If you want to be spiritual, ask uncomfortable questions,’ Goddess News, Spiritual Blog, Divine Feminine,
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Spiritual Detective
Goddess News
Now, this may seem as a strange detour from my usual topics, so if you are not comfortable with it please return next month when the topic of goddesses is going to be covered again.
There are several reasons, personal and non-personal, why I have chosen to cover this topic. One is that for about two years I have wanted to write a sequel to my blog ‘Archetypes of Angels, Beings of Light and Photons’ https://www.joannakujawa.com/archetypes-of-angels-beings-of-light-photons-and-the-fallen-ones/. That blog was my reflections after the reading The Physics of Angels, co-written by a famous renegade Catholic theologian (Matthew Fox) and scientist (Rupert Sheldrake). In the blog I shared my own encounters with angels – two in total. One was when, at the age of 19, I experienced a great fear and a portal of light appeared in my room, communicating telepathically with me. The other was many years later when I returned from Jerusalem and two beings of light (tall and elongated) showed up in my room and communicated with me via images. Wild as it sounds, these were profound experiences in my life. Both of them.
The reason I wanted to write a sequel to that blog is that on pages 169 and 171 of their book Fox and Sheldrake take up, very bravely if extremely reluctantly, the possibility of modern UFO phenomena being potentially angelic appearances. Fascinated as I was with this topic, I did not dare write about it for fear of ridicule and also because as far as I know I have never had a UFO experience.
My courage returned when Diana Walsh Pasulka (now Diana Walsh) wrote her groundbreaking book – American Cosmic. I take my hat off to Professor Pasulka for her courage in writing a book on the topic of UFOs. Her book is not only solidly researched (as you would expect from a professor) but also a great read! That is something extremely rare in academic literature! No wonder the book became a bestseller, and with good reason. In it, Professor Pasulka gives lots of credit to Jacques Vallee, who is well known in the UFO community but known only by name to me. To make a long story short, Professor Pasulka looks at the similarity between UFOs and angelic or supernatural appearances (amongst many other things for which you will need to read the book). In one famous instance, balls of light appeared in one man’s living room after his wife prayed for their dog to be healed. The wife thought they were angels (the dog was healed) and he joined a UFO community. The question is, of course, whether the appearances of balls of light should be interpreted as angelic or as UFOs. But, as Professor Pasulka suggests, there are no ‘shoulds’ in such interpretations, as they could be seen as religious or technological, depending on the beliefs/conditioning/eye of the viewer. After reading her book with great enthusiasm, I decided that if she could write a book about it, I can at least write a blog about it.
The final reason I am writing this blog is because, well, we are living in very strange times, where the line between what is real and what is not is very blurred. Strange times require a great opening of the mind and great courage. So here we are!
But let’s go back to Fox and Sheldrake for a moment and their shy and uneasy discussion on angels and UFOs. Their approach is mostly theological as they discuss Hildegard of Bingen’s (a famous 12th century mystic) writings on angels and how they appear to humans. In them Hildegard insists that in no way do humans see angels in their true form. Angels apparently show themselves to us in forms that we can handle. And in many different forms, for that matter. This reminded me how different from each other my two angelic appearances were – not only in shape but in the way they communicated their message to me.
Once Fox discusses Hildegard the mystic, Sheldrake shyly asks if there is a possible parallel ‘with the UFO literature’ and suggests that ‘it is possible that some of these [UFO phenomena] are angelic manifestations of one kind or another’. Fox (the theologian) responds that yes, it is possible that angels ‘have taken to the skyways in spaceships’ to get our attention. He continues on to describe his encounter with one otherwise reasonable man who told him that the military had contacted extraterrestrials a long time ago and ‘they were housing them in the mountains in Utah or something’. In the end, both the theologian and the scientist agree that the ‘secularisation of the cosmos’ has resulted in the mechanisation of angels as well. In the Middle Ages, people did not have technology so they imagined angels …well… as angels, while we with our technology can see them as extraterrestrials. Just as Hildegard of Bingen said in the 12th century, angels reach out to us in any way they believe that will work for us.
Personally, I am a great proponent of epistemology, which is a branch of philosophy dedicated to how we perceive things. The world may have many (even infinite) forms and the ‘ground of reality’ may be known only to the extent that our perceptual abilities allow: how we use our mind and senses and whether we believe (as I and many spiritual traditions do) that there is a higher, more subtle, mind than that of our practical reasoning abilities, which we have learned to cherish so in modernity. In this vein of thought, it makes perfect sense that we would perceive angels/interdimensional messengers in a manner in which we are capable at the moment. In the Middle Ages we saw them one way, while in our technologically obsessed area we perceive them as ‘aliens’. Like aliens, angels are both good and bad, both perform miracles (including healings) and there are ways of summoning them: angels can be called by prayers and for the ‘good aliens’ just check out a recent production by Dr Steven Greer, Close Encounters of the 5th Kind. (By the way, he also uses spiritual methods to call upon them, such as meditation, pujas and mantras).
