Psychics and Mediums in Canada

While its title might imply that this book is only a directory of names and addresses, this book is far more rewarding. Co-authored by practicing Roman Catholic Jean Porche and Anglican priest Deborah Vaughan, their present publication includes 17 comprehensive chapters about psychic phenomena and two highly informative appendices for further reading and research. With an overall aim of treating "those areas of psychism that are least understood by the general public," the book is written in an easily read, often anecdotal style. And it is well worth reading both for its background of basics and its profiles of two dozen of Canada's premiere psychics and mediums. Committed to sorting out the real from the phoney and the fraudulent from the credible, the authors in the first half of the book outline the early days of divination and explore the crossovers of science and psi with special references to the stories about Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, the families of Presidents Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Reagan, notables such as novelist Henry James, and the activities of mediums Daniel David Home and Leonora Piper. Ever careful to expose fakery, they discuss mankind's fascination with the future and tackle thorny issues of free will versus fortunetelling. They warn against mediums who are more interested in money than in client service and truthful dealings. They elaborate upon interesting investigations of psychic skills and abilities by researchers such as Dr. J. B. Rhine at Duke University's Parapsychology Laboratory and the observations of psychoanalyst Dr. Carl Jung, and describe the categories of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience. Several of their chapters cover divinatory systems from astrology, Tarot, chiromancy, and even meditation and prayer, as they marry their religious beliefs to their understanding and acceptance of the mysteries of the paranormal. And in the sense of putting their money where their mouths are, they include the criteria for finding a trustworthy psychic. The second half of the book consists of detailed profiles for 24 of Canada's most credible psychic practitioners. Each entry records the subject's views on his or her services, provides biographical information, includes engaging stories, such as the one about the assistance for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in finding the body of a missing teenager, and lists contact information. For those with a whetted appetite for engaging in the paranormal, there are guidelines for determining one's own psychic abilities. The additional reference sections include information on ESP, Tarot, astrology, palmistry and tea-leaf reading, as well as contact information for several Canadian bookstores, relevant organizations, Canadian Spiritualist churches, and for holistic expos and psychic fairs. Valuable both for its overview of the inclusiveness of psychism and its profiles of Canadian practitioners, Psychics & Mediums in Canada is a rewarding read for a