CHAPTER 1

Becominga PracticalPsychic

HUMAN BEINGS HAVE always longed for more power over their lives. The allure ofbecoming psychic is a reflection of this wish—one that has persisted through centuriesand across cultures. It is the premise of this book that mankind's wish has already beengranted.

At the end of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy learns that she has had the power to return homeall along, but she didn't know it. When she learns the technique of clicking her heelstogether, she's immediately on her way.

We provide you with techniques to get you where you want to go, too. The techniqueswon't be much harder than clicking your heels together. You needn't possess specialtalents or abilities; you needn't be clairvoyant or telepathic or precognitive. To become apractical psychic, you can be as ordinary as a Kansas farm girl. Everyone reading thisbook can use the techniques successfully.

The Practical Psychic

The reason you can become a practical psychic is because you create your own reality.Reality creation occurs in an interaction with a greater dimension, which may be calledGod, or All That Is. Actually, it occurs in a discrete portion of All That Is which has beencalled the higher self, the oversoul, the ground of your being, the entity, the God of yourheart, and other names. We will use the term "deep self."

The deep self seems different from what you ordinarily think of as yourself, and yet yourconsciousness and reality rise out of it, much as a plant rises out of the earth. At times,you can even experience the entirety of the deep self in a union that many religiousmystics have described as a union with God.

Your deep self creates your reality, but does so in a way that reflects your ordinaryconsciousness. Since the creation of your reality relies upon the interaction of your deepself with your ordinary consciousness, the most effective way to improve your reality is toimprove the quality of that interaction.

You, the ordinary you, are already involved in that interaction without being aware of it.

The Conventional Psychic Vs. the Practical Psychic

Usually the term "psychic" refers to someone who has developed paranormal abilities andcan consciously make use of them. We call this being a conventional psychic, and Johnhas been one for most of his adult life. His experiences led him to recognize that abilitiessuch as telepathy and clairvoyance were simply efficient techniques for acquiringinformation. What is far more important, he discovered, is improving the instructions yousend to the deep self. This is relatively easy to do because the primary tools for improvingthose instructions can be accessed with your conscious mind.

Becoming a practical psychic means developing the ability to work consciously anddeliberately with the deep self. This book teaches techniques to do that. It providescommon sense ways of organizing those techniques within the experience of youreveryday life. Conventional psychic talents and abilities are helpful but not required. Infact, people with no psychic gifts sometimes succeed where some conventional psychicsfail.

The One and Only You

The relationship between you and your deep self is and will be absolutely unique. Theinstructions and guidance offered here are not like a recipe with which, upon followingeach direction precisely, you produce exactly the same dish that the author hasconcocted. On the contrary, the whole point of becoming a practical psychic is to skillfullycook up your own reality.

William Blake said, "I must create a system, or be enslav'd by another man's" The mostimportant premise of the practical psychic is that each reader and student is embarked onhis or her own journey of the soul. Therefore, everything else—practices, exercises,programs, systems—must be in service to each individual path. As you read and beginusing the exercises here, understand that they are meant to guide you into your ownunique experience.

The Three Steps of the Practical Psychic

According to a great musician, "First you learn how to play notes, then you learn how toplay sounds, and then you learn how to play jazz." There is a similar progression for thepractical psychic. The exercises you will learn in this book are meant to make it simple foryou to work with the deep self. These are the notes you learn to play.

Built into the exercises is the intention that each of you be able to make them work in yourpersonal life. In order to avoid creating an opposition between the material and thespiritual, we encourage you to look to your own life and values to seek and judge what isworking for you. This integration and application of psychic techniques into your own lifeare the sounds you will learn.

Finally, there are deeper lessons built into this approach. It is designed to enhance yourengagement—your love, courage and sense of play—in your life. The engagementrequired to put the pieces together brings you into touch with a vibrant, creative spiritualitythat flows naturally, like your own spontaneous jazz.

CHAPTER 2

BalanceandHarmony

THE FOUNDATION OF THE practical psychic approach is understanding the importanceof balance and harmony. You may recall Walt Disney's cartoon version of The Sorcerer'sApprentice. In it, Mickey Mouse plays the title character, a novice who decides toexpropriate some of his master's supernatural powers to perform his janitorial duties.Figuring that what worked for the sorcerer should work just as well for him, poor Mickeysuffers disastrous results.

The sorcerer's apprentice made the mistake of thinking that mere power could solve hisproblems. He did not understand that the sorcerer had spent the time needed to learn notonly the power of magic, but the balance and harmony necessary to use it. The apprenticeused magic as if it were a mechanical operation instead of a mystical approach to living. Inorder for techniques to be effective, they need to be meaningfully integrated into your life.

The Magic of...