| Heaven And Earth
-- Making the Psychic Connection The EDGE Interview with James Van Praagh by Tim Miejan Internationally renowned psychic James Van Praagh is The N.Y. Times best-selling author of Talking to Heaven, Reaching to Heaven and Healing Grief, as well as host of the syndicated television show Beyond with James Van Praagh. He has a remarkable gift as a spiritual messenger, connecting those who have died to their loved ones on Earth. In his Keynote Presentation at Edge Life Expo 2003 from 5-8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, the main event of the expo this year, James will share his personal techniques for developing your own psychic abilities, accelerating spiritual development and healing from the pain of losing someone you loved. He will talk about how to develop, trust and utilize intuitive abilities, how to be aware of the energy fields around you, and how to find new meaning in life and transform yourself in the process. James will also demonstrate his amazing clairvoyant and clairsentient skills arbitrarily to several members of the audience. Tickets are $89 for seating in rows 5-12, $74 for seating in rows 13-20, and $49 general admission to rows 21-40 through UptownTix.com or (612) 604-4466 or at the door. James Van Praagh spoke by phone with The EDGE about his gifts and what he hopes to share at Edge Life Expo. What was your first psychic experience and how did you feel about it at the time? Van Praagh: When I was a child, I used to see spirits and lights and colors around people. I was born with that. So I really can't cite one psychic experience. I had them as a kid and it was a very normal and natural. But, I guess one of the first things that happened to me when I was a little kid was when I was playing with friends of mine and we went to a cemetery. I was around 8 years old. We were actually cutting school at the time and I saw this little girl and little boy up by a tombstone, and I said to my friends, "Look at those kids over there. What are they doing here? They're so young." And they said, "There's no kids there." And I said, "yes, look at them right there." They said, "No, there aren't, James." So we walked over there, and as we did the kids went behind the tombstone. When we got there, they weren't there, but on the tombstone their names were, I guess. They were twins who died at 4 years of age. Wow. Van Praagh: And then also when I was 8 years old, or 7 years old, I asked to see proof of God on a Saturday morning in my bedroom and a light came through the ceiling, like an open hand stretched. And it was like I felt the energy from this hand, and it was just like, I don't know how to explain it, but it was just very encompassing of love and a sense of knowingness, like a sense of, "OK, that's what this is and a validation that there's God." There was bright, bright light. That was one of the first I remember as a kid. So your personal reactions to it were all positive? Van Praagh: Very. It was very much like a sixth sense, like the movie "The Sixth Sense." A lot of that was based on my life, or was really very much like my life. I would have visions just like that when I was a little boy in school, but mine were always very positive, never violent ones. They were always very positive ones. I used to kneel down and say prayers every night with my mom, and I used to say, "Mom, who are those people at the end of the bed, those shiny people, the light people?" And she would say, "Oh, they're God's angels. I used to see them too when I was a little girl." So, it ran in the family and it was always very benevolent. So you got a lot of support from your parents. Van Praagh: Yes, but I don't know if they knew exactly what it was either. I mean, my mother did actually have those experiences when she was a kid, but in her day, having been raised very heavy Irish Catholic, she believed it was God's angels. My grandmother on my father's side was also very psychic. She used to read tea leaves, well not professionally, just for the family. And my grandfather on mother's side was also very psychic. He was very Catholic and he never talked about it, about psychic stuff, but he always would have visions. What part of your service to humanity do you absolutely love? Van Praagh: I love opening up people's minds. I like when I do my work. You know the expression about a light bulb that goes off in someone's head in the cartoons? That's really what it is. When you can open up someone's mind and open them up to a different way of looking at life and themselves and the world around them and their part in the world around them, there's a brightness around the top of their head -- and it just opens them up. To me, that is one of the most rewarding things in my work. Because then it will change them and their path and also everyone who is in their life will be affected by them. I also like helping people with the realization that there's no death, because then people are not enslaved by fear -- and that's a very good thing, not being played by fear. Do you find that changing in our collective, the lessening of that fear about death? Van Praagh: Finally, yeah. Finally, because