no different for some of my readers. Some have more angelic contact than others, though there seems to be no specific reason why this might happen. Angels come when they want to and visit when we need them. Occasionally they appear when we ask them to, but sometimes they arrive unannounced. Always they are welcome. They seem to appear when we feel afraid or alone. We might not always see them (in fact, usually we don’t), but if you are really lucky, you might sense them, hear them or pick up a little sign that they are there. Your angel is watching over you.

Can we really define an angel? Many have tried. They seem to be a type of spirit, but not like a human soul. They are beings of light but without solid bodies (or what we would call solid); they may not have a physical presence in our dimension, but they certainly have substance in their own realms. They exist, but on a different ‘level’ to the one where we humans live, and yet they seem to have the power to intervene in human lives. It’s their divine and inspired role, their assigned task.

There are recorded stories of angels helping in war-torn areas, saving people from falling off cliffs and lifting cars in the air to a place of safety to avoid vehicle crashes. They’ve moved people away from out-of-control vehicles and urged them in another direction to keep them from getting hurt. They appear at the bedside of the sick and walk alongside those who are frightened or grieving. Some have felt them, some have smelt them, others have sensed their touch and many more have seen them.

Lots of people are happy to talk about their angel experiences. Many of their stories fill the pages of my books. Others are more reluctant. They feel their angel contact to have been nothing short of miraculous. They feel their experiences are to be whispered, treasured, as secret, private moments of pleasure and comfort, joy and peace. These people feel their encounters were meant just for them and them alone, and I respect that point of view … But luckily for me, not everyone feels that way, and without these people there would be no books of angel experiences. I have always shared my own angel and afterlife visits with my readers. In fact, I feel I have been blessed with so many for that very reason: I was meant to share them. Telling the world about angel experiences, including my own, is my life’s mission.

Your loving experiences come from all over the globe. There is no age barrier to having an encounter. Babies and the elderly see them equally. You may believe in angels or not – they still come to us in our time of need. Many start believing in angels only after they have had an encounter, which makes a lot of sense when these beings are so elusive in our day-to-day lives. It’s truly a challenge to believe in something that you’ve had no contact with, or maybe no interest in, before. Some tell me that they want to believe in angels but aren’t sure how they can make the leap between wanting to believe and believing. These books of angel experiences do help. It always amazes me that people who don’t know each other, who have never met or spoken with each other, can have very similar experiences in their lives. They may come many years apart, and the individuals may have nothing in common at all, no shared interests, yet angels come to them in their hour of need. Their encounters may connect them at many different points.

I love to talk about my own angel visits … and there have been many. Angels often appear to me when I sleep. They also come to me when my body is relaxed in meditation. My mind works best when it’s open to their contact, in an altered state of consciousness. This may also include the day-dreaming state we get into, when our minds are bored of what our hands are doing – they are fed up of making beds or washing up! People tell me they have extraordinary angel experiences while simply staring out of the window, wiping down a table or when their mind wanders during a boring speech. Your angel might reach out to you when you’re waiting for your name to be called at the doctor’s surgery or taking a bath or shower. They are waiting for us to idle our time away or mull something over. We create a little space in our waking consciousness for them to reach through and make their presence known. There is no perfect time, but lots of opportunity. Angels reach out to us in our time of need, when we are unsafe, sad or lonely. They are always here for us and inventive at finding out new ways to let us know.

Over the years I’ve recorded stories of angels helping humans in many ways. They love to help in times of danger but might also appear to simply hold your hand when you need a little reassurance. Your guardian angel (your personal guide and protector) will always be close by but will draw a little closer when you need support. Your angel is aware of the extremes of emotion we humans feel and will pick up on your energy when you are anxious, scared or unwell. During these occasions you are more likely to feel their presence. You may even hear them. Angel music (like a choir of harmonious voices) is an occasional gift from these loving beings. Angels use all of our human senses to make themselves known to us. Visually appearing to us (when we are awake) is the least likely way they will come to us (but surprisingly the way most people expect to encounter them, even though this would potentially be more frightening and less comforting!).

