Archangel Michael is the most powerful, celebrated and well-known angel in history, scripture, art and literature. He and his complement, Faith, stand for protection, deliverance and faith. Working from the first ray of blue, they magnify God's power and strength. Archangel Michael uses a warrior's strength to provide protection for mankind.

When working with Archangel Michael, he shows us how to increase our ability to deal with problems. He helps us cut through all distractions, and negotiate a path to serenity. While he is a warrior, his victory is obtained with gentleness. He helps us to be as Jesus said, "wiley as a serpent and gentle as a dove."

Archangel Michael works with Archeia Faith, as power works with faith. Power is the will behind all action. Faith is the ability to know that your needs will be manifested. It is necessary to know that your actions will be successful. Without faith, action would be impossible. The active male energy of Archangel Michael is sustained by the female nurturing energy of Archeia Faith. Together they help us to manifest our greatest desires. Michael and Faith, the leading angels and rulers of the first ray, protect us from evil intentions and false illusions. They cut away all that is unreal.

The blue ray is one of three flames that reside within the secret chamber of the heart as part of the Three-fold Flame, which is central to God's divine spark and workings within us.

The blue ray is most strongly beamed down to earth on Tuesday, creating dazzling sunbeams of energetic light from the "great central sun," known to be the center of the universe, the source of all love, all healing and all growth. The angels of the first ray rule the throat chakra. Archangel Michael and Archeia Faith shine over the earth from their celestial retreat over Banff and Lake Louise in Canada, in the Temple of Faith and Protection.

Religious lore ranks Michael as the master of all angels. As an archangel, he is on the second lowest of the nine ranks of angels. Yet his leadership role is undisputed. He is called the prince, or greater lord, director of the angelic kingdom, commander of the heavenly host and the viceroy of the heavens. In Hebrew the name Michael means nothing less than "Who is God" or "Who is as God."

In the famous War in Heaven, Michael is the legendary angel who cast the rebellious Satan out of Heaven after defeating him. This is one example of how Michael plays the role of defeating evil forces. Michael is most commonly depicted in classical art with an unsheathed sword. He is also pictured as a dragon slayer. Pope Pius XII designated him the patron angel of policemen and Roman Catholics call St. Michael the patron saint of Germany, grocers, paratroopers, radiologists and the sick according to Butler in his book, Lives of the Saints.

H. C. Moolenburg, author of, A Handbook of Angels, says Michael's role as the dragon slayer is analogous to the battle between the spirit and the flesh. The dragon is the symbol for the imprisonment of matter, "the desire to give material objects lasting character." Michael tell us it is a losing proposition to try to give permanence to the temporal plane of matter. It is the ultimate windmill tilting, the worship of false idols. In short, it is heading in the opposite direction of spiritual evolution.

"Michael is thus the inexorable opponent of Satan, he who tried to make of man a materialist. The controversy between these two has lasted since the beginning of creation if we are to believe the old stories," says Moolenburg.

Moolenburg also tells a story about World War I that puts Michael's presence on earth into very material terms. During a battle between the German and the British army, the Germans were defeating the British, when suddenly the British warriors saw their fierce opponents retreating in a panicked chaos.

The British took a number of German prisoners that day. Each of the prisoners told the same story. They were firing nonstop at the English when suddenly a terrifying vision of an army loomed on the British front. The warriors were wearing white and riding spotless white horses. The Germans thought the army might be reinforcement troops sent from Morocco. But when they started attacking them with bullets, not a single man appeared to be touched. Then they noticed the army was lead by a powerful soldier capped with gold hair and a halo around his head. The Germans fled in utter terror. But the British never saw a thing. This vision was documented in both British and German annals as the miracle of the white cavalry of Ypes.

Archangel Michael is known for more than his warrior qualities. As the angel of deliverance, he announced to Mother Mary her approaching death. He was sketched by Fra Filippo Lippi as a winged angel holding a candle to the Virgin as he tells her of her impending death, according to Gustav Davidson in, A Dictionary of Angels.

In John Ronner's, Know Your Angels, Michael takes the souls of the dead to the afterlife. A gospel song, "Michael, row the boat ashore," seems to refer to Michael helping souls cross the waters from earth to Heaven.

Christians invoke St. Michael as the angel of death, in the sense of deliverance and immortality for he leads the souls of the faithful "into the eternal light," says Davidson.

Often when humans describe an experience with angels, they identify the heavenly being as Michael. Joan of Arc said Michael and other celestial spirits helped her lead the French to victory over the English in the Hundred Years War. And again, it was Michael who stayed the hand of Abraham when the patriarch was about to slay his son Isaac, though others say this was the work of Zadkiel. In Jewish mythology Moses saw the image of Michael in the burning bush.

In The Book of Adam and Eve, Michael leads the angels to the Garden of Eden to look at the newly formed creation of Adam. Satan, while still among the rank of angels, says it should be man that bows before the messengers of God. For this arrogant stance, God threw Satan and his followers out of paradise.

Later when Adam and Eve are also expelled, Michael teaches Adam to survive by farming. When Adam dies, Michael cleanses the first man's soul.

Just as Michael plays a leading role in angelic lore, so does the ray he governs hold a starring part in the Mystery Schools' theory of the enlightening fire known as the Three-fold Flame. He is power, desire and action. His crucial abilities are tempered by faith and love. In fact, every action we do, should be tempered by the same qualities of consideration and compassion.

Michael and Faith, like all angels, are able to embody a pure form of God's energy. Their blended qualities work together to lift the veil of illusion. This veil, which has fallen over man, is our fall from grace. Faith, the right use of God's will, and God's eternal protection and care, can bring us back to our original state of oneness with God.

Call upon the loving energy of Archangel Michael and Archeia Faith when you need courage to achieve success in any venture, or are in need of strength and protection from adversity. They will cut away the veil of illusion or negativity that surrounds you.

If you feel a special desire to wear blue, or are attracted in general to this color, you may naturally operate on the first ray and feel a kinship with Michael and Faith. You operate at your maximum potential by using the qualities of faith, will, power, and protection. Just as everyone is suited to a particular style, job, spouse etcetera, each of us has one or more archangel that will be of special help to us. Many policemen, for example, will be attracted to the qualities of Michael and Faith. Who is a better policeman, proudly and honorably wearing the blue uniform, than one who is comfortable with his or her power, and who is also bound with a strong faith or belief in righteousness?