Diana Cooper was in crisis. Her 20-year marriage was on the rocks, spelling the end of her privileged, glamorous life travelling the world with her oil executive husband.

Facing a lonely future bringing up three children single-handedly, with no work and no friends, she wondered if she could go on.

Then, in her bleakest moment, her guardian angel appeared and transformed her life.

At this, many people probably laugh aloud, incredulous. Angels such as Diana's, with wings and a golden aura, don't just appear from nowhere in front of seemingly normal, middle-aged housewives.

But even sceptics have to admit Diana's life has taken a unique and bizarre course.

After her "vision", she went from being a mother with no qualifications who had never worked, to a successful, wealthy, world-famous lecturer.

She is a neither a devotee of the David Icke school of weird thought, nor does she wear a turquoise track suit and her followers, of which there are many, seem equally down-to-earth.

A recent poll in which 72 per cent of the population said they've felt an angel's presence illustrates the popularity of the notion.

Recalling the revelation that occurred in her bleakest moment, Diana said: "I was getting divorced. It was the end of the relationship, there was nothing left. I felt completely flat and miserable.

"I threw myself into a chair and pleaded in desperation 'If there is anything out there, show me. You've got an hour'.

"That was when the angel came to me. He was about six foot tall and golden. He took me on a journey and showed me my future. We literally flew together.

"He took me to the top of a mountain and pushed me off, but I was held up by a powerful light, then there was a hall full of people covered in a rainbow aura.

"I asked him if I was in the audience, but the angel said I was on the platform talking to the crowd.

"When I opened my eyes, it was exactly an hour later and I knew something very special had happened to me."

SOME might put Diana's experience down to drink or drugs - of which she'd had neither - or, at the very least, a vivid imagination.

But she insists: "I never doubted what I had seen for one second. I started to act on it immediately."

Initially, Diana was reluctant to tell anyone about her vision until, she claims, bizarre things started happening to her.

A library book about spiritual healing fell off a shelf in front of her and the same happened with a book on hypnotherapy.

She claimed: "It was a signal that I should be in service, helping others."

Now she is a trained counsellor and psychotherapist. She continues to have "telepathic conversations" with angels, who have prompted her to write 10 books.

After another visit, this time by three angels when Diana was in the bath, they told her to introduce others to the concept, so she started running seminars on angel awareness. All this might sound like an ethereal load of old baloney to some people, but not to the hundreds who have paid £110 to hear how they can find their own angel when Diana visits Glasgow this weekend.

It's the latest stop on Diana's crusade which has seen her travel the world addressing packed halls.

We all have guardian angels, she insists, but we just don't know what to look out for. Apparently, many leave calling cards, such as white feathers, as a sign.

Diana said: "Everybody gets visions at one time, but most say they imagined it and forget about it, but I held on to mine.

"People have said to me they heard angels singing and thought they imagined it, or you may find a white feather somewhere you would least expect it.

"Sometimes you can ask for an angel and a bird will flutter in front of you, or someone could even walk past at that moment with 'angel' written across their back - these are all symbols."

But none of this will convince the scientists or the sceptics.

Diana said: "It is not my job to convince people. My job is to share my stories with people who want to listen."

Many artists who once depicted angels were psychic, believes Diana. They were actually seeing angels and were simply illustrating the way those beings looked to them.

History is littered with angels, from Biblical times to the medieval period, and according to Diana, the Source (God) is sending angels to earth in droves now and today, when the world seems a more fearful place, especially after events such as September 11, people want to believe in something reassuring.

As a result, selling the idea of a guardian angel to the public has never been easier.

But Diana denies she is exploiting the vulnerable or needy, desperate for proof of the age-old notion of guardian angels who keep us safe. She was neither religious nor a believer in new-age mysticism until her first angel vision, almost 20 years ago.

She said: "Every single person has a guardian angel throughout their life, who will stand by and watch you go off in the wrong direction and make mistakes, unless you ask for help.

"If we just stop and ask for help then they can come, improve our lives and make everything easier.

"Part of my task is to help people understand this, so they don't have to go to the depths I did, crying out from the depth of my soul, before they get help."

Teaching people how to find their angel she describes how to make yourself openTo Diana, a guardian angel is different from the popular notion of having some HER angels have never been in a human body - they are high spiritual beings appointed as guidess and helpers for His creation.

She explained: "Everyone and everything is made up of vibrations. The heavier the vibration, the denser the object, which is why chairs, tables and humans can be seen and felt.

"Angels have a lighter, faster vibration, so they are usually invisible to humans."

Diana believes there is an angel for every problem, from finance to love, and by calling on angel power, we can finally take control of our future destinies.

She says she has probably introduced millions of people to the concept now.

Diana said: "Most people say it has changed them, put them on a different level and given them an idea about how they can help themselves and others.s

"Instead of spending their lives worrying and thinking dark thoughts, they start to angels to help them achieve that.

"If someone is constantly sending out worry and anxiety, they will attract lower things in their life so, for example, it is important for parents to know that worrying is not good parenting."

She tells a story about a man who was reading one of her books at his gym when he felt he was suddenly surrounded by angels. As he left the gym, he met a friend he hadn't seen for years who was also a medium.

His friend exclaimed: "What's going on? Your aura is full of feathers."

• Story originally published by:
Daily Record, Glasgow / Scotland | Katrina Tweedie - June 27.02

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