Autistic Seers Are Seeing Angels. What They Reveal About the Spirit Realm

An ever-growing number of young men and women with autism are describing seeing into the spiritual world.

Their physical senses allow them to see and hear events. Cody’s story is typical of these many accounts, so we will start with the subject of angels.

All of the autistic seers (we call them ‘spellers’ since they communicate by spelling words on a letterboard or keyboard) we work with claim to see angels; it is a regular and normal part of their daily life. But their descriptions vary in ways. Some report figures of light, while others see more detail in what looks like a body. Most say that an angel does not have an obvious identifiable sex, neither male or female. They are another order of creation that transcends those details.

Further, sometimes the figures have wings and sometimes not. But their description of what angels do is very consistent. As well, angels speak—sometimes quite a bit. But they always exalt and worship Jesus and follow His instructions. As well, they protect people, especially from demonic spirits.

Houston gives this description of angels he says he has seen in Heaven:

As for angels, they minister to praise Savior. They have layers of wings that fly while some surround Him to witness and worship. “Savior, Lord, King, Good WORD, that’s who you are!” That’s what they sing as they praise him. Hope, thanks, and mercy flow with the music. The praise wears crowns that greet God with gladness. It would house the world to give every angel a room. Of all the angels there are mainly pretty ones that you would imagine, not with wings but more like us. Then there are perfect winged angels that would startle you with their greatness.

Cody’s first hint of seeing into the spiritual world came during a spelling session when he mentioned that angels were in the room. Marissa and I looked at each other in surprise and started asking for details.

Did he realize that others in the room did not see angels? Yes, he answered. At first, he thought everyone could as well but then figured out quickly that other people did not see what he did. The surprise grew as we learned that three other spellers with non-speaking autism saw the same things and described the same types of spiritual events. The story kept expanding as we met more people and heard additional accounts of these experiences.

An early conversation with Cody went like this:

Marissa (M): Do you see spirits?

Cody (C): Yes, all around, angels and demons. M: All the time?

C: Right now there are angels here.

M: Do you know you can see things that we can’t? C: Yes.

Glori (G): Even though you see the angels and demonic spirits, how do you feel?

C: I feel peace.

M: Do they fight?

C: Yes, they fight. They are strong. Angels are stronger than demons. The angels fight the demons.

In another conversation, Cody said: M: Is there an angel here?

C: Yes, by Marissa’s arm.

M: Does the angel look like a man or woman? C: Neither?

Pastor Doug (D): Just a special being from God?

C: He looks like light.

M: Could you draw a picture?

C: I don’t know––it would be hard to capture. D: Great way to articulate your thoughts.

C: I like words. Thank you Doug.

Shortly after this discussion, Cody wanted to speak further about angels and what he sees around him.

Joe (J): Do you have anything for us (who don’t see angels)? Anything that you want to share?

C: Yes, they are beautiful. M: Do they have wings? C: Yes.

J: What size are they?

C: They are bigger than us.

Marissa (M): Do you remember the first time you saw an angel? C: Yes.

M: Can you tell me about it? C: I was two.

M: Tell us more about that? C: I was in my (crib).

G: Did the angel say anything to you in your (crib)?

C: That I was going to be okay, that they would be with me.

Angels and Incense

Our spellers engage the spiritual world with their bodily senses, and it appears that all of their senses are involved—including their sense of smell. Here is how we became aware of this unusual detail.

The subject came up when another speller, Mathew, asked me about incense. It happened during a session when he spelled this unusual message: “Marissa’s angel says its incense (is) to protect us. It is very strong. Amareth … I want to know more about incense and what it does.” The curious reference caught my attention.

I began by researching “amareth” and discovered there is a group of plants called “amaranth.” A type of incense is made from the plant by Russian Orthodox monks at their monastery in the mountains of West Virginia.

What Mathew spelled was slightly different but a reasonable spelling variation of an actual type of incense. I decided to ask the other spellers whether they also smelled anything like incense. Elsa told me she smells incense “when (angels and demons) are fighting … it has a strong smell.”

Elsa asked me to explain why incense was present, and I gave her my best guess. She replied, “You have a lot of knowledge about angels. I may not understand everything all the time but I understand Marissa has angels fighting.”

On another day, I asked Cody the same question. It was a day when he was observing many angels also “protecting Marissa.” Here is part of that conversation:

Joe (J): Can you point to where (the angels) are? Cody (C): All around us.

J: Is this the most you’ve ever seen?

C: Yes, I usually see only one or two … J: Do you ever smell incense?

C: Sometimes the angels smell strong.

J: Do you know the name of the incense?

C: No. All of them are different, so I can’t say.

At first, the idea of being able to smell in a spiritual dimension struck me as very odd. I was just getting used to the idea of Cody and others seeing and hearing angels, but smelling incense? I wondered if there were helpful examples in the Bible. It turns out there are occasions in Scripture where people used their sense of taste while in a vision or in a spiritual dimension. One is Ezekiel 3:1-3 (ESV), where the prophet has a vision:

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

There is a similar reference at Revelation 10:8-9 (ESV):

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

If a prophet’s sense of taste and feel (he touched the scroll) worked during a vision, smell is no greater wonder. It may be as simple as this: people experiencing a vision or viewing of the spiritual dimension where angels reside can engage all their five senses. But what do we make of the smell of incense?

Incense is actually mentioned 120 times in the Bible, 116 of which are in the Old Testament. Incense was a prominent part of worship in the Tabernacle (see Exodus 30:7-8) and later in Temple worship. Its presence in the Tabernacle was particularly interesting, since God told Moses that all the details there represented the actual scene in Heaven. We learn more about this in Hebrews 8:5 (ESV):

They [the previously mentioned details about the Tabernacle] serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”

The Scriptures tell us that incense is indeed found in Heaven, and more than that, it is associated with the ministry of angels! It is also associated with the prayers of the saints that rise up before the throne of God. Revelation 5:8 (ESV) describes such a scene in Heaven:

And when he [the Lamb] had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

The idea is found in the Old Testament as well: “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” (Psalm 141:2 ESV).

* * * * * *

The reality of smell has gone further than incense. Houston’s mom wrote to share this on what he is able to sense. Here are Houston’s words:

Today is the first time church smelled like Jesus. (What does Jesus smell like?) So wonderful it’s hard to explain. His mercy smells like water and roses. His justice is better than our justice which smells like plasma. His justice smells like iron. Love is there now. His love smells like flowers on the breeze of spring, so sweet you can taste it. This is what I smelled— the salt and sweet of His presence… His holiness is there too. It smells like ice and fire.

I won’t even try to unwrap that mystery and will return instead to our spellers and the idea of incense. As the events in the spelling ministry became better known, more people started praying for the ministry. Prayer increased especially for Marissa, who appears to be at the center of much of the spiritual warfare.

As more people prayed, the spellers reported seeing more angels around Marissa. With the increase of angels and spiritual warfare, the scent of incense became stronger to them. The connection between prayer and incense, illustrated in Revelation, is consistent with what the spellers have experienced. But what exactly do our spellers see angels doing?

I go into more detail on angels, demons, and the spirit realm in my book, Decoding Cody: Secrets of the Spectrum from People with Autism Who See, Hear, and Smell in the Unseen Realm.