By Whitney Hopler

Light has significant spiritual meanings associated with both angels and miracles. Angels often appear as beings of light, and they use lights electromagnetic energy when traveling to and from Earth and heaven. Miraculous events, such as apparitions, often feature light appearing in supernatural ways.

A Symbol of Life and Love

Light plays a foundational role in creation. Many creation stories say that God created light before anything else. For example, the Bible famously records in Genesis 1:3 that on the first day of creation: God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Ever since God made light, energy from light has fueled life on our planet. Earths ecosystem depends on light from the sun, as plants use sunlight to make food for themselves in their leaves, while animals and people higher up the food chain get energy from plants.

So, spiritually, light is sometimes a symbol of life that comes from a loving creator who cares for creation.

Just as all living things on Earth need sunlight to grow physically, people need the light of loving relationships with the creator God to grow spiritually.

Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals who is famous for his reverence for all of creation, wrote a prayer praising God for the sun and its light: Praise be to God for all his creatures, and especially our brother the sun who brings us the day and brings us the light. How beautiful he is! How splendid! Oh, God, he reminds us of you.

Angels, whom Muslims believe are made of light, love people with a pure love that comes from God. As Gods messengers, angels constantly deliver Gods messages of loving encouragement to people.

Light appearing during a miracle often indicates that God is at work in the situation, lovingly caring for the people whom he is blessing in a miraculous way (such as by answering a prayer in ways that wouldnt be possible without his intervention). Miraculous apparitions also make use of light, and may feature spectacular, supernatural light effects.

A Symbol of Wisdom

Light is often associated with wisdom. The word enlighten means to give knowledge or understanding (especially spiritual insights) to someone. When people are inspired by new creative ideas, they speak about a light bulb turning on for them. If theyve gained a better perspective on a situation, they say that they can look at it in a new light. Spiritually, light stands for truth from the good side of the spiritual realm overcoming lies from the evil side of the spiritual realm. People who are spiritually enlightened have the wisdom to choose truth over deception in their everyday lives.

People often use prayer and meditation tools that have to do with light such as candles and crystals when communicating with angels, because angels radiate electromagnetic energy just as light does. A system of angel colors, which corresponds to differently colored light rays in the electromagnetic spectrum, matches angels whose energy vibrates at certain frequencies to light rays that vibrate at those same frequencies. Some people seeking wisdom and help from the angels about different issues in their lives use it to connect with angels specializing in different types of missions. One ray in particular red focuses the most on wisdom, and is led by Uriel, the archangel of wisdom.

The worlds major religious texts use light as a symbol for wisdom, encouraging readers to develop closer relationships with God to light their spiritual paths through the darkness of a fallen, sinful world. Just as light reflects off mirrors to help people see themselves, faithful people can engage in spiritual reflection to see the state of their souls, motivating them to seek more spiritual wisdom. The process of God giving wisdom to those who seek it is a miraculous one, since it changes people for the better in profound ways.

A Symbol of Hope

Light is also a spiritual symbol of hope. In many of the worlds religions, light signifies salvation from the darkness of sin. Believers gain confidence from knowing that letting their light of faith shine in a dark world can bring about real change for the better in their lives. The faithful often light candles when praying for hope to create change in situations that seem hopeless.

Several major religious holidays use light to celebrate the power of spiritual hope. On Christmas, Christians decorate with electric lights to symbolize Jesus Christ as the light of the world, the savior. During Diwali, Hindus celebrate the hope of spiritual victories through fireworks displays and candles. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah celebrates the hope that the Jewish people derived from the ancient Hanukkah miracle of lights.

Light overpowers darkness in the physical realm, since the photons in light can dispel darkness but darkness cannot dispel light. This principle can be seen simply by entering a dark room and turning on a flashlight there. The light will be visible in the midst of the darkness even if theres just a small amount of light in a great amount of darkness. This same principle applies spiritually, as the light of hope is always stronger than the darkness of discouragement and despair.

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