The Practical Psychic: Practical techniques for enlisting the resources of your own ability [Paperback]

John Friedlander (Author), Cynthia Pearson (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1991

Human beings have always longed for more power over their lives. The allure of becoming psychic is a reflection of this wish - one that has persisted through centuries and across cultures. It is the premise of this book that mankind's wish has already been granted.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Red Wheel / Weiser (June 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877287287
• ISBN-13: 978-0877287285
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,456,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun way to explore one's Self., June 21, 1999

By 

Dr.C.Sekharan([e-mail]) (MI, USA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Practical Psychic: Practical techniques for enlisting the resources of your own ability (Paperback)

The title may sound like an oxymoron; in fact the authors themselves give an explanation of their title in several places: in the bottom of the front cover of the book, in the Introduction and the second page in Chapter 1; the last one is the esoteric amplification of the first two, and it is that a practical psychic is one who works with one's deep/higher self ( not an exact quote ). A practical psychic tries to achieve harmony and balance with oneself and the deep self ( Chapter 2 ). Now the question is what is this deep / higher self (Chapter 3). Essentially, it is a spark of All That Is which in the human context is exploring life and its experiences on the Earth through a physical body. The deep self is not dictatorial but rather collaborative in cocreating realities. However, these realities - all heroic indeed - whether palatable for one or not are formed in accordance with one's belief systems and thought patterns. This was the great mind bending message of Seth, speaking through Jane Roberts in the early seventies. One will find details of this idea in the book "Seth Speaks" and others by Jane Roberts. What this tells is that one is always in charge, whether one is aware of this or forgets.

The first author, John was a lucky member of the classes that Jane conducted in those heady days and one may even see a caricature of John in the second volume of the book, "Conversations with Seth" by Sue Watkins, another member of the above mentioned class of Jane. (See also the appendices of the book under review.)

The authors present two levels of understanding, changing one's life: one a high level view and another more detailed view; the former method is the "feeling tones" method in Chapter 5 and the detailed view is obtained by looking at beliefs.

So an important part of the book consists of Chapters 6,7 and 8 wherein the authors present various fun ways of understanding, unearthing the beliefs that a person has, through various exercises. The authors also discuss the cosmology of beliefs as to how they are multidimensional and how they are interconnected. They also offer ways to change one's beliefs consistent with the universal laws under which life on Earth operates. They do all these with great honesty, clarity and humor. The presentation has several real life anecdotes culled from the experiences of John as a teacher, mystic and Harvard trained lawyer.

An important question in the context of changing and choosing beliefs is how to work with contradictory beliefs and this is addressed in Chapter 9 on impulses where one works with choice in a playful attitude. The authors present an exhaustive account of how to practice the art of manifestation using the Chakra Technology in Chapter 12. Also one of the useful techniques for a practical physic is the art of visualization and this is exhaustively explored and used in Chapters 4 and 13. According to me, the most important chapter in the book is Chapter 10 called "Aphorisms for the Practical Psychic"; that chapter alone is worth the price of the book wherein are offered several suggestions and explanations of seemingly contradictory ideas - all done with great humor and charm.

The underlying theme of the book is "Do Be Do Be Do", which is part of the title of Chapter 14; that is to be a truly good psychic one has to live ones life with authenticity and integrity. Life with its structure imparts a certain dimension, a certain understanding to one's psychic explorations if only because it (life and living) teaches one, among other things, compassion ( = neutrality = nonjudgementalness ) not only to others but also to oneself ( this is the Do, according to me). This is very important for it is said that compassion is All That Is. So by cultivating compassion, it is said that one experiences All That Is ( and this is the Be, according to me).

The book also provides an excellent bibliography.

Gentle Reader, be warned that you are going to be challenged to look at your own inner process, to explore your own self, when you read this deceptively slim book full of ideas flowing with effortless grace. To know your own Self is the greatest challenge - in the true sense of the word - in the whole universe. This does not mean one cannot have a life!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as his other books., September 22, 2011

By 

Adrien Caldwell (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Practical Psychic: Practical techniques for enlisting the resources of your own ability (Paperback)

The author wrote another book about Chakras, Clairvoyance and Auras. I cannot remember the title of that book but it was much better. In the other book he laid out meditative lessons sort of like a step by step process. It was to the point, cut and dry and it was like following a formula. I liked this approach. I find that this works well for me. Give me a 'formula' and after I know it inside and out I can tweak it and make adjustments.

However, The Practical Psychic is not in the same format. It basically gives you indications as far as what you should focus on. There are exercises to do but they appear a bit convoluted because they are written in three to four paragraphs. I find it difficult to work with. I found the concepts to be a bit vague. He does cover other topics which I think are useful. However, I was anticipating a guided step by step process similar to what I read in his other book about Clairvoyance, Chakras and Auras.

I put the book down after reading up to chapter seven. I will try and finish it at some point, hopefully, but it is going to take some effort to try and sit down with this book again.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Psychic gits grounded in the practical - accessable to all, September 13, 2011

By 

mlddreamin - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Practical Psychic: Practical techniques for enlisting the resources of your own ability (Paperback)

This book is written in simple language that is easy to follow. It takes the realm of psychic abilities into a very practical and attainable practice. The gifts that some people easily seem to have are now attainable to anyone willing to open to their own abilities.