Monthly Book Review (September): Spirited by Rebecca Rosen

Every month - that is the plan, anyway - I will review a book selected randomly from my Paranormal Library. This month, I will review Spirited by Rebecca Rosen.

Background: This book I first chanced upon four years ago in the mobile library that comes every Friday afternoon. It was probably my second or third book on psychic stuff at that time.


Spirited by Rebecca Rosen

This book is written in a down-to-earth, easy-to-read style. It is intended for those familiar with the concept of psychic and mediumship development, particularly since it has a foreword by James Van Praagh. 

The relaxed format this book has is typical of other books on psychic and mediumship development. Despite this, the book offers a slightly different take on those subjects, because it combines the author's personal experiences with activities for the eager reader to try, in order for them to develop their own psychic abilities. And, whilst this combination does appear in other books on the subject, it does not appear in such a delicate yet humorous, enjoyable manner as it does in Spirited.

Although this book is recommended for those interested in developing their psychic abilities, it is not a book ideal for those who are unfamilair with how seeming coincidences have profound spiritual meanings, as, dotted around the book are also accounts of coincidences which are taken by the author as evidence for a certain concept or idea. Because the significance of such coincidences is not adequately explained by Rosen, I do not find it the best book for a peek into the world of supposed psychic abilities. 

Nonetheless, the book is fun to read, because of the creative meditations included for the reader to do. Also, "testimonials" are added to help give credence to the author's (psychic) abilities. One such testimony involved a woman who had lost one of her baby boys at birth. Although he was a stillborn, his mother suffered from guilt because she had not found a way to try and make him live. As the story goes, a reading with Rosen enabled her to forgive herself for not having tried to help her baby survive, because she channelled the spirit of the stillborn baby who reassured his mum. Affirmations directed for the reader to use are included, which are aimed to help them on their spiritual journey.

As is evidenced throughout the pages, this book is aimed for those who are spiritually-inclined who need a small nudge to push them deeper into the world of spirituality. Some of the author's experiences are followed with voicing the reader's potential confused thoughts about her account. This is then followed with a spiritual concept - such as emotional damage experienced in this life being carried into the afterlife - which is explained with the author's convicted mediumistic belief. This can be useful for spiritualists who are, as has already been said, still a little new to the whole thing.

The author recounts an interesting story of how she made contact with her deceased Grandma Babe through automatic writing and received spiritual insight from her. As may be considered stereotypical, she claims that she was "...skeptical that my dead grandmother was truly "talking" to me...". This skepticism is blown away when she phones her father about "the white sheets" that her Gandma Babe tells her about. When her father tells her about how he had gone down into the cellar to where his mother - and where he'd found white sheets under her dead body - Rosen is "shocked by the validation" and finds herself becoming a believer that the dead continue to live, but in spiritual form.

Realising that the reader might be skeptical of this account, the author assures that the reader can find evidence for "believing or trusting in something that isn't tangible" for themselves by, later on, teaching them "how to read the signs" and see the truth of what she's claiming for themselves. 


The author includes in later pages what particular symbols may mean in a spiritual sense - such as an ashtray - to help the reader when they are developing their psychic abilities. At the same time, the book is filled with advice for the reader to heal themselves emotionally (and psychologically). 

The book is then concluded with a selection of meditations for the reader to do.




Look out for next month's book review!

Monthly Book Review (October): This House Is Haunted by Guy Lyon Playfair

Every month - that is the plan, anyway - I will review a book selected randomly from my Paranormal Library. This month, I will review This House Is Haunted by Guy Lyon Playfair.

