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One Last Time: A psychic medium speaks to those we have loved and lost by John Edward (3-Mar-2011) Paperback
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May 22, 2024
THE FAMED MEDIUM’S FIRST BOOK
John Edward McGee Jr. is an American television personality, author and psychic medium. From 2001-2004, he hosted the TV show (on the Sci-Fi channel), ‘Crossing Over.’
He wrote in the Preface to this 1998 book, “When I was about four years old, I began getting up in the middle of the night and moving around in the darkened house while everyone was asleep… I think now that I was astrotraveling---having out-of-body experiences. I did this might after night until I was seven or so… When I began to realize NOT everyone had these experiences, I decided the thing to do was to keep them to myself… Only years later would I realize that for me, these episodes were awakenings. Little by little, I was being introduced to what I would come to know as the spirit world. Today, I am a full-time psychic medium. I reach out to those who have passe on to the other side, and reconnect them with the loved ones they left behind. Yes---to put in in plain terms---I speak to the dead. Or more accurately, they speak to me. This book is a chronicle of my life and work, a diary of sorts that I intend to be a window into the spirit world and the fascinating realm of after-death communication. There are many messages I hope to impart: messages of love and healing, messages about the continuous nature of life, whether on the physical or spiritual planes… But what this book is NOT any kind of final word on the nature of life after death and the dimension in between. It is a recounting of my experiences and of what I think they might mean.” (Pg. xiii-xiv)
He continues, “Although the true nature of the spirit world is elusive, what is plain to me is the spirits’ ability to break through the void to let us know they are alive and well, and they are with us. The proof is in the visits and message I receive every day of my life, messages I convey with the hope that they will being peace and reassurance to the people I meet through my work. This book is an attempt to reach an even larger number of people by putting between covers my most compelling encounters with the spirit world, and to demystify this work by explaining not only what it is, but what it isn’t.” (Pg. xv)
He recalls, “You’d think that with all these strange experiences, I’d have been more interested in my mother’s hobby. She was a psychic junkie. I thought she was looney. My mother was constantly getting readings from psychics… Sometimes my mother brought psychics to the house for what I later learned was known in the trade as a house party.” (Pg. 8)
He explains, “it’s very difficult to explain in any kind of scientific way, so maybe a better way to put it is to say that I want you to know WHAT I do----beyond simply saying I talk to the dead… So how does it happen? While it’s true that I naturally attract the energies of spirits---they know I can perceive, understand, and convey their meaning---I make sure I do everything possible to maximize that ability. To do this, I go through a series of exercises to raise my vibrations to meet those of the spirits. First, I meditate. I center myself so that my energies are as focused as they can be. As a Catholic, I also pray the rosary; I pray that I will be able to deliver messages clearly and that people will be receptive to those messages.” (Pg. 43, 45)
He continues, “With names… sometimes I get the whole thing, other times just an initial or a sound. Sometimes it’s analogous to a radio with very heavy static. You hear a voice, but it’s not clear and you try to catch a word here or there… If a spirit were to try to give me the name James, I might just get the ‘J’ sound of a ‘J-S’ sound. ‘Ellen’ might come through with the ‘L’ sound strongest, of ‘L=N.’ By experience, I would probably know that the spirit is not giving an ‘L’ initial, indicating it’s a name that begins with that letter, but that it’s the dominant sound. So I would give that as ‘Ellen’ or ‘Ellie’ or some variation… over the years I’ve been able to turn up the volume, but that hasn’t made it any easier to understand the messages. If there was one thing I would ask the spirits, it would be to slow down and speak more clearly.” (Pg. 47-48)
He argues, “Some people hold out for an unreasonably high standard of proof. It’s something akin to a juror who ignores all the circumstantial evidence of a crime because he just doesn’t want to BELIEVE the defendant did it. While I don’t want people to try to fit square pegs into round holes, and while I don’t want them to accept generalities as validation, I do want them to understand that there is more art than science to what I do and that not all round holes are a perfect fit. Be a good juror: Be reasonable, use your common sense, and go with the preponderance of the evidence.” (Pg. 73)
