Do you believe in guardian angels?

[beakerandburette]

I have an 2mo DD and recently I have been finding white feathers in her cot, pram, Moses basket ect. I mentioned it to my mum and she suggested it could be an angel, I'm a little sceptical but I must admit it is a little bit strange.

So do you believe and have you had any experience of this?

Hi, yes I do and I get white feathers sometimes, I have kept them all.

I usually get white feathers during stressful times, I thought they were just bird feathers at first (although they are totally white) I'd find them in in odd places... like one in the middle of the carpet in the living room, another on top of a pile of washing (we don't have feather pillows). The one that convinced me though was one that dropped out of the air onto my knee (it didn't blow sideways or anything so I doubt it had come in through a window.. it just dropped downwards).

I used to be with a group who did paranormal investigations and hadn't been out with them for a while, but last year I went out with them one time and there was a lady there who was a medium, and she told me who they were from (a friend who died when I was younger...) she said that he was looking out for my children, and a lot of other things to do with him which really wasn't possible for her to know as I don't discuss them with anyone. I'm actually quite sceptical about mediums, I think a lot of them just read the person rather then speaking to a spirit... she was the only one (and I've met quite a lot) who I did believe. The following morning my little girl came downstairs with a big white feather... saying she'd found it on her pillow.

He did actually say they were angel feathers, and that they were a gift, but that they were not his, as angel's are separate entities and were never human :)

The most serious concern for me is the lack of respect and care shown for others as real human beings in some people answer their posts, especially when they don't believe their spiritual views.

We should always remember that there are REAL people behind the posts, and the manner in which we respond to them and the words and tones we use can really hurt and bring them down far beyond the press of the "post message" button.

Let me draw a parallel with this to some other scenarios: like that of firing a missile from a long distance away by pressing a button, or dropping a bomb from a plane high up, or firing a weapon from behind a cover. In all these cases where you can't see the people on the receiving end, the effects of the weapon are not lessened, and nor is the responsibility of the person firing the weapon. They still wound, maim, hurt and destroy, or cause traumatic stress, long after the button pusher has moved on to something else, perhaps even laughing at the perceived stupidity of the receipent(s).

As others, such as sunshinemmum and lottieandmias, have said, ask yourself before you post something negative about an individual's belief or viewpoint, whether you would use such a tone and language to a good friend you cared for who was standing in front of you, even they happened to express a viewpoint with which you didn't agree? If not, then don't post that message! Instead, rewrite it in a very different way - one which simply expresses that you don't agree with it and why from a personal point of view, and completely refraining from adding statements of personal derision and attack.

I do not personally believe such white feathers are angels, nor are left by them as a sign. But I would be happy to have a friendly dialogue/discussion with someone who did, explaining my viewpoints and hearing theirs. But I would never dream of attacking or putting them down personally. As others have pointed out, there are good, non-personally attacking ways of doing this, and those are the only ones that should be used in any such discussion, whether online anonymously or in person.

Remeber that you never know what state, background or situation the anonymous person you are posting about is in. Something personally negative that you say, maybe even without much thought, could really hurt and push them into depression, etc. They've probably come onto this forum in an unsure state seeing support in the first place.

SO REMEMBER BEFORE YOU PRESS - there's a REAL HUMAN at the other end of that button!

Always have love, care and respect for one another, whether you know them or not, and in so doing, some form of heaven (whatever your beliefs or not!), will then exist on earth and be shown through you.

Some people just dislike it when people disagree with them. The op asked a question and got mixed replies, lets not FTFO.

mrsrisotto I think you are missing the point.

I have no particular axe to grind on this, I find both sides of the discussion interesting and am open-minded but a bit cynical (if that makes sense!). What I object to is the rudeness and lack of respect. There is a difference, if a poster asks "Is this an angel feather?", between saying "My opinion is that it is unlikely as science says angels don't exist" or "I think you are wrong but if that makes you feel better..." and saying "You are simple-minded and gullible. What kind of pathetic fool believes in angels?" and returning with insult after insult whenever anyone has an alternative opinion. You may think the latter but the former would be more polite and allow a discussion to continue rather than frightening people away. It's that kind of dogmatic viciousness that gets MN a bad name at times

I don't have any problem with people disagreeing with me, in fact I expect it to happen.

