What are Devas?

The word deva comes from the Sanskrit language, meaning "a being of brilliant light" and is used to indicate a non-physical being. We are using the word deva here as a general name for both nature spirits and angelic beings.

How did devas come into being? It is said that in the beginning, when earth solidified and the physical life forms were formed, the devas were so far behind in evolution that they could not form physical bodies.

Consciousness of the devas is directed to expansion in contrast to our consciousness that is focused and limited by the form of the human body. Devas are always conscious of their cosmic environment, and want to become ever more conscious of that what they encompass. Devic beings want to be, while physical beings want to do. Devic beings concentrate creating, while physical beings want to develop.

Devas have an instinctive knowledge, they do not have to acquire knowledge like we do. The have instinctive knowledge of cosmic patterns, relationships, and harmonies.

They do not have form as we understand form in the physical world. In their, astral, realm they are like fluidic open vortexes of cosmic consciousness. When people are able to perceive them, they often will take a form extracted from the human mind. Thus we will see them in a more or less human form, but in essence they are only vortexes of energies.

They have memory and learn from past experiences. They are conscious of the archetypes of the field in which they work. They react to and improve their work according to the physical influences on the life forms with which they work. They are only interested in their own field of work. For example, the deva of the oak trees is only interested in the growth of oak trees, a landscape deva is only interested in the life forms of that landscape, a healing deva only works with healing energies. It is therefore useless to ask a oak tree deva how to heal a human body. Devas are only knowledgeable in their own particular field.

Working with devas is of a mutual benefit. Devas acquire experience of focused consciousness and action, while humans can learn to surrender to the silence of the devic consciousness and its sensitivity to cosmic influences. Devas are always willing to help people.

Many people have tried to classify and name the numerous nature spirits, but one has to understand that there are many, many forms of nature spirits, and one form blends over into another. On top of that their names are not consistent among the authors who classified them. But what does it matter, the most important thing, is that you have an idea of what they are and what they do.

If you are really interested in working with nature spirits, one recommended book is the Nature Spirits and Elemental Beings by Marko Pogacnik, available from Findhorn Press.