He acknowledges, “In the year when I was learning how to balance my worldly and spiritual lives, one issue nagged me. I was questioning how my religious faith fit into my work as a medium. On one hand, I was living in a world of spirituality every day, feeling closer to God than ever. On the other hand, I felt isolated and alienated from the Catholic church of my upbringing because of its stance on psychic phenomena and the work of mediums. While I still considered myself a Catholic with a strong religious faith, I knew that my church was strongly opposed to what I did.” (Pg. 104)
He states, “Like anyone else, the thing I have wondered about most is what it’s like on the Other Side. The truthful answer is: I don’t know. And I am highly skeptical of any human being who says he does. No one can know until they get there. But I do know what I think it MAY be like because I have had glimpses. There have been times when spirits have come through so clearly and strongly that I have said to them, ‘Tell me what it’s like there. Give me an idea.’ … Every time I have done this, I’ve gotten back the same feelings from the Other Side: ‘Just pass them the messages and don’t worry about what it’s like here. You’ll find out when you get here.’” (Pg. 151)
He explains, “There are too many professions in which a practitioner is required to start from scratch virtually every day—to prove not only his ability, but his LEGITIMACY, all over again, every time out. Of course, given the intangible, cosmic nature of my work, it’s not surprising that I must constantly deliver the goods to prove that I’m doing what I say I’m doing. Though most people who come to me for readings believe in what I do (or at least believe it’s possible) hardly a day goes by that I don’t have to prove it to someone new, whether it’s a confirmed cynic or a fence-sitter, someone who’s just not sure what he or she believes.” (Pg. 203)
He summarizes, “My goal in writing this book was not to convince you of anything. The real learning can only come as a result of your own personal experience. I hope I have answered many of your questions, dispelled some misconceptions, and eased some misgivings. There is still a lot I don’t understand; a lot I hope to learn in the years to come. I can only hope that the experiences ahead are as profound and enlightening to one as those that I chronicled here, and that they continue to give me knowledge and understanding about the nature of our existence.” (Pg. 220)
This book will be of great interest to those studying contemporary mediums, and for fans of Edward’s TV programs and other activities.
John Edward McGee Jr. is an American television personality, author and psychic medium. From 2001-2004, he hosted the TV show (on the Sci-Fi channel), ‘Crossing Over.’
He wrote in the Preface to this 1998 book, “When I was about four years old, I began getting up in the middle of the night and moving around in the darkened house while everyone was asleep… I think now that I was astrotraveling---having out-of-body experiences. I did this might after night until I was seven or so… When I began to realize NOT everyone had these experiences, I decided the thing to do was to keep them to myself… Only years later would I realize that for me, these episodes were awakenings. Little by little, I was being introduced to what I would come to know as the spirit world. Today, I am a full-time psychic medium. I reach out to those who have passe on to the other side, and reconnect them with the loved ones they left behind. Yes---to put in in plain terms---I speak to the dead. Or more accurately, they speak to me. This book is a chronicle of my life and work, a diary of sorts that I intend to be a window into the spirit world and the fascinating realm of after-death communication. There are many messages I hope to impart: messages of love and healing, messages about the continuous nature of life, whether on the physical or spiritual planes… But what this book is NOT any kind of final word on the nature of life after death and the dimension in between. It is a recounting of my experiences and of what I think they might mean.” (Pg. xiii-xiv)
He continues, “Although the true nature of the spirit world is elusive, what is plain to me is the spirits’ ability to break through the void to let us know they are alive and well, and they are with us. The proof is in the visits and message I receive every day of my life, messages I convey with the hope that they will being peace and reassurance to the people I meet through my work. This book is an attempt to reach an even larger number of people by putting between covers my most compelling encounters with the spirit world, and to demystify this work by explaining not only what it is, but what it isn’t.” (Pg. xv)
He recalls, “You’d think that with all these strange experiences, I’d have been more interested in my mother’s hobby. She was a psychic junkie. I thought she was looney. My mother was constantly getting readings from psychics… Sometimes my mother brought psychics to the house for what I later learned was known in the trade as a house party.” (Pg. 8)
