When Lorna Byrne was a child, people often noticed that she did not seem to be focussing on the world around her. That is because Lorna saw not just the world around her but, equally vividly, angels and spirits, too. For many years she assumed everyone saw the same. Now, as Lorna tells the story of her life, we meet, as she did, the creatures from the spirit worlds who also inhabit our own, mostly angels of an astonishing beauty and variety - including the prophet Elijah and an Archangel - but also the spirits of people who have died. Angels in My Hair, the compelling autobiography of a modern day mystic, may also help you remember times in your past when Angels have helped you. Recognising these events, even in hindsight, explains Lorna, can offer powerful support when we face challenges in our life.

334pp, 128mm x 196mm, softback, 2009

Extract
I have been given visions on many occasions throughout my life. When I was about ten I was out in the fields walking along the river and the angels said, 'Just up here we are going to meet Elijah.'

'Who's Elijah'' I asked. I laughed at the name Elijah; I had never heard it before and I thought it sounded lovely.

The angels weren't laughing, though.

'Elijah is going to show you something, Lorna, you must try to remember, because this is part of your future.'

An angel walked towards me across the river from the far bank. It's hard to describe him; he was a rusty colour - that rusty, amber colour which has a little red in it - and absolutely beautiful. He seemed to shine and his clothes were long, draping over him as his sleeves did over his hands, and yet, when he raised his arms, the long sleeves seemed to roll back so gracefully, as if they were a part of him. Elijah's face even seemed to be that same rusty colour.

I was fascinated to see Elijah walking on the river; he was coming towards me, but his feet were not touching the water.

'Can I do that, too'' I asked. He just laughed at me.

The ground was uneven on the river bank, with big tufts of grass. Elijah invited me to sit down then sat beside me and smiled. 'I'm gald to see you are not nervous of me,' he said.

'No, they told me you were coming,' I replied.

As I looked around I realised that all the angels that were usually with me had disappeared except my guardian angel.

'Where have they all gone'' I said.

'They have gone away for a while,' he said. 'Now, I'm going to hold your hand, Lorna.' He held out his hand to me and I put my hand in his, and all I can say is, it was as if my hand got lost in his, as if my hand became part of his hand. 'I don't want you to feel afraid,' he said, 'because there is nothing to be afraid of. This is something that you can look forward to when you grow up; something that will happen to you.'

'Why do I need to know it now'' I said.

He didn't answer my question and instead said, 'You will see someone and we will tell you about this person you are seeing.'

Then, it was as if a curtain was pulled back and I was watching this big huge screen in the middle of the river in front of me. In the vision I could see a pathway surrounded by trees; I seemed to be sitting at the far end of the pathway, and I could see a figure in the distance starting to walk through the trees along the path. I looked at Elijah beside me and said, 'I can't see very well.'

'Keep watching!' he replied.

As the figure got closer, I could see it was an extremely tall young man with red hair. He was very, very handsome, as far as I could make out. Then Elijah started talking again. 'You can see him quite clearly now.'

I turned to the angel sitting beside me and nodded.

'Keep looking,' he said. 'We want you to remember what he looks like. We won't show you any more, but what I need to tell you is that this will be the young man that you will marry. You will recognise him from this vision the first time that you see him, many years from now - you have to grow up first!'

I smiled and giggled at the idea of being in love, or married, and asked Elijah, 'Is he big like that now''

'No,' Elijah replied, 'he is only a young boy, too, a few years older than you are.' Elijah continued talking, 'You will be very happy with him - he will love you and you will love him. You will have ups and downs, good times and not so good times. You will have healthy children and they will all be very special, too, but you will end up looking after him and God won't leave him with you forever. You won't grow old together.'

I turned and looked at him and said, 'What do you mean, Elijah, 'looking after him'''

'His health won't be the best,' Elijah replied, 'God will take him one day, when he is still quite young.'

'I really don't want to know that,' I said.

But Elijah continued, 'Lorna, don't get cross, we just want you to remember. We're preparing you for the future, preparing you to be strong. Think of all the love and happiness that you'll have. Just look at how handsome he is, you said so yourself.'

I looked again and I could see him, and I said, 'Yes, he's nice.'

Then the vision was gone and Elijah asked, 'Will you remember that''

'Yes,' I replied, 'I will remember, and I understand that he won't be staying with me forever, and that I will have to look after him.'

I turned around to Elijah and, despite my young age, said, 'I will be strong.'

Elijah took my hand again; we got up and he walked with me. After a little while he stopped and said, 'Don't think too much about this now: just put it to the back of your mind, you will recognise it the day it happens.'

Then Elijah was gone and, of course, the vision did happen one day, some years later. In the process of writing this book, I asked my angels for more information about Elijah, and I was told that Elijah was an Old Testament prophet - a man with the soul of an angel.

From Angels in my Hair, £2008 by Lorna Byrne, published by The Random House Group Ltd.