So here, we are. I am not a big fan of technology, even if I use it, and am much more inclined to theological and medieval interpretations of angels. But as a child of my own era, I am inclined to believe that angels are some sorts of interdimensional beings or even, quite possibly, parts of ourselves speaking to us.
Professor Pasulka in the American Cosmic asks a similar question but takes it further: are our perceptions of UFOs/extraterrestrials/angels/interdimensional beings influenced by the media, as often people’s experiences are very similar to images they have already seen in the media or even in science-fiction films?
I will confess now to my own (very uncertain) experience of an UFO. It was still dark as I was leaving for work when, to my left, I saw a white figure (as if in an astronauts’ space suit, for goodness sake!). Yes, I did think I had lost my mind or had been watching too much sci-fi (although in the films I watched nobody had a suit on)! Embarrassed by what I saw (did I really see that?!) I walked away. But…why did I walk away?
I walked away because I heard a very gentle voice (yes, like in ‘Star Wars’!) telling me to walk away and not to look back.
Now, that got my attention, and I immediately thought, ‘This is strange, why shouldn’t I look back, right?’
But then the same gentle and very seductive, almost hypnotic, voice said, ‘It is probably a neighbour standing in a white dressing gown.’
‘Okay,’ I responded in an usually submissive way, and I did not look back!
The strangeness of my own reaction and the seductive voice that I heard are still with me. And the questions: Why would a neighbour be standing in front of her house in the dark in a white nightgown that looks like an astronaut’s spacesuit? Why I wouldn’t look back? Was it real at all? Isn’t it strange that I saw it after watching some sci-fi movies and not earlier in my life?
And this brings me to the invisible parrots. Five years ago, my mum and her sister visited us in Australia. We had a beautiful garden which colourful parrots (rosellas and rainbow lorikeets) would often visit. When my mum and aunt arrived I showed them the parrots perching in a tree in front of us but neither my mum nor aunt could see them! I could not believe my eyes: there, in front of us, were the most colourful parrots in Victoria and my mum and aunt couldn’t see them! How was it possible? Then it occurred to me that perhaps they could not see them because they had never seen them before and they did not know what to look for? So, gently, I guided them. I asked, ‘Can you see that branch?’ (right in front of their faces) and they both said, ‘Yes, of course.’ Then I said, ‘Can you see the red and yellow and blue there?’ and only after straining their eyes could they actually see it. From that time on, they had no problem spotting the parrots but the first time they needed to be shown how they look to actually see them.
I am not making any claims here and I have no idea what happened in that predawn moment on my way to work. It was probably nothing. However, more and more, I believe that there is more to our reality than we know. In fact, our reality expands as our field of perception expands. We know that this is true with spiritual experiences: new realities open and with them new perceptual possibilities. And I think, on a purely intuitive basis, that the strange times we are living now are making the ‘doors of our perception’ open up just a little more. I, for once, find this liberating, if not challenging.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and if you had similar experiences, I am inviting you to share them in your comments.
Much Love,
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
©Joanna Kujawa
I have been thinking a lot lately, about an incident from 1967 where it was reported that UFOs deactivated or shut down underground nuclear silos in the US, at Malmstrom AFB in 1967. This has apparently happened in Russia and GB, as well. In the first hearing of the story, I was fascinated that aliens cared so much about this planet, that they went around the world demonstrating their power to stop us from blowing ourselves up. But lately, I’ve been wondering if maybe they were “angels” instead. If you are unfamiliar with this incident, just Google “ufos shut down nuclear base” and you will find hits for not only the 1967 event at Malmstrom AFB in the US, but others around the world, as well.
Thank you, CD, for your comment. I am familiar with incidents and they are very telling – in my opinion, of the good will of whoever the beings are. In fact, it does look like they tried to protect ourselves from ourselves (and every other being on our planet). The angels -UFOs dilemma might then be just perceptual. We see what believe we can see – that is why I also thought that what Hildegard of Bingen said in the 12th century was also interesting. Once, again, Thank you, for you comment.