He explains, “it’s very difficult to explain in any kind of scientific way, so maybe a better way to put it is to say that I want you to know WHAT I do----beyond simply saying I talk to the dead… So how does it happen? While it’s true that I naturally attract the energies of spirits---they know I can perceive, understand, and convey their meaning---I make sure I do everything possible to maximize that ability. To do this, I go through a series of exercises to raise my vibrations to meet those of the spirits. First, I meditate. I center myself so that my energies are as focused as they can be. As a Catholic, I also pray the rosary; I pray that I will be able to deliver messages clearly and that people will be receptive to those messages.” (Pg. 43, 45)
He continues, “With names… sometimes I get the whole thing, other times just an initial or a sound. Sometimes it’s analogous to a radio with very heavy static. You hear a voice, but it’s not clear and you try to catch a word here or there… If a spirit were to try to give me the name James, I might just get the ‘J’ sound of a ‘J-S’ sound. ‘Ellen’ might come through with the ‘L’ sound strongest, of ‘L=N.’ By experience, I would probably know that the spirit is not giving an ‘L’ initial, indicating it’s a name that begins with that letter, but that it’s the dominant sound. So I would give that as ‘Ellen’ or ‘Ellie’ or some variation… over the years I’ve been able to turn up the volume, but that hasn’t made it any easier to understand the messages. If there was one thing I would ask the spirits, it would be to slow down and speak more clearly.” (Pg. 47-48)
He argues, “Some people hold out for an unreasonably high standard of proof. It’s something akin to a juror who ignores all the circumstantial evidence of a crime because he just doesn’t want to BELIEVE the defendant did it. While I don’t want people to try to fit square pegs into round holes, and while I don’t want them to accept generalities as validation, I do want them to understand that there is more art than science to what I do and that not all round holes are a perfect fit. Be a good juror: Be reasonable, use your common sense, and go with the preponderance of the evidence.” (Pg. 73)
He acknowledges, “In the year when I was learning how to balance my worldly and spiritual lives, one issue nagged me. I was questioning how my religious faith fit into my work as a medium. On one hand, I was living in a world of spirituality every day, feeling closer to God than ever. On the other hand, I felt isolated and alienated from the Catholic church of my upbringing because of its stance on psychic phenomena and the work of mediums. While I still considered myself a Catholic with a strong religious faith, I knew that my church was strongly opposed to what I did.” (Pg. 104)
He states, “Like anyone else, the thing I have wondered about most is what it’s like on the Other Side. The truthful answer is: I don’t know. And I am highly skeptical of any human being who says he does. No one can know until they get there. But I do know what I think it MAY be like because I have had glimpses. There have been times when spirits have come through so clearly and strongly that I have said to them, ‘Tell me what it’s like there. Give me an idea.’ … Every time I have done this, I’ve gotten back the same feelings from the Other Side: ‘Just pass them the messages and don’t worry about what it’s like here. You’ll find out when you get here.’” (Pg. 151)
He explains, “There are too many professions in which a practitioner is required to start from scratch virtually every day—to prove not only his ability, but his LEGITIMACY, all over again, every time out. Of course, given the intangible, cosmic nature of my work, it’s not surprising that I must constantly deliver the goods to prove that I’m doing what I say I’m doing. Though most people who come to me for readings believe in what I do (or at least believe it’s possible) hardly a day goes by that I don’t have to prove it to someone new, whether it’s a confirmed cynic or a fence-sitter, someone who’s just not sure what he or she believes.” (Pg. 203)
He summarizes, “My goal in writing this book was not to convince you of anything. The real learning can only come as a result of your own personal experience. I hope I have answered many of your questions, dispelled some misconceptions, and eased some misgivings. There is still a lot I don’t understand; a lot I hope to learn in the years to come. I can only hope that the experiences ahead are as profound and enlightening to one as those that I chronicled here, and that they continue to give me knowledge and understanding about the nature of our existence.” (Pg. 220)
This book will be of great interest to those studying contemporary mediums, and for fans of Edward’s TV programs and other activities.
Displaying 1 of 1 review