Divine Encounters Episode 104 | Near-Death Experience Story
Lorna Byrne says she died on the day her baby son died, and that she went with him through what she calls a spiral staircase lined with angels before an angel told her she could not go any further. In this Divine Encounters episode she tells Alex Ferrari about that loss, a second experience as a girl in surgery, and the angels she says have taught her to love.
Key Takeaways
- Lorna says angels told her beforehand that God would take her baby home to heaven at his birth, and that the birth would come early.
- She describes dying the same day and holding her baby in her arms as she went through what she calls a spiral staircase rather than a tunnel.
- She says the way was lined with angels, and was full of light, love, peace and calm, with no fear.
- She says an angel stood in front of her, said she could not go further, and gently took her baby from her arms.
- She describes a second experience between ages 12 and 14, during surgery, in which her guardian angel took her to a heavenly playground.
- She says she did not want to return either time, and heard the voice of God tell her to go back.
- Her message: you are loved, you have a soul, and there is more to life.
| Guest | Lorna Byrne |
| Episode | Divine Encounters 104 |
| What Lorna says happened | She died on the day her baby son died; a second time, as a girl, her heart stopped during surgery |
| Age at the time | Adult mother (first); between 12 and 14 (second) |
| Where she says she went | A spiral staircase lined with angels; later a heavenly playground |
| Who she met | Angels, her guardian angel, and the voice of God |
| Why she returned | She was told she had to go back |
| The message | You are loved, you have a soul, and there is more to life |
The Day Her Baby Died
Alex opens with his usual question, and Lorna answers it with the moment she calls the most memorable of her life. She says she died when her baby died, at the same time. The angels had told her beforehand, she says, that God was going to take her baby home to heaven at his birth, and that the birth would come early.
This is a tender story. If you have lost a child, please read it gently, and know you can stop at any time. Lorna tells it with a sense of peace, and she says that peace is what she most wants others to know about.
The Spiral Staircase
On that day, Lorna says, she went with her baby. She went through what everyone calls the tunnel, though she says, “I call it the spiral staircase,” because it winds around. She was holding her baby in her arms, and in her soul. “It was like I was where I was meant to be,” she says, and the place was “so full of light and love.”
She says it always is, because it is lined with angels, and the light comes from them. She could see other souls on the same journey as hers, and she says there was such peace and calmness. There was no fear and no anxiety of any kind. For a plain-language overview of the tunnel and other common features, see our complete guide to near-death experiences.
An Angel in Front of Her
Then an angel stood in front of her. Lorna describes the angel as beautiful and often uses the word Snow White for it, but she explains that it is not our kind of white. It is “whiter than snow, whiter than anything else,” and full of light and life.
The angel told her she could not go any further. She says the angel told her she should not have come with her baby, that she was not meant to, and that she had to go back. Lorna did not want to go back. But she knew she would have to, and she asked what she would say.
She remembers looking at her little baby boy in her arms. He was smiling at her, his eyes were beautiful, and he was perfect and full of light. God, she says, was telling her she had to go back. At the same time, almost, because she says time does not exist there, the angel held out her arms and took the baby, ever so gently. Then Lorna had to go back.
A Second Time, as a Girl
Lorna says there have been other experiences. One happened when she was between 12 and 14, while she was having her appendix out. The doctors told her parents afterward that she had died and her heart had stopped, and that they struggled to bring her back. She says she has not yet written about this one.
She says that when they put her under, she was still very conscious. When the surgery was almost over, she simply decided to leave. Her guardian angel, she says, gently took hold of her. She turned and told the angel she was going to check on her parents, to see where they were. Her guardian angel told her they were not there. She remembers being a bit astonished for a moment. Then she left the theater, the surgical room, with her guardian angel.
The Heavenly Playground and the Swing
She says she went to heaven, and she is skipping a great deal because it would take too long. There was a fantastic playground with everything you could think of, and millions of things more. It was as if she were moving through colors, all kinds of colors. To her left she saw a swing among the colors, and the swing would turn a particular color itself, often purple, a color she loved.
