Goddesses & Angels

By Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.

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Full Moon Over Sedona

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My first clue that this would be a strange visit to Sedona, Arizona, was when “Gator,” a handlebar-mustached taxi driver, pulled in front of our hotel in a dilapidated red Lincoln Town Car. The car’s hood sported a large pair of steer horns, and its eight-track tape player blasted a Willie Nelson song.

     Gator drove my friend Lynnette Brown (who’s also the co-author of my book Angel Numbers) and me to a rental-car company. We were in Sedona for the weekend giving a mediumship course. My husband, Steven Farmer, was also in town, co-leading a men’s retreat along with Jade Wah’oo, a shamanic teacher.

     Sedona is among the most magical places on Earth. The red-rock skyscrapers give it an unearthly appearance. It’s easy to feel ungrounded in Sedona, as if you’re in a surrealistic dream. During our visit, there was also a harvest moon, the term given to the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, the date when sunlight and nighttime are equal in length as summer ends and fall begins.

     I’d become sensitive to the moon’s cycles and their effects on my body, moods, and the events I experienced. Full moons elicited adventures and surprises.

     I was scheduled to give a speech at the Sedona Creative Life Center on the first evening of our trip. The speech was for WE International, a support group for walk-ins. As I’ve written in my book Earth Angels, walk-ins are spiritually evolved souls who offer to take over the body and life of a depressed or suicidal person, leaving that individual free to go home to Heaven.

     Unlike possession, a walk-in situation only involves one soul inhabiting the body. The original soul leaves, and the new walk-in soul enters. The exchange is often done unconsciously, and the only clues that it’s happened are when family and friends begin saying, “You’ve changed so much!” (either as a complaint or a compliment). Walk-in souls usually can’t remember their childhood, and they often make sudden changes so their new body’s life fits their own personality. It’s common for walk-ins to change their first name and leave their spouse, home, and job—all within a short period of time.

     As Lynnette and I drove to the venue where I’d be speaking, we called upon Archangel Chamuel to help us find our way. Chamuel is known as the “Finding Angel,” as he helps retrieve lost articles and give directions to those who have lost their way.

     “Archangel Chamuel, please find the place!” I exclaimed. Then I corrected myself: “I mean, please help us find the place!” Lynnette and I chuckled. Otherwise, Chamuel would be at the Sedona Creative Life Center waiting for us, saying, “Well, you asked me to find the place. I’ve been waiting for you!”

     As we laughed, I saw Archangel Michael standing on the side of the road. Michael is a huge, handsome archangel who protects us, and I often invoke him while driving (especially on unfamiliar roads). Michael’s bright royal-purple aura lit up the street just as we saw the street sign for Schnebly Hill Road. We turned right on Schnebly and immediately found the center. Thank you, Michael and Chamuel!

     Musician Peter Sterling played his harp during the guided meditations, and afterward, he offered to take Lynnette and me to a full-moon ceremony on Cathedral Rock, a monolithic red-rock natural structure that’s 900 feet high, almost the same height as Paris’s Eiffel Tower.

     In addition to its many natural red-rock skyscrapers, Sedona is known for its vortexes, which are energy centers within the earth similar to chakras. Vortexes look like water going down the drain, swirling powerfully in the center. Sensitive people can feel the vortex energy, and many report healings and inspiration from being near them.

     “Sedona has four main vortex areas,” explained Peter, who had lived in Sedona for many years. He learned to play the harp while listening to the sounds of the Sedona canyons, as well as its angels and fairies. “They are Airport Mesa, Boynton Canyon, Bell Rock, and Cathedral Rock. The vortexes at Airport Mesa and Bell Rock have electrical energy within them. Boynton Canyon’s vortex is a combination of electric and magnetic frequencies, while Cathedral Rock’s is the only one to be purely magnetic. Since magnetic energy is feminine, Cathedral Rock is a wonderful vortex for women to experience. Its feminine earth energy is very supportive of women and the female body.”

     The bluish moon lit our pathway as we climbed Cathedral Rock. A group of people with drums and

didgeridoos celebrated the full moon at the very top of the rock. Lynnette and I looked at each other, puzzled. How did they get up there? we wondered. And I knew that my friend was also thinking the same thing I was: There’s no way I’m going up there! Peter decided to keep climbing, but Lynnette and I were content at the halfway point.

     We selected a flat plateau that was easily accessible. Sitting on the dusty firm ground, I contemplated the panorama around me. I saw crackling sparks of yellow light below the earth’s surface, and then I gasped as they formed a female figure that slowly ascended above the ground and appeared before us. It was Artemis, the Grecian moon goddess! Lynnette and I saw her simultaneously.

The Triple Goddess Within

Many people believe that Artemis and the Roman goddess Diana are the same being, but I don’t. They look and act completely different: Artemis has a short-cropped pixie haircut, and Diana has tumbling, raven-black locks. Artemis is shy like a forest fairy, while Diana is a bold leader. Their differences continue, but you get my point.

