Is the “Grim Reaper” is actually an Archangel Azrael?? Somewhere along the way, this compassionate archangel who oversees the sacred transition of our soul from physical to non physical became seen as scary instead of supportive!

If you have ever lost a love one or gone through a major life transition, you’ve already been supported by Azrael even if you didn’t know it!! Archangel Azrael plays such a significant role in our lives and is so often overlooked or even feared. You’ll see why having a friendship with him will really help you out through the twists and turns of life! 

💛PLUS I have created a bonus (free!) guided visualization experience to help you connect even deeper with Archangel Azrael for those who are ready to dive in even deeper and start having your own experiences!

Get it here: https://www.joyfulmedium.com/meditation-archangel-azrael

You will walk away from this episode knowing:

-Who is Archangel Azrael? Where did he come from in history, mythology & traditions? Why is he so important and why are some people scared of him?

-How might you feel or recognize Archangel Azrael and how can you start working with him right away?

-What can you lean on Archangel Azrael to help you with? What is he known for?

-Are there any colors or crystals associated with Archangel Azrael that you can work with for added support?

Additional episodes in our Archangel series: 

🤍Episode 99: Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Azrael 

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/archangel-azrael

🩵Episode 89: Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Sandalphon

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/archangel-sandalphon

💙Episode 82: Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Gabriel

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/archangel-gabriel

🧡Episode 76 Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Chamuel

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/archangel-chamuel

💜Episode 66 Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Haniel

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/archangel-haniel

💛Episode 58 Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Metatron

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/archangel-metatron

💚Episode 16 Healing with the Angelic Realm: Experience Working with Archangel Raphael

https://www.joyfulmedium.com/blog/Archangel-Raphael

Episode Transcript:

