Angel Stories - 1 Year Anniversary | Chapter 1

A collection of encounters from others on mysterious encounters & interactions from the spirit realm.

It’s my 1 year anniversary on substack! :)

Can you believe it’s been a year since we began this journey?

Last summer, I began a journey of sharing about my interactions with angels and of opening up my journals, putting the pages here for others to read. I started sharing because my mentor and my guardian angels had all become insistent that what I was being given was not just for me. These experiences were meant to help others too. “It’s time to share now, Willow,” they told me.

Stepping out was a challenge. I had to work through a lot of my own baggage before I was ready. What I found here surprised me, in the best of ways. I’ve met friends, found others who talk to trees, dragon spirits, or angels. Even better… they talk about this type of thing like it’s normal. :) And I’ve also heard some wonderful stories from some of my readers.

I thought I was sharing so that I could give a gift to humanity… But I’m becoming suspicious that in doing so I’m also receiving one as well - the gift of friendship and healing.

For the first time in my life, I am finding a place where my words are met with open hearts.

So today, let’s celebrate by doing something a little different.

I want to ask if you might also be willing to open your journal pages and share your own angel stories?

Perhaps, it’s a tale about the wolf who appeared when you were lost in the woods as a child, who guided you home. Or the time where you should have drowned but didn’t… Maybe a mysterious woman helped you during a hard time, and their presence stayed with you in a way that is hard to put into words...

I believe the “other side” encounters all of us. So today I want to hear how you experience the realm beyond the veil…

To begin the conversation,

I’ve asked several of my substack friends and acquaintances if they have any stories to share. The pile of stories that has found its way into my inbox since then is both breathtaking and inspiring… So much so that I’ve turned this piece into a 2-part series. Part 2 will release next week, on Thursday August 20 2026. If you’re not already a subscriber, click the button so that part 2 will arrive in your inbox.

In it, I’ll be sharing more stories from friends, along with one of my own mysterious encounters with a man who seemed more than human…

Then, I’ll be opening up the comments for you, the reader, to add your story to the circle.

I’m looking forward to reading your own journal pages! The campfire is lit, let the stories begin…

-Willow from Interviewing Angels

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Angel in a Racoon Coat

by Zihna Augustine DHM, PH.D.

I was 13 and coming home from a dancing class Christmas party in Minneapolis. I was kind of poor and the other girls in class were rather rich, so I was embarrassed at my old winter clothes. I chose to wear my summer raincoat, regular shoes, no boots because mine were rubber and ugly, no hat or gloves. In other words, I was very under-dressed for a Minnesota winter. Vanity and embarrassment, I guess.

As I was waiting at the bus stop a very tall man appeared wearing a full length raccoon coat and hat. This was the mid 60's and no one dressed that way back then. We talked a bit as I waited for the bus and he commented that I looked cold. I was shivering so badly my teeth were chattering. He opened his coat and said, “Here...I will keep you warm until the bus comes.”

So, I was wrapped inside his coat with only my face showing. We talked about mundane things and then the bus arrived. I thanked him and got on the bus.

Well, the bus driver knew me and went ballistic about me being wrapped in this man’s coat, and did he try any funny stuff, etc.. Then said how he was going to have to talk to my parents about how dangerous that had been. I just told him he had done nothing but keep me warm and turned to wave good bye...

And the man was nowhere to be seen. The street was empty in all directions and I had a good view from up high on the bus.

He just disappeared. It was then I knew this strangely dressed man was not a man, but an angel. To take care of a foolish young girl and prevent her from getting frostbite.

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White Light

By Caroline Olivia

"During the pandemic, I started going down the spiritual rabbit hole. I had always believed in angels, even before I had anything I could point to as proof. There had been moments throughout my life when I somehow knew I was being divinely protected, so believing in them had always felt natural to me.

Around that time, I was planning a trip to Sedona to meet with a shaman for the first time. I was excited about going, but I hated the thought of leaving my cat, Jericho. He had become especially clingy during the pandemic because I was home with him all the time. A few days before the trip, I started speaking to Archangel Ariel out loud. She is known as the angel who watches over animals and nature. I would simply say, “Thank you, Archangel Ariel, for watching over Jericho while I’m gone. Thank you for keeping him happy, healthy, and safe.” I only said it once or twice over the course of two days. I wasn’t doing a ritual or expecting anything to happen. I was just asking for help and trusting that I had been heard.

One night, I went to bed and fell asleep quickly. About two hours later, I suddenly woke up because an incredibly bright white light was shining directly into my eyes. The strange thing was that my eyes were still closed.

The light was so bright that my eyelids started fluttering open on their own. I remember squeezing them shut because I didn’t want to lose the experience. I knew that if I opened my eyes, the moment might disappear. I wasn’t afraid. I immediately knew I was looking at an angel.

There were no words and no physical form that I could see. There was simply a calm, comforting knowing that my message had been received and that Jericho would be protected. The entire experience only lasted a few seconds. Then the light disappeared, but it didn’t simply fade away. It sounded almost like a machine powering down, as though the light itself had been switched off. I know that sounds unusual, and it’s still difficult to put that part into words. But the sound was distinct, and I have never forgotten it.