we've gotten out there -- me and John Edwards and Sylvia Brown, all those people who get out there and do this work. It helps to open people up and help them realize that there's more going on than just what we see with the five senses. What part of your service is more of a difficult challenge for you? Van Praagh: The misunderstanding that people have about this work, that they think we're all parlor tricks and they think we can turn it on and turn it off right like that. People don't understand it, and that's a shame. They lump you into a circus act or a phony. That's hard. The ignorance, really...the ignorance. It is what it is, the ignorance, but what can you do? I don't take it personally, because it's not me. It's the work I do and people's levels of understanding. That comes with any pioneering work, anyone who's going to be out there and change people's minds. We're dealing with changing paradigms, people's way of thinking and belief systems -- and that's not an easy thing to do, but it's worth it in the long run. It's been said that a great change is upon us on this planet right now and that many people have chosen not to stick around to experience it, because energetically, the transformation might be too overwhelming for them. Are you sensing that in your communication with the recently departed? Van Praagh: No. What I have discovered is that everybody signs up for their time on this earth, whether it's to go through experiences to grow or they've chosen to come back here to help others, teach others and help bring others up to another level. No, I don't think so at all. I think there are more light beings coming in here, which is the case during very adverse times. What recommendations do you offer to people who may be struggling just to keep up with life right now? Van Praagh: Not to take it all so seriously. Not to take it all so seriously and to know themselves, and not to live other people's lives but live their own life. So many people live lives based on other people's expectations, on what's expected of them. Look at your value systems and see what's most important. On an individual level, what can someone do to truly learn who she or he is as a human being? Van Praagh: I just wrote a book called "Looking Beyond: A Teen's Guide to the Spiritual World" and in there I have wonderful exercises for people to address this issue. The key is meditation. It's going within. It's going to the silent world. Going deep within and closing out the outside world and going into the inside world and discovering yourself and who you are as a soul being. The only way to do that is through meditation, by taking a path inward and getting in touch with your soul self, your spirit self. When you get away from the distractions -- and you know there are so many distractions in the outside world -- you can't see Truth. So, when you get into the silence, you can begin to see the Truth. So what people have to start doing is to first meditate and get a sense of who they are. Start from the very beginning. That's worked for me. Do you think that part of our challenge collectively is to return to that as a human being, knowing who we truly are? Van Praagh: Definitely, to remember, to remember our origin, who we are. That's important. That's part of the reason for a lot of people to be here. Definitely. And it's all a rippling effect. What I'm doing is affecting it. About 10 years ago, you couldn't even tell people that you were talking to the dead. People thought you were crazy and it was morbid -- and now it's almost mainstream. So if more people are having experiences and they accept it more, you're not a lunatic anymore. It's more acceptable. Thank goodness. Van Praagh: Yeah, otherwise I'd be locked up. (laughter). They used to do that, though, in the old days, in the 1930s and 1920s. They would lock people up because they'd think it was schizophrenia, and really, they were probably mediums who did hear voices, but in those days they didn't know what it was. Well, perhaps back in those days they were quieter about it. Van Praagh: Yeah, probably. They knew what the risks were. Van Praagh: Exactly. Everything is timing. It's very true. I think there's definitely a conscious evolution of consciousness, as well. With the interest in your work and that of John Edwards and others, there seems to be a vast popularity in connecting with those who have crossed over. What does this mean in the bigger picture? Perhaps it's a sign of our collective awakening? Van Praagh: Oh yeah, it's a collective awakening, but I also think it's very, very important that it go in steps. First, you have the phenomenon of being able to contact the spirit worlds and the dead survive, that's just one aspect of it. Once we've realized there's life after death and that the consciousness survives death, what next? What is this about? I would like to get to another level, but it's important to realize that many people are just getting to the first level, understanding survival of consciousness and accepting it. Once you accept it, what happens next? It's a way of being mindful. When you pass over, you realize that you're