     “Go within, go within,” Artemis repeated. “Breathe.” Lynnette and I obediently closed our eyes and breathed deeply to become centered.

     Sedona and Lynnette disappeared, and I stood alone on the mountainside with Artemis. She put her hand firmly on my heart, just as the clouds parted and the full moon illuminated her face.

     She whispered forcefully, “Indecision and unclear direction are the heart of the matter. Take small steps toward a unified direction and platform of peace and harmony. Hold steady to this intention and do not waver.                              

     “Feel the passion of Mother Earth,” the goddess went on. “She continuously gives you embracing, motherly love energy. She embraces you from below, around, and above. Drink in the moonlight on this vortex and replenish your body.”

     I began to sway with my deep rhythmic breath as the landscape swirled around me. I feared falling from the high mountain cliff, but Artemis steadied me and repeated: “Go within. Breathe.” I was afraid that my breath would transport me to an unknown level of existence, an ecstacy I wasn’t sure I could handle. I’d just returned from a month’s journey through Australia two days earlier—perhaps jet lag was overtaking me. The surreal, dreamlike feelings nearly overwhelmed me, when Artemis spoke again in a soothing voice:

     “Breathe in the moonlight and be healed,” she cooed. “Moonlight, like earthly energy, is replenishing and nourishing.” Then she stroked the top of my head. “Come back into your body, Doreen. You tend to leave and hover above your body during intense experiences. Part of life is learning how to experience all the degrees of feelings.”

     I exhaled in the direction of the enormous moon, with full faith that I could release my fatigue and jet lag through my breath with the moon’s assistance. A vision danced across the moon’s surface, and I saw myself helping the Indigo and Crystal Children, the new psychic and sensitive young people who are often tragically misdiagnosed as being autistic and having attention deficit disorder (ADD). At my talk that evening, I’d spoken about the large number of psychic children who have been prescribed Ritalin in adults’ misguided attempt to make them conform. These children don’t need drugs; they need our support and guidance in channeling their anger toward positive activism.

     I realized that goddess energy means embracing the three parts of the goddess that are naturally within each woman and man, girl and boy: the Maiden (our inner child, who longs to play and express itself); the Mother (that part of us desiring to heal and nurture others); and the Matriarch (representing our desire to teach, and learning to honor our own authority and wisdom). I was being called upon to act from my Matriarch part and teach about the children.

     The clouds’ moisture reflected around the moon’s glow, casting a circular rainbow appearance. I gasped at this sight, realizing that this meant I was also supposed to help the Rainbow Children.

     I thought of Karlene MacDonald, a kindergarten teacher for 16 years in the Melbourne, Australia, public schools. During my last visit Down Under, Karlene handed me a painting of an angel made by a four-year-old student. The angel was surrounded by rainbows.

     The student had told Karlene, “If the children walked into the rainbows around the angel’s head, they would feel very happy!” Then Karlene mentioned that her students’ paintings used to contain sunshine and flowers. “But about two years ago, all of my new students began painting rainbows without anyone asking them to.”

     Although I hadn’t yet met any Rainbow Children that I was aware of, the angels had told me that they were the purest souls to yet inhabit our planet. They’re the generation that came after the Crystal Children.

     Artemis helped me sit down. I removed my sweatshirt and laid my head upon it so that I could fully recline and bathe in the moonlight. I thought of all that I wanted to release to the moon. There was my fear of speaking up about political matters. On the one hand, I clearly saw and received messages about the world’s political landscape. But every time I spoke on these matters, I received complaint letters from folks who insisted I should stick to talking about angels, goddesses, and the like. Yet how could I live with myself if I didn’t speak up?!    

     I thought of the Indigo Children who can’t and won’t dissociate their feelings. They’ll speak up while the rest of us are afraid to. I vowed to nurture the Indigo Children’s activism and to help them channel their angst and anger in constructive ways.

     Silently I said to myself, I now release fear. I now release indecision. I now release all pain and suffering I may have absorbed. I now release all drains upon my energy. I now release any blocks to my perfect energy circuit.

     Artemis covered me with a sparkling blanket of moon and star energy, and I slept as if sinking deep into the red Sedona earth. Lynnette’s and Peter’s voices brought me back to present awareness, and as we walked back to the car, I felt wonderful. My body buzzed with the pleasant energy of being deeply loved. The nurturing that Artemis spoke of felt blissful, and I felt safe in the knowledge that everything was and would be fine with our world.

     I realized that when we touch the feminine energy of Mother Earth, we respect her more. A cycle of nurturing then emerges, where we allow Earth to nurture us, and in appreciation, we give back to her. It means getting outside of our homes and offices, turning off the television, and appreciating nature. This is where the Crystal Children help us. Since they love being outdoors all the time, they get their parents to go out, too!

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This excerpt is taken from Goddesses & Angels, by Doreen Virtue. It is published by Hay House and is available at all bookstores or online at www.hayhouse.com.

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