She sat on the swing. She felt she could go as high as she wanted, and the swing could go all the way around, as if she were going around the world. At that time, she did not want to come back.
Her guardian angel took her hand and said, “Lorna, you will have to go back soon.” Could she hear them calling her? To her left she could see the theater. She could see the doctors and nurses, and what looked like panic: they had a child whose heart had stopped, and they were working to get it going again. She asked whether she could not stay, because she was happier there. Her angel said no, and that they should go in that direction. The angel was very gentle, she says, not pushing.
No, Lorna, You’ve Got to Go Back
At one stage her angel said it was really time. She looked down the spiral staircase to the theater. They had to get closer now. She asked whether God would not let her stay. Then she heard the voice of God say, “No, Lorna, you’ve got to go back.” And, “You’ve got to go home.” She answered that she was home. She says she always does that.
When she woke, she was in her bed. They had already taken her out of the theater, and her mother was there. She barely opened her eyes, saw her mother, and closed them again. She says it is the same each time she is sent back: she has her full faculties. She believes part of the reason is to give a message to the world.
The Message She Carries
That message, she says, is to tell people that “you are loved, that you have a soul, that there’s more to life.” Life is incredible, no matter what you think, she says. You are alive, you are meant to feel it, and you have a soul and a beautiful guardian angel helping you through.
She speaks about the intertwining of body and soul as part of evolution. Whether people say they believe or do not, she thinks that behind it they hope there is more. She says she has met presenters and newscasters who told her they did not believe, only to come running after her later to say, by the way, I believe. “We’re a spiritual being as well,” she says, and she thinks it is important for us to believe that. If you are curious about angels, the glossary has a short entry on angels, and our guide to communicating with spirit guides goes further.
Educated by Angels
Lorna says she is severely dyslexic and was written off by the people around her. She did not get a human education, she says, “I was educated by God and the angels.” She says she does not understand human beings, but she has been taught to love everything, even the most horrible person you might imagine.
As a child, she says, when someone said something hurtful and she felt hurt, the angels would say, “Lorna, they know no better.” In time, those words taught her to love you no matter what, to reach out with a helping hand whatever the rest of the world thinks. She believes that is what the soul is: compassion, hope and empathy. Without it, she says, you would not be human.
She also tells a story about God’s name. God has hundreds of names, she says, depending on the religion, and she knew she would be ridiculed. She asked what to call him. God asked, “Lorna, what do you call me?” She was annoyed, she says, at the question, and answered, God, of course. God told her that word is universal, and that anyone hearing it knows who you mean.
What She Says Angels Are Like
Lorna says God used angels to teach her because angels are considered friendly and more acceptable than the Creator itself. She says angels have a human appearance, are neither male nor female, can be one or the other or both, and sometimes dress casually like us, and other times in styles a dress designer would envy. Their eyes are gentle. She has never seen an angel angry, complaining or giving out. A guardian angel, she says, loves you unconditionally and will not give up on you.
As a child, she says, she was reminded a million times not to say certain things. If she had said an angel stood beside her mother or father, she believes she might have been put in an institution.
The Unemployed Angels
Lorna describes the first time she saw what she calls the unemployed angels, as a child. She was told to look up at the sky and saw balls of light tumbling down, very bright. Just as they reached the earth they opened up, unfolded, and became a beautiful angel.
She says these angels are not assigned to anyone, so they are free to help. Her suggestion is simple: if you think of a need, you can ask one. “They’re already dying to give you a helping hand,” she says. She says that since she began speaking of them, people around the world have been sending them to others. You do not send them only to people you know, she says. You send them to anyone you think is in need, whatever their faith. Her closing words are plain: “so live life and enjoy it.”
As always, Next Level Soul shares these accounts as lived experiences, in the person’s own words. What they mean is still debated, and nothing here is a medical claim.
