ENCOUNTERS WITH MICHAEL

                       * "The Archangel Loved Heights!"  Mont-Saint-Michel


The Artist meets the Archangel

Sean, an artist and Tai Chi instructor, speaks:

A couple of years ago in the sweltering summer heat, I trudged through the Los Angeles downtown area.  It was about 98 degrees that day.  I spotted a large black man slumped on the steps of a church.  He appeared to be about 6' 3" and very overweight.  He had a bushy beard, but his hair was trimmed.  The most unusual thing about him was that he had on a heavy sweatshirt in addition to work boots and jeans.  He wore sunglasses and had a bag of clothes beside him.  He appeared homeless, and he was sweating profusely.

"I approached him, 'Why are you wearing a sweatshirt in this heat?' "

"He retorted, 'It's easier to wear it than to carry it around.' "

"I asked him if he'd had anything to drink today."

"No."

"I got him some bottled water, and he thanked me.  I asked him if he had any food."

"No."

He said his name was Michael.   I gave him some simple food and continued to help him over the next several days in the intense heat wave.  There was a glow about him.  I felt flashes of understanding by looking into his eyes.  I felt my joints vibrate when I saw him.

"He always said, 'Thank you' and 'please.'  Our conversations were minimal.  One day he said to me, 'You never know when an angel will come into your life in human form.' "

The next day when I went by, Michael was gone.  The minister walked down the steps of the church just then, and I asked him about Michael.

" 'I don't know who you're talking about.  I've never seen anybody like that sitting on the steps, and I'm out here all the time.' "

However, many others saw Michael.  I saw some of them stop to talk with him.  Michael disappeared as suddenly as he came.

In my travels out west I felt Michael's presence several times, always leading me to my next destination.  In each case, he was a beggar.  Once he was a white man with the same type of build and beard.  I always gave him a donation, even though I needed money for my own food.  I've seen angels and angels masquerading as humans.  Each encounter with Michael and others lead me further along my spiritual path.

When I feel the presence of my guardian angel, Michelle, I don't hear her speak in words, but I can feel her vibrations within me, leading me.  I have not seen her yet.

Angel in the Park

Sean gathered courage: 
"Dahlis, a couple of years ago, before I left town for awhile we were practicing Tai Chi in the park.  I saw your Angel, Sharon!  She appeared as a beam of pink light!  She was surrounding you, connected to you and all through you.  The angel light was different from your aura.  She was also in motion, practicing Tai Chi, guiding you.  Sharon's heart center was gold, and your gold heart center merged with hers.  The angel's color was vibrant pink, the color of unconditional love.  The hue intensified as it went outward from you and became a red line of energy around her edges.  Seeing her in the park was awesome, but I felt rather unbalanced by the experience.  After several years, I can just now tell you about this."

We are all here to help others climb the mountain, our spiritual paths of unfolding journeys.  The Bible talks about entertaining strangers.  We may be encountering angels unaware (Hebrews 13:1-2).  Family, friends, pets, angels?  Is there really a difference? 

Angel?
My friend Kay read this story.  "It makes you wonder, who was the angel?"


**  "And the light began to change after painting the grey and green vision from France..."


*Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres book by Henry Adams 

Dahlis Roy:  Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor

"A Different Light," oil  painting of Mont-Saint-Michel by Dahlis Roy

DEER DREAMER



 Sifting through a stack of sketches, I pulled out a young deer. 

Then I had a dream.... 

I was in a white mist body, a human-like form.  Wandering through a forest dark with a canopy of tall pine trees, I could smell the forest green and feel the thick carpet of pine needles.  I came upon a young female deer, just after her first winter.  She was curled up in a thicket.  She was in perfect health.  I thought of the Bambi movie!  I saw flashes of cartoon Bambi in front of me and all around me.  I was trance-ported back to my early years of studying and learning to draw animals.  My heart "smiled."

Then I walked-in to the sleeping deer body.  I merged softly, blending into the deer and especially feeling her sharp black hoofs and short coat of grey-brown.  I became the deer and settled comfortably into the energy of the young one.

The young doe woke up slowly, got up and stretched as the first peeks of morning gold filtered into the tree tops.  Golden rays touched me.  I felt whole, balanced and in perfect harmony with nature.  Standing in stillness like a tree, I looked around with wonder.

Then I bounded up as deer do, leaping and springing up gracefully pushing all four hooves into the Earth and becoming airborne with joy.  I felt my wet nose and looked through windows of wide set dark sparkling eyes.  

As I took off, I became mist again and faded into invisibility!  Bright sunshine and multicolors enveloped me.  I felt Celtic hero Oisin, The White Stag, all around me.