Hey, beautiful soul, welcome to Spirit Speakeasy. I'm Joy Giovanni, Joyful Medium. I'm a working psychic medium, energy healer and spiritual gifts mentor. This podcast is like a seat at the table in a secret club, but with mediums, mystics and the spiritual luminaries of our time. So come behind the velvet ropes with me and see inside my world as I chat insider style with profoundly gifted souls, we go deep, share juicy stories, laugh a lot, and it wouldn't be a speakeasy without great insider secrets and tips. You might even learn that you have some gifts of your own so step inside the spirit speakeasy.
Hey, beautiful soul, welcome back,
or welcome in for another episode of spirit speakeasy.
In today's episode, we are going to be continuing with our series healing with the angelic realm experience, working with Archangel Azrael today.
Now,
there are some questions that came up for me as I was doing the research for this episode, and as I was looking at things, I started to have the question, is the Grim Reaper? Actually Archangel Azrael, somewhere along the way, this compassionate Archangel who oversees sacred transition of souls from the physical to the non physical kind of became convoluted with this scary figure, the Grim Reaper. So we're going to talk all about that. If you've ever lost a loved one or gone through a major life transition, you've already been supported by Archangel Azrael, even if you didn't know it, Archangel Azriel actually plays a significant role in our lives and is so often overlooked or even feared. So in this episode, you'll see why having a friendship with him really can help you out through twists and turns as we go through life. So as we normally do in the archangel episodes, we're going to talk about what azrael's name means, the history of him, both in mythology and through different religious systems. We're going to talk about how he shows up, how you might recognize him, some stones and crystals that if you want to be supported in your work with him, you can how to work with him. And then again, I have a stand alone, like a separate meditation that I'll link in the show notes. For those of you that want to dive in and start working with and building a relationship with Archangel Azrael. But before we dive into all of that, I just want to have a little chat with you. I know I was absent from the podcast last week. I have been so under the weather. I'm on the mend. I'm feeling about 80% better now. I had taken off two days to record about, oh, I guess it's been about two weeks ago now, and ended up having to use those two days as sick days, plus ended up having to cancel a bunch of clients just because I wasn't able to hold my focus to the degree that I need to do for a mediumship reading. So I had to cancel some clients, and I've been playing catch up now. So if you hear my voice a little wonky in this episode, or you hear me pausing to, like, take a sip of water or clear my throat, that is what is going on. Ultimately, I am totally fine and everything is okay, and I am on the mend, just a bad cold, but I wanted to apologize for not being here. And we've got some really exciting things rolling out through the rest of the year. I've recorded the episode with our amazing astrologer friend, Sheetal story, who gives us the astrology and what to expect. Heads Up for january 2025 through June of 2025 so that will be rolling out soon. I've got the nine themes that we can expect to see in 2025 coming soon, we've got, oh, also, there's going to be an episode about how to tell if your intuition is kind of calling you in 2025 and I it's a little easter egg. So I'll just leave it at that. But I wanted to just give you a quick little explanation of why I missed a week I'm also working on, you know, just giving myself some grace and yeah, so that is where I was. That is what happened. Things are rolling on as normal. The podcast is not ending. I know some of you were a little panicked when you didn't see an episode for the week, but that is what happened, and now here we are back. So I'm going to dive right into it, because with these Archangel episodes, I like to give lots of background and information, just so you don't have to do the research yourself, and so you can have a more complete understanding or picture of who this archangel is, if you want to work with them. We talk about this typically in the beginning of all the archangel episodes, just in case anyone is new. But if the word angel is not something that resonates with you or something that you're comfortable with, you can just think of these Archangels as beings of light or ascended, you know, higher vibration.
Professional, loving, healing beings.
So whatever version or word that you feel most comfortable in there, just know that these Archangels are friends. They are light beings. They're not necessarily. You know, religion is technically a man made system, no matter which one you subscribe to. So they it's not like if you belong to one group or belief or grew up in a certain tradition, that you are excluded from working with any of these Angels, archangels, beings of light. And the other little bit that I like to mention is because they don't have human physical bodies, they are not assigned a gender, quote, unquote, in the way that we, in our human understanding, like to do, I actually feel Archangel Azrael specifically as as very fluid as far as gender. Some of them, I do tend to feel having more of a masculine energy, or more of a feminine energy. Archangel Azrael is maybe a tiny bit masculine leaning for me, but really a neutral energy. So I am probably going to refer to Azriel as he throughout this episode. I don't let that throw you. And for those of you like me who are born in the 70s, I'm 78 born in the 70s or 80s, or grew up in that time. We are not talking about the cat from the Smurfs. If you remember that character, Gargamel, had the cat as royal. That's not who we're talking about. This is a totally separate creature. But I found that it was very interesting that that name was used because it's such I don't know, an obscure name, I guess, at least in American culture. So let's talk about what that name actually means. Azrael. It's spelled a, z, r, A, E, L, Azrael. It's derived from the Arabic. I don't even want to butcher this pronunciation, but the way the punctuation it is looks like as Ray IL, but I'm so butchering that, I'm sure, or you can also take the meaning from the Hebrew, which is Ezra