I already believed in angels before that night. I had also experienced something with my spirit guides not long before, which is another story entirely. But this felt like a direct response to something I had asked for. It was a confirmation that I had been heard.

The encounter lasted only seconds, but it changed something in me permanently. I no longer simply had faith that angels existed. I knew.

GPS Assist - Angel Style

by Alma Drake

I was driving home with my son one very foggy night. I asked him to help me look for the 44th Street sign, because it was pea soup and there are no landmarks in suburbia. As soon as s I said “44th” I heard a voice in my head say “31st,” which we were just coming to. I slowed down to make the turn and a car going probably 50mph (in a 25 zone) came flying out of the fog on 31st. It would have creamed us and my son very likely would no longer be with us. I am grateful for that voice every day.

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Traveling Companions

by Lori Knox

I believe in angels and my story is with my grandmother coming over from Sweden. She came through Ellis Island. She told me she came across on a steamer ship. When she got off at Ellis Island, she needed to take a train across country to where my aunt lived in San Francisco. Mind you, she was a 16-year-old girl from Sweden and spoke no English. This was in the early 1900s.

She met a couple on the train that happened to be fluent in Swedish and they helped her get across country to San Francisco. When she exited the train, she told her sister “oh my God you’ll never believe, I met this couple and they got me all the way across country and helped me because I do not speak English”.

She said it was the couple that was right behind me exiting the train. Her sister said “there was no one right behind you”. So I believe that they were real, but they were angels and when they were not needed to get my grandma to her sister’s house in San Francisco they were gone.

I truly believe in angels, I know they’re here. They protect us from evil and they’re sent by God for that reason.

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The Golden Guide

by The Paranormal Geek

I had settled into meditation the way I always did—slow breath, still body, eyes closed, letting the noise of the day fall away piece by piece. After a while, that familiar quiet took over, the kind that feels almost like drifting just beneath the surface of sleep, but still aware.
At first, there was only darkness.
Soft. Empty. Peaceful.
Then something changed.
It wasn’t a sound or a thought—it was like the darkness itself shifted, like something was forming inside it. And suddenly, without warning, I saw a face.
Just a face—nothing else.
It appeared right in front of me, close enough that it felt impossible to ignore. Not imagined in the vague way thoughts usually are, but vivid—sharp, detailed, undeniably present.
His eyes were the first thing that hit me.
Gold.
Not just a color, but something deeper—alive, intense, almost glowing from within. They felt like they were looking directly into me, not at my body, but at something deeper, something internal.
His hair was gold too, framing his face like strands of light. And his skin had this subtle golden sheen to it, like it reflected a light I couldn’t see anywhere else. The whole image felt radiant, almost otherworldly.
And yet, it wasn’t peaceful.
It startled me.

The moment I realized I wasn’t just imagining something random—that this felt real, like it had intention—I panicked. A surge of fear shot through me, sudden and uncontrollable. My chest tightened, my heart lurched, and I physically jumped, breaking out of my meditative state.
My eyes snapped open.
The room was exactly the same. Quiet. Empty. No presence, no face—nothing but the ordinary world staring back at me.

But inside, nothing felt ordinary anymore.
My heart was racing. My hands felt slightly shaky. And even though the image was gone, it was burned into my mind—the golden eyes, the calm but intense expression, the feeling that it hadn’t just been my imagination playing tricks.
Sitting there, trying to steady my breathing, the fear slowly gave way to something else.
Curiosity.

Because underneath the shock, there was something I couldn’t ignore—it didn’t feel hostile. It didn’t feel threatening. If anything, the intensity felt purposeful… focused.

And the thought slipped in, almost quietly:
What if that wasn’t random?
What if it was something—or someone—trying to reach me?
The idea stayed with me long after my breathing slowed back down. Even as the room returned to normal, the experience didn’t fade like a dream usually would.
If anything, it felt like the beginning of something I didn’t fully understand yet.
And a part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that I hadn’t imagined him at all… but that I had been seen.

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And now, dear reader, it is your turn to share… If you have a mysterious encounter, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

I’d also love to hear what struck a chord with you from these encounters.

What gave you chills or perhaps evoked a feeling of déjà vu?

In what mysterious ways have you felt the mysterious brush up against your own life?

See you in the comments! :)

-Willow

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If you have a friend who is drawn to the mysterious, share this piece with them.

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Further Reading

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New here?

What if it were possible to have conversations with angels and other spiritual beings? What would they say? What questions would we find ourselves asking them? What if we could pour ourselves a beverage and listen to someone interview them on a podcast or YouTube channel?

These writings are perhaps a glimpse into that very idea. Here I share journal excerpts from my own conversations with angels, I call these experiences “dives…”

Allow me to introduce you to:

• Marcus & Akiemba, my two guardian angels who are my primary spiritual “tutors.”

• A water dragon named Emerald, who has chosen to live near my home.

• Storm, a human who happens to be my amazing husband. :)

Continue reading…