I woke smiling and relaxed.  Oh, it was such a gentle dream~

                                       becoming a deer!

"The ordinary is the extraordinary,"  Qigong Master Wang Xiang Zhai

The Way of Qigong, The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing by Kenneth S. Cohen  The Five Animal Frolics include Crane, Bear, Monkey, Deer, and Tiger

The Dao of Taijiquan, Way to Rejuvenation by Jou, Tsung Hwa  Five Treasures of Shaolin Temple the five quan:  Dragon, Tiger, Leopard, Snake, and Crane

Bambi, Walt Disney Productions, feature full length animated movie   

COLOR (Y)OUR WORLD

*"Breathe, Relax, and Think Blue"

Sean, an artist and Tai Chi instructor, discussed thinking in color to an informal group.  "That's odd," I thought.  Well, actually, for an artist to feel that way, it's not strange at all.  Artists' minds tend to run like videotape, or a moving slide show, or still frames.  

Dream it Forward
Dreams glow vividly with rainbow prisms.  Dreams spark inspirations for us all, suggesting prophetic experiences, guidance, directions, or change.

Soul reflection: thinking in color can be a new experience.  I thought about color and the way each hue vibrates at individual frequencies.  Think of your favorite color or colors.  What effects do colors have in your life, your soul?  Can you send a color to another person? 

Deep breathing coupled with relaxation, and mindful movement are all principles of Tai Chi and Qigong.  Since practicing and then teaching these arts, I have said many times to myself and others:  "Breathe, Relax, and Think Blue," a color of peace and healing.  Blue can also express truth and communication as well as intuition and protection, a feeling of safety.


Related Posts: 
Tonal Vision 
Crystal Tiger Out of the Blue 

 Essential Reike book by Diane Stein

Paul Lam, M.D. family practice physician and Tai Chi Master.  Get started with Tai Chi.  Articles, DVD's, seminars and more, Tai Chi for Health.

Quiet Reflection, photo by Emilie, published with permission

ESCAPE ARTISTS

I had a visit from a friend who brought her husky-mix dog along.  We agreed Shadrach should stay outside.  We had a five cat colony then, and chaos might reign if the animal guest saw the smaller creatures as fun to chase.  I told the cats in advance of Shadrach's coming and secured some of them in the back part of the house.  I placed our large gray Tomcat in another room.  He howled for a time in displeasure then settled down in sullen stony silence.  

The guests arrived and Shadrach was secured to a large golden fall leafed sugar maple tree in our front yard in full view. "She'll go right over the back yard fence."  I watched closely as the loop attached to the collar and leash settled around the tree trunk and snapped securely shut.  Every so often we checked on Shadrach who sat comfortably under the tree, waiting patiently.

Afternoon melted into early dusk, and the house cats were released to meet and greet.  They approached, then rubbed my guest cautiously.  Two cats took turns sitting in my lap.  Chessie, the eighteen year old Queen Mother, ruler of cats and people, sat first.  Then blond spotted Sancat, our Zen Master, took his turn, purring away.  These are not lap cats!  They were warning me and protecting me from the  furry visitor who's scent they'd picked up from my guest.  Mrs. Harris, the orange princess diva cat, vanished into thin air.  Ninja dark tabby Sasha surveyed the guest with great suspicion, and lashed her leopard tail back and forth.  Little leopard cubs exhibit this behavior.  

"What if she jumps on me?"  

"Stay still!"  

Sasha contemplated jumping, but loped away to look out the window at Shadrach.  Sasha screeched me a warning.  Tom came forth and paced and complained mightily about the dog in the yard...his yard.

Dinner time came and darkness fell like a cloak around the trees.  Shadrach enjoyed her meal in the yard.  We settled down for dinner, then the phone rang.  Our neighbor had just arrived home.  As she pulled into her driveway, the headlights flashed across a large dog standing on her front porch!  We were out in a flash, and quick as lightening, retrieved the wayward traveler.  We secured Shadrach in the car and gave her a snack.  She smiled happily, and waved her tail.

All of this was relatively uneventful except the spring-loaded loop that was around the tree was still fastened together as if it had never been unlocked!  Shadrach's collar was securely around her neck.  Shades of a Halloween Mystery--a four-footed Houdini!


Great Escapes!
"Natasha, my dog, had me believing in shape shifters for awhile.  The only discernible way out of my backyard was a space between my fence and the neighbor's fence.  This was about a three inch space, but somehow she got out...Once she sat about a foot in front of the couch, leaped over it and through the glass window behind the couch.  Natasha came out unscathed!"

