Lorraine Pace
While out walking his dog one summer’s day John Payne met an angel. “It was an ethereal bright golden image, a bit like a shadow embossed on air,” says Payne of his encounter. “The angel was very tall, about 3m, and while no words were spoken I heard a message: ‘You are loved.’ I felt as if it had put its hand inside my heart. There was a feeling of great bliss and tears rolled off my face.”
And, yes, the angel had wings.
The angel encounter was closely followed by an out-of-body experience. “I was running a bath and as I stepped into it I found myself in a tunnel with light at its end. There I met a being who had answers to the questions I had, answers that have profoundly changed my life. From wondering if there was a God I moved to knowing there is one. It was like crossing a chasm. I felt as if I had spent about 10 minutes away but when I came back the bath water was icy and two hours had passed. The shock was so great that I threw up.”
Payne is no stranger to strange experiences. He comes from a long line of psychics on the paternal side of his family, but because of what he describes as a “challenging childhood”, he suppressed this aspect of his persona and put religion on hold until his late 20s.
“I don’t have anything special,” he says. “It’s innate in everybody. If anything, my intuition is just more highly developed than most.”
Cynics and detractors are shrugged off lightly. “I often come up against Bible-bashers but as I grew up in a staunchly religious home I know the scriptures. People are taken aback that I’m able to give as good as I get. Sometimes it even sets them thinking and questioning their beliefs.”
With the dawn of the new millennium, New Age beliefs seem very much in place and the demand for channelling, or speaking to angels, seems strong. Payne has his own website, has made controversial appearances on radio and television in South Africa and abroad, and uses his gift to teach others how to get in touch with their own guardian angels or guides.
Books have been written about the meaning of life but according to Omni, Payne’s spirit guide, the purpose of life is that life should be lived. It’s that simple and, perhaps, profound. Payne works in Holland, where he is based, as well as Germany, the United States and South Africa. “I have other countries on my wish list, but I’m kept more than busy with private counselling and workshops. Sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed by the demand.
“This is not about getting in touch with the dead. I think when someone has died we should leave them alone and let them be where they are. People don’t check on beings that make contact and tend to believe it must be so-and-so because the being is able to describe something accurately. But these beings are able to read an auric field – the sphere of light that surrounds each person – and draw on your memories and describe them to you.”
Nor, it seems, is it about possession. “I channel Omni, who is a being of light and a teacher. I use meditation to put my own thoughts and ego to one side and to make room for Omni. When I’m channelling I feel a bit like I’m half-asleep and dreaming. We are both present at the same time and it’s a companionship, very far from a possession. As I’m as much a sovereign being as Omni he cannot come through me and speak unless I give permission. There are times when Omni drops hints but if it doesn’t suit me – if I’m really tired or it’s inconvenient – I ignore him and he goes away. I use the word ‘he’ very loosely as Omni has no gender. Omni is beyond polarity.”
Speaking to angels is big business. Hot on the heels of Payne’s visit is that by a British medium, Diana Cooper, who claims archangels have retreats at specific geographical points here on earth. It seems people can astral-travel – the soul leaves the body while remaining connected to it – to these places for specific types of spiritual healing. The numbers that have attended Cooper and Payne’s workshops and talks have been so high that both intend returning to South Africa. Cooper is due back early next year, while Payne will be back in Johannesburg next month.
How does one know if any of this is the real thing? “Look for a teacher who is professional,” advises Payne. “If a teacher or being uses words like must, should, ought, don’t do or do, then it is about control and I would say that one should be cautious. Also beware of flattery or criticism. The spirit world is much like human society and has different levels. Guides are about spiritual growth through teaching, and not about passing on information about other people. Use your intuition and trust your gut feel.”