Lorna Byrne

Lorna Byrne (born 25 March 1955) is an Irish author and peace ambassador.^[1] She is best known for her bestselling memoir, Angels in My Hair (2008). A Message of Hope from the Angels (2012) and Love from Heaven (2014) debuted at No. 1 on the UK Sunday Times Book Chart.^[2] Her books have been translated into 30 languages and published in over 50 countries.^[3] Byrne says that she sees angels and spirits physically on a continuous basis. She has been featured in many media outlets, including the BBC,^[4] CNN,^[5] The Economist,^[6] The Observer,^[7] and the Daily Telegraph.^[8]

Biography

Early life

Byrne was born in Dublin, and grew up in poverty in the Dublin suburbs of Kilmainham and Ballymun. She states that she has seen angels since she was a baby. She was diagnosed as "retarded" when very young.^[9] Her education was also affected by dyslexia.

Marriage and children

Byrne married Joe in 1976. Their married life was spent near Maynooth, in Co. Meath. They had four children. Joe was often in poor health, and died in 2000.

Public life

Byrne began to write about seeing angels after the death of her husband. She states that she had been told in the past that she would write about them.

Writing

Angels in My Hair is a memoir of her early and married life. Stairways to Heaven (2010) is a memoir of life after the death of her husband, including the story of writing her first book and becoming a public figure. She states that it contains many details of how angels work in the world. A Message of Hope from the Angels is about the importance of hope "in these challenging times".^[10] Love from Heaven introduced the topic of what she sees as a lack of love in the world today, and discusses the importance of loving oneself. She also stated for the first time that she sees the force of love as she does angels.

Byrne is also a blogger for The Huffington Post.^[11]

Travel and peace work

Since becoming a well-known author, Byrne has engaged in book tours, and has spoken in other contexts to many public audiences across Europe and the United States.

She has travelled repeatedly to the United States, a country she believes is pivotal in the future of the world. In 2011, Byrne expressed her support for Occupy Wall Street.^[12] In 2014, she attended the UN Climate Summit and the People's Climate March. In 2014 and 2015, much of her work has been devoted to fostering unity between Sunni and Shia Muslims in America, which Byrne believes is important in influencing American foreign policy in the Middle East. In February 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams joined Byrne at the Sufi Mosque at Tribeca for a prayer event for unity among Muslims.

Media appearances in the United States have included a 2012 interview on CNN, and interviews in 2010 and 2012 on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.^[13][14]

She states that the war in Syria has the potential to spread, and poses a great danger to the rest of the world. She has organised a day of prayer for peace in Syria.

Byrne has raised money in public-speaking events for the Irish charities Childline and A Partnership with Africa.^[15]

Views and beliefs

Byrne says that she sees physically and communicates with angels on a day-to-day basis:

I have no idea why I can see them and others can’t. I am dyslectic and uneducated and have never read a book.^[16]

She most strongly emphasises, and is best known to the public for saying, that everyone regardless of belief has a guardian angel, who loves the person they protect, and can be asked for help. The guardian angel can "let in" other angels to help the person in their life:

I see them as physically as I see someone standing in front of me. I have never seen anyone without a guardian angel. I see them with people of all religions and none, with people who are good and bad, with people who believe in angels and with those who don’t. I understand that for some people it’s hard to believe that there could be such a thing as an angel, or even that I can see angels. I can't prove the existence of angels, or that I see them. I wish I could. All I can do is tell you what I see and am told and then leave it up to you.^[17]

Some of the angels Byrne has written about talking to are those of the Abrahamic religious traditions: for example, Michael, Gabriel, and Elijah.

In Love from Heaven, she stated that most people lock the love they have inside them. She wrote that it is vital to love oneself, and that one is unable to love others if one does not love oneself.^[18]

Byrne states that all religions have access to God, and no person should think theirs better than the others.^[19]

Reception

Reaction to Byrne’s statement that she sees angels and spirits has been varied, ranging from scepticism and disbelief to endorsement.

In 2009, Tariq Ramadan recommended Angels in My Hair in Foreign Policy.^[20] In 2014, Byrne met and was endorsed by the theologian Matthew Fox. John L. Esposito, the Professor of International Relations and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, said, "A Message of Hope from the Angels offers a message of hope that speaks to the crises and everyday problems that many struggle with in today’s world."^[21] John Carty, an endorphin release therapist, said Byrne’s ability to see energy in the human body has helped him in his work.^[22]

Michael Alper, author of The "God" Part of the Brain, said in 2012, "Either a) she actually believes it, or b) she is a complete charlatan. There is no option c) – that she would be talking to angels. Human beings are simply genetically predisposed to believe in some kind of spiritual reality."^[23]

Books

• 2008 Angels in my Hair. London: Century. ISBN 1-84-605177-0
• 2010 Stairways to Heaven. London: Coronet. ISBN 1-44-470603-9
• 2012 A Message of Hope from the Angels. London: Coronet. ISBN 1-44-472987-X
• 2014 Love from Heaven. London: Coronet. ISBN 1-44-478632-6

References

External links

Official website
Byrne's blog for The Huffington Post