El, which means help of God, or whom God helps. And the name really reflects azrael's role as this divine helper and guide, particularly in matters related to death and the afterlife. So I really am gonna expand on this as we go, but my understanding is this is the archangel that helps us cross over, cross over. So if you've had loved ones that have crossed over, likely they were greeted by Azrael. How cool is that? So I want to talk about the history of Azrael just so we can dive into this grim reaper bit and see like is this one in the same where did this come from, and understanding him in history. And then we will move on to, like I said, the stones and how he helps you, and how you can work with him. So in the history, in cultural history, my question became, as I was working on this, are the Grim Reaper and Archangel Ariel as as real sorry, one in the same. And just give me a little grace today, because I am recording because I needed to get this done. I'm, like I said, about 80% but I have this little bit of brain fog that is lingering, and it seems to be just popping out in the weirdest ways. So this idea of whether Archangel Azrael and the Grim Reaper are one in the same kind of seems to be debated. Some say the Grim Reaper seems to have appeared in Europe during the 14th century, and it was during this time that Europe was dealing with what was then the world's worst pandemic, the Black Death, it was called, which believed to be the result of the plague. Thankfully, none of us were there at that time, but I'm sure we've all heard stories or movies or even heard that heard about the Black Death, or the Black Plague. Others say that the idea of a quote, unquote, Grim Reaper comes from Greek mythology, and the figure Kronos, who is called Father Time, and the king of the Titans, and the father of Zeus. Kronos was a harvest God and carried a sickle, which is like that sickle that the Grim Reaper carries. It's on a stick, and it has a sharp knife. It's a tool that is used for harvesting grain. And if you want to side Google what a sickle looks like, you'll see so Coronas has this sickle, and so does the Grim Reaper. So some are saying,
Oh no, that is from Greek mythology. That's
where we can trace that back to others say we need to look back to the origins of the idea of a quote, unquote angel of death to find the true origins of the Grim Reaper. And it sounds like maybe somewhere along the way, as real got kind of some bad PR and shifted from this compassionate guide of transition, and that ushers us, you know, onto the speed. Side to being perceived as like this feelingless soul retriever, often depicted in present day as the Grim Reaper. So even though there are different opinions or differing opinions, and people can debate this all day, it does seem like one that has its roots in a religious history, which means it then morphs or adapts with Greek mythology and updates in nickname and intention into this idea of death knocking on one's door. That's the way they were saying it kind of during the plague or during those times where there were, there was lots of death due to illness. So had you heard that phrase? I'm wondering if that's like a bit of an East Coast phrase in our country, because you know that knocking on death's door, death knocking on your door. I do remember hearing that when I was a kid. So it does seem like perhaps these ideas got really convoluted and maybe were originally separate. You know, the the angel from the religious roots, the kronas with the sickle from Greek mythology, and then this other idea of this death angel, or this death that comes for you during this time of the plague in the 14th century. So let's look at the religious origins to further understand ezra's story. Archangel Azrael, interestingly, is noticed in or recognized in several religious traditions. And you guys know, if you've been here for any length of time, I'm such a nerd for this stuff. It just fascinates me when the same figure is accepted or seen across multiple faiths. And yes, these are, these are often the Abrahamic faiths. And you know, this is not a religious podcast in any way. I'm just a bit of a nerd and find this fascinating. So you don't have to subscribe to any of this, but I like to share it just because I did the research and this is what I found. So Archangel Azrael recognized again in several traditions, which include Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and again in the Kabbalah, or Kabbalah, his role as the angel of death is most prominent in the Islamic tradition, where he's one of the four Archangels that is considered responsible for separating souls from their physical body at the time of death. How interesting is that the role in Islamic tradition? And again, this is not my religious system, so I am doing the best with the research that I did in the most loving way, with the highest of intentions, my intentions not to offend anyone or claim anyone else's religion. So I hope you guys know that. But from what I found as real role in the Islamic tradition, like in Islamic belief, Azrael is not feared, but is seen as a servant of God who carries out the Divine Will with compassion and care. He's often depicted as recording and managing the records of the soul as real the Angel of Death who separates souls from their body at the time of death, which is kind of interesting, because we're going to talk about the Jewish tradition in a second. But in the Christian tradition, for anyone who was raised with an understanding of like Catholicism or any of the Protestant religions, we do kind of have this idea in there about someone at a gate that has a record of your soul and the things that you did in this lifetime, right? So that seems like where this is kind of coming from at some point. So Azrael, in the Jewish tradition, I'm going to talk a little bit about his role and his identity. He's not explicitly mentioned in the canonical Hebrew
Bible.
