You're surrounded by angels who are willing to provide guidance or help whenever you need it. It's sad that so many people don't communicate with their invisible helpers and fail to experience the love, support, and companionship that they're ready to provide.

Your most important angel is your guardian angel, who provides guidance, comfort, and protection throughout your life. Even if you've never asked your guardian angel for help, it will have intervened at different times to keep you safe and protected. Of course, as you have free will, you can make decisions on your own, and your guardian angel won't intervene, unless you're putting yourself in danger, or are planning to do something that isn't in your highest good. No matter what mistakes you make (and we all make plenty of them), your guardian angel will remain loving, supportive, and nonjudgmental.

Your guardian angel will provide help whenever you need it, and may consult with other angels for assistance in your request. You can also speak directly to any of the angels whenever you need specific help. For instance, many people know that Raphael is the archangel of healing. You can call on Raphael for any purpose whatsoever, but as his main interest is healing; he's the perfect angel to call on when you need spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical healing. Michael is God's warrior angel and is the ideal angel to call on if you need help desperately. There are angels for almost any purpose you could think of, from overcoming addictions to eliminating worry. In An Angel for Anything, I included a list of angels who can help with 286 different needs.

There are many ways to invoke, or call upon, an angel. If you haven't communicated with your guardian angel yet, you'll benefit from experimenting with the seven techniques explained here to contact your guardian angel. Once you've done this once, you'll have no difficulty in contacting your angel whenever you wish. If you're already in regular communication, you can ask your guardian angel to contact a specific angel for you. Alternatively, you can use these methods to contact any angel you need.

1. Relaxation. All you need is a comfortable chair, at least twenty minutes of uninterrupted time, and a desire to communicate with a particular angel. You don't have to know this angel's name. Chamuel is an extremely busy angel, and one of his responsibilities is to help people suffering from loneliness. If you're feeling alone and need help, you can call on Chamuel. If you don't know Chamuel's name, you can ask to speak to an angel who helps people who are lonely.

Sit down quietly, close your eyes, and relax. Start by taking three slow, deep breaths, holding each breath for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. Once you've done this, forget about your breathing and allow a wave of relaxation to spread through you. Follow this by relaxing the toes on one of your feet. Once they feel relaxed, allow the relaxation to spread into your foot, and to then drift over your ankles and into your calf muscles and thigh muscles. Repeat this with your other leg. Allow the relaxation to drift into your abdomen, chest, and shoulders. Allow the relaxation to drift down one arm to the tips of your fingers, and then repeat this with your other arm. Allow the relaxation to spread into your neck and face, and to then drift up to the top of your head. Take as much time as you need to completely relax your body. There's no need to hurry. Once you're fully relaxed, focus on your breathing again and enjoy the pleasant, relaxed state you're in. Ask the angel you want to talk with to join you and wait until you sense the angel's presence. Your mind will drift away at times. This is normal. Whenever you notice that this has happened, dismiss the thought, and focus on your breathing again. Once you make contact with the angel, talk silently or out loud, and enjoy the conversation. This could happen the first time you try this, but it's more likely to occur after several sessions.

2. Dreams. Everyone dreams, though some people fail to remember them. Dreams help us evaluate and sort out what is happening in our lives, so we can function well when we're awake. Many people experience angels in their dreams from time to time, but these occur involuntarily. You're more likely to experience an angel in your dreams if you tell yourself before falling asleep that you want to communicate with a specific angel about a certain matter. You also need to tell yourself that you'll remember the dream when you wake up. Do this three to five times before drifting into sleep. Continue doing this every night, until you remember a dream that relates to your angel and your concern. Keep pen and paper, or some type of recording device, beside your bed so you can record everything that you remember before the dream fades.

3. Thoughts, feelings, and hunches. We all experience thoughts and feelings all the time, and hunches, or intuitions, are common, too. All of these can be used to communicate with the angelic realms. Whenever you have a spare moment in your everyday life, think about your need to speak with a particular angel. Let the thought go and carry on with your day. If you do this frequently, you'll start receiving replies from the angel you want to communicate with. You'll recognize these responses as thoughts or feelings that come from some other source, rather than from your subconscious mind.

4. Coincidences. We all experience coincidences, synchronicities, and serendipitous occurrences every now and again. Many people believe that such moments are caused by angels working on our behalf. Next time you experience one, pause for a few seconds, and then silently speak to your guardian angel, or any other angel you wish to communicate with. You can do this at other times, also. A friend of mine talks to her guardian angel every time she sees a feather.

5. Letters. Writing a letter to the angel you want to communicate with is a particularly good way to make angelic contact. You'll need to have a purpose in mind before writing the letter. The purpose might be as simple as wanting to establish contact with the particular angel. Write your letter as if you're writing to a good friend and include information about your family, work, hopes, and dreams. The act of writing forces you to clarify everything in your mind. Finish by thanking the angel for looking after you and attending to your needs. It doesn't matter if your letter is short or long, as long as you include everything you wish to say. You might be fortunate enough to hear from the angel while you're writing the letter. In this case, you can stop writing and start talking about everything that's on your mind. If that doesn't happen, you'll have to "mail" the letter. Place the letter inside an envelope and write the name of the angel you're sending it to on the front. If you don't know the angel's name, write, "To the angel who looks after (whatever your concern happens to be)." Sit down in front of a lit candle with the envelope held in your cupped hands. Think of the angel you're sending the letter to and express your thanks. When you've said everything you want to say, burn the envelope in the candle flame and watch the smoke carry your message to your angel. Collect the ashes and scatter them outdoors. Always keep a container of water nearby whenever you work with candles, in case of accident.

6. Prayer. Praying is another good way to contact angels. The Bible warns against worshipping angels, but that's not what this is about. All you need to do is to pray in your normal manner and during the course of the prayer ask for help in contacting the angel you wish to communicate with.

7. Angel numbers. Repeating numbers are often a sign of an angelic presence. It doesn't mean anything if you look at your watch and see the time is 11:11. However, if you see the same number repeating in a variety of ways over a short period of time, such as on a car's license plate, a house number, the length of a movie, or the page you've reached in a book, the chances are that it will be an angel number. This is a sign that angels are wanting to communicate with you. Angel numbers can be any combination of numbers. 3648 may well be an angel number if it occurs three or more times within a short period. They don't need to be repeating numbers such as 777 or 111. When you sense an angel number, sit down quietly as soon as you can, relax, and silently start talking to the angel.

There are many other ways to gain a connection with the angelic realms. If you're prepared to be patient, and are willing and open to angelic communication, it won't be long until you're conversing with any angel you need to speak with.