Angel Cards: Spells and Incantations

                                               

             I was terrified to go to sleep as a child.  Although I slept in my grandmother’s bed until I was six, I couldn’t fall asleep until my mother had gotten home late from work.  Nothing worked—not stories, not hot milk, not lullabies.  What finally helped me develop a habit of falling and staying asleep was the tiny framed picture of a guardian angel that my mother and grandmother hung on the wall next to the bed, level with my eyes.  The snake was danger—for me and for my mother.  But the guardian angel would lift me up in her arms and fly me off to safe sleep in the clouds.

            Every morning, now, my husband and I pick an Angel Card from the deck we keep on our kitchen table.  Each of these cards, created by Kathy Tyler and Joy Drake, has a positive word and a drawing depicting and angel embodying the word:

                                                  

I write the word at the top of my journal entry for the day to remind me. The word becomes a theme for the day—if my Angel Card is “Gratitude,” I endeavor to find things for which to be grateful; I write a gratitude list; I notice when someone else has expressed gratitude. The word is literally a watchword, focusing me in a world of distractions, doubts, blur.  There are certain Angel Cards which are a groan to me, such as the Angel of Obedience.  But I’ve come to know that the angel can show up in odd ways—it doesn’t mean I have to be obedient to someone else, but only to my own wishes; or that someone will be obedient to me.

As a child too terrified to sleep, I believed in angels—because I needed to. At Christmas, I delighted in my father’s stories about how angels were bringing me presents.  I no longer believe there are winged creatures or disembodied relatives watching over me.  But I do believe in the power of words and in my power in using them.

I experimented with bringing Angel Cards to class.  Students picked Angels—some liked the idea of the Angel picking them—as themes for their semester.  But although I enjoy my Angel Cards at home, at one point I saw they were limited to stock affirmative words.

So, instead, on the first day of my “Shakespeare Survey” class, I asked: “What is a word or expression that you love?”  Students were forthcoming with a full range.  Then I said, “Suppose these loved words could shape your semester?  How would you interpret them?”  Here are some of the words and their interpretations:

David: “Ravenous”—“I am hungry for knowledge.  I will eat up all that I can to nourish 

                                    myself.”

Millie: “I love you”—“I will practice self-love by enriching myself with all that 

                                    Shakespeare’s works have to offer.  I will show my daughter, thereby, 

                                    what it means to be a self-empowering woman!”

Jess: “Butterfly”—“I love how butterflies represent transformation and freedom.  I will use 

                                    Shakespeare’s works to help me to fly.”

Keione: “Special”—“I will express and support my own special interpretations.  I will 

                                   remember that I am special and that I have much to offer.”

Matthew: “Lost in thought”—“I will read Shakespeare to help me to develop focus, to have 

                                    something absorbing and worthwhile in my mind.”

Make a list of your favorite words and expressions.  Each day, choose one of these angel words/expressions to guide you through your day.  Notice when you fall in love with other words—adopt them for the next day.

Finally, as you empower yourself, distill three words that are guides for you long term.  For me, they’re “Health,” “Love,” and “Creativity.”  Remind yourself when you are presented with challenges what’s important to you.  Repeat your angel words.

Works Cited:

Cover Art: “Guardian Angel.” Maria Innocentia Hummel.

Tyler, Kathy, and Joy Drake.  Angel Cards.