So he's not specifically mentioned by name in the canons, in the books of of the traditional Hebrew Bible. However, the concept of an angel of death is present in the Jewish tradition, often referred to as, oh, I'm gonna say this so bad. I'm just gonna give it a go, but I'm gonna spell it and I'm gonna apologize in advance. Malach, ha, ha. Mavet, which is m, a, l, a C, H, is the first word, H, A, M, a v, e, t, which, according to my research, literally translates into angel of death. So there's an understanding or an acceptance or a concept of an angel of death, but not one that's mentioned by name. The name Azrael itself does not appear, but later in Jewish mysticism and folklore, which would be more like Kabbalah and and the folklore, especially during the medieval period, the figure Azrael was incorporated so medieval Jewish texts, in some of those texts and later mystical writings, Azrael is identified as the angel responsible for receiving the souls of the dead and delivering them. To the afterlife. However, he's often portrayed as this compassionate figure performing his duty with empathy and care. So it's so interesting that these so far, we're seeing this very positive figure, right, this very loving someone who's gently helping this person, or any of us, a soul, transition out of this physical body, become separate, transition into heaven, the mystical world, the spirit world, the other side. And in Jewish tradition, he's actually well, in some Jewish tradition, I'll say it that way, Ezra is linked to the prophet Elijah, which we've talked about here before, who is also considered a protector of the dead, and is said to be present at the time of death, also assisting in transition. So it's kind of interesting that we're seeing so much of this. So let's talk more about Azrael in the Kabbalah tradition, because that is would be considered under that heading of Jewish mysticism, right? So the Kabbalistic interpretation, the majority of what I found said that the mystic branch of Judaism, which is the Kabbalah, doesn't typically personify Azrael in the way he is in other traditions. Instead, the process of death and the transition of our soul is seen through the lens of the concept of death, and the soul has this journey which is connected to the foundation of the Tree of Life, which deals with the transition from the material world into the spiritual world. So there are beliefs and practices about the spiritual process of that transition of our soul, but not necessarily personified, nor mentioned as the name Azrael. But a few smaller sources seem to say about an angel of transition, in some Kabbalistic interpretations, an angel similar to as real could be seen as guiding souls from the physical world up through the spiritual realms. So this journey is often one of purification, preparation for union with the Divine or with that energy of pure love. So I guess it depends on the interpretation of the individual, smaller groups within this now I want to talk a little bit more as well about as real in again, the Catholic or Christian traditions. Again, we're seeing here a lack of canonical presence. What does that mean? The Canons are essentially like the books of the Bible. So it's basically saying like he's not mentioned by name in any of these books of the Christian Bible, unlike in Islam and some Jewish traditions. He does not play a significant role in the official Christian canon. Now, I'm not going to really go into this, but the canon is essentially, if you know what the Nicene council was a long time ago, there was a group, you know, this is back in like, ancient Rome and all of that. And they decided which books were going to be in and which were going to be out. So the canon is the group of books that were considered in like accepted in, so his name is not mentioned in this group of books that are accepted and considered the in books the closest figures in Christian religion thought might be like Michael, who is sometimes seen as a guide for souls, or the figure of the Grim Reaper, which is more of like a cultural concept than a religious one, because none of these religions have like a grim reaper either. So that is more of like a cultural context. But I just kept becoming more and more fascinated about how these things get convoluted and where the murkiness is. Now there are some sacred texts that are not included in the canonized Bible, like the accepted Bible, but often considered helpful with additional details. So these tend to be like the ones that that are historically validated but weren't that were excluded from the Canon or the accepted Bible. And Azure is not a prominent figure in mainstream Christian theology or in those texts of the like the older New Testament. However, in some of these other books or documents and later Christian writings, angels of death or guides for the soul are mentioned, though not always, by the name Azrael. In some mystic and Gnostic traditions, like some. Esoteric traditions, for example, as real is viewed more as an angel of transition, helping souls move from the earthly plane to the afterlife. So it's just kind of fascinating that there's an understanding of some sort of guide or angel or being that helps us transition. But it's a little elusive, which I to be honest, I'm not exactly surprised, because I think a lot about our transition is elusive, right? So what is Asriel known for? He's primarily known as the angel of death, a rule that involves helping the soul transition, transition from the physical world to and after life. Now, I guess, depending which of those religious traditions you prefer, if any, there could be debate about, well, does he help the soul separate from the physical body? Does the soul separate itself and then he just helps in that transition process, or getting us acclimated? The way I understand it, there's physical and non physical, so our soul is either in the body or it's out of the body or it's out of the body in the spirit world. But it does seem like he is helping with some of that transition process, to some degree, he's believed to comfort those that are dying, to ease their passing, and to guide them to the next phase of their spiritual journey. Now he is a compassionate guide. So unlike this idea of like the Grim Reaper stereotype as real, is more often portrayed as a compassionate and gentle presence offering comfort and support, both to the person that is dying and those that are grieving. So kind of can be thought of as, like the most compassionate, nurturing hospice nurse. Is how I keep feeling him. He's also, specifically in the Islamic tradition, responsible for record keeping of all souls, documenting their deeds and determining their fate in the afterlife based on divine judgment, if that is something that you subscribe to. But this also had me wondering, okay, the way I understand it in the training and systems that I've studied and that I work in, record keeper. To me, I automatically think, oh, Akashic records. So there is potential that he could be part of someone, I want to say someone, but not like a person, one of the light beings that helps document and maintain the Akashic records, right? And maybe it's the overall records of all the souls, rather than specific Akashic Record guide for your specific Akashic Record library of your soul. And if you guys are interested in talking more about the Akashic records, let me know. I'm happy to do an episode on that. I keep feeling like I can't believe we haven't already, because I do work in that way sometimes, and I do teach that for some so let me know if that's something you're interested in. But essentially, he Azrael has been touted as a record keeper, keeping records of all souls, documenting our deeds and determining