This House Is Haunted by Guy Lyon Playfair

This book was, undoubtedly, a very good enjoyable read. It relayed Playfair's account of his co-investigation of the Enfield Poltergeist case that began on 31 August 1977. It is written in an extremely easy-to-read yet entertaining style, and recounted some rather fascinating accounts of phenomena he witnessed during the time that he and Maurice Grosse were investigating.
   Alongside some photographs of Janet being "levitated" from her bed and graphs obtained through the use of specialist equipment that was brought along by a  visiting physicist, the book provides an exclusive insight into one of the best cases of poltergeist activity.
   In the book, we meet the family of four who are plagued by poltergeist activity - which started off as merely flying marbles and pieces of  Lego  - Janet, Rose, Jimmy and Mrs Harper. As the book progresses, the tale becomes more and more compelling - to the extent that I found it difficult to put the book down! The level of activity seems to go up and down, and the list of the phenomena that the family experienced was varied, although it was  monotonous most often. The activity seemed to be based around Janet, although Playfair and Grosse counted out the possibility of fraud on behalf of the twelve-year-old girl. Some experts both investigators brought in proved to be useless, whilst others seemed to be, at first, helpful. Some individuals, however, were hell-bent on finding evidence for fraud, convinced that the case and the phenomena were only the product of trickery. One such individual was a magician, who was adamant that Janet was behind all of  the phenomena at Enfield. However, the evidence did not seem to account for fraud. How was it possible, for example, for Janet to maintain the voice of an old man for hours at a time, even with the use of her false vocal cords?
    At times, the phenomena reported was amusing: for example, a shoe danced in front of the investigators, whilst at other times, the phenomena was disgusting. Some of the most intriguing examples that appealed to me the most were the books that seemed to pass through the wall and into the family's neighbour's household, as well as various items levitating even when people were sat on them.
In conclusion, Playfair's account of the Enfield poltergeist was a compelling one. I found it an addictive read that was both informative and entertaining. It has spurred me into finding out more about the remarkable case of the Enfield Poltergeist.

Look out for next month's book review!

Monthly Book Review (August): Tai Chi Chi Kung by Peter Chin Kean Choy

Every month - that is the plan, anyway - I will review a book selected randomly from my Paranormal Library. This month, I will review Tai Chi Chi Kung by Peter Chin Kean Choy.

Background: I found this excellent book in a local Oxfam shop, having asked the guy at the till if he knew whether they had any books on 'Qi gong'. He didn't know what that was and said that he didn't think that they did have any books on it. I looked anyway and found Tai Chi Chi Kung by Peter Chin Kean Choy. I knew that contrary to what the guy told me, this was a book on what i was looking for, since  'Chi Kung' is another term for 'Qi gong'.

Tai Chi Chi Kung by Peter Chin Kean Choy review

I'd previously read Choy's other book, 'Tai Chi', so I was not surprised by the layout - which did not seem to have changed in the slightest. As usual, colourful, uplifting photographs of smiling people were used to illustrate the movements. As indicated by the title, the book teaches techniques from both Tai Chi and Chi Kung. 

    Although just as informative as ever, the only real difference with the Tai Chi Chi Kung - aside from the fact that the book Tai Chi Chi Kung dealt with Chi Kung as well, whilst the Tai Chi book didn't -  is that it has pages referring to 'Homework' with instructions for the reader regarding the exercises to practise, as well as space to record their own experiences or feelings regarding the exercises. These I feel are a nice idea, although I've never really bothered to make use of them. 

    The reader cannot get confused with which exercises are 'Tai chi' and which are 'Chi Kung' because, aside from the fact that by the chapter name at the top of the page it says which practice it belongs to, at the start of each exercise in bold writing, it says whether it is Tai chi or Chi Kung. 

    Furthermore, whilst the Tai chi book has a small introduction to 'Aqua Tai chi', the Tai Chi Chi Kung book has fun Chi Kung exercises that are aimed at young children, which I think is a great idea.

   In summary, the book made simple, yet informative, inspiring and uplifting reading. The pictures of the people in colourful clothing with smiling faces made the reading even more enjoyable - a trait shared with Choy's Tai Chi book. And although it carries out the same layout as the other book, it has some well-made differences, too - like the exercises for young children to do. Once again, a book that can be recommended to anyone who wants to learn how to do Tai Chi, Chi Kung or who has children who they want to teach - and do with them - Chi Kung. 


Look out for next month's book review!