Questions to Sit With
- Lorna says the angels taught her that people who hurt us know no better. Who might you extend that grace to this week?
- She says you are loved, you have a soul, and there is more to life. Which of those three is hardest for you to believe today, and why?
- If help were available just by asking, what is the small thing you might ask for?
This week, think of one person who seems to need help, and silently send them a kind thought or a request for help on their behalf. Notice how it feels to do it.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Lorna says the passage after death can be full of light, love and peace, and free of fear.
- She says angels are gentle and love unconditionally.
- She says God told her the word God is universal.
- She says the soul is compassion, hope and empathy.
- She says you can ask angels for help, and you can send them to others.
Please enjoy my conversation with Lorna Byrne.
Guest Links: Connect With Lorna Byrne
- Lorna Byrne’s official site
- Lorna Byrne on YouTube
- Lorna Byrne on Instagram
- Lorna Byrne on Facebook
- Full conversation with Lorna Byrne
Listen to the Episode
- Watch this episode ad-free on Next Level Soul TV
- Download the MP3
- More episodes: Divine Encounters
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Apple Podcasts
- Listen to Divine Encounters on Spotify
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Lorna Byrne?
Lorna Byrne is a guest who says she has seen angels since childhood and has had near-death experiences, including one on the day her baby died. She tells her story to Alex Ferrari in this Divine Encounters episode.
What happened to Lorna when her baby died?
She says she died at the same time and went with her baby through a spiral staircase lined with angels. An angel then told her she could not go further and took the baby from her arms.
Why does Lorna call it a spiral staircase?
She says what others call the tunnel winds around, so she calls it a spiral staircase. She says it is full of light and love because it is lined with angels.
What did the angel tell Lorna?
She says the angel told her she could not go any further, that she should not have come with her baby, and that she had to go back.
What happened in Lorna’s second experience?
She says that between ages 12 and 14, her heart stopped during an appendix operation. She says her guardian angel took her to a heavenly playground with a swing among colors.
Did Lorna want to return?
No, she says. Both times she did not want to come back. She says she told her guardian angel she was happier there, and she heard the voice of God say she had to go back.
What does Lorna say about God’s name?
She says God has hundreds of names depending on the religion, and that God told her the word God is universal, because anyone hearing it knows who you mean.
What are the unemployed angels?
Lorna’s name for angels she says have not been assigned to a person. She says you can ask them for help with something, and send them to anyone in need.
What does Lorna say angels look like?
She says angels have a human appearance and are neither male nor female. She says they are gentle and that she has never seen one angry.
What is Lorna’s message?
She says people are loved, have a soul, and that there is more to life.
Does Next Level Soul say a near-death experience is real?
Next Level Soul shares near-death experiences as lived experiences told in the person’s own words. Researchers continue to study and debate what they mean. Nothing here is medical advice or a medical claim.
Keep Exploring
- The complete guide to near-death experiences
- What angels are
- What spirit guides are
- A boy who died as a child and met his angels
- A teacher drowns and angels rescue her
- A woman dies and meets her spirit guides
- A woman who drowned at age two describes the afterlife
- A girl who crossed over at four years old
- Browse more free masterclasses and the Divine Encounters podcast.
Follow Along with the Transcript
Alex Ferrari 0:00
Tell me what your life was like before you died.