Much love,
Joanna
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
I started seeing UFOs in 1976 in Toronto always on my own – like silver cigars that moved very fast. I believed it was a precursor to my meeting with Baba Muktananda in the fall of that year. In 1978 on tour with Baba in Oakland California I would leave his public meditation program to collect my son from the Children’s house. Up above me very close was a huge round silver UFO it covered a huge area I thought cool even extraterrestrials come to hear enlightened beings talk. I have seen ghosts since childhood & quite sensitive to seeing through the veils of reality. This sharpened profoundly in my six years living in ashrams. I would often feel invisible beings crowding into Muktananda’s meditation programs. One exquisite night in his Indian ashram I woke up on the roof to the sound of a celestial choir of thousands. My body tingled as I thought the hosts of heaven. Also the night sky was totally different millions of stars, not the normal stars I watched every night. These deeply moving experiences around Baba continued in my life every time I visited sacred sites anywhere in the world. The veil would lift & I walked between worlds with every type of beings giving me their darshan. The most powerful of all was meeting Yama as I was on my way to enter the Cheops pyramid with 75 meditation teachers of the Melchideck Method (sacred geometry) he was pitch black & had a pack of dogs running down the sand dunes to greet me. Over that 2 weeks trip over 30 years ago I met all the deity’s of every temple. I was shown my spiritual journey of all past lives in Egypt. We would chant/tone & play crystal bowls in every temple before they were open to the public, it was so sublime & even our Egyptian military guards were profoundly affected. I was showered with love & companionships that trip and stayed enlightened 24/7. Decades later I asked why as that state did not stay & they answered we knew you had a very difficult life ahead & this will sustain you through it. It has. Since then I’ve been taught how to move on trapped souls in large tragedy sites I never have fear just joy at being in the centre of parallel worlds. Nowadays I’m most happy in Bali where their temple guardians come & sit with me when I meditate, they all look like the statues carved all over Bali. At Uluru all the Dreamtime spirits guide me in correct modes of being at this major earth sacred site. We have an extraordinary planet that can always speak to you if you listen.
Loved your blog Joanna 🕉🙏🏼💜💙💜
Thank you , Vanita, for sharing your experiences here. I loved your stories and how worlds seemingly disconnected are actually only a thin veil apart form each other. The only thing on their way is our own perception. Baba Muktananda was a powerful meditator and being and similar ‘sightings’ are probably made around other powerful spiritual teachers. Perhaps, it is only our mind that separates us from amore holistic vision of the Universe where the spirit and matter are just one Energy. What an amazing life you have had and now living in Bali among its beautiful temples! Once, again, Thank you, for sharing it all here. No doubt, years of meditation and being around many spiritual teachers, open the doors of perception for you.
Much love,
Joanna
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
Love your reply Vanita much love jyoti
Just “WOW” Sundari!
Thank you, my friend. Keep well :).
Much love,
Sundari,
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
I really liked reading this piece Joanna. Maybe it’s because my own aunt can feel & see these beings and I’m used to her telling me her experiences. She doesn’t openly tell everyone she has this gift (only family and a few of her close friends do) but I always find it intriguing. Hope you are well 😊
Hi Janice,
So good to hear from you! And Thank you. Yes, I think many people have this kind of experiences and share them only with the ones they trust. We live in a world where any reference to an ‘unusual’ experience or perception is ridiculed or treated with disbelief. I think the world is much more intriguing and mysterious than we allow ourselves to think. I hope you are well and the spring is coming in Melbourne : ).
Much love to you and your family,
Joanna
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
Hi Joanna
Love your blog
My experience of angels was a while back. I had a brain tumor removed and it turned out to be removed on the 7th of may. My room number was number 7 and bed number number 7. I was looked after well and had a great outcome.
After the op I noticed a bruise on my chest which was shaped in angel wings.
Another time I was wakening up from sleep and I couldn’t hear a voice but consciously heard the numbers 728. I wondered should I do the lotto and what do these numbers mean? When I googled them I realised devine angel guides were communicating with me. I have also a strong connection to bhagavan nitananda lineage and when going in and out of consciousness through my operation could see him clearly alive and full of shakti which gave me lots of peace. I also dream a lot about my own guru swami shankarananda which is shaktipat in its own sense and always has a meaning and resolution.
Much love.
Thank you, Julie, for your comment and sharing your own experiences. This is very touching to know that you were helped and supported through the process of recovery and the operation itself. I can also relate to you comments about the lineage – it is a very mysterious and powerful connection that is of a different kind (reality-wise) – that is why it is so difficult to explain to someone who has never experienced it. I think, that our ‘regular’, daily field of perception often narrows down as we grow up and get more and more conditioned to believing that the world can be perceived only on one, very limiting way. I think, this is changing now and I welcome it. I am so glad that you enjoyed the blog.
Much love,
Joanna
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
Take a look at Philo of Alexandria’s De Gigantibus, especially around 2.7 – it may provide an interesting perspective on the first part of your discussion. Archive.org has a scan of the Loeb edition of it with the Greek that helps clarify some terminology that is often ambiguous in translations. “Daimones,” as the Neoplatonists use it, are, apud Philo, the angels as denominated by Moses. The Kabbalistic tradition would entirely denounce such an equation, but reading Philo’s interpretation of Genesis 6 along with a study of the historical instances of technology (e.g. surveying cords) in the Ethiopic version of the Book of Enoch is insightful.
Thank you, Mason, this is interesting and I will investigate it further in future blogs.
I appreciate your contribution to the discussion,
Joanna
Dr Joanna Kujawa
Goddess News
Here in Ireland the sightings of the Sidhe (fairies) are more common than UFOs, however, a few people I know have seen them in the form of large white orbs of light. They even have a local name in Irish where I live – fires of something. In Island they have been seen also and are called the Fires of Ur (whatever Ur is) – see a mini series called Hamarinn/ The Cliff.