4:17pm Monday 12th October 2009
By Nicky Findley
IT wasn’t so long ago that if you stood up and said you believed in angels there was a good chance you’d be whisked away by the men in white coats.
But not any more. Guardian angels are now big business and according to latest figures, 38 per cent of us believe in them.
If you put the word “angel” into the Amazon website you will be faced with a flood of books on the subject.
TV presenter Gloria Hunniford is hosting a new series called Angels during which she will explore the growing phenomenon.
For the 69-year-old presenter, it was the tragic death of her daughter Caron from cancer in 2004 which cemented her belief.
“I may not believe in winged apparitions but I do believe in God and that I will see Caron again. If she ever saw a stray white feather she would say that it was an angel’s calling card; now if I see one I think of it as her calling card.”
Jacky Newcomb, known as the Angel Lady, who has worked with Gloria Hunniford, is coming to Bournemouth on Thursday to talk about her experiences at a charity event for the Youth Cancer Trust.
The 47-year-old author, who has written two books on the subject – both of which were Sunday Times best sellers – believes we all have guardian angels or spirit guides.
She says her first experience of an angel was when she was five years old and got into difficulties in the sea while on holiday on the Isle of Wight.
“It would be fantastic to say a 20ft angel came to my rescue but it wasn’t like that at all,” she laughs.
“But I did feel a presence and I heard a voice say ‘you can drown if you want to or we can help you back to shore’. I couldn’t swim at the time and I didn’t learn to swim until many years afterwards but suddenly I was being helped back to the shore and as I got out of the water I noticed my swimming aid, an inflatable ring, had no air in it.
“I was aware something strange had happened at the time but it wasn’t until I was watching a TV programme about angels some 30 years later that the memory came flooding back.”
Jacky originally started by compiling people’s supernatural experiences for a book. She now runs workshops and is a regular magazine columnist.
But Jacky says she’s not a psychic – more a sort of supernatural experiences agony aunt.
“I also work with grief counsellors and nurses and talk to them about the phenomenon because they encounter it all the time.
“Even if they don’t personally believe it, it’s important for them to understand how it works. The healing aspect is of most interest to me.
“Most people encounter angels in a dream – but it’s so different to a normal dream and the details are very strong and the messages always very similar – I still love you, I’m still here for you.
“They are not meant to frighten us. The purpose is to help us to move on for whatever reason, because it is important that we do move on from grief, that we continue to live in the fullest sense of the word.”
Jacky says she has no fear of dying.
“It can be easy to write it off as a coincidence but I’ve encountered so many of these experiences and people are often told information in these visitations that they didn’t know about in advance.
“There has got to be something in it – I absolutely believe that there is.”
Although she says she isn’t religious, she does believe in God. “I did a radio interview with a vicar, rabbi and a priest and they were fabulous – we found a lot of common ground. Many religious figures have understanding of this phenomenon.”
Jacky receives hundreds of emails, letters and messages from around the world every week and she replies to them all personally.
Jacky Newcomb will be at the Heathlands Hotel on Thursday October 15. Tickets cost £12.50 – all proceeds to the Youth Cancer Trust. Doors open at 6pm. Contact Hazel Wilson on 07940 039938.
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