Last modified: Saturday, September 17, 2005 11:05 PM EDT The business of angels BY GLORIA LaBOUNTY / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTH ATTLEBORO -- Images of angels permeate the life and location of Nancy Johansen. Pictures and figures adorn the walls, the furnishings and even the outdoor landscape of her North Attleboro home. They set the scene for her readings of angel cards amidst the light of angel candles and the sound of angelic music. These spiritual beings are not only in Johansen's world, she said, but walk alongside everyone through this earthly existence, waiting to help if we let them. `` Everyone has at least two angels, and sometimes more,'' she said. That sense of another presence has been with her since childhood, and has evolved into a belief and a business she pursues when not working as a registered nurse in the emergency room at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Under the name of Angeltouche, Johansen does angel readings and angel therapy as well as Reiki, tarot card readings, numerology, hypnotherapy, and energy healing. She also teaches others how to connect with their angels in classes at her home and in day-long workshops like the one she will host on Sept. 29 at the Blackinton Inn in Attleboro. `` The more people who learn to do this, the better,'' Johansen said. For her, the affinity for these spiritual beings began long ago. `` When I was a little girl, I felt I could always hear angels,'' she said. `` For me, there was no place the angels weren't home.'' They were part of the various Christian faiths she was exposed to by her parents and step-parents, and in fact are a common thread in many religions, Johansen said. She carried the interest into adulthood by learning all she could about angels, and doing readings for family and friends. Then someone asked her to take part in a psychic fair to raise money for charity, and she witnessed first-hand how angel readings gave people insight into life's path and purpose. So she learned more, and studied with Doreen Virtue of California, a psychotherapist and a nationally-known author, angel therapy practitioner and teacher. Johansen said she is now a certified clinical hypnotherapist, a Reiki master teacher, and an angel therapy practitioner. Angel therapy, she said, is simply a way of getting the angels' perspective on things. To her, these beings are the essence of pure, wonderful love. `` I believe angels are created by the supreme creator who creates all of us,'' Johansen said. `` They are meant to be our guardians.'' Humans do not become angels when they die, she said, and actually do not die at all but simply change dimensions. `` I believe we are pure energy, and the life force goes on,'' she said. `` The body is just a vehicle for this life.'' Yet angels actively help humans, said Johansen, who noted the many claims by people who say they have had angel experiences. This often happens, she said, when someone is going through a difficulty, and a stranger comes along who helps, and then is never seen again. At her readings, angels sometimes manifest themselves by taking on an airy kind of human form or shape so people can recognize them, even though they in fact are pure energy. `` I hear them. I sometimes see them,'' she said. For her readings, she lights candles and plays soothing music to help clients calm themselves and connect with their spirits. She then lays out angel oracle cards that bear an assortment of angel images, and a variety of themes like truth, balance, abundance, peace, passion, patience. Through the cards and her own intuition, Johansen said she is able to give clients a sense of what the angels are telling them. The readings, she said, offer people messages that make their lives better, and the focus, she said, is on where they have been, where they are now, and where they are going. She does not see herself as having a special ability, and sees the readings as something anyone can do. All it takes, she said, is trust in what the angels are saying, and a bit of practice. `` Our angels just want to be asked,'' Johansen said. `` When we ask them to come in and support us, it's amazing how much easier life gets.''