What I do have a problem with is nasty, personal comments directed at me and my family and my parenting.

serious concern for me is the lack of respect

What's going to happen to me if you don't respect my view? What if I post that I think god hates gay people. Will you pussy foot around me in case your differing opinion offends? Beliefs don't need respecting. The idea that we should automatically respect them is both dangerous and silly. However, I will uphold your right to hold whatever view you want, I won't respect it unless I consider it worthy ie it fits with reality and isn't ridiculous.

Headinhands - so you think personal attacks are ok?

Please do not compare belief in a spiritual world with racism or homophobia which cause direct harm to others.

The trouble is. I'm not sure what you mean by personal attacks, lottie. You thought I was being disrespectful when I suggested that the person you says your daughter sees is an imaginary friend because it turns out you only wanted to hear from people who will say "yes, that's definitely an angel". You asked about a Doreen Virtue cards- but obviously didn't"5 want to hear about her multi million dollar business and her fake PhD.

If you actually ask a question, then you have to expect both sides to answer you. I never post on a Christian prayer threads, for example, because they aren't asking questions, they are praying together. But if somebody asked "do you think prayer works?" I would reply with the massive body of research that shows it doesn't.

Hak your posts weren't personal attacks. I don't think I've said they were? You know what personal attacks are and I have given examples recently in the thread so please read those.

So if it's only a couple of people doing the personal attacking, why not ignore them? People seem to be able to ignore facts, evidence and challenges to particularly outrageous statements, so a couple of over excited rationalists should be a piece of cake.

Wrt the Doreen Virtue cards I asked if anyone used them that's all - you obviously don't.

But if you know she's a fraud surely that's all you need to know? Why would you want to persue it use it any further?

Can we have some pictures of angel feathers, please?

I didn't think it was personal for you to say my dd probably has an imaginary friend of course not but there are a few people who do go on almost all the threads on these boards posting derisive and personal comments and it does become quite tiresome.

I think these people don't like there to be a board about spirituality at all and would like it to be shut down because it's 'not real' and therefore they hijack every thread with sneering. I can understand people wanting to debate the existence of god or not etc but it's clear certain posters despise the notion of any such thing. In that case I can't see why they deliberately seek to find posts about the very topic they can't stand. So the only conclusion I can come to is that it's to be deliberately inflammatory. I hope that isn't the case - maybe they feel particularly strongly because they've been damaged by coerced religion? Who knows?

A lot of people don't think she's a fraud. You obviously do but there are a lot of people who don't share your opinion.

Yes. But the people who don,t think she's a fraud are the ones who are too closed minded to actually look at the evidence.

It is very frustrating to see people being gulled into parting with their money,nor being given false hope or just generally being scammed/hoaxed into believing stuff that it provably not true. And it particularly frustrating when children are involved.

I may be wrong but...I don't think people think angel feathers are an actual physical sign that angels exist - they would not be found to have angel DNA. But people see them as symbolic - things to look out for. I often see signs that I would say give me answers - songs that come on the radio for example or a reading at church that is relevant to my situation even though I don't go a great deal. Some people take these things as guidance and others would say they were a coincidence.

Personally I think it's closed minded to assume people haven't had experiences just because you haven't had them yourself.

'Too closed minded to look at the evidence'

The whole point is that some people don't need evidence to know something is true for them. And if that bothers you then maybe you need to ask yourself why.

I think they are a lovely idea, especially for those of us who have experienced a significant loss. I sometimes feel I have a guardian angel now that my DNephew passed away recently.
I'm hoping he will be helping me do even better at "winging it" since he and I both have a natural affinity for that skill anyway
I talked with some of his good friends about my guardian angel before I went for my interview recently - they said he'd definitely sort it for me just like he just had for one of them - and I did get the job
Hopefully healing stuff all round, but maybe you have to be a little careful that you have a shared understanding on what is behind your words. That is for me it's more of a beautiful and comforting idea than something I truly believe.
I wonder if your Mum is putting the feathers near your baby as it's her idea where they came from?
I would find it all a bit mysterious too I think.

but they don't say that. They say "this is an angel's feather" which is plainly absurd.

My mother loved robins. When I see a robin it makes me happy because it makes me think of her. But if I said "every time I see a robin I know that it's my mother coming to see if I'm OK" that would be absurd.