"We aren't that difficult to hear, if you will listen for us with an open heart. Most of the time, we are closer to you than you can imagine. A whisper, a thought, is the only signal we need from you to get a conversation started. We have enormous respect for what you're going through here on planet Earth at this time. We never seek to interfere with your lives, only to bring you blessings of insights and new ways of looking at yourselves."

Not everyone "hears" angelic voices as an audible sound. Many people receive divine messages through nonverbal means such as visions, feelings, or a knowingness.

Hearing the voice of an angel is called "clairaudience," which means "clear hearing." Their voice may sound like our own or it may sound different. The voice can emanate from within your body, within your mind, or sound as if it's outside your head. When an angel warned me that my car was about to be stolen, his voice sounded as if he were talking through a paper towel tube, just outside my right ear.

An hour later, when I found myself in the middle of a car-jacking, the same angel guided my life-saving actions by speaking to me through an inner voice. While receiving the angel messages in my book, "Angel Therapy," I heard the words both inside and outside my mind.

You might hear a faint voice and wonder what it said. In such cases, go ahead and ask your angels to repeat their message. Say to them, "A little louder, please." The angels appreciate your feedback, as they want to deliver clear and understandable guidance.

Angelic voices are consistently loving and supportive, even when they warn us of impending dangers or wrong turns. As a psychotherapist, I was trained to believe that hearing voices was a sign of insanity. Yet, the voice of the ego is the only source of "insanity." Ego voicemessages are always destructive, abusive, and impulsive. For example, the ego may try to convince you that you'll fail. The ego also changes its mind constantly, so it will tell you to do one thing Monday, another thing Tuesday, and a completely different thing Wednesday. If you listen to the voice of the ego, your life will be chaotic and fear-filled.

Angelic voices, in contrast, patiently repeat the guidance to us day after day, until we finally follow it. You may hear your angels tell you for years that you would be a great healer or author, for example. Or your angels may repeatedly ask you to take better care of your body. You know that guidance comes from angels when it is loving focused, not hurtful to you or your family, and consistent.

Clairaudience is just one-fourth of the ways we receive angelic assistance. However, your angels may speak to you in pictures and visual mental images. We call this "clairvoyance" or "clear seeing." Angelic messages may come to you as single snapshot images, either in your mind or outside your mind. Or, you may see miniature scenes, as if from a movie.The images maybe black-and-white or full color.Angelic visual messages can be symbolic, such as seeing a stop sign as a signal that you should take a rest, slow, or stop what you are doing.

Intuitively, you might readily understand what the visual images mean. For instance, you might see an image of a trophy and instinctively, you know this means that success is ahead for you. If you have trouble understanding your angelic visual guidance, be sure to ask for assistance. Ask your angels to clarify their message, continue asking for clarification until you are completely certain of their meaning.

Sometimes we shut down our angelic channels of communication because of fear. You might see an image of your future that frightens you, and you turn off your clairvoyance by shutting the third eye's eyelid.

One of my clients shut down her clairvoyance when, as a young girl, she saw a visual image of her parents divorcing in the future. Another client closed her third eye because she foresaw herself having an affair with a married co-worker, and she wanted to continue her interactions with him while wearing blinders to the truth. One of my other clients was trying to ignore a steady angelic voice within which counseled, "It's time to look for work at a different place" because she didn't trust God to fulfill her material needs during the job transition."

You might also shut off your clairvoyance if you are afraid of what you might see. As much as you want to see your angels in person, you might harbor a deep-seated fear that seeing a "ghost" would be terrifying. Your angels honor such fears, and you won't see angelic apparitions until you feel confident that such a vision would comfort, not frighten you.

The third way we receive angelic guidance is through our emotions and physical sensations. We call this, "clairsentience," or "clear feeling." Clairsentients get divine guidance through bodily sensations, such as a tightening of the jaw, fists, stomach or sex organs. They intuitively know the specific meaning of these tightening reactions. A clairsentient feels air pressure and room temperature changes that warn him of negative situations. Each of our five senses has a corresponding spiritual sense.

Clairsentients receive angelic guidance through an etheric sense of smell, taste, and touch. You may know that your beloved deceased grandmother is near when you smell her perfume or favorite flower fragrance. An angel may shower your room with the aroma of orange blossoms to tell you of an impending wedding.

Clairsentients receive a lot of guidance through their intuition, gut feelings, and hunches. Much of our intuition comes from the stomach region, and the stomach flutters, relaxes, and tightens according to the angelic guidance. Instinctively, the clairsentient interprets the meaning of these gut feelings and a wise clairsentient follows these internal directives without hesitation.

Clairsentients get angelic messages through their heart and love emotions, as well. If a thought of doing something swells your chest with warm feelings of joy, this is a directive from God and the angels. You may think, "Oh this is too good to be true; I am just dreaming," but the joy that your thought has brought you is a roadmap leading you to the life you are meant to have.

We call the fourth means of angelic communication "claircognizance" or "clear knowing." Men are frequently claircognizant, and may not even realize they naturally receive detailed and accurate information from the angels. You can ask claircognizant a question on almost any topic in the world.Within minutes, he will give you an accurate answer, completely supported by facts and figures. You might say, "How did you know that?", and he'll answer, "I don't know! A few minutes ago, I didn't know that information."

A claircognizant knows, without knowing how he knows. Consequently, he may doubt the validity of his knowingness. This is a mistake,because when divine wisdom enters our mind, it is a gift we can use to improve our life, and to serve the world.

We all have access to all four channels of communication. Usually, we have one primary means of receiving angelic guidance and one secondary or lesser channel of communication. With practice, you can become adept at receiving messages in all four ways. In the beginning of speaking to your angels, though, most people concentrate upon their natural means of communication.

Naturally visually oriented people will want to pay attention to their mental visions. If you tend to focus upon sounds, then listen for inner or outer words, voices, and auditory messages. If you tend to be a touchy-feely type, your emotions and bodily sensations are the instruments which relay divine guidance to you. And if you are intellectually inclined, or a person who constantly searches for hidden meanings in situations, then you'll want to monitor your thoughts for those heavenly moments of "knowingness" which bring you certainty in guiding your actions.

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. is a fourth-generation metaphysician and doctor of psychology who works with the angelic realm in her spiritual healing practice. Doreen gives workshops across the country about how to clearly receive divine guidance. Look for her new book, "Angel Therapy: Healing Message for Every Area of Your Life" at your favorite bookstore.