perhaps what we need more coaching or learning on or healing around. So
what does he help us with really, one of the main things that he helps us with as real is an expert in transition and passing or crossing. So he helps our souls, anyone's soul here, and for me, I also believe this counts for animals, not just people. So for those of you that are animal lovers, probably most of you here, if that is a question that's on your mind, I would say true for animals as well. That helps the soul transition from the physical world to the afterlife or the spirit world or the next plane, making the process as peaceful and painless as possible. So I often get asked that question from people when I'm doing a mediumship, reading and communicating with their loved ones on the other side, they want to know, like, Was it scary for them when
they transitioned over? Was it was anything painful about that transition?
Was it confusing? So this kind of helps to soothe the mind on that knowing like, Oh no, there's an angel that helps with all of that, so it's not scary. So is loving. He also helps with grief and loss. Azrael offers comfort and support to those that are grieving, helping us to process our emotions and to find peace. He provides solace to those left behind after the loss of a loved one. So that's all of us here, and I think I could venture to say that we've all experienced a loss of some kind to some degree in our lives, even if it's someone that you weren't maybe particularly close with. But there. Is a grieving process, if you've ever lost anyone, and coming to peace. And yeah, even if peace is a funny word when it comes to losing someone, right? Because doesn't mean that we're ever going to be maybe fully okay with it, but we can find levels of peace with it. So that is something that Azrael helps with. He also can help us with understanding our mortality as real. Can assist individuals in understanding and accepting the concept of mortality, helping us to live more fully without the fear of death even and in the tarot, for those of you that enjoy tarot, or I know some of you read yourselves, even he would be represented by the death card and even potentially by the tower card. So he also assists and supports and represents the energy of these cards, which is things like transition, letting go, release and this can be figurative and sometimes literal death. So this is what he supports with. And you know, I love that he helps to take the fear out of loss and death and dying and transition. Because the truth is, we're in a transitional phase in our world right now. So we all can call on Him for help with these transitions, with the falling away, you know, like the the tower card, the falling away of what was to make room for what can be. It doesn't always mean the soul's transitioning. It can mean a lot of things. It can mean the breakdown of a relationship here. It can mean loss of any kind right or transition of any kind that we're experiencing. He really can help give us compassion, give us peace, help us come to understanding and acceptance. So you can call on him and lean on him for things like things like comfort in grief. So call in Azrael when you're dealing with a loss, whether it's the death of a loved one, whether that's a person or a pet, or at the end of a significant chapter in your life. We're going to talk just around the corner here about how this is a nine year so we're ending a chapter collectively. His presence can bring comfort and understanding like we were talking about. You can also call on him for support during transitions of any kind. So whether someone's facing the end of their physical life or another significant transition as real can provide guidance and ease in the process, ensuring more peace and a smoother passage into whatever the next phase is for us, even if we're staying here and just having transitions here, he can also help with emotional healing, so Azrael can help heal the wounds of grief and loss. But remember, healing doesn't mean to put it back like it never happened. It's more about how we move forward with acceptance and withholding the energy of grief and loss. And he also offers spiritual support to those that are struggling with this emotional pain. It might not disappear, but we can come to different understanding, different peace, different acceptance. He also gives support for those who support the unwell, so like hospice nurses, or if you have a loved one that you're supporting in the in the end stages of their life, doctors, other types of nurses, any type of practitioner or human, or, I guess, even an animal that supports those that are unwell or ill, or those that are transitioning and again. This can be the care support workers themselves, the hospice care, the nurses, the doctors, the support staff. But it can also be the families, the loved ones. And I would encourage you, even if you lost someone and you weren't able to be there caring for them in the last stage of their life, he can help you come to peace with that as well. So it's kind of turning each of these upside down and looking at it from different ways. You know, maybe you weren't part of the care team, but maybe, maybe that's something that you hang on to because you weren't able to be there with your loved one or part of the care team, or perhaps their passing was very sudden, if you've got some feelings or emotions around that he can even help with that. Now I want to talk a little bit about colors associated with ads real. You guys know that I'm of my colors, so I'm gonna like I've been doing in these I'm gonna tell you what internet says, But I'm gonna tell you how I experience it. There's really no like, right