Lorna Byrne 0:08
I died when my baby died at the same time. That is the most memorable, because the angels had told me that God was going to take my baby home to heaven on the birth, and the birth would come early, and I died that that day, because I went with my baby, you know, I went through what everyone calls that tunnel. I call it the spiral staircase, because it goes, it goes like that, you know, it just holding my baby and my arms and my soul. You know, it was like I was where I was meant to be, and it was just so full of light and love. And it always is, because it's lined with angels with that light in that way, and even at that time, watching other souls that were on the same journey as myself with my baby, I can only say there is such peace and calmness, you know, there's such love. There's no fear or no anxiety in any way. But then an angel stood in front of me, this beautiful angel. I always use the word sometimes Snow White, because it's not a white like our white that we have. It's a white that's whiter than snow, whiter than anything else, but it's full of light. It's full of life in that way. And this angel just stood in front of me and said, I can't go any further, that I shouldn't have come with my baby. I wasn't meant to, and that I had to go back. And I didn't want to go back, but yes, I knew I would have to, and what would I say? I always just, it's like that, that love of this beautiful angel standing in front of me and looking at my little baby boy in my arms, and he's smiling at me, and his beautiful eyes, he was so perfect and so beautiful and so full of light, and God saying I had to go back, and at the same time, almost, because it's like as if you know time doesn't exist at all. And the angel putting out her hands, her arms, to take my baby, and she taking my baby ever so gently. And then I having to go back. I suppose that is the one most memorable for me. In that sense, I have had others when I was maybe between 12 and 14. I know good for time and age. In that sense, when I was having my appendix out, the doctors told my parents, I haven't written about this one yet, but told my parents that I had died and that my heart stopped, and they had to struggle to get to get me back. It's like when they put me under I was still very conscious of that. It was like when they started the surgery and they were almost finished, I just decided to leave, and they say, my guardian angel grabbed me here, and that's it, not grab but gently. And I turned around and locked up my guardian angel and just said, I'm going to check my parents. I'm going to see where my parents are. And my guardian angel said to me, they're not here. I remember, just for that moment, being a bit astonished. And I was in this in the theater, I was in in the room, and then I left. I just left, and I went with my gardening job. I went to the most fantastic playground to play in. I went to heaven. I'm skipping loads of it because it would be too long, but I went to heaven, and there was this fantastic playground. It literally had everything in it that you could possibly think of, and millions more. One thing about the playground was, how would I say it? How can I describe this? It was like as if I was going through colors, if you can imagine that colors, you know, all kinds of colors. And seeing to my left, maybe a swing, and it was in among all of the colors. And then the swing would turn to a particular color itself, sometimes purple, the colors I loved, mostly in that way. And heading over to it and sitting on the swing, and it was like as if I could go as high as I wanted, and the swing could swing around in that way. And at that time, I didn't want to come back. It wasn't the usual way the swing. It went right around. And it was like as if I was going around the world. My guardian angel took hold of my hand and said to me, Lorna, you will have to go back soon. Can you hear them calling you luck over there. It was like luck to my left, and I looked and it was like I could see the theater. I could see the doctors and the nurses. I could see what they were doing. I could see like panic. In that sense, they had a child, and the child heart had stopped, and they were working to get it going again. And I said to my guardian angel, but can I not stay here? I'm happier here, and my guardians angel saying, No, you're going to have to come back. So let's go in that direction. My guardian angel wasn't very Oh, I'm pushing you back now. My guardian angel was very gentle in that way. And then just at one stage again, my guardian angel said, it's really time. Now, it was like looking down the spiral staircase to the theater in that way. And my guardian angel just said, We've got to get closer now. And I just said, but won't God let me stay? And then I just heard the voice of God saying, No, Lorna, you've got to go back. You've got to go home. And I said, I'm home. I was I always do that. So I came back. And then when I woke up, it was like I woke up in my bed. They had already brought me out of the theater, and I was in the bed, and my mom was there. When I opened my eyes, she was there, and I remember just opening them, or barely opening them, and seeing her and closing them again each time I'm sent back. And I have my full faculties, and I guess it's to give a message to the world as well, to tell people that you are loved, that you have a soul, that there's more to life. You know life is incredible, no matter what you think you're alive, so you're meant to be feeling the life and you have the soul and this beautiful guardian angel that is helping you through life. Life is precious, and it is in the sense of you know, I talk about the intertwining of the human body and