My Spiritual Family in the Heavens of the Supreme Concourse
 
Dedicated to Jim Hunter
ʿLyāl Rūḥī or Spiritual Family
Lift not the veil, O Thou Who art the Concealer! From eternity the tokens of Thy bounty have encompassed the universe, and the splendors of Thy Most Great Name have been shed over all created things. Deny not Thy servants the wonders of Thy grace. Cause them to be made aware of Thee, that they may bear witness to Thy unity, and enable them to recognize Thee, that they may hasten towards Thee. Thy mercy hath embraced the whole creation, and Thy grace hath pervaded all things.
Baháʾuʾlláh, Prayers and Meditations. Page 236.
The hearts that yearn after Thee, O my God, are burnt up with the fire of their longing for Thee, and the eyes of them that love Thee weep sore by reason of their crushing separation from Thy court, and the voice of the lamentation of such as have set their hopes on Thee hath gone forth throughout Thy dominions.
Thou hast Thyself, O my God, protected them, by Thy sovereign might, from both extremities. But for the burning of their souls and the sighing of their hearts, they would be drowned in the midst of their tears, and but for the flood of their tears they would be burnt up by the fire of their hearts and the heat of their souls. Methinks, they are like the angels which Thou hast created of snow and of fire.
Baháʾuʾlláh, Prayers and Meditations. Pages 157-158.
Rid thou thyself of all attachments to aught except God, enrich thyself in God by dispensing with all else besides Him, and recite this prayer:
Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth or in whatever lieth between them but God, thy Lord, sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.
O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins, bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions!
Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world.
O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount.
ʿAbduʾl-Bahá Baháʾí Prayers. Pages 45-46.

I will heartfully and intuitively name, according to my present understandings, the 33 angelic contacts in my spiritual family (excluding anyone still living on Earth). I have met some of these individuals face to face. Since, however, I am not a gnōstic, I do not ascribe any authority to personal experiences, least of all my own. With the exceptions of Brennan and of Erintin, if she is a being, all of the blessed souls mentioned here are now in the next world. The order of the following listing is not significant:

  • Corinne Elaine Foster, my mother (“Mom”)
  • Harold Lawrence Foster, my father (“Dad”)
  • Frances Kleinman, later Frances Libson, my material grandmother (“Nanny”)
  • Rose Feigenbaum, my paternal grandmother (“Grandma”)
  • Morris Kleinman, my material grandfather (“Grandpa”)
  • Sam Feigenbaum, my paternal grandfather (died before I was born)
  • Sam Libson (Papa), my step maternal grandfather
  • Elizabeth M. Thomas (photo), my spiritual mother (ꞌummī ʾal-nafsānī), December 10, 1906 - January 18, 1991
  • James G. Hunter, M.D. (October 14, 1949 - May 10, 2014), my psychiatric angel.
    James G. Hunter
  • Ḥaḍrat Sulṭān Bāhū (Arabic accompanied by the Persian bā/with for his holy presence, ruler, with He) was a brilliant luminary in the medieval South Asian Bhakti-Ṣūfī movement. He was the founder of al-Qādirīyah al-Sarwarī.
  • Guhar Šāhī (Gohar Shahi), the founder of al-Qādirīyah al-Muntahī and Dīn-i Ilāhī, was born on November 25, 1941. He may have died in either 2001 or 2003 (or he may still be alive). I believe that, through Ḥaḍrat Sulṭān Bāhū’s intercession, he served as my personal gate to Bāhū. We never met face to face.
  • Gurū Nānak (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhism in the Bhakti-Ṣūfī movement, was the individual to whom I was most closely attracted before becoming a Baháʾí. I had a strong desire to become a Sikh, but the requirements (wearing a sword and other accoutrements) put a damper on my enthusiasm. Around the same time, due to a miscommunication with the headquarters of Paul Twitchell’s neo-Sikh Eckankar (an Americanized form of Ṣūrat Śābda Yoga), I was unsuccessful in becoming a member of that organization. In later years, however, I was initiated into three other Ṣūrat Śābda Yoga groups. Some insight into the spiritual stature of Gurū Nānak was provided in a letter by the National Spiritual Assembly (NSA) of the Baháʾís of India, dated July 7, 1986, to the State Baháʾí Council of Punjāb. That NSA received a letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated October 27, 1985. According to the House of Justice, Gurū Nānak was endowed with a “saintly character.” Moreover, he “was inspired to reconcile the religions of Hinduism and Islam, the followers of which religions had been in violent conflict.” Therefore, the House of Justice further explained, Baháʾís view Gurū Nānak as a “saint of the highest order.” In my opinion, the Universal House of Justice, in praising Gurū Nānak, has blessed him.
  • Bulhī Šāh-i Qādrī-i Šaṭārī or Bulleh Shah (1680–1757 A.D.) was, in my opinion, the spiritual return (maʿād, معد) of Ḥaḍrat Sulṭān Bāhū.
  • Brahmarṣi Śrī Madin Kabīra Śāha, the founder of Śrī Viśva Vijñāna Vidyā Ādhyātmika Pīṭham, lived at approximately the same time as Bulleh Shah.
  • Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu (1486-1534 A.D.), to whom I am strongly attracted, was yet another leading figure in the Bhakti-Ṣūfī movement.
  • Henry A. Weil (March 30, 1909 - April 28, 1984)
  • Marian Crist Lippitt (June 30, 1897 - February 5, 1984)
  • John “Drenan” Kelley (1917-2005)
  • Ram Roy Bhaskar (May 15, 1944 – November 19, 2014)
  • Erintin (my drawing), a speculated Archangel
  • Brennan (two composites), a speculated Archangel
  • Carnival Barker (three approximate images), a speculated Archangel
  • Lucy, a speculated Archangel
  • the Judge (ʾal-Diyān), another speculated Archangel (JPEG of approximate appearance)
  • Bātrīk ʾal-Malāk (بَاترِيك المَلَاك), Pātriyk hā-Mạləʾāḵə (Hebrew, פָּטרִיק הָמַלְאָךְ), or Ángelos Patríkios (Greek, Ἄγγελος Πατρίκιος) are Patrick the Angel.
  • Zạḡəzạḡəʾēl hā-Mạləʾāḵə (Hebrew, זַגְזַגְאֵל המַלְאָךְ), divine Clearness the Angel, is Zagzagel the Angel.
  • Sawsan ʾal-Malāk (سَوْسَن المَلَاك), Šūšān hā-Mạləʾāḵə (Hebrew, שׁוֹשָׁן הָמַלְאָךְ), and Ángelos Sousánna (Greek, Ἄγγελος Σουσάννα) are Susan the Angel, the Lily. This Being visited me in a dream about keys.
  • ꞌImīliyy ʾal-Malāk (إِمِيلِيّ المَلَاك), ʾẸmiyliy hā-Mạləʾāḵə (Hebrew, אֶםִירִי הָמַלְאָךְ), or Ángelos Aimilía (Greek, Ἄγγελος Αιμιλία, Angel Emilia) is Emily the Angel. This Being visited me in a dream about keys.
  • Dave Failows
  • John Charles Daly, 1914-1991.
  • Henrietta “Emogene” Martin Hoagg (biography), September 27, 1869 - December 15, 1945
  • Uncle Dave
  • Auxiliary Board Member Eunice Braun (March 15, 1915 - August 24, 2007)
  • Hand of the Cause of God Zikrullah Khadem (Ḏikru̹llāh H̱ādim, Arabic for Remembrance of God, Servant or Eunich), January 1, 1904 - November 13, 1986
  • Anna Hall
  • Aunt Hannah
  • President Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969). We never met face to face.
  • Rouhieh★ (Rūḥīyah, Arabic for spiritual) McComb (born, Musette Montana Jones), born in New York on April 23, 1904 and died in Hillsborough, FL, on August 1, 1987, told me that she met ʿAbduʾl-Bahá at least 19 times in 1912 (early photo), and that He always spoke to her in English. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, she explained to me, gave Rouhieh rock candy and rose water which, He said, would give her laughter. As she noted, she always giggled.
  • Donald “Don” Kinney: He was the son of Edward (Saffa★/Ṣafāˁ, Arabic for purity or serenity) Kinney and Carrie (Vaffa★/Vafāˁ, Persianized Arabic for faithfulness, loyalty, or certitude) Kinney, pillars of the Baháʾí Faith (‘Abdu’l-Bahá photographed with family). Don was only a baby when he saw ʿAbduʾl-Bahá. Therefore, Don told me, understandably, that he did not remember the experience(s).
  • Ismail Siahpoosh (ꞌIsmāʿīl, Arabized Hebrew for the Almighty God hears, with Siyāhpūš, Persian for clad or covered/pūš in black/siyāh), December 28, 1919 - March 7, 2010
  • Betty J. Bulloch, Ph.D., sociologist (September 11, 1948 - August 11, 2008)
  • Jo (Josephine) Nichols
  • Ronald J. “Ronnie” Furnari (born, June 16, 1947; died, May 26, 2005, in Woodmere, NY)
  • Gerald Light, twentieth-century paranormal researcher and writer (Los Angeles). We never met face to face.
  • St. Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), the wonderful Roman Catholic mystic
  • Joel Bernstein, my Hebrew school teacher

★a name bestowed by His blessed Presence ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or ʿAbd ʾul-Bahāˁ (1844-1921), Arabic for Servant or Slave of the Glory or Splendor

Copyright 2013-2014 Mark A. Foster, Ph.D. All rights reserved.