responsible for everything you've done in your life and your thoughts, your words and your deeds. You feel and experience everything you've had in your past life that you've just come from on the earth and you have to feel the pain and the love that you gave out to people. I think if people realize that when they pass over that there's a life review and that they're going to meet up again with all their stuff, I think they would be a little bit more mindful of how they treat one another on this earth. I think that's the bigger picture: being more mindful, treating others with more of a sense of responsibility. Having responsibility with your thoughts, your words and your deeds. And that's really what it is; that's the big picture, being responsible for how you treat one another. Tell me about your new book Looking Beyond: A Teen's Guide to the Spiritual World. You wrote it for teens? Van Praagh: But, it's also for adults. I mean it's done for kids, marketed towards kids, but I tell you, people who are very new to this whole subject can look in there and say, "Oh my gosh! This is for me." For instance, I just got the UK publication of it from Random House in the UK, and they don't even have anything about kids on here. They have, "How to use your psychic talent to get what you want out of life and beyond." And, you know, you look through it and it doesn't necessarily relate to kids. There are illustrations and so forth, but some of the topics are: I know what I know and that's all I know; Stop whining and do something; Be responsible for yourself. I mean, just all great little topics. It's kind of like a reminder of who you are. Getting back in touch, you know? You've heard of the Indigo Children and the other Crystal Children who are coming into the planet now. Do you have a sense of their special nature in our evolution? Van Praagh: I've run into several Indigo Children. This is the first time I've ever heard of Crystal Children. Yes, the next wave is bringing us a more calm, peaceful being. Van Praagh: Wow. You said it perfectly, a wave. I think it's a wave of energy they come in and I think they're very evolved souls who come down here to help bring up the planet, get rid of the negativity and bring up the positive attributes. I think they're very enlightened and they're very wise souls. They're very, very wise. These children know about intuition. They know about psychic development. They know about knowing yourself. They know these things. They really do. My book is really good for the kids who don't have any awareness of that. I'm trying to get them away from the violence on television and the video games and all that. It doesn't need to be that way. They're raised on that stuff. That's not good. People who manufacture these games, people who make movies, they don't realize that what they're putting out into the ethers is real stuff and that it will influence people. They don't realize that. I mean, God, if they only knew. They think, "Just make it." That's it. But, it's made, it's created, it's put out there on other levels, other dimensions. In a prior interview you were saying that here on the planet we're like walking asleep or something like that. Van Praagh: We're the walking dead. And we don't wake up until we pass over. It's like walking with blinders on, like sunglasses, and when you die you take the sunglasses off, "Oh, this is what it looks like!" For those who are awake, it must be kind of a daunting experience to be here on the planet. Van Praagh: You know what? It's difficult and I talk to people all the time who are aware of things. It's very difficult, but, you know, you realize how lucky you are in that you have a perception and you're not caught up in the crap, because you might be caught up in it and not have any awareness of anything else -- going to work nine to five every day and that's it. I mean, it's amazing that people don't take time to smell flowers, to appreciate things, to smile at people. To deliberately live life. Don't be robotic. So many times spirits who have crossed over to the other side have said, "If only I knew. If only I didn't take life for granted. If only I had more time." Part of the reason they want to come back is to tell their loved ones that they love them, to take the time out to love someone, to say you're sorry, say you're forgiven. That's what it's all about. And not get caught up in everything. Van Praagh: Not get caught up in everything. Don't get up in your ego, don't get up in the money, don't get up in the value systems. You've got to be very careful of the value systems here, because we're bombarded every day with images we have to live up to in order to be successful and to be accepted -- and that's just a bunch of crap. That's a bunch of illusions. It's funny, because in this book Looking Beyond, I call them traps. One of them is the illusion, the world of the illusions, which is what we live in. It's what people expect of you, what you're supposed to be, that you have to be good looking for this to be successful, to be loved -- and those are illusions. That's not the Truth. Those are illusions that society puts out there. And there