the soul that it's part of evolution. It's another step. We're all in search of everyone in the world, whether they say to you, they believe or they don't believe, or they say to you when you die, you just decay, and that's it, and there's nothing more. But yet behind it, I know that they're hoping that there is more in that way. And I have met so many people who would be no they could be TV presenters, they could be newscaster and I was talking with them. And sometimes they might say, well, they don't believe at all. But then their boss told them, whoever was in charge, they were to be really negative in that way. And then they come running out after me when I leave and say, by the way, I believe everything we want to believe. And I think it's very important for us to believe that we're not just a human being. We're a spiritual being as well. And for that intertwining, I just say it's like a flash of the body and soul coming together. We all want that to happen, because we, in a sense, want to believe there is more to life, and there is all this. I can say to you, I'm severely dyslexic. I was considered retarded. I wasn't educated humanly, but I was educated by God and the angels. So I look on all I don't understand human beings. That's my I can't figure that out in that way. But yet, I have been taught to love everything, and even the most horrible person you might believe in the world, I still love them. You know one thing the angels used to say to me when I was a child, and that was if someone said something hurtful, and I as a human child, was feeling a little hurt, they would just say to me, Lorna, they know no better. And it was only after time, how would I say in the saying those words taught me to love you no matter what, just to reach out and give you a helping hand, no matter what the rest of the world thinks of you, I still love you, and it's something very hard, but I believe that's my soul, because that's what your soul is, is that love, that's What makes you human. If your soul was taken away, you wouldn't be human that compassion or that hope or that empathy within you. Well, I think the way God uses angels is incredible, because when I eventually managed to do angels in my hair on tape, and then someone else typed typed out, one thing I would say to God, you know, I'd even say to God, what like call you? Because God has hundreds of names depending on the religion you're in, and I knew I would get ridiculed over it. I even said, you know, God, I'll get ridiculed over it. And God turned around to me and just said, Lorna, what do you call me? And I remember being so annoyed asking me the stupid question, what do I call you? You know what I call you? And I turned and looked at God, and I just said, God, of course. You know, that's the way I said it, God, of course. And the one thing that God had said that it was universal, if you use the word God, no matter what. Not believe someone has they know who you're talking about in that way. And I just love the way God used his angels with me to educate me in a different way, because angels in the world are considered, would you say, friendly most of the time, and they're more acceptable than God itself, then the Creator itself. So I love the way God had his angels teach me everything I know only for I was reminded a million times and still am today not to say certain things. You know, if I had said as a child that there was an angel beside my mom or my dad. I wouldn't be talking to you here today because they already considered me retarded. I would have been put into an institution, but they kept reminding me, and they are very beautiful. They are this incredible light. And they always give this human appearance like us, a human appearance like us. It's so perfect in that sense. And one thing I love about them is that they are neither male nor female, so they can be one or the other or both, in that sense. But one thing I do love about the angels, and that is they cannot wear any clothing, and their clothing is always, sometimes real casual like ours. They would often do that, but other times, wow, if I was a dress designer and could draw them out, we'd have all kinds of style. And their eyes are They're gentle. I never have seen an angel and get angry or anything like that, or complain or give out. They never do that. Your virgin Angel loves you unconditionally. Doesn't matter what you do, it just won't give up on you whatsoever. And then, of course, the unemployed angels, when I started to talk about them, because the first time I saw them was when I was a child, unemployed angels. I named them. I call them the unemployed, but as as a child, the first time I saw them, I was told to look up towards the sky, and I just could see these. I didn't realize they were angels, but these, what would I call, like balls of light, tumbling down, just tumbling down, and so bright. And then all of a sudden, just as they came to the earth, they opened up, they unfold it, and just this beautiful angel. And how would I say? I remember watching them as a child, but you could imagine an unemployed Angel around you, and your thought has come into your head, maybe to fix a plant, because I see you have a plant there, you know it needs some work done on it, and you reach in, well, that's where you can ask an unemployed Angel, they're already dying to give you a helping hand. And since I spoke about them, people all around the world have been sending them everywhere. And I just say, you don't just send them to people that angels. You send them to everyone, anyone that you think of is in need, and it doesn't matter what their faith is, so live life and enjoy it.
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