by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
New Age “angels” are becoming the hottest new trend in Ireland with so-called “angel teachers” instructing the public on how to “spread the light of angels, ascension and the sacred mysteries of the Universe.” Publishers are already fighting over the rights to publish one best-selling book on the subject in the U.S.
In an article appearing in London’s TimesOnline, “angel stores” have been opening all over Ireland to meet the growing demand for angel paraphernalia while books on and books on angels are topping the best-seller lists. Many are speculating that hard economic times and a waning interest in traditional religion is steering more and more people toward a type of “angel” that is more like a New Age ascended master than the messengers of God found in Scripture.
The problem is that many of the new “angel teachers” blur the line between the two versions.
“A lot of Irish people have always had an interest, ever since we were taught about our guardian angels as children,” said Mildred Ryan, who refers to herself as Ireland’s first official “angel teacher.”
“It’s only in the past couple of years that interest has really exploded,” she said. “The world is going through so much turmoil and people are looking for help. They want to learn how to connect to angels.”
However, when one begins to “train” in this new field, they quickly learn that the way to connect with angels is not through prayer but by learning how to “channel information with angels and ascended masters.”
One of the most popular training schools, run by Britain’s “angel expert,” Diane Cooper, teaches people “how to ascend this lifetime” and instructs them in learning about higher energies known as “the Rays, Mahatma Energy, [and the] Silver Violet Flame.”
Her website explains: “Our planet Earth is undergoing a shift in consciousness so that we can all live at a higher frequency of love, wisdom, co-operation and peace. We are incredibly blessed to be incarnated right now because the opportunities for spiritual growth are enormous. We are being offered an opportunity to create Heaven on Earth and the Angels are here to assist us.”
On the same site, Cooper also claims to have lived in Atlantis and that “almost everyone currently incarnate has had at least one incarnation in Atlantis.”
A new book on the subject, Angels in My Hair, an autobiography by Lorna Byrne, has been on the top of the Irish bestseller chart for 12 weeks. Byrne claims she has been able to see angels and other “spirits” since childhood.
“We can’t get over the interest we’ve had in Lorna’s book,” said Byrne’s agent, Jean Callanan. “We have had nine print runs already and the editors of The Da Vinci Code got into a bidding war to win the rights to sell it in America. I don’t think anyone expected this interest. But Lorna always said that the angels told her it would be a bestseller.”
In an interview with Dublin’s Independent, Byrne claims the Archangel Michael and the prophet Elijah told her at an early age who she would marry, and that her husband would die young. She also claims to have played with a little boy named Christopher when she was a child who would “spark” when she touched him. Her mother later told her Christopher was a younger sibling who had died at 10 weeks of age.
“I don’t like to call myself a psychic; I hate that word,” Byrne said. “I am afraid to say I am a healer, but I do help people physically and emotionally. A lot of people have got well.”
Even while the interview was taking place, Byrneclaimed to be seeing angels all around them.
“They are coming and going and messing around with a pen and a pad,” she told the reporter. “They are great mimics. One of them is even wearing a sun hat. They cheer me up.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of the world, but that “Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are His angels.” [CCC331] Angels are messengers of God who exist solely to praise Him and do His will.
The new age version also makes a dangerous ommission when it fails to recognize the difference between good and bad angels, thus leaving adherents open to a wide range of serious spiritual dangers.
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STUDY QUESTIONS:
1. How does the Catchism of the Catholic Church describe angels? (See No. 350 in the section on angels in the Catechism, which can be found here: http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c1p5.htm )
2. How do we know angels exist? (See No. 328)
3. How does St. Augustine distinguish between the nature of angels and their office? (See No. 329)
4. Which came first, the fall of Adam or the fall of the angels? (See No. 391 in the section on the fallen angels in the Catechism, which can be found here:
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c1p7.htm )
5. Is Satan’s power infinite? (See No. 326)
6. For personal reflection: Have you ever encountered a New Age version of angels? If so, can you now identify how this version differed from authentic Catholic teaching on the angels?
