My Week With James Van Praagh

For everyone who knows me, I am always on the look-out for new styles and techniques when it comes to working with mediumship in an effort to become better and more valuable to my clients. It was for this reason that my wife and I signed up for James Van Praagh’s week long “Mastering Mediumship” course in Laguna Beach, California, which we attended last week. Going in, I had no idea what was going to come out of it, just that I would get to hear and pick the brain of one of the world’s most renowned mediums.

The course far exceeded expectations. On day one, we were already being asked to partner up with strangers and do basic telepathy tests. By Friday, participants were performing demonstrations of mediumship with the group. Imagine standing in front of a crowd of about 100 people and being asked to receive information from a person’s deceased friend or relative, without knowing off-hand who that would be. It was amazing to watch people make such miraculous connections! “He died at 57; His name was John.” Information like that came through from people who, when starting the class on Monday, had no idea they could pull it off come Friday. (Yes, I did my own group demonstration, too. At first I was extremely nervous, but when things started to flow, I just did what I have taught myself to do – go for it. James commented with a smile “You’ve done this before.”)

Another reason I attended was to find out for myself just where I stood in terms of ability with my mediumship skills. I received such warm and wonderful compliments by several participants, as well as James himself. It was definitely a shot in the arm with great encouragement to continue.

There were several exercises that challenged everyone to discover how to communicate with spirit. Since everybody has different styles, the exercises addressed multiple different ways of dealing with the energy in the hopes of understanding its qualities and the messages that would come through. I certainly learned more about my own style – what works and what doesn’t.

My wife and I also met other fabulous mediums who had come to help James during the week. Marilyn Whall and Michael Wheeler are considered a pair of Australia’s best mediums. They were so kind, gracious, and uplifting. I was talking with Marilyn on Monday about how long I had been developing and she encouraged me to do the group demonstration later in the week (and how she never dreamed she would be where she was today just 3 or 4 years ago, telling me what the possibilities were). I got to see her in action during an exercise with a development circle – she was absolutely incredible. And then Michael did his own group demonstration that was equally impressive. To receive such encouragement and praise from seasoned and recognized professionals has been an amazing blessing.

Of course, being part of a large group and interacting with so many different people (especially within the subject matter of mediumship) creates an amazing bond between all who participated. For one week, my wife and I were part of an incredible spiritual family that witnessed miracles between so many. We have been so honored to have been asked to remain in contact with several of them.

Spending a week in devotion to spirit and seeing several spirits come through so astonishingly is an incredible wake-up call to what’s possible with this work - and life in general.

When we finally arrived back in Seattle last Saturday, our hearts literally sank. We weren’t ready to return to “normal” life (at least as normal as we get). James really opened everyone’s eyes to what living daily in the presence of spirit can accomplish.

Of course, he gave several mediumship demonstrations himself, inspiring us all to our possibilities. He said it so eloquently when he told us as mediums we were all “Ambassadors of Spirit.” He revealed that the ability to serve humanity from working with the realm of spirit and living fully in communion with it was not just wishful thinking, it could become a reality (with enough practice and commitment).

As a final exercise on Friday, he chose people from the audience to sit in the center of the room with a blindfold on, then grabbed another participant from the group to come and stand behind them. The blindfolded participant needed to use their psychic abilities to describe whoever was standing behind them. For me, that was the scariest exercise to do in front of the group. I felt like young Anakin Skywalker being tested by the Jedi council. I mean, here you are in front of a hundred people, blindfolded – completely in the dark visually – being asked to describe someone standing behind you … Male or female, a few physical characteristics, personality, whatever came up. All I had to go on was what my inner senses told me. As I always say, no psychic is ever 100% accurate – but what a relief when James revealed I was 98% correct! Whew!

The week was truly amazing. It revealed, without a doubt, that everybody has psychic abilities to one degree or another, and with practice can become very adept at using them. There were many smiles and many tears, as we were all touched by the loving realms of spirit.

‘Til next time

Loving Yourself

How often have you paused to consider just how magnificent you are? And in that moment devour yourself with a sense of gratitude and love for all that swirls about your soul which gives rise to your experiences here on planet earth? Remember, you are a soul come here to this plain for living experiences and expression. You couldn’t fully accomplish all that without the cooperation of millions of cells and organs of your body. They work tirelessly to sustain you, as they have a vested interest in your evolution, and you in theirs. It’s one huge cooperative effort – keeping you here in this dimension for the soul’s life and expression. So love the cells and organs in your body.

Take a moment, and just sit. Sit and feel your body. You can feel it, even on the inside, because it weighs at least 100 lbs. How can you not feel it? And while feeling it, love it. Pass love from that nexus area where your soul meets with the physical inner workings of your body. You may not consciously know where this nexus is, so just imagine it. In imagining it, you may feel it. Tell your body how much you love it, and appreciate it, and are grateful for its continuing efforts in keeping you alive, healthy, and mobile. Your body will respond. It will love you back. You can build a rapport, a trust, between your soul and your body. You may actually be able to use the rapport as a guide to loving and trusting your own outer relationships with other friends, co-workers, and mates. If you can learn to trust your body, you can also learn to love someone else.

Your body, like your environment outside of you, is a manifestation – and a highly cooperative one – of your expression of being. You know you create your body, but in cooperation with the creative forces of molecules and atoms, coming together to create the intricate workings of this vehicle. You provide the impetus, the energy, the power to magnetize and become a cohesive unit. Maybe you didn’t know this before. Perhaps you believed the body was provided for you to inhabit. Like all things, thought comes first and then physical expression. You thought about coming alive here in this Space and Time before your birth, and the desire was so strong that your energy was able to vibrate all the particulars into place to grow the body you now inhabit. This may at first sound quite absurd, but it is the metaphysical truth. Your body would not have come into existence without your desire to be here. Scientists are discovering that you are so intimately connected between body and soul that your very thoughts can heal yourself of any number of diseases (we’ve all heard stories of people curing themselves of cancer). The communication between molecules directly mirrors your most intimate thoughts about yourself. Let’s face it: your body is the most intimate connection between your spirit and this dimension. Your energy drives it! Therefore, your energy affects it.

Love your body, and you’ll love yourself. You will no doubt glow. Also, make friends with your ego. The two of you are here to work hand-in-hand. Just don’t let the ego become the god-force of your life. You two, your ego and soul, need to become best friends, who care and nurture each other, understanding that this life is a journey of evolution, expression, and expansion. If you start to hate and distrust your ego, you’ll start to hate and distrust yourself. Ego is not bad. It is part of who you are, and a part of your personality. Ego can sometimes tell you when you’re being taken advantage of, when you’re being abused. It can also tell you when things are not as they should be. It’s a flashlight that likes to highlight signs on the street of life. You must have a balance with it, so balance it with the wisdom and sense of the spirit. Teach your ego to say “I don’t like this. I think we should have this -- WHAT DO YOU THINK?” To which you check out the spiritual side, your soul mind and heart, for the answer. Work together. In tandem. Don’t deny yourself or your life will suffer for it. Though we talk of the ego as being somehow separate or its own entity, it really is not; it’s as much a part of you as a finger or toe, and yet we can also talk about the finger or toe as a separate part of a unified body.

Love deeply, and how deeply you will be loved.