are others, such as the illusion that people aren't psychic. Well, sorry, the Truth is we are, because we're born that way. When we're born as babies we have to have that sense of a sixth sense in order to survive. There's a survival instinct. It's called instinct, you know? Have you had any sessions or seminars or workshops just for kids? Van Praagh: Not yet. Is that something you'd like to do? Van Praagh: I'd love to do it. I don't know how I'd go about it, but I'd love to. I'd probably get involved with an organization and do it that way. Keep all the adults out. Van Praagh: Exactly. I think you'd get a different reaction than if the parents were with them. Van Praagh: Oh, it would be so much better. The children would be more free to speak. I don't think we give kids enough opportunities to do that at all. Van Praagh: Not at all. I think it takes the love of your parents. Parenting is a special gift and I don't know a lot of people who do it the right way. I really don't. I know I've struggled at it. Van Praagh: It's a hard thing. It's not easy. I mean, you've got to give them their freedom, but yet you've got to be the parent. How much freedom do you give them? You want the best for them, but they also have to express who they are, so it's a tough one. Yes. It helps if you go at it from the perspective that they are another soul who is not better or worse or anything than you are and that you're guiding them. Van Praagh: That's exactly right, that you're working stuff out together. What can those who come to hear you speak at the Edge Life Expo expect? Van Praagh: I think they can expect to see someone who is a friendly person. (laughter) Someone who will help them. The talk is for everyone, for people who are very involved in metaphysics and mediumship and spirituality. It runs the gamut from those who have never experienced anything to do with intuition and psychic ability to those who are completely involved in it. It's about working with a group and sharing your own psychic ability and testing your own intuition and learning how to be open to spirit, to the spirit signals and signs. We'll experience some signs that are around you, do some incredible meditations, and then go back within and learn about yourself and the incredible healing. I'll be doing some messages also. Because it's such a big group of people, I want people to leave with some tools to use on their own. Sometimes when you go to a gathering like the Edge Life Expo, it's easy to become overwhelmed with all the exhibitors, demonstrations, books, tapes, classes, speakers and all the energy of all the people there. What suggestions would you offer to those who come for the first time to get the most out of it? Van Praagh: Well, number one, you've got to ground yourself. Before you go near that place, you should really meditate and ground yourself. When I say ground, I mean to close your eyes and get solid into your body and I envision roots of a tree going straight down and just becoming one with the earth. It sounds kind of weird, but really get to know yourself. Be solid in your body. It's about keeping your energy in your body. Because there's so much stuff there, it's easy for people to fly out of their bodies so quickly. Sometimes things are just so woo-woo that it just pulls people right out. People wear certain jewelry or certain clothing articles or certain things on their feet and their shoes, magnets or whatever. Grounding is important because you're dealing with so much energy. You can be pulled out of your body left and right and it's just so...I don't know. I hate going to those things, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them because there's so much stuff going on and you also have the vibe of the salespeople. I mean people are trying to sell stuff with a spiritual intention, but yet it's also about the sale. It's marketing spirituality, which is really difficult, I find. I think it's kind of weird. I believe in selling products to help people. But it's just kind of a weird kind of situation. Yes, I understand. Van Praagh: So go there and know what you'd like to experience. If you have a goal of what you want, that's much better than just going generally, because you'll be pulled all over the place. Let's say you want to learn more about meditations. Then go to meditation booths. Or you want to learn about diet, go to those areas. But above all, have a good time. Enjoy it. Just be cognizant of yourself, check in. What are you working on now? Van Praagh: I'm working on doing a tour for my Looking Beyond book. I'm working on two television shows, a prime-time series and a special that I'm going to be doing called, "The Paranormalist" -- and what else? I think that's it for now. (Laughter) And of course I'm doing tours next year also. I'm doing a spiritual tour to Alaska, and I'm going to be working a lot next year with Dr. Doreen Virtue. For more on James Van Praagh, visit www.vanpraagh.com Tim Miejan is editor of The EDGE. Contact him at (651) 578-8969, toll-free 1 (888) 776-5687 or e-mail editor@edgenews.com Copyright © 2003 Tim Miejan |
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