Mind, body & soul: There must be an angel?

Near death experiences, depression and tragedy ... two women tell Gráinne McCarry how they found help from a most unusual source

Thursday, January 31, 2008

When I gave birth to my daughter Constance I haemorrhaged badly and had to have an emergency Caesarean. I almost died in the operating theatre and had an out-of-body experience. The first person I saw was my granny. She was almost luminous but I knew it was her. I was 12 years old when she died and I was holding her hand as she passed away. I've always believed that someone comes back and takes you when it is your time to go.

I asked her could I go with her and she said 'No, it's not your time.' When I woke up I saw my new baby Constance.

I had post-natal depression afterwards, but through my faith and the support of my mother I got through it. I went on to have two miscarriages and it was after my second one that I got into angels in a big way.

I suppose I was looking for answers as to 'why me?' I needed to know what happened the babies' spirits, where their souls went. I drew comfort from the fact that my children went on to become someone's guardian angel.

When my marriage broke up five years ago, I got deeper into angelology. I went to workshops which helped me heal inside and taught me not to be bitter about my experiences. They taught me that things happen in life for a reason. You can only learn from them. There are things that happen to you in life that you cannot move on from, you simply move up. No matter what happens, everyone has the power to heal and healing comes from the heart. If you hate it creates negative energy and, at the end of the day, the only person who gets hurt is you.

I see angels as a gift from God and anything that comes from God is good. Angels are messengers from God. Once a week I go to the Holy Trinity Church in the Turf Lodge, Belfast, to meditate. As a beautician, everyone comes to me to get pampered. Going to church is my time out for the week, my 'me' time. It leaves me feeling very uplifted.

In this day and age, with such a high rate of suicide, I think it's important to reach out to others so that they know they are not alone. No matter how lonely you feel, there is always someone there for you and someone looking out for you. If people realised that they weren't on their own in life, it would help them a bit.

People need to start paying more attention to their inner psychic, to what their conscience is telling them. It's the difference between right and wrong. For example, if you're driving home from work and something tells you to take a different route you should. For some reason, you weren't supposed to take that road home. You know you've been touched by angels.

During the Troubles, my grandmother had a great devotion to St Michael the Archangel. She prayed to him for the strength and courage to get through the bad times. People clung to their religion, their faith, to try and get them through the dark days. They needed to believe that the bad times would come to an end.

Angels are omni-present. There are different things I look out for, sometimes I find feathers. You could be walking down the street on your darkest day and see feathers on the footpath. To me, it is a sign that the angels are watching over me. Maybe a stranger will say hello or smile at you, they could be an angel. They come in all shapes and forms and can come in ways that you are not expecting.

We all walk with angels and I draw strength and comfort from them. I've always believed in my guardian angel and I always prayed to them."

Jacky Newcomb, also known as The Angel Lady, is a best-selling English author on angels and the afterlife. Her sixth book, An Angel Held My Hand, is out now. She says:

When I was five years old I got into difficulty while swimming out at sea on holiday with my family on the Isle of Wight. I was a non-swimmer and I was using an inflatable ring. I remember even at that young age a thought entering my mind that I was going to die.

I felt a presence, a presence with a voice, giving me the choice whether to live or die. I chose to live. I felt that whatever the presence was I was somehow being assisted back to the shore.

I couldn't understand what had happened to me and when I got back to shore I realised that all the air had gone out of the inflatable ring. I remember getting up out of the water and thinking maybe I had just learned to swim.

The incident went totally out of my mind for years until some time ago when I watched the TV show This Morning when it was presented by Richard and Judy. They had a guest on talking about angels and it was fascinating.

I had a flashback of my experience on the beach. It all came flooding back. Their guest was Diana Cooper, a woman who is extremely well known for her work with angels and her books. I went out and bought her book. The more I read and researched the more I became gripped by this whole phenomenon of afterlife experiences.

At that time the internet was in its infancy and my husband brought home his computer from work so that I could research other people's experiences of angels. There was a lot of content on the internet from America and he suggested that I set up a website here for people to get in touch with me and share their experiences. I did that and hundreds starting writing to me from all over the world. There was obviously a need out there and they started asking me questions - they were looking for explanations for their own experiences. I found that it was usually after a trauma or incident in a person's life that they turned to angels for comfort or guidance. Their loved one may have come to them in a dream and said 'I'm ok, I've made it safely to the other side, I want you to stop worrying about me.'

People tell me that when this happens to them they feel a sense of relief - it's only then that they can move on with their life.

I never for a minute thought I'd make a career out of it - I was an ordinary housewife with a husband and two children. While I was writing my first book I wasn't earning any money and my husband, who was very supportive, did say to me, 'When are you going to get a proper job?' as it was taking up all of my time. But, I felt that I had to do this - it has now became my life's mission.

I decided to write articles for magazines and I was given a column in a magazine called It's Fate, from the publishers of Chat, and they called me The Angel Lady.

That's what I became known as, a type of paranormal agony aunt if you like.

I suppose my family were a bit embarrassed in the beginning. I think if people don't understand something they begin to wonder what exactly it is you are dabbling in.

Although my parents were supportive, I think they were concerned their friends would think I was a bit strange to choose this as a career. Then they discovered that some of their friends had actually bought my book and not made the connection that I was their daughter!

It was only when my dad saw me on This Morning with Fern and Phillip that he realised how big the whole thing actually was and now he's my biggest fan."

An Angel Held My Hand, Jacky Newcomb, Harper Collins, £6.99