and wrong in this. I wouldn't say. So if you have an experience that's different than. This, I would just accept it. It's okay. So the internet says Azriel is associated with pale yellows or cream colors. That pale yellow and cream is often associated with him, and these soft light colors symbolize peace and serenity and the gentle nature of his presence, and with soft whites. Some also associate this like soft white light, symbolizing purity, transition, divine guidance. I kind of was also wondering, you know, how we've heard lots of near death experiences, or people that have had some sort of transition experience, or experience with someone who is transitioning and there's that, like white light that they see, or they talk about going towards the light, I was kind of wondering, I wonder if that's partially, maybe not entirely, but partially, Archangel Azrael and his light. For me, I tend to experience Archangel Azrael more in those like Dia de los Muertos colors, which it's like that Marigold, golden, yellowy
orange color.
It's a deep kind of purpley tone. It's a little bit of turquoise mixed in there. Sometimes for me, sometimes I experience as real, very colorful and other times darker shades. And I don't mean darker as, like, an emotional darker. I mean darker as in, like the darker versions of those shades, but it's all positive and all beautiful, and also clear quartz, or what's called Rainbow fire quartz, where all colors exist. So think about if you've ever hung like a little glass something or little quartz something in your window, and it makes those rainbow reflection, refractions that's that shine across the room, or shine a rainbow, you know, onto your wall, this idea of clear quartz, or that rainbow fire quartz is where all color exists. So I often think of him with that too. But as I am always preaching over here, have your own experience with Azriel and see if you can understand the colors that you perceive with him and just accept those. I'm going to talk about some stones associated with working with Azrael also. Now excuse me. I say this with love. I love a good stone of any kind. I wear them, I hold them. I sometimes just find them on the road and collect them, even if they're not a gemstone. Per se, you don't have to work with stones. There's not magic in the stone that's going to make Archangel Azriel appear. However,
if you are someone who enjoys stones or crystals, you certainly can use them to support this work. I'm
going to give you a little list. This is not an inclusive list. I'm
sure there's many more that you can work with with him. Smoky Quartz is the first one on my list, and that is I'm trying to look around the office. I don't have any Smoky Quartz in here. I don't think I have most of those at home, but it essentially looks like a black or gray quartz. And this crystal is known for its grounding properties and often used to provide comfort during times of loss and grief, and it helps to spell negative or challenging energy and bring emotional calm and alignment with as real supportive energy. You could also use clear courts, which is probably the most common one that we see, it's the the one that's clear so and sometimes, sometimes it's clear, sometimes it has a bit of a milky appearance, or what's called inclusions, which are little imperfections in the stones. So you can use clear quartz. Something about the clarity, plus the inclusions, for me, represent this elusive nature of transition. I probably do have clear quartz in here, but if you've ever looked into a clear court, some people call them, quote, unquote ghosts, where you see the little strange inclusions or little clouds in there. It kind of reminds me of this elusive nature of transitioning from physical to non physical existence. Also clear courts, and like rainbow fire courts like we were talking about is considered this idea of like, where all color exists. So, of course, you might imagine, you know, as we transition, all color exists, right? Amethyst can also be used. That's the purple one. Amethyst, for those of you watching on the video version, this ring is, is Amethyst that I am often wearing a Martha. This is associated with spiritual protection and purification. It can help with connection with Azrael during meditation or prayer or contemplation. Can provide comfort and insights during time of transition. Purple is often the color of spirituality or divine wisdom, which I. Azeril Certainly possesses. Can also use stones that are black, like Black Onyx, for example. Onyx offers protection and strength. And remember, it is not protection like scary boogeyman Grim Reaper, need to be protected from protection, but more about just holding your energy where you want to have it and strength, of course, helping to ease fears related to death or related to the unknown. It's a powerful stone for grounding and for emotional balance. Really resonates with azrael's role as a guide during difficult times, because right, he's not only about transitioning to non physical but can help us during these difficult transitions of any kind. There
was something else I
wanted to say about this in here, this little brain fog is real. It's so funny. And I even have notes, but I didn't make a note of this extra thing that I wanted to say, don't be afraid of black stones either. Black is a very grounding color. It's from the earth. Think of like coal and even like Black Onyx, if you've ever seen it, it really is very grounding and calming. And think about just going into this beautiful, quiet embrace. That's kind of what I think with the black stones. Also Selenite, which I do have a little Selenite wand here in the office that someone had given me a long time ago. For those of you watching on the video version Selenite is you see it lots of ways. It's actually quite a splintery stone, so sometimes it's polished and you'll see it a little more smooth, but it kind of is a little bit of a splintery stone. It's a crystal of peace and purity. It's used to connect with higher realms and angelic beings.
It's associated with Moon energy, making
