Angels have been around since the beginning of time. Although closely associated with Christian teachings and thinking, angels are found in many different faiths including Judaism, Islam, and even ancient Mesopotamian schools of thought.

The term “angel” means messenger in the Greek language, and an angel’s role is to deliver a message to someone here on earth from someplace elsewhere. 

Mostly when we hear of an angel’s message it is to warn someone of impending danger. Many people have claimed to have sensed the presence of someone or something protecting them from certain injury or death right before a terrible accident of some sort. Others speak of beings that have provided them with strength during an extremely difficult time in life. These celestial presences are angels protecting us and guiding us. Angels, like people, come in all different shapes, sizes and forms. Some witnesses to angel encounters claim to see beautiful human-like beings with large wings bathed in bright, glowing lights. Other descriptions are of family members or friends who have passed away, but have somehow come back to earth in a slightly different form perhaps to carry a message of life beyond death. Still other accounts of angel visits are of mysterious bright white or colored light that feels warm and an overall feeling of happiness and joy. Many people never actually see a vision but simply sense that someone is with them during some time of need.   

Throughout history many different people, both religious, and unspiritual have shared stories of angels that have affected their lives. In the Old Testament, Abraham is visited by an angel, who prevents him from offering up his son Isaac as the supreme sacrifice to God. George Washington claimed to have seen an angel while he was at Valley Forge. Other individuals, both famous and not so famous, have been visited by celestial beings they believe are angels.

Are an angel and a ghost the same thing? No. Angels are different than ghosts in that they have a set purpose for their visits. They are sent to deliver a message of some kind. They bring a sense of peace and hope to those whom they visit. They are not meant to frighten anyone and usually when a person comes in contact with an angel, he or she feels a sense of happiness or peacefulness. Ghosts and spirits, some may say, are more likely lost souls stuck between this earthly world and the one that is someplace beyond. They are wanderers without a sense of purpose.  Others simply feel that a ghost is energy that is left behind when the soul passes into the next phase of their journey.

No matter how much we try and comprehend how or what makes angels come to us, it can never be fully understood. Is it all just a hallucination or are our minds playing tricks on us? Those who have been touched by an angel’s visit insist it is not a mind game, but a real, genuine encounter with a being that is not from this world.