Read an Excerpt
Take the Leap
What it Really Means to be Psychic
By Michelle A. Beltran Balboa Press
Copyright © 2015 Michelle A. Beltran
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5043-3999-5
CHAPTER 1
MY STORY
Some years ago, I embarked on the journey of a lifetime — or maybe several lifetimes. I had lived a fairly nomadic professional life, moving from one career or enthusiasm to another. I'd been in the air force, worked as a probation officer, taught young people, and been a professional cyclist. Once, when I was working as a probation officer, my chief described my life as being "rich with escapades." She wasn't entirely wrong, and in spite of the fact that the description appeared accurate, it was not how I would have described it. I had an overwhelming sense — a primordial urging — that something was not right, that there must be more to life than this seemingly fortunate life I was leading.
I remember sitting in my office, comfortably employed with the state in a position many would have been thrilled to hold, knowing I was not living up to my potential. Life should be engaging, passion-filled, and stimulating. That realization prompted a couple of questions I had never asked myself before: What exactly is my potential? How do I go about pursuing it?
These questions brought awareness that the only way to complete fulfillment was to embrace the thing I had inwardly desired my entire life — the development of my mind, my consciousness, my inner leanings, and my psychic propensities.
Once I committed myself to this journey of self-discovery, I focused all my attention on growing an awareness of my higher self, my connections with the universe, and the psychic abilities I had overlooked and ignored. I haven't looked back since that day.
I began formal psychic training at the Chico Psychic Institute. Later, I studied at the Reno Psychic Institute in Reno, Nevada. Shortly thereafter, I discovered mediumship abilities and studied at Mystic Shift Mediumship School. Each class and each new revelation served to kindle my excitement and energy for more. My skills were expanding, and my abilities were blossoming and developing. I no longer had superficial ideas about the psychic realm and just how psychic development happens. I studied and read everything I could and began practicing my innate abilities earnestly and sincerely. Several psychic practices caught my interest, but I was most intrigued by the practice of controlled remote viewing, what I now call Distant Sensing.
Like anyone who embarks on this lifestyle quickly discerns, I had an inclination for practices for which I later learned I had a talent. I soon discovered that practice was Distant Sensing. I found it captivating and fascinating. With fervor, I sought out expert guidance from Dr. Paul H. Smith, one of the longest-serving remote viewers in the Star Gate psychic military espionage program. Distant Sensing was a scientific connection to a profession — psychic examination — that I knew to be valid but others found hard to trust. I believed that if the Central Intelligence Agency found value and significance in psychic research, it was possible to change the public's negative perceptions and prejudices.
If you're reading this book, you must be curious about the powers of the mind. Like me, you may have the feeling there is more to life than can be explained by our physical experience of the world. Quoted in the book The Joy of Kindness by Robert Furey, I thoroughly believe what the French philosopher and Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, wrote about the reality of living: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
It didn't take long before I teamed up with Deborah King, an internationally known life coach and alternative healer, and things changed even more dramatically. Her biography — a study in overcoming obstacles, moving on to success, and the recounting of her quest for self-knowledge — resonated with me. It was her life story that led me to realize the importance and impact of reaching one's higher self. Deborah helped me orient my teaching and focus my objectives. I soon opened my own practice and currently work to help thousands who need answers to life's big questions. My practice consists of mediumship, controlled remote viewing (Distant Sensing), psychic readings, and intuitive life coaching. It is my hope that you will dive deeply into exploring your own higher self and give credit to your special psychic callings.
CHAPTER 2
TAKE THE LEAP: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE PSYCHIC
The steps we take on life's journey are fraught with ups and downs, misconceptions and falsehoods, unexpected realizations and unprecedented understandings. Life is learning. Even our ability to observe firsthand events correctly is impacted by the inability of our brains to record more than five specific facts at one time. The other facts — rightly or wrongly remembered — are filtered out of our recollection. Our observations are also influenced by our worldview and past influences, not actual facts. The realm of psychic and otherworldly happenings, like our observations, can't be definitively defined. But in spite of that, the world of psychic phenomena has thousands of followers, and the people who believe in an active, unseen world practice its teachings.
What we do know about this area of life is that such belief structures are part of our culture. The world of active spirituality, of psychic seeing, mediumship, and other psychic modalities, is growing. Just as many people are interested in religious principles and inspirations, many are interested in the mysterious realm of the supernatural. In the past, people thought something was wrong with anyone who thought about psychic or spiritual matters. Now people are curious. They are in the midst of reconsidering any information they've learned about the universe and the world of the unseen. There is a new wave of investigation into such things as intuition, hunches, instinct, unusual awareness, and the possibility of a sixth sense.
Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking takes a long, hard look at the power and presence of the seldom-understood phenomenon we call intuition. We can't conclusively explain intuition, but researchers like Gladwell have taken a stab at it. His argument suggests our mental processes work quickly and automatically, using an overabundance of information acquired over a lifetime. He puts forth a theory that expert judgment and instantaneous decisions are often accurate without the benefit of extensive knowledge. He also looks into factors that prevent us from using our intuition knowingly and investigates the influences that appear to destroy this mechanism of human intuition.
Others also believe intuition is the result of a lifetime of experiences — an exposure to information residing in our subconscious until the accumulation of that information can be used. These people believe our minds have the ability to archive all types of information we don't log in on a conscious level. They believe we pick up information subconsciously, never really comprehending it — body language, tone of voice, a particular look, or something out of place — and this is the root of intuition.
To others, however, intuition is a knowing or sensing that comes from within because we are a part of a universal mind, and it comes without the benefit of rational explanation. They believe intuition is an unnamed something that operates beneath our layers of logic, something that works as our conscious and unconscious minds communicate in unexpected ways, an unconscious reasoning that propels us to do things without telling us why or how. In the book Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson, Jobs, an inventor and pioneer of the computer revolution, called intuition, "more powerful than intellect." Intuition, for both camps, is the sum of our intellectual ability, acquired knowledge, past experiences, and sensory perceptions. For some, it also includes psychic input.
Whatever intuition is, it is not instinct. Instinct is an internally driven, fixed pattern of behavior exhibited in animals in response to a specific stimulus. It is an inborn impulse, a motivation to action. Salmon swim upstream and fight strong river currents in response to a compulsion to return to their birthplaces and spawn a new generation. Salmon do this in response to instinct, not intuition. Intuition is an experience unique to humans.
Intuition not only uses our mental senses to inform us, but it also uses our bodies to send us unique messages. You may have heard it said, "He makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up." That is intuition using your physical body to signal something may be wrong or needs your attention. It may be telling you the person or situation in question is unsafe. Intuition might be a tingle, a feeling in your stomach, or an unsettling emotion. It is intuition sending you a message.
To people like Gladwell, intuition and foreknowledge are scientific in nature. To those who believe in otherworldly existences, it is spiritual. While it may seem incompatible to forge a link between the common, everyday experiences of intuition and the trained and developed powers of a psychic, psychics tell us intuition is the foundation upon which psychic abilities are built.
Regardless of where the truth lies on this issue, our culture actively encourages us to rely on rational judgment as the only true expression of reality. We know, however, that purely rational assessments aren't always accurate. We have all experienced instances where emotional input has aided in the discovery of a truth or the reality of an event or situation. Intuition is a worthwhile guide for evaluating situations and informing decisions. It has the ability to take us to unexpected destinations without the benefit of logic.
If you have ever had a gut feeling that turned out to be true or had a sudden impulse to do or not do something but later discovered you should have listened, you were using the intuitive insights with which we are all endowed. Given that intuition lives in the realm of the unexplained, you may be able to conclude (in a broad sense) that you already have the foundation for acquiring psychic abilities. All individuals are born with a tendency toward a psychic mind, whether they know it or not or believe it or not. Psychic abilities are an integral and important part (albeit a small part) of intuition.
It is quite possible for individuals to make the conscious decision to develop, rekindle, or magnify the powers of their intuitive voices, their psychic minds. This book is written to discuss what it means to be psychic. The path to the supernatural world of the psychic begins by expanding and fine-tuning intuition and then paying close attention to the seen and unseen worlds that surround us. Wayne Dyer, internationally renowned author and speaker on the topics of self-development and spiritual growth, like many in his field, believes current scientific investigation around the mysteries of matter and energy proves it is quite possible there is more beyond what our logical minds can consider.
For many, religion is the answer to universal truth and a connection with supreme intelligence. Current statistics report a majority of Americans believe angels and demons are active in the world. Eighty percent believe miracles happen, and 92 percent believe in God. To others, cultivating and establishing psychic abilities will aid in a search for the power of a universal mind and a universal spirit that unifies us all.
