An Angelic Alphabet

Some people believe that angels may prefer to communicate with humans in writing
via a special alphabet known as the Angelic Alphabet or the Celestial Alphabet.
That alphabet was developed during the 16th century by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa,
who used both the Hebrew and Greek alphabets to create it.

The letters of the alphabet correspond to constellations of stars in the night sky.
In the mystical branch of Judaism known as Kabbalah, each Hebrew letter is a living
angel that expresses God�s voice in written form, and the shapes of the stars form
shapes that represent those letters. Agrippa said of those who practiced Kabbalah:
"There is also amongst them writing which they call Celestial because they show it
placed and figured amongst the stars, no otherwise than the other astrologers
produce images of signs from the lineaments of stars."

Later, the letters in the Angelic or Celestial Alphabet took on occult meanings,
with each letter representing a different spiritual characteristic. People would
use the alphabet to write spells to ask angels to do something for them.

Angel Writing Records

Angels sometimes write the histories of human attitudes and behaviors, according to
religious texts.

The Quran says in chapter 82 (Al Infitar), verses 10-12: �But verily over you are
appointed angels to protect you, kind and honorable, writing down your deeds: They
know (and understand) all that you do.� These two angels are known as the Kiraman
Katibin (honorable recorders). They pay attention to everything that people past
puberty think, say, and do. The angel who sits on the right shoulder records good
choices, while the angel who sits on the left records bad decisions, says the Quran
in chapter 50 (Qaf), verses 17-18. If people make more good choices than bad, they
go to heaven. If they make more bad decisions than good and don�t repent, they go
to hell.

In Judaism, the archangel Metatron writes down the good deeds people do on Earth,
as well as what happens in heaven, in the Book of Life. The Talmud mentions in
Hagiga 15a that God allowed Metatron to sit down in his presence because Metatron
is constantly writing: "Metatron, to whom was given permission to sit down and
write the merits of Israel." This is unusual because others stood up in God�s
presence to express their reverence for him.

Writing through People

Some people practice automatic writing with angels, which involves channeling an
angel. This is an invitation to angels to work through a human body to write their
messages. After asking a question through prayer or meditation, people begin to
write whatever thoughts enter their minds without consciously thinking about what
they are writing.

Later, when they read those written messages, they try to figure out what the words
mean.

Issuing Warnings
The expression �the writing is on the wall� came from Daniel chapter 5 in the Torah
and the Bible. The phrase refers to a memorable incident from when King Belshazzar
was giving a party in Babylon. His guests were using golden goblets that his late
father, King Nebuchadnezzar, had stolen from a temple in Jerusalem.

Rather than using the goblets as they were meant to be used (as God�s holy
vessels), King Belshazzar was using them to flaunt his own power.
�Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the
wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it
wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and
his knees were knocking� (Daniel 5:5-6). Many scholars think that the hand belonged
to an angel, who did the writing.

The terrified guests left, and King Belshazzar called magicians and sorcerers to
try to translate the written message, but they couldn�t explain what it meant.
Someone suggested the king call for the prophet Daniel, who had successfully
interpreted dreams before.

Daniel told King Belshazzar that God was angry with him because of his pride and
arrogance: �You have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the
goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives, and
your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of
bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did
not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore, he
sent the hand that wrote the inscription� (Daniel 5:23-24).

�This is the inscription that was written: �MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.� Here is
what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it
to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Parsin:
Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians� (Daniel 5:25-28).

That very night, King Belshazzar died, and his kingdom was divided and given away
just as the writing had foretold.