New Church Of Guardian Angels?

Due to my combined past experiences of hotel management and event management alongside a background of ancient wisdoms that include cosmology, astrology and shaman connections to the other world I was invited by an agent to a company that operate web sites such as angels.ie and psychics.ie to work as one of their event co-ordinators.

This is an invitation that truly threw up the dual voices in my mind like those cartoon illustrations of the red forked devil on one side and the white haloed angel on the other.

The folks behind angels.ie and and psychics.ie seem to have a very sound operation compared to similar operations but they all seem to fall into a tabloid culture marketing formula. This angels and psychics operation has employed people I know of as their consultants so I can see they are doing their best to achieve the best reputation they can in what can be seen as a very “low life” industry.

Personally, though I have had a lifelong interest in astrology, psychic awareness, cosmology and all things related I have absolutely no interest in divination, “telling fortunes”. Having said that I spend considerable time at the start of every day consulting weather forecasts, looking at animal behaviour, looking at colours and changes in plants and trees and looking at the skies to make personal forecasts that determine decisions for my day ahead, especially if I am responsible for the itinerary of a tour group.

Therefore divination is really part of my daily life but its not based on a belief in fate but used as decision making tools. I used to write up astrology charts for the same reason years ago, but do not seem to do that today. I’ve always looked intensely at maps, though, especially our detailed Ordnance Survey maps, to visualize routes and destinations. Again this creates another level of divination.

Going back to this company of angels and psychic consultants, they currently operate within a network of over 200 small hotels and pubs around Ireland and wish to increase this number and move into larger hotels. My first reaction is that they hope that people who indulge in one kind of spirit will expand their minds to expand their pockets and take out some money to indulge a meeting with the otherworld spirits.

The pubs that host these events are very grateful as they really boost their ailing turnovers. Due to stricter drink driving laws pubs have to consider other income streams to survive and the psychic and angels trade is proving to be quite a guardian angel to their own continued survival. Folks can turn up to see a consultant, not drink any alcohol, but the pub still earns a reasonable turnover for the night.

I do find this set up and relationship the “otherworld” somewhat disturbing, though, even though there are potential benefits for the pubs, small hotels and the people who subscribe to consultation.

I still feel that the rightful place for our relationship to god and guardian spirit, especially for guidance, is at a place of sanctuary and sacredness. I also feel it is a personal matter rather than be engaged in a pub environment and then emerge from a consultation with an expectation to share and joke about your private experience with the others around.

Consulting with the “angels” through “psychics” in a pub comes over to me as being on a similar level to the other traditional pub sidelines of gambling and prostitution.

However, today, prostitution has largely left its pub affiliations and gambling is minimal. The role of the pub and local small hotel is rapidly changing from being a slightly unspoken den of devilment to that of being a community centre more and more aligned with events and celebrations of local churches.

We may well soon see yoga, massage, nutrition classes etc. soon moving into the spare rooms of our local Irish pubs who are already preparing fresh fruit smoothies for the drivers and even many of their passengers.

Hundreds of years ago the bar publican may have also been the local hangman but in the near future he or she may well soon become both the minister of spirits of both worlds.