it a good choice when seeking asriel's guidance and spiritual presence. You can also use Moon Stone, which, funnily, I'm wearing a lot of Moonstone today. So for those that are watching on the video, my whole necklace is all Moonstone, and I wore a little Moonstone ring, which is not going to show up nicely on the camera. But Moonstone is often a white or a creamy kind of a color. And when you move it, it has this little bit of, I don't kind of rainbow esque or pearl essence to it. It's not going to show up on on the camera here, so even if you're not watching on the video version, don't worry about it. You can always google Moonstone. But it does have a bit of an iridescent, I don't know quality when you when you move it and turn it, Moonstone has to do with the subtle energies. Like, think the moon divine, feminine, nurturing, energy, growth and healing, release, like in the full moon is time for release. So Moonstone often represents all of the qualities that the moon and all of its phases would represent New Beginnings, connection to the divine and spiritual realms, emotional balance, support. So those are some of the stones you could consider using to support working with as real. I want to talk a little bit about how you might feel or recognize as real. And again, I am going to record a separate meditation for those of you that want to practice and play with working with Asriel. If you've ever known a really amazing nurse, that's what as real feels like to me. I was fortunate enough to grow up with some nurses in my life when I was little, and or if you've ever known, yeah, an amazing nurse or doctor who has just wonderful bedside manner. Maybe you've even seen one in a movie, if you haven't experienced one yourself, that is that feeling of Asriel to me, strong but nurturing, kind but steady, warm, trustworthy, safe, supportive, wise and experienced, right? So it's it's not just this compassion. It's like has the the wisdom and the knowledge and the know how to back it up, like you can lean on him and know that whatever happens, he'll be beside you, holding strong. You might also experience him with this gentle presence. You might feel him in this gentle, comforting way, often accompanied by a sense of calm and peace that is deep. It might be subtle, but it's a it's like a deep knowing of peace. This can be especially noticeable during times of grief or transition. If you've ever been in the throes of grief, you will know that while grief is this powerful, often turbulent emotion, sometimes there can be these moments of calm and stillness there they don't often. Last very long if we're really in the early phases of grief, but just those moments of peace and clarity and calm, like the eye of the storm feeling. You can often feel his gentle presence like that, and again, it can be especially noticeable during these times of grief or transition. Some people experience Him with warmth and light. Some people report report feeling soft warmth or seeing a pale yellow or white glow when Azrael is near. This light can be perceived as like a gentle glow offering reassurance and comfort, or it can be just a sense of the feeling of a light like that doesn't necessarily mean you're visually seeing that light, although some people could, but don't get attached to like if you're not seeing it that way, it's not happening. It can just be what you might imagine, that a soft, gentle glow of a pale yellow or white light would feel like with Azrael. Sometimes when you're in Israel's presence, you might also experience emotional release, like a release of pent up emotions, particularly those that are related to grief or death or even fear of death. In some of the spiritual work, we call it death pictures, meaning like sometimes we have these unconscious or subconscious fears of death that we don't even realize we have. And Azrael can help us with an emotional release, because a lot of times we're so tight and we hold on to those emotions and we shove them down or ignore them. So sometimes, when you're working with him, this release can happen. It can feel cathartic and healing, leaving you with a sense of peace. You know, have you ever like, just had a an emotional release, like a good little cry, or a good little emotional release of some kind, and then after you just feel so peaceful, it's kind of like that you might experience Him in the idea of soft whispers or soft messages is communication. I mean, I guess, like most of them, is often subtle, possibly manifesting as even like a soft whisper or an intuitive message that offers guidance or reassurance. These messages can come in the form of thoughts or feelings or even dreams. I like to encourage people. You know, when I first started this work, I often talk about it like this. I because of the way media describes it and because of the language that people use around it, I thought I might hear it like a whisper, like a person that I couldn't see standing next to me gently whispering near my ear, it's not, it's mostly not like, if you experience that, it's very few and far between. If it's if it's real, it's more of just an internal, gentle thought, really,
and sometimes
a feeling, right? So it's a feeling of a whisper, or a feeling of a guidance or a knowing, we sometimes call it, and eating can come in dreams. For some personally, I don't get a ton of dreams, and even when I do, I'm not always able to remember
them. So
don't get attached to the way that works for you. Maybe one way works for you right now and then maybe at another time, you might start getting dreams, or maybe you have dreams now, and they might go away and become more of a subtle knowing or a feeling or a thought whisper, right? And it can even come with this gentle sense of closure. When you're working with Archangel Azrael, you might feel a sense of resolution or closure, particularly if you've been struggling with the loss of a loved one, I would say it's not going to probably feel like a full resolve, like you don't care anymore, you're unbothered, but just this closure is such a funny word, just this feeling of maybe acceptance is a better word, or maybe a different layer of understanding about it, so a different layer of peace about it, understanding that while we might not have all the answers of why this happened, or why the timing was what it was, Archangel Azrael might be able To help us have a sense of peace around accepting that even though we can't understand it, that this loved one has made their transition and is safe and is at peace as girls, presence can bring a deep sense of understanding and acceptance, even if it's not the type of understanding that might satisfy all the questions in our brain, for example, right? Often, in this work as a medium, the quote, unquote messages or details or what the loved ones want to share, it's based on what our soul needs and not what we might want, right? So I might be. Able to understand details about the way the person passes away, for example, and understand, you know, that they're safe on the other side, that they're at peace, that they're you know they're communicating this. So they must know who they are and who you are and what time your appointment was, and the details about themselves. But if it's not the need of the soul, not the desire of our mind or the desire of our humanness, the need of our soul. It's a different thing. We might not get all of the answers or all of the whys that we wanted to get right so based on what we need, not necessarily what we want. Sometimes those are the same, and sometimes they're not. More often they're not. So how can you start having experiences with Archangel Azrael? If you choose, you can call him into your meditation to sit in the energy with you. If you're someone who's already has a meditation practice, I know many of you do or have started a little bit of one, you can call him into your meditation to sit in the energy with you. You can call him in like, Call on Him in your day to day, especially during times of transitions or endings. Maybe for you, it's not the loss of a loved one, but maybe you're transitioning to a different job or out of a role that you had been in. Maybe you're like me and your kids have grown up, and you're transitioning into a different phase of your life and wanting to understand Who are you now and what's the way forward. You can really call on him during any time of transitions or endings, whether it has to do with a crossing over to the spirit world or not. You can set up a sign with him in the world. You can just pick something that you want him to show you, to say hello when he's near, or as a way to work with him. And I always encourage continue building a relationship to work with him. And again, I am going to create a separate guided meditation and visualization experience that is totally free. Just to give you a guided meditation to work with him. I feel like that's how some of you work best. And
in that meditation,
I'll help you move into the stillness and bring him in and feel His peace and His energy, and then allow him actually the way I'm going to do that meditation, since technically, we're in the holiday season, and if you're watching this or listening to this way in the future, it doesn't matter what season we're in. But I thought it would be a lovely idea that since Archangel Azrael is the archangel that helps souls cross over, whether you want to think of it as he helps the soul separate from the body, or he just helps guide us once we have transitioned out of the physical body, and help us get adjusted to that next realm, or next place spirit world. I thought it would be lovely as we're sitting with him and working with him in this meditation for Azriel to help us become aware of loved ones or ancestors or supporters on the other side. So it's going to be a little bit of that kind of meditation. So if you've wondered about how to sit in the presence of your ancestors on the other side, this is going to be the meditation for you, for that and getting to know Archangel Azrael and relationship building. So I hope that you've learned a little something about Archangel Azrael. I hope that you no longer if you're someone that had kind of like a, you know, it's like a don't fear the Reaper vibe, if you had, if you had a little bit of fear or confusion around who Archangel Azrael was or wasn't, or what type of angel or energy might help us cross over. Now, you know, and again, very peaceful, very grounding, very calming presence I can't really feel or think of or have a better example than just the most loving, compassionate, but very steady and strong nurse. Nurses are amazing. Shout out to all the nurses out there. You guys are amazing rock stars. So I kind of think of his presence like that. But if you're interested in getting that guided meditation, I'm going to link it in the show notes for you so you can access it totally free and feel free to share this episode with a friend, with someone who's perhaps lost a loved one and would like to sit with their loved one in spirit, in a meditation, or their ancestors, even if you haven't lost a specific loved one that you might think of. I'll do it in a way so that it can work for everybody. And just remembering that even though, as I'm recording this, we're technically in this season of light, that it is a hard time if we've lost someone, or if we're in the process of losing someone right now, actually lost someone I cared about just a couple weeks ago. So. So these things can sometimes happen in an expected way, but sometimes in an unexpected way, and just know that there is more love, more compassion, more support, not only for them as they transition, but for us as we learn to live with them in a different way, as we learn to live with whatever transitions might arise going forward from here. And I love that we're exploring some of the more, maybe lesser known Archangels. So let me know how you liked this episode, if you learned something, if it really like me. Helped to clarify, okay, who is this angel of death versus this like Grim Reaper? Are they the same? Is it? But like I said, does kind of seem like maybe as real got some bad PR along the way and and just got convoluted or or kind of murky in with this different idea, peaceful, loving, compassionate, kind, grounded, strong, and really has the know how. So I will leave you with all of that information, and, of course, with all of my love. And hopefully you, those that are interested, will get that guided meditation. I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings about that and if it worked for you and how you liked it. And remember, sometimes it takes some practice if you're not someone that is a spiritual worker, like a healer or a spirit worker, or don't identify that way, this might not be a one and done thing for you. I believe that anytime we're working with guides or angels or Ascended Masters, it's a relationship building. It's not a light switch, and I talk about this even as it relates to our own intuition. It's about building a relationship with these subtle energies and experiences, not a magic wand or a magic light switch. So I hope that you will, in the stillness, receive some peace and calm as you get to know Archangel Azrael. Big hugs, bye for now from inside Spirit Speakeasy.