Our religious books show us that angels act as a contact between heaven and earth; they are a feature of many faiths. They reach up to God our creator to bring his messages down to earth to humankind – they are intermediaries and diplomats. There is even archaeological evidence for the existence of angels in earlier times. One appears in the form of a stele (a stone or wooden slab, carved and erected as a monument for commemorative purposes). This early carving commemorates King Ur-Nammu in Egypt (225 BC) and in the image winged beings are shown flying over the king’s head while he prays. Perhaps ancient people saw angels in their physical state just as it seems to show in the Bible. I guess we’ll never know for sure.

Hopefully this latest collection of angelic experiences will open your mind a little more to the love that they bring us. Angels can draw close at any time, but these stories show how they visited during specific moments of importance. If you have had experiences like these, I’d love to hear from you. What do you think of these stories?

Chapter 1

Love and Valentines

Angels love to connect with us on special occasions in our lives. As humans we send out an energetic signature at these times that the other side picks up. Valentine’s Day is no exception. Angels are part of much ancient religious symbolism. Even today, they appear in many forms for different occasions, like births, deaths (funerals) and, of course, Valentine’s Day rituals. Cupid has become part of our culture, a traditional symbol that represents love. His image often appears on lovers’ Valentine’s cards alongside flowers and hearts.

I’m sure you are familiar with him – this cheeky little boy with wings is easily recognised with his bow and arrow: a baby angel! Lovers are often said to have been struck by Cupid’s arrow. His image is now associated with love, passion, desire and attraction. Unsurprisingly, more than one online dating site uses the name Cupid. You can see why, can’t you? Over the years, numerous people have written to tell me that they felt an angel, or a deceased loved one, help them find the love of their life.

I always felt I was struck by Cupid’s arrow myself. This little cherub stabbed me with his arrow nearly 30 years ago. Sitting in a pub with my (then) boyfriend (let’s call him ‘M’), John (my now husband) walked in with a group of friends. They were having a lot of fun together, laughing and teasing each other. The group had been part of a local sports team and had just won a big game (I forget what they were playing, but it was probably hockey).

One of John’s teammates picked me out and urged John to sit on my lap in the crowded bar; it was suggested as a type of bet and he duly did so. 1) My boyfriend ‘M’ was not amused. 2) Later I realised how out of character this act was for John. 3) I liked it! The strange thing was that as he sat on my lap (this almost-stranger whom I vaguely recognised from school), I heard a voice in my head say to me, ‘This is the man you are going to marry!’ No one could have been more surprised than me. Yet we didn’t actually get together until a year later. We then dated for two years before we married; we chose the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day (nowhere was available on the actual day – still, we tried!).

John and I have been married for over 30 years and I still tease him about that day. Even now he wonders how he had the nerve to do something so cheeky. Perhaps he, too, was encouraged in his behaviour by Cupid – our own loving angel! John has never been one for practical jokes; I always felt Cupid had hit us both with his arrow that day, although it seems that only I got the message from the angelic voice. Maybe only one of us needed to hear … I’m not complaining! Have you felt an angel, maybe Cupid himself, help connect you with your true love?

Karen had a very special ‘someone’ on the other side of life. Their relationship was difficult on the earth side of life because he was a public figure (and I’ll still avoid using his name here out of respect for his memory). When he died, Karen and her love were able to be together … just in a different way. Over the years he acted as a guardian angel to her from the heaven side of life. As time went on she felt the connection grow between them. So strong was his spirit that she was able to ask for advice and ‘hear’ his answers. He would warn her when there was danger, comfort her when she felt sad and send her love when she needed it most. She called him her ‘twin flame’, her principal spirit guide.

There came a time when she was going through a failing marriage and facing uncertainty in the future. She feels that her twin flame, her loving spirit friend, supported her during this difficult time. One day – she remembers the date clearly: 13 February 2007 – she went to bed as usual, but this was going to be no ordinary night. Something happened that would change her life forever.

