"An extraordinary, intelligent book"

For over five years, Emma Heathcote-James has been researching a phenomenon that has not, as yet, been studied seriously. Hundreds of British people have claimed to have experienced visions of angels. These people are not crazy new-age loonies, but ordinary people from all walks of life, from professionals to prisoners to children. Emma Heathcote-James is a 24-year-old theology graduate researching for a PhD into contemporary experiences of angels. Her findings are groundbreaking and unique, and include the first 350 fascinating case histories she researched.

The reader is left to decide whether these are mere hallucinations or if they are significant manifestations of something more significant.The weight of evidence may well lead you to adjust the way you have previously considered the supernatural.

Whilst swimming, a man was caught in a rip current and dragged far out to sea. An athletic man strode into the water and swam calmly through the rough waves and, on reaching the troubled swimmer, reached out to him and gently pulled him back to shore. He then disappeared. Those on the beach watching the distressed swimmer never even saw the other man...For the past three years, Emma Heathcote-James has been researching a phenomenon that has not, as yet, been studied seriously. Hundreds of British people have claimed to have experienced visions of angels. These people are not crazy new-age loonies, but ordinary people from all walks of life, from professionals to prisoners to children. Emma Heathcote-James is a 24-year-old theology graduate who is researching for PhD into contemporary experiences of angels. Her findings are groundbreaking and unique, and include more than fifty fascinating case histories.

Emma's university doctoral research was the first academic study into contemporary angelic experiences and assessed such experiences and attitudes in the U.K. A BBC Everyman documentary was made around her work and she has since featured heavily in the media talking about the angel findings and about her subsequent books - After Death Communication and They Walk Among Us, both also exploring others spiritual and numinous experiences.

During the last few years increasing numbers of people have been and are claiming to have had angel encounters, thus leading to what many social observers are terming the "Angel Phenomena". According to Time magazine, 69% of American people believe in angels and a staggering 46% feel they have a guardian angel. One might ask why this is, some attributed it to millennium fever, others to the fact that a large percentage of Generation X has grown up with no religious faith and that such enigmatic experiences are simply the manifestation of people's need for spiritual fulfilment. However, the 69% consists of Americans who believe this ? and I am asking the question: Are British attitudes much the same? I wondered if a study in the UK would yield the same sort of results so I put article?s and adverts in the local press and religious newsletters asking for people to write with their experiences. This soon caught the imagination of the national media and I was fortunate to get articles in many papers, magazines, radio and TV programmes. As a result, data was collected through a self-selectory response to this and with over 1000 written testimonies from UK residents who believe they have had some kind of angelic encounter I have analysed the results and the vast selection of experiences related.

It soon became aware that people from all cultures, backgrounds and faiths were relating the same types of experience, so it has a multi-faith and cross cultural element.There is also a chapter exploring the experiences in the blind and partially sighted, along with a chapter on altered states of consciousness (namely twilight experiences) and the "sensed presence".

Born in Birmingham in 1977, Emma was educated at Edgbaston High School for Girls where her interests in the phenomenon of religion became apparent. This led to a degree in Theology at The University of Birmingham and research and findings from her undergraduate studies in religious experience turned into a Masters degree and then the PhD research from which this, her first book "Seeing Angels" arose.

In her University days Emma has presented papers at various conferences and journals as well as having contributed to numerous international and national TV and Radio programmes on the subject of religion. A BBC Everyman programme was dedicated to her PhD research and she has been a guest on Radio 4's Womens Hour, BBC World and Radio 2's Johnny Walker's show on several occassions.

Emma's main interests lie in the field of anthropology of religion and the psychology behind why people belive in the things they do. She is intrigued by visions and expereinces and has a vast and unparalled database of first hand contemporary testimonies. She has researched numinous experious having studied stigmata, alien encounters, simulacrums, visions of angels, Jesus, the BVM and other alleged miracles across the world.

Emma moved into the area of Religious Broadcasting straight after her degree and still works in the media with recent credits include ITV's Star Lives, Soap Star Lives, a commissioned film for Carlton and Ch. 4's Perfect Match, two award winning short films and has since moved into Assistant Directing on feature films.

2007-03-30 Inspiring and beautiful

This is an unusual book in that most books on angels and spirits are written by people who subscribe wholeheartedly to Spiritism or Spiritualism (whichever you prefer to call it) and declare their faith in an afterlife, a spirit world adn the presence of angels. This book is different because it was written by a sceptic as part of her PhD thesis on angel visions and experiences. What I liked about this was that the author never tries to get you to believe that everything in her book is real - she simply presents the stories and leaves it up to you to decide what the experiences were.
This book is the culmination of 4 years' work on ordinary people's experiences of angels. Members of the public were encouraged to send their stories to the author as part of her doctoral study. For the most part then, this book includes a wide selection of these angel stories.
Bearing in mind that this is based on a PhD thesis, the book starts in a fairly academic style with a thorough explanation of the research proposal and teh manner in which data was collected but it is far from boring and helps contextualise the stories that follow.
The stories themselves are broken down into various sections - for example: Angel Visions/Experiences at time of death (of loved ones); Angel Visions in the Blind; Angel Warnings etc etc and are told in the same words as were submitted (i.e. the author did not edit or change them to fit in with her work). I found some of the stories a bit eerie but at the same time, I found all of them exceptionally inspiring, beautiful and really comforting. It's a very nice book to settle down with at night after a hard day and know that whatever you go through in your life, whether it be good or bad or just plain trying, you are not alone and that someone is definitely looking after you. It's also a book that will make you think abuot your own life and perhaps get you thinking about the experiences that you have had, that you know really did happen, adn yet you can't explain...
For those people that don't like or are afraid of anything to do with mainstream religion, this book does not do that - it is totally impartial to any faith and simply presents the stories as they were submitted. It is entirely left to the reader to interpret them as they will.
Another bonus point is that the study was done in England and the stories are exclusively from British sources which I find refreshing - i have read so many books written by Americans on their experiences, I wanted something I could really relate to.
A fascinating read and one that you will come back to time and time again.