The Book of Strange: A Thinking Person's Guide to Psychic Phenomena

by Sylvia Fraser

Have you ever felt the presence of someone who had died? Or dreamed something before it happened? Or had an uncanny sense that “I’ve been here before” about a place you’re visiting for the first time? Sylvia Fraser is one of those people to whom mysterious events often happen - weird coincidences, glimpses into the future, apparent communication with the dead. In The Book of Strange, Fraser not only shares these incidents but she also tries to understand them. In each chapter, she deals with a “supernormal” topic, such as reincarnation or telepathy, by recounting her own experience, and then by searching for rational and scientific evidence to support the principles involved. Her research takes her into Western philosophy, Eastern mysticism, quantum and astro physics, biology, parapsychology and holistic medicine. Her range is astonishing. Historic figures such as Buddha, Hippocrates, William James and Carl Jung share the stage with today’s physicists and Nobel laureates.Along with her own provocative anecdotes, Fraser recounts the remarkable stories of others whose experiences took them into startling realms. Nor does she shy away from re-examining the evidence supporting persons whose stories have been mistreated by history. These include psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich who discovered an energy called “orgone” that he believed could be used to treat cancer by boosting the immune system; Edgar Cayce who, in a trance, could diagnose illnesses and prescribe treatments for people hundreds of miles away in languages he didn’t know when conscious; Bridey Murpy, an eighteenth-century colleen who may - or may not - have reincarnated as a Colorado housewife. Then there are the identical twins, separated at birth, who coincidentally gave their dogs the same name, married and divorced women of the same name, married second wives of the same name, gave their first sons the same two names, had the same jobs, hobbies, likes and dislikes, even though they’d had no contact whatever until age thirty-nine.In her process of self-discovery, Fraser not only invites us to share her journey, but she also challenges us to reexamine our own lives for the psychic and spiritual clues that we may have been missing. In so doing, we open a skylight to a Universe more wondrous and illuminating and exciting than we ever dared to THE FAX OF NATUREPsychic HEALING THE HEADLESS HORSEMANHolistic IN SEARCH OF THE FOURTH MONKEYThe WHO IS THAT CROWD IN THE MIRROR? THE SOUND OF COSMIC LAUGHTERThe Future WARPS AND ALLFriendly Ghosts and Soulful IN GOOD THE DEVIL TO SHADES OF THE THE NEW MYSTICISMThe Book of Strange was awarded a 1994 American Library Association Booklist Medal when published in the United States as The Quest for the Fourth Monkey. “Fraser’s undeniable talent . . .is everywhere in evidence. Relax and prepare to enjoy a fantastic, sometimes astonishing tale, expertly told.” - Quill & Quire“An ambitious work in which Sylvia Fraser acts as a guide in the catacombs of the collective unconscious. In probing the world of the unseen, Fraser deftly explores the fallacies of a Western civilization blinkered by rationalism and the twin gods of science and technology.” - Joe Fisher, author of Hungry Ghosts.

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Sylvia Fraser (born 8 March 1935 in Hamilton, Ontario) was a Canadian novelist, journalist and travel writer. Fraser was educated at the University of Western Ontario. In her fifty year career as a journalist, she has written hundreds of articles, beginning as a Feature Writer for The Toronto Star Weekly (1957-68), and continuing with articles for many other magazines and newspapers including the Globe & Mail, Saturday Night, Chatelaine, the Walrus and Toronto Life. She taught creative writing for many years at Banff Centre and at various university workshops. She has participated in extensive media tours, given lectures and readings throughout Canada, the United States, Britain and Sweden. She served on the Arts Advisory Panel to Canada Council and was a member of Canada Council's 1985 Cultural Delegation to China. She was a founding member of The Writers’ Union