8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Occult For Beginners, June 18, 2002
This review is from: Develop Your Latent Paranormal Powers: An Eleven Lesson Course (Paperback)
"Develop Your Latent Paranormal Powers" is a joint effort by modern day magician "Dragonstar" and early 20th Century author Sir William Walker Atkinson. Dragonstar sort of functions as a warm-up act, setting the stage and mood for Atkinson's much longer treatise on the basic techniques involved in crystal gazing, telepathy, seeing into the past and future and various other bits of paranormal phenomena.
It is the purpose of both authors to demonstrate to the reader that most of what is called "paranormal" and thought possible only for certain gifted people is instead something that anyone can learn to develop on their own and without the help of an instructor skilled in the occult sciences. The most basic ingredient is like the old joke where a man asks for directions on a crowded New York street:
"How do you get to Carnegie Hall," he questions a passerby.
"Practice, practice, practice," comes the reply.
Which is indeed what Dragonstar and Atkinson continually urge the reader to do. While the initial exercises may seem deceptively simple, even naive, results can only come with a great deal of repetitive and faithful practice. You must also believe the methods will actually work, because skepticism only creates negative clouds of energy that make the tasks at hand much less likely to be successful.
Atkinson's section of the book, the eleven lessons, offers a crash course in navigating the world of what he calls "Psychomancy," and consists of a delightfully complete survey of numerous potential paranormal abilities, including learning to read people's auras, influencing their minds, seeing through brick walls, locating persons with a lock of their hair, traveling with your astral body and even materializing at a desired location and showing yourself to a friend like a visiting ghost.
Atkinson also presents several fascinating anecdotes and case histories that give the reader examples of the abovementioned powers in actual use. The book is worth reading just for the sake of those stories alone, though of course it is made even more interesting by the ideae that the reader has the potential to become part of the astral landscape and participate directly himself.
Both Dragonstar and Atkinson caution the reader never to use any powers or skills they develop to do any evil or intentional harm to another person. The powers that be, they say, have a way of repaying the evil done with these abilities many times over.
"Develop Your Latent Paranormal Powers" bridges the gap between the last and our current century, showing that the things said of the world of the paranormal are constant and unchanging, ancient truths that are still an essential part of reality today. While Dragonstar and Atkinson have never met one another in this world, their partnership in the Astral Plane is surely a solid one. Or make that an etheric one.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, August 11, 2003
This review is from: Develop Your Latent Paranormal Powers: An Eleven Lesson Course (Paperback)
The claims made on the cover of this book are not matched by the content. It purports to be an 11-lesson course on crystal gazing, clairvoyance, dematerialization and other supernatural skills. What it really is, is an introduction by Dragonstar dealing in a cursory fashion with channelling, ESP, coincidences, hunches, predictions etc. The main body of the book is by Sir William Walker Atkinson and is set in old-fashioned typography. It deals with the astral body and is abilities. Chapter headings include The Nature Of Psychomancy, How To Develop Yourself, The Astral Tube, Psychometry, Crystal Gazing & Astral Projection. Atkinson's work might have been a classic when first published many years ago, but it reveals nothing new and provides no new insights, consisting mainly of short case studies. There are zillions of better books on the subject nowadays. For those who are serious about developing their psychic powers, I recommend Awakening Your Psychic Powers (An Edgar Cayce Guide) by Henry Reed and Practical Guide To Psychic Powers: Awaken Your Sixth Sense by Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not much of a lesson, September 15, 2002
This review is from: Develop Your Latent Paranormal Powers: An Eleven Lesson Course (Paperback)
I would give this 0 stars if there is a choice. The book doesn't even tell you what to do. Its a small booklet with information on psychometry. The ability to see beyond the physical plane. I can add more that this book doesn't tell. Seeing through walls is nothing more than training your psychic abilities to see energy pattern on object. Some people develop this to a point where they see only energetical vibrations, thus being able to see through walls. The book doesn't teach you anything at all!! Dragonstar just added his introduction on the first few pages, and the rest is just nothing but ..... *sigh* I'll make it short. Its boring, and you wouldn't learn anything from this. Its not a lesson. Its like some tabloid binded into a booklet.
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