Karen was not looking forward to the next day when all of her friends and family would be celebrating St Valentine’s Day. It took her a long time to settle, and just as she was starting to relax, she felt her spirit-self drifting off out of her body. This phenomenon is not common, but some people experience the separation of the spirit and body during meditation or when the body is deeply relaxed (or sometimes when the body is in trauma). Occasionally it can happen when the body is asleep. It’s happened to me on numerous occasions. Different to a dream, you can remain totally aware as you go on to have a spiritual (or mystical) experience. And unlike a dream, you remember it fully when you wake.

Now ‘out of body’, Karen looked down from where her spirit-self had drifted, which appeared to be up on the ceiling. Her physical body was just lying there in the bed below; after some moments she felt herself floating up even higher and then away from her bedroom completely. Almost immediately she was looking down at her favourite reservoir close to her home in South Wales; it’s so beautiful, she explained to me, that it’s more like a scenic lake than a reservoir. It was like the most powerful dream, yet so real. She was totally aware during the whole thing … lucid, and thinking normally. Only the experience was extraordinary. One minute Karen was in bed, and the next she was looking down on this watery scene!

Karen felt herself swooping downwards and landing on the shore below her. She remembers that she was wearing a beautiful flowing white gown, which had several layers and tiers of fabric, and she says she felt fabulous! In front of her were two groups of people waiting at the reservoir edge, but she couldn’t make out who they were. Then she found herself walking over towards them, and as she got close she realised that one group was her dad and other family members who had died, and the other group was her ‘twin flame’s’ dad and his family (the family of her lost love on the other side of life). They were all smiling at her as if they had been waiting to welcome her for this visit. She recalls that it was a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere. There was a bright light a little way across the shore where she could see two silhouettes, but again she couldn’t make out who they were. Karen’s dad took her by the arm and led her towards the light – and it was then that she realised that one of the silhouettes was her beloved, and the other was her guardian angel.

Karen was delighted as her special love took her hand. He looked so happy that it brought her to tears. The experience was so vivid that Karen immediately asked if she was dead, but her angel told her, ‘Absolutely not!’ The next thing she remembers is being told that she and her man were to have a blessing ceremony. The angel explained that it was like a spiritual wedding between twin flames for when one is in spirit (heaven) and the other is in the physical realm (earth).

This extraordinary experience was now happening on Valentine’s Day and the significance of it wasn’t lost on Karen. They – the angels – explained that the ritual was to prevent anything or anyone ever coming between them, and that they’d never lose each other again. The death of one partner didn’t sever the spirit connection between them. Once the ceremony had been performed they’d be ‘married’ for all eternity, and when it was eventually Karen’s ‘time’ (to cross over to the other side for good), they would be reunited and never parted again. The whole thing seemed like a fairy tale, but it was real.

Karen was asked if she wanted to proceed, and she remembers being so excited and wanting it to go ahead immediately. Her guardian angel proceeded to talk to them both and read some words from a white book; all the while Karen and her loved one were holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes. A golden cord was placed over their hands to connect them forever, and she recalls at this point that the angel closed his eyes as if he were praying. The ceremony seemed surreal yet perfect. It was more powerful than any dream, more real than even a waking experience, and she knew something amazing had happened between them. When she awoke the next morning, on Valentine’s Day, she was finally content. She had a connection with her loved one like none of her friends – the angels had seen to that. In so many ways, Valentine’s Day is now more important to Karen than to anyone she knows. This special date marks the anniversary of her spiritual wedding!

Not long after this episode, Karen and her children finally moved out of the family home into rented accommodation. The long-awaited divorce from her earthly husband followed and life settled down again. Her heavenly twin flame/spiritual husband has been there to support her the whole time. Karen took her commitment one step further. One night soon afterwards he appeared to her in a dream, asking her to change her surname to his, ‘now that they were married’, and to wear a ‘commitment’ ring for him in place of her old earthly wedding ring, which she’d recently removed. She was only too happy to do so and went straight to town and ordered one in her size, and when she returned she applied online to change her surname legally.

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