that draws angels.
True Stories
Another thread linking all the stories in this book is that they are all real-life stories based on fact, not fantasy. The first chapter outlines some of my own experiences, both in childhood and later in life. You’ll see that even though I was born into a family of psychics and Spiritualists, and am in no doubt today that angels are real because I have encountered them both in my work and in my personal life, when I was a child I didn’t see, hear or sense them. In fact it took quite a while for me to trust in angels and there have been many doubts and fears along the way.
I feel it is important for you to understand some of what I have experienced over the years and how this has brought me to where I am today. Although amazing things have happened to me, and I hope they will continue to happen as nothing gives me more joy and happiness, I’m not a medium, a psychic, an angel lady or a guru. I’m a very ordinary 44-year-old mum with two children–my son is eleven and my daughter is nine–and although some of the things I have experienced have been a direct result of my work as a paranormal writer, other things have simply happened. This has led me to believe that we are all born with the ability to see, hear and sense angels, and although many of us lose our sensitivity over the years, there are ways for us to reawaken and reclaim it. I guess what I am trying to say here is that by sharing some of my psychic journey with you, I hope you will see that anyone, however sceptical and whatever their age, background, doubts and fears, can have the profound connection with angels that is their birthright.
The rest of the book is a collection of true stories sent to me by people whose lives have been touched by angels in some way. These people come from all walks of life. Some, but by no means all, had a deep faith in angels before their angelic encounter, or were devoted to a particular religion (angelic spirits of goodness appear in most of the world’s religions), but others did not describe themselves as religious in any way. Like so many people today they believed in something, but were not quite sure what. And there were those who believed in nothing at all.
The first few chapters focus exclusively on stories concerning babies, born and unborn, and very young children. Then the following chapters move on to stories about teenagers and adults encountering healing angels, or angels that intervened during times of crisis or danger, or angels that spoke to them through animals, dreams, signs or spectacular coincidences. Some of these stories were sent to me in response to my previous angel books, but others have been collected over the 25 years I have been researching and writing features, books and encyclopaedias about spirits, ghosts, angels, dreams and the psychic world. Everyone who contributed to this book, either by submitting a story or by allowing me to interview them, has touched me deeply with their truth and integrity. I am extremely grateful to everyone and if you can’t find your story here I do apologize, it is simply because space would not allow. I do feel incredibly privileged to be given permission to share these experiences with a wider audience.
The Power of Conviction
I’ve lost count of the number of times people have told me that there is always a perfectly rational explanation for encounters with the world of spirit. One of the most popular of these so-called explanations is that angels live only in a person’s imagination. At first I expended a lot of energy trying to prove that angels were real. I would stress that angelic encounters had been recorded and illustrated in almost every culture for thousands of years. I would point to the vast number of angel stories I had gathered from around the world–after all, in a court of law a witness statement is taken as evidence. I would try everything I could think of, but it soon became clear that I was wasting my energy. At the end of the day angels are spiritual beings and their existence cannot be proved in a rational way to those who have closed their hearts and minds to their existence. Basically it all comes down to belief, and to those who believe, either because they have an affinity with the message of love angels bring or because their lives have been touched by angels in some way, no proof is needed. No explanation will ever have the power of their conviction.
Some of the stories you will read in this book are profound. Others will make you smile and others may make you shed a tear. Some will send a chill down your spine, others will amaze and astound you and even stretch your belief, but let me again reassure you that to the best of my knowledge every one is true. Although in some cases grammatical and editorial changes have been made, and names, dates and other personal details have been changed to protect the identity of those who wished it, all of these stories are the real deal. They demonstrate the myriad different ways that angelic encounters can transform people’s lives and they all bring simple messages of hope, comfort and love and the reassurance that loved ones who have passed on are never far away.
Whether you have had an angelic experience yourself or not, I hope that reading these incredible stories about people whose lives have been transformed by angels, as mine has been and continues to be, will remind you that we are all spiritual beings. We are all born with intuition and psychic potential. I hope these stories will encourage you to listen more to your intuition and to laugh, love, open your heart and live your life to the full like a child again. I hope they will make you laugh, or cry, because every time a person is moved in some way by reading an angel story, angels fly closer to Earth, bringing with them their pure unselfish joy, love and laughter.
So, if you feel ready, prepare to be amazed and inspired by the stories in this book. As with my previous two angel books, working on it has renewed my connection to the realm of spirit and opened my eyes to new possibilities. It is my sincere wish that it will do the same for you by showing you that ordinary people like you and me can open their doors and their minds and their hearts to let in laughter, love and angels, and can see this world and the next through the bright eyes of a child.
Chapter 1
Growing up Again
‘When we are willing to live as adults in childlike spiritual surrender, we are nurtured and cared for so sweetly.’
Karen Goldman
I’d love to be able to say at this point that I saw angels when I was a child, but sadly that simply wasn’t the case. Sure, I was born into a family of psychics and Spiritualists and always believed angels were close by, because that is what I was taught to believe at an early age, but I wasn’t one of those children who levitated in my cot, had nightly chats with angels or saw dead people in the playground. I didn’t even have an imaginary friend! I was incredibly shy as a child and perhaps overly serious. I didn’t trust my imagination or intuition at all. Creative writing lessons in class were pure torture. Obsessed with lists and chores and ‘to dos’, I never allowed myself much time to play or dream. It was only much later in life that I learned the importance of balancing doing with dreaming.
One of my first memories–I must have been three or four–is taking everything out of the food cupboard and putting it back in colour-coordinated order, much to my mother’s dismay when she found out later. Perhaps I unconsciously chose the role of the organizer and the practical, level-headed one in our family as some kind of counterbalance because I grew up in a rather alternative family where talk of angels was commonplace and nothing was ever planned or seemed certain. We were constantly on the move, never staying in one place long enough to put down firm roots. My dad was disabled and we lived on Mum’s meagre earnings as a psychic counsellor and there were often days when we really didn’t know whether we’d be able to afford food, let alone pay the bills. My mum was never worried, as she always believed that angels would provide–and they did, as somehow we always had a roof over our heads and food to eat–but as a child I worried endlessly about the haphazard, unpractical nature of our lifestyle.
Falling Down
Despite being ‘the practical and sensible one’, I desperately wanted to be psychic and to see and sense things like my mother and brother, so I read books, attended meetings and meditated for hours. Nothing worked. It was like bashing my head against a brick wall. Although I was smart, developing psychic gifts was one challenge that hard work and discipline simply couldn’t help me with. Inside I felt disappointed with myself. School was hard for me, as fitting in with the crowd didn’t come naturally. Gradually I lost confidence in myself and self-doubt took over. Then around the age of 12 my world crumbled