Alcuin and Flutterby: The consciousness of the angels

"The attitude of the angels towards God differs radically from that of man."

"They do not conceive the existence of a central personalised individual consciousness, but rather of a universally diffused life-force or energy, an intelligent power which pervades the whole system, forms and ensouls every atom, and fills all space between forms, whether of atom, planet, or of sun."

"Though they recognise this power as an all-pervasive immanence, they also know themselves to be a part of it, to be its embodiment, and know no other will or intelligence than that by which its activities are guided."

"The predominating characteristic of their consciousness is a realisation of unity with each other and with that central source; selfishness, separateness, desire, sense of possession, anger, fear, rebellion or bitterness are impossible to them, because knowledge of the unity of all life forms the background of their existence."

"They are living embodiments of unity, and display to perfection, each at his level, all the qualities of character which naturally harmonise with and result from its realisation."

"All angels are instinctively loving, though their love is far more impersonal than is human love; they see in the object of affection not a desirable form or an attractive personal character, but another embodiment of the same life-force which inspires them."

"Recognising a mutual source of life and a similarity of purpose, they pour forth towards the object of their affection an impersonal love combined with reverence and a certain spiritual recognition of identity of essence."

"In the life of the angels there is nothing which corresponds to the bodily affection which men display. They show their love for each other, for men and for Nature by vivid flashes of colour, by an extension and mingling of auras and by a close mental identification with all the hopes, dreams, capacities, qualities of character and fundamental purposes of the beloved."

The above words, written by an angel, are found at the beginning of Chapter 1 of "The Angelic Hosts" by Geoffrey Hodson. Happily, this book can now be read, in its entirety, online here.

Hodson's book, mystical in nature and permeated with signifiers of high strangeness, was one of the early foundation texts of the New Spirituality. Less demanding, shorter, and closer to routine human intellection is another essay about angels by the same author. It is "Angels and the New Race" by Geoffrey Hodson. The full text of this work can also be found online here.

Hodson makes his intention clear at the beginning: "The idea that I wish to expound in this booklet is that cooperation between angelic beings and men will play an important part in the development of the new race which is now appearing in the world...."

These words were written nearly a hundred years ago. The angels have now arrived. They are working among us once more. Many take the form of children. Some are the invisible friends of children. All are young at heart.

In England (UK) in the late 1990s, a British Theology student called Emma Heathcote, researching angel encounters, found that they were reported by both religious people and atheists.

According to respondents' data, only about 26 per cent of angel encounters seemed to involve traditional-looking light-beings with wings, such as those illustrated here, here, here, here and here.

An interview with Emma Heathcote was published in the July/August 1999 issue of Share International Magazine and can be found here.

A year or two later, in 2001, Emma Heathcote-James, as she is now known, published a well-received book entitled "Seeing Angels". This and other contemporary books about angels were discussed by John Naish in The Times (London) on the 30th April 2005. His piece entitled "A wing and a prayer" can be found here.

..........................................