Sasha Sleeping

Sasha to the Rescue!
When our cat Sasha was about a year old, her litter brother, blond Sancat, explored next door and slipped under the neighbor's deck.  Sancat began howling in fright, and did not want to come out.  There was a chain link fence around our yard with a chain link gate attached.  The gate was latched.  My neighbor and I were watching while my husband calmed the frightened Sancat hiding under the deck. 

Dark tabby Sasha streaked in from nowhere!  She surveyed the situation and sprang into action.  I wasn't near enough to the gate to open it for her.  However, she quickly lay on her side and flattened her ears, then with paws folded, slipped, squeezed, and slithered her muscular little body into a shape that fit through the very small space between the gate and the fence.  How is this possible?  My neighbor and I stared in disbelief.  She flowed through the opening like she was being born, like a seal sliding into the ocean!   She emerged, reshaped herself as a cat, and went on to rescue little brother!    



Tom Watching

Tom Terrific
We acquired a slightly used Tomcat at a nearby second hand store.  Tom's owner brought him there for us to see.  He pleaded with huge turquoise eyes for us to take him home.  "He likes people and cats."  We had a Tomcat, fox-red Zar, many years ago.  We were (somewhat) wise in the way of Tomcats.  A trip to the vet was in order.   

At first, Tom spent quite a bit of time up near the ceiling in the living room and kitchen trying to escape.  We have a high ledge and he leaped up easily!  He paced and complained saying "Yowlr" like a little lion cub.  Sometimes he says "Eh" like a Cheetah baby.  He likes hugging people and purring like thunder.  Our Tom matured into a tame handsome fellow with a cougar-like face.  He has a Cheetah tail with dark rings ending in a white tip, unusual for a gray-tan tabby.  Tom is a wolf in cat's clothing.  He has huge wolf-like feet.  It's wonderful to have a bit of Wild Kingdom in our home.    

Shadrach Sports a Bandanna

Animal Speak book by Ted Andrews, become closer to our animal friends. 

Sacred Earth Drums music by David and Steve Gordon.  Native American flute, Incan pan pipes and nature sounds.  Track:  Power Animals


The Knight, painting by Dahlis Roy
Sasha Sleeping and Tom Watching photos by Dahlis Roy
Shadrach, photo by Francesca

SILENT RUNNER

Shadrach

"Hi There...You awaken my creativity.  After I wrote U, I 'dashed off' this poem."


Silent Runner

Quietly I pad.
Silently I travel.
Walking and Running
Through woods and plain.

Whether alone or in pack,
Moving Far or Near,
We are silent companions of the Day and Night.

Blending with surroundings,
Nearly Invisible as well as Silent.
We move.
Wolves we are
Alone and in Pack.

poem by Francesca, published with permission

Preying

Sirius, the wolf star, transits the meridian of the sky this week Feb 4-12, 2011.  This Week's Sky at a Glance, Sky and Telescope

One Hundred Cranes, Praying with the Chorus of Creation by William J. Fitzgerald.  Praying with the mythic crane, wolf, cat, horse and more

Your Creative Brain by Shelly Carson, Ph.D., enhance your innate creative potential.

Related Posts:  
A One in a Million Sky 
Winter Wolf,
What Kind of Animal are You? 

Images
Shadrach, photo by Francesca, published with permission

Preying, drawing by Dahlis Roy

ANOTHER ANGEL

Kathleen writes, "OK, now my angel story.  I really now think of her as an angel because I don't know how else to explain it.  On Tuesday, recently I was walking along the Constitution Trail and noticed a large group of stuff set out on the curb of a nearby house.  I walked down to it.  At first I was going to take a small set of metal shelves.  But then I noticed this brand new set.  It is much taller than I am and very wide.  Well, I don't know what I was thinking , but I took hold of it and tried to carry it home.  I only walked a short distance when I realized I could not get the shelves home.  I was standing on the curve of a dead end street.  I didn't have the energy to lift it up.  Just then a van pulled up and a lady says, 'Maybe I can help you?' "

"Now the metal shelves were too big to put in the van, but she had a luggage carrier on top and something to tie it down.  So she loaded it up and drove me home.  This was unreal.  What are the chances of someone just coming down the street with the right vehicle at the right time at the end of a dead end street?"


Blog Search Key Word:  Angel

Healing with the Angels book by Doreen Virtue includes incarnated angels, elementals (fairies, brownies, and elves), walk-ins, star people:  angelic assistance in your life.

Related Posts:  
Writing Out Loud, 
The Christmas Rose
Angels 101
The Human Angel

Four Visions of Sharon, oil painting by Dahlis Roy