spiritual gifts

What message do we gain by looking at this card, apart from it being about our spiritual gifts?

If you look at how Archangel Raziel is depicted on the card, he's depicted as a guru, a sage old man. If you want to learn about something, who do you turn to? You turn to somebody who has already experienced what you want to learn, who has already learned it before you, who has already practised it. You go to a teacher, to a guru, to a sage old man.

Raziel is depicted this way because he is also the Archangel whose name means, "Secrets of God". He holds within him all the secrets of spirituality, of the spiritual laws and universal laws. He understands all that lies within those laws.

If you invite him into your life, if you are looking to expand spiritually, he will come along and he will show you, he will guide you, he will teach you. He will help you open those gifts.

Whenever I teach students about intuition, I tell them that it is a natural-born gift that we all have. We are all spiritual beings and, therefore, spiritual gifts are natural for us. But as we grow older, quite often we have dampened them down because they're not the things to have or be. When you're a child and you have an imaginary friend, how many times would you have been told by an adult, "don't make things up like that!" Imaginary friends are real. They can be guardian angels, they can be loved ones who've crossed over, they can be spirit. And, as a child, because you are so close to god energy, so close to the Divine, you can easily see them. But the longer we live here on earth, the further we seem to move away from that energy, and it's harder for us to use our spiritual gifts, gifts that are so incredibly natural for us.

Raziel is here today saying, "Look, just call upon me. I'm here to help you. I'm here to support you. I'm here to guide you. But you need to call upon me so I can help you."

If you want to learn about intuition or whatever you want to learn about, you just don't sit there and say, "Okay. Come on teacher, show me". You have to go out and find that teacher, then you have to pay for the course, you have to invite that teacher into your life. And then they share what they know with you. It's not something you can receive by some kind of magical osmosis. You have to put the work in as well. Because you have been damping down your spiritual gifts and your spiritual talents. Now's the time to raise them up.

If we look how he's dressed, he's dressed all in orange. And orange, for me, is all about spiritual growth. So, it's like a confirmation or re-affirmation that Archangel Raziel is the one for you to turn to. He has all the knowledge. He has all the insider knowledge. He knows all the secrets that are to be known about spiritual gifts and spiritual laws.

Behind him there are feathers. Although Archangel Raziel is the one who has all this knowledge to share with you, when you call upon him to enter your life, you just don't bring Archangel Raziel into your life, you have the support of all the angels. White feathers are reminders of the spiritual realm supporting you and being with you as you walk your path, loved ones who have crossed over who have now returned to who they are at soul level. They all step in to support and guide you. You are not alone on this journey.

Look at his eyes. His eyes are super intense. Just because we have these gifts doesn't mean to say that, after years of being pushed under, they're just suddenly going to rise to the surface. Some of them will rise easier than others because some of them you may have been using without possibly realising it. And those ones will rise to the surface much faster. But, for other ones, it may require some kind of intensity. You'll have to work at it, you'll have to practice every day examples and exercises that are given to you to raise your various clairs, for example. You need to practice them everyday so that you can raise your vibration and let that clair come to the surface so it becomes part of who you are again.

In his hands, on his 3rd eye, are what looks to me to be compasses that are shining. They're giving you direction but because they're shining suns, the sun is all about being authentic to who you are and letting your spiritual gifts rise; not letting anybody tell you that they're wrong. That's being authentic to who you are. And when you do let your spiritual gifts rise, you've found a direction, you've found a meaning to your life, and why you have chosen, perhaps, to come here to be a human being on earth. It gives you that extra bit of guidance, that direction in where you're wanting to head.

If we look in his heart centre, there's a huge light coming from there. If you look closer, the light starts quite dim on the outside before it moves into the centre. It feels like the same pattern, the 12 lotus petals that are representative of the heart centre are being shown on the dimmer outside light and also in the centre brighter light. That says to me that those spiritual gifts have never left you. They've always been part of you. But it's only when you start to dig that little bit deeper that they really start to shine bright. They've always been hanging around outside you and you may have been using them without realising it. But only whenever you really focus on them, whenever you're guided to work with them, that's whenever they will really come to light and raise your vibration and be part of your life.

The final thing on this card is how Raziel is holding his hands. He's holding them in the chin mudra which is quite often used in meditation. The chin mudra is about connecting to your higher self. We are all spirit, we're part of spirit. And, therefore, we have natural spiritual gifts. However, sometimes we need to dig that little bit deeper, we have to connect in with our higher self in order to release those spiritual gifts. The chin mudra also creates a more receptive state within us. It opens our heart. It says that we are ready to receive our gifts, to use our gifts for the greater good for ourself and those around us.

This is a really special card. Raziel, giving his presence, is inviting us to invite him into our lives so he can teach us about our spiritual gifts, so he can help us bring them back up to the surface, to use them for our best and the best of those around us, for the good of all.

There's so much information in this card, there's so much detail in this card saying that, when you do dig that bit deeper, when you do choose to walk your spiritual path, you will never walk it alone. You may sometimes find that there will be struggles and bumps along the way. That's perfectly natural no matter what road you walk. However, when you choose to walk this road, and open yourself up to your spiritual gifts, you will not be alone. You have Raziel but you also have the spiritual and angelic realm walking with you as well, supporting you, guiding you, lifting you up.

This card is about spiritual growth, about bringing to the surface the gifts and talents that you naturally have that are naturally part of your soul but which may have been forgotten or gone unused. It's just like when you haven't been to the gym for a few years, your muscles get a bit weak. But whenever you start going to the gym again, you start to build them up again. It's exactly the same with your spiritual gifts. Because you may not have used them since childhood, they've begun to grow quite weak. It doesn't mean to say they've vanished. They're still there. You just need to practise them, use them, and make the most out of them, to strengthen and develop them, and bring them back into your daily life.

Reference: This beautiful card is from Angel Prayers Oracle Deck by Kyle Gray, illustrated by Jason Mccreadie