The acquisition of psychic abilities is not simply the pursuit of a psychic mind. It is more about embarking on a journey of self-discovery to awaken an innate desire to understand the universe and the unseen world. It is not a question of being more intuitive than anyone else, and it is not a question of being endowed with more psychic abilities than anyone else. It is only about you and whether or not you want to engage in an exploration of the spirit realm or acquire psychic abilities by becoming familiar with the practices of the psychic world.
CHAPTER 3
WHO OR WHAT IS A PSYCHIC
A psychic is a person who recognizes the supernatural capabilities of the mind and works to expand his or her skills and develop those abilities lying outside the realm of physical science or earthly understanding — powers and abilities that function outside the domain of natural laws. Psychic abilities involve skills to interpret, manipulate, and report on events and information that can't be acquired within the sphere of physical science.
Psychics deal with things pertaining to the human soul and mind. They engage in powers relating to spiritual forces, the immaterial, and the influences of universal energy. Such efforts result in the development of insights and abilities, like telepathy and clairvoyance. People who have worked at developing their psychic abilities will find they become proficient in one or several of the activities commonly referred to as mediumship, clairvoyance, telepathy, mind reading, ESP, palmistry, and other aids to spiritual exploration.
Psychic abilities can be acquired by anyone who takes the time and makes the effort to study and learn. It isn't necessary to be highly evolved or believe in psychic inclinations that may have occurred in childhood. Everyone has psychic potential, but their abilities often remain inactive until something triggers them into action. Psychic ability, like any skill, develops only when wanted and practiced. It fades when it is neglected.
Scientific proof that psychic powers exist is gaining ground. Thousands practice the art, and thousands more believe. Physicist and author, Russell Targ, states in his book The Reality of ESP: A Physicist's Proof of Psychic Abilities the scientific evidence that we all possess psychic abilities is "... now overwhelming and modern physics has the means and tools to embrace it." Mediums and psychics have been relaying messages and conducting readings for thousands of years. Even Solomon sought the advice of a spiritualist and received it, although he acted against God's instructions. The result was he obtained information about the outcome of an upcoming battle.
Today, there are a larger number of spiritualists practicing than ever before, and there is a greater acceptance of spiritual expressions. Seventy-two percent of all Americans describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. Individuals like Oprah Winfrey, Alice Walker, Richard Bach, Elizabeth Gilbert, Louise Hay, Neale Donald Walsh, and Iyanla Vanzant are some of those Americans.
Psychic practices are no longer considered taboo, and people who side with those beliefs are no longer considered bizarre, creepy, or peculiar. The psychic profession is now accepted. It is a practice that endeavors to uncover an inner view of the soul and the universal connection of souls. Psychics believe since we are all souls and we are all connected, we are all psychic on some level. How adept we become at using those psychic tendencies is up to us; growth takes training.
Training to be a psychic, like the training for any occupation, is necessary. And because you have the power of choice, you can decide to develop your psychic gifts whenever you want and for whatever reason you want. No one, even those in the psychic community, knows for sure or can prove where psychic gifts come from. So it is up to you to trust the process and believe that any psychic power can be acquired.
The psychic community believes spiritual energies are working for the good of humankind — energies that will guide you to the realization of your true spiritual nature and to the highest expression of who you are. They believe that psychic gifts, when used properly, benefit you and do not function to flatter your ego. Psychic practices support identifying the true essence of the soul and illuminate for the world the true nature and meaning of spirituality.
CHAPTER 4
ABOUT BEING A PSYCHIC
The difference between those with psychic Sense-Abilities and those without is simply a matter of training and intention. The mind is not just a function of the body, like an arm or a leg. It is a powerful tool from which we can access the universe and our inner selves. Each of us can learn to stand in our own power, in our own way, and in our own time; psychic training can do all of that.
You see, psychics, and those who are interested in investigating the power of the universe and the unexplainable, share the same characteristics. You've met them. They are people who seem to know what's going to happen before it happens, those who seem to read minds, those who are both cursed and blessed by being highly intuitive. They are people who appear to go about their lives in a different way.
Psychics
• pay particular attention to their inner voices and listen to its urgings;
• pay attention to their bodies and are not afraid to be mystical;
• make time for solitude and take advantage of opportunities to contemplate the mysteries of existence;
• cherish creativity and put time into feeding that creativity;
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Take the Leap by Michelle A. Beltran. Copyright © 2015 Michelle A. Beltran. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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