Last night I went to hear Lorna Byrne, author of the best selling book ‘Angels in my Hair’ talk about her life as a ‘mystic’.
Twelve people I know also bought tickets and when we got together after the event not one of us agreed on whether or not,or how much, we believed Lorna’s claims that she had been convening with the angels since she was a baby. The only thing there was a general consensus on was that we were afraid to damn her as a charlatan in case what she claimed was true. We were scared to offend the Angels that Lorna claimed were teeming around, above and below us.
The woman’s knees were visibly knocking as she stood centre stage last night. A pleasant, mild mannered person she was both inarticulate and very short on information about what the Angels look like and what say and do. Even though she claims to have been in communication with them for over forty years.
And yet, should her lack of sophistication in the delivery of the message make me doubt it’s truth or sincerity? Or trust it even more so ?
Her claims that she sees Angels everywhere and they give her constant messages and instructions are almost too daft to invent. And if she was a liar surely she would do a better job by speaking clearly, coherently and having prepared answers for the most obvious of questions, at least. But Lorna didn’t, she stumbled through the session and said “I don’t know” countless times when pressed for explanations.
At least a hundred people had their hands up to try and speak to Lorna in the post talk Q&A session, including me. I am ashamed of my question so am partly relieved that I didn’t get to ask it in public. It was”What are you doing with the rivers of cash flowing your way from film rights and book sales.Have the Angels indicated that any of it should go to charitable causes?”
I saw her too last night and am torn between thinking she’s a total fake or that she’s God’s messenger on earth. She made me feel mad, made me sigh, smile and meade me angry and totally confused all in an hour. I’m going to keep my eyes and ears peeled for some angels as if she can hear and see them, why not me?
I wasn’t there but, thanks to the wonders of YouTube and Google, have watched her interview on The Late, Late Show and read some forum chatter.
My first thought is that she’s harmless and probably brings a lot of comfort to people (60% of Americans apparently firmly believe in angels, while 80% of them are open to the idea).
What really makes me warm to her is that, because her philosophy is spiritual rather than religious, she has managed to piss off fundamentalist Christians with her dangerously unorthodox views. You go, girl.
You’re right Pauline , by pitching herself as a ‘mystic’ she has sidestepped many faith arguments but whipped up a thinking/talking storm. A lot of the questioning at Piccadilly on Monday centred on whether Lorna thought that by focussing on angels she was making Jesus and the Holy Spirit ‘redundant’!
Anna May