Angels and devils do exist. Most people don't believe in these forces of Light and darkness because they can't see them hard at work - which is like saying that the four seasons don't exist just because you've never actually seen the hand of Mother Nature pluck an autumn leaf from a branch, or gently open a field of springtime flowers.

Angels and devils are always close by. So it's vital for you to understand that Angels and devils are always hard at work around you. And this fact is no cause for fear, for while their subtle bodies are invisible, their activities are not. The forces of Good and evil can easily be seen working their ways in and through human beings; for it is within us that these levels of Light and darkness mold life on earth in their image.

Angelic forces are for you in every meaning of the word. They are for your physical health, emotional happiness, mental development, and entrance into their own Eternal, light-filled realm.

Devils want you to think that those forces which they wield are also for you. But these dark forces are always against you because devils, by their very nature, are against everything - including themselves!

Your protection from devils and their dark, deceptive ways is within your ability to recognize them as devils. This specialized power of perception comes to you first in the form of an intuitive recognition: a blend of insight and past experience. Now let's see how to call upon and consciously cultivate this important new power.

Learn to look for signs of the devil at work by staying alert and awake to where it is that devils most commonly like to delight themselves. Then, when suspecting the presence of these dark forces at work - regardless of where, or in whom, you catch such a glimpse - just learn to look upon that condition in the same manner as do the Angels on High. This means you work to meet these moments without fear, righteousness, or condemnation. Your Angelic action works just like a celestial beacon, attracting Higher Angelic forces to your side. And since Angels have complete authority over devils, not only is your complete safety assured, but so is the growth of your spiritual strength. Why? Because each time you stand up to the devil in this way, it becomes increasingly clear to you that the only power darkness has is in the absence of the Light.

Following are 15 Ways Would-Be Angels Can Recognize the Works of the Devil:

1. Angels enjoy the company of Angels, but are just as content flying alone. Devils are compelled to have other devils around them because their chief pleasure is pouncing on one another.

2. Angels hate nothing, not even devils. Devils despise Angels most of all, because the existence of Angels proves the devil's own nothingness to himself.

3. Angels know the purpose of life is to exalt the One who created their lives. Devils spend all of their time trying to figure out how to get other devils to praise them so they can believe they're self-made.

4. Angels have no fear of any dark place. Devils tremble in the Light and the dark.

5. Angels are rewarded by their acts of self-sacrifice. Devils are punished by their intention to be selfish.

6. Angels would rather die than fight over nothing. Devils have no life outside of fighting - which they do over everything and for any reason.

7. Angels never gossip. Devils like to light themselves on fire and then pull other devils into their flames so that they can dance in the searing heat with them.

8. Angels attract Angels. Devils attract devils.

9. Angels never struggle with the moment of life. Devils think that life itself is one momentous struggle.

10. Angels know that there is no real contentment to be found outside of that light which is their nature. Devils find fulfillment in their endlessly haunting wants -- which is their nature.

11. Angels endure. Devils lash out.

12. Angels let devils go their own way, for they know a devil's heart is already punishment enough. Devils are always trying to get in the way of Angels in the hopes of being able to cause them some pain.

13. Angels never try to impress other Angels with their light because they know, however bright it may be, it isn't their own. Devils delight in fanning their own flames so that they can see how many other devils they can attract with their false light.

14. Angels want you to know everything possible about them. Devils must deny their own existence.

15. Angels know that "hopeless" is nothing but a meaningless word coined by the devil. Devils won't acknowledge the uselessness of any despairing state because it helps to fill their empty lives.

Here are a few thoughts you can ponder to help you realize the answer to your questions. But always remember this: the ONLY answer that counts in our spiritual life is the one that we are, not that we "know" only with our intellect.

Consider a beam of light. It represents a scale of energies from the very "darkest" parts, i.e., low frequency, all the way to the very brightest, or highest frequency. These forces, like temperature or any created manifestation, run the complete scale of being. We cannot imagine absolute darkness, but it obviously exists, as does absolute Light. These forces create what conditions allow, as attended to by their reconciling partners or not. So, try to imagine what dark energy is and does unaccompanied by any light. If that energy has will, which these archetypal forces do, then what would be the activity of that energy -- even though (and this is important to grasp) ALL these forces are of and from our God whose nature is love?

Evil itself does exist -- but only in the worlds that permit its unreconciled life out of the Light. Evil (as we are given to know it) is primarily a creation of creation (of humankind, born of imagination) -- and is, itself, not a problem in worlds of Higher Understanding. Red-tailed horned devils live in the minds of those who are gods unto themselves.