The concert hall at the RDS was buzzing and filled to capacity for Lorna Byrne's first live public interview in Ireland since the runaway success of her first book 'Angels In My Hair' 2008, with sales approaching 300,000 copies, and now being translated into several other languages. My angel was there, Ann Ingle, who had provided the tickets for me and my other angel, Noreen, who came with me. Noreen, from Kerry, has had a lifelong interest in angels. I had read almost half of the book up to chapter 15 : The Power of Prayer, in preparation, and had previously believed that your angels were actually people who you met, who significantly acted as helpers along your life path.
By way of introduction, Lorna addressed the crowd, saying we were brightly coloured and radiant, being accompanied, as each of us were, by our guardian angels. She also told us, that when she entered the venue beforehand, she had seen angels dusting every seat in the empty hall, in preparation for the talk. Roisin then commenced the interview, which really led itself, as Lorna, though very gentle and unassuming, has a lot to say about her constant witness to the existence of angels. As a child, she had been a 'late talker' as she was always talking to her angels and distracted by them, and they had told her that she must, for the time being, keep it to herself. At school, she was a slow learner, and diagnosed as dyslexic.
Entrusted with this great secret, and misjudged by most as being stupid, her early years were highly unusual. However, her angels reassured her all the time, telling her how she had been chosen to accept this gift, and that one day she would write about it. That time has come with 'Angels In My Hair' published two years ago. She is currently in the process of writing her second book. All I can say from my reading so far, is that 'Angels In My Hair' is enchanting, comforting and simple, and serves to jog many memories from my own childhood, which I consider as an enormous favour. It seemed also that everyone in the hall had been greatly touched and assisted by the book.
Roisin Ingle first asked the main question, how does she respond to cynics? The simple answer to this was, that she has been doubted and ridiculed, but because of her seeing angels all the time, she is certain that they exist and is confident to state it. It seems that she has an important message for us, and that it is her duty to help others. Her next book will serve to describe the metaphysical realm, or what is the afterlife.
The audience had a lot of questions, which Lorna took on squarely and as honestly as she was able. She could not respond to questions that she had not yet herself asked. Asked what exactly is an angel? She said that they do have wings, can come in different guises, wearing different kinds of clothing, and that they emit light. She has never seen anyone who didn't have one.
They serve to remind us to do the right thing, and they are very nagging in their reminders. They can cause us to have happy accidents, such as getting lost or taking the long way home, which might avert catastrophe – you've heard of people who did not make it to work at the twin towers on September 11 – or we might meet someone significant, or perceive an opportunity, that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Angels communicate with each other, so if we want to help someone, we can ask our guardian angel to talk to theirs. Our angels have a name, that is, the same as our name, or the name we most like and identify with. They nag us, and we have to nag them over and over, if we want something. That is, they persevere, and likewise, we have to persevere with them.
I know all this sounds unbelievable, and it is highly unusual material. It seems that Lorna's writing has come to remind us that there is something more than the mundane.We have souls, and souls are the most beautiful, and can shift us even more than angels can. Angels are here to remind us of that fact. St. Therese talked about the 'little way', and angels are here to point out the importance of small details. They serve to remind us that life is beautiful, and worth living. When we refuse to listen to them, that is the curse of free will, and Lorna said a few times that she nearly wishes we didn't have it, because some of our choices are so misguided.
When asked for the second time, had she seen heaven, she said that she had, and that it was indescribable, so beautiful that you want not to ever come back. There is also a hell, and she believes in the existence of the devil, who also has helpers. This explains great cruelty and the evils of war. Lorna practises the Catholic religion, as it is the one she was raised in. But angels are there to help everyone, no matter what their belief. She believes in God, and finds it convenient to talk about a God. She mentioned that it is a good idea to keep holy, or blessed, water in the house.
The Q & A lasted nearly an hour, and there were many very personal and sensitive questions, which Lorna handled appropriately, in a very sensitive way. She said that if we thought we had seen something, that we would ourselves know it's meaning for us. It's true that loved ones who are deceased can come back to help us, or just to drop in and say hello. She believes that when someone passes on, there is definite possibility to meet souls on the other side who we have known. There are a lot of why's. Why, above all, all the complication? Well, life is not simple, it is supposed to be interesting, and comes to us as a challenge.
At the end of the two hours, filled with Lorna's honesty and experience, I felt that we had been privy to something extraordinary and of massive importance. Noreen was pleased that it was an Irishwoman, originally from Kilmainham in Dublin city, who had been blessed with this gift.