Did I smell an angel? I was recently diagnosed with cancer, so I have been doing a lot of praying and talking to the night stars, hoping that I won’t be taken from my children. My most recent scan showed that my cancer hasn’t spread, and the doctors are now hopeful that they can cure it, not just treat it. I am so grateful that tonight I said thank you to the stars again, at which point I suddenly got a wonderful strong smell of clean washing, flowers and baby talcum powder. I had a tingling feeling on the back of my head. I was on my own and this happened outside on a cold wintry night, so I can’t explain it any other way. This has never happened to me before. I’m a Virgo.
Susyn:
Spirits and guardian angels often make their presence known through smell; it’s one of the most frequent methods they use. All of our senses become more acute when we experience a loss or face the threat of physical death. Since being diagnosed with cancer, you are likely to notice that all of your physical senses are more acute. This also activates our extra-sensory perception, which would make it easier to perceive the messages your guardian angels and Spirit send you.
The first time I encountered this phenomenon was when my grandmother passed. Immediately before her funeral, the distinct smell of apples came to me. My grandmother and I used to spend hours peeling fruit from her orchard, and I will never forget how the smell of apple crisp filled the house. I experienced familiar scents that seemed to come out of nowhere when my husband and mother passed away as well.
Since there are no smells specifically related to your angels and spirit guides, they surrounded you with three scents that sent very clear messages. The aroma related to freshly laundered clothing is a sign that your body is being washed clean and the cancer eliminated. The flower scents represent springtime and rebirth, the promise of a new beginning and blossoming potential. In the cycle of life, nothing dies; it merely takes on a different form. This is a wonderful indication that your optimum health is returning.
One of your most powerful prayers during this challenge is that you not be taken from your children. The scent of talcum powder is often connected with babies, so I feel this is reassurance from your angels that you will be there to watch your children grow and prosper.
Because of the life-threatening illness from which you are recovering, there will be more signs and changes to come. Once we encounter such a situation, our psychic abilities come to life and our connection to the spirit world becomes much stronger. In fact, along with the medical action you have taken to address this issue, your spiritual awareness, meditation under the stars and increased prayer are working in tandem to promote greater well-being on every level.
As you gain some distance from this challenge and start to see the bigger picture, you will be able to see the cancer as a blessing that opened your eyes to the important things in your life and revealed how much spiritual strength you possess. It is a wonderful paradox that we learn the most from our difficulties, and that, in the end, they tend to bring us the greatest gifts.
*****
Oceania:
There could also be a medical explanation for your experience. There is a mild form of epilepsy called simple partial seizure
that does not involve loss of consciousness but is characterized by a smell, another sense memory or by a physical sensation like tingling or jerking, which could explain your experience. It’s also possible you experienced momentary brain activity related to your cancer or your treatment. If the phantosmia or tingling persist, you can discuss your symptoms with your oncologist to see if there is any cause for concern.
That idea aside, you’ve been reaching out to the powers that be to affirm that you’d like to watch your children grow up. The good news you received about your cancer may be a reflection of your strong desire to live.
Your prayers and talks with the stars have become a spiritual ritual for you. Stars are a good choice, for they symbolize angels, departed loved ones, and enlightenment from beyond. When we routinely make time for the sacred in our busy lives, we reduce our stress and bolster our immune systems. We can also touch upon or enter an altered state of consciousness where we experience peace and a connection to all that is. Your rituals may well have contributed to the containment of your cancer.
I recommend that everyone engage in a daily spiritual routine because it can lead to health, serenity and the development of intuition. It could simply be a few minutes of deep breathing or more formal meditation. It could include yoga, spiritual readings and written or verbal affirmations. Such practices help us tap into wisdom both within and without and help us live with greater presence, clarity and purpose.
I don’t think you smelled an angel. There’s a phenomenon called phantosmia, also known as olfactory hallucination or phantom smell, in which a specific scent memory is triggered for no apparent reason. The memory of scents are stored in our brains, just as sights and sounds are, and can be triggered unexpectedly. I can recall being washed over by various scent memories from childhood in recent years: the smell of Play-doh, my grandmother’s ginger cookies baking, and vinyl from a costume I wore in a dance recital.
In your state of joy and gratitude, you were washed over by scents associated with your children or with being a mother: clean laundry, baby powder and flowers. It may have been the intensity of your emotions that stirred these memories of several precious everyday things one could easily take for granted.
Astrea:
Many times in life we hear, “You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT.” Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown’s book was all it took to get you there.
Even though you hadn’t read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!
While I don’t usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity – you gotta love it!
I like your description of “getting caught.” That’s exactly what it feels like, isn’t it? One minute you’re free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!
As a little kid, I loved that “feeling of return.” With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.
I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family’s interest in “psychic stuff” will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.
You’ll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she’ll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn’t nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it’s STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!
Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.
A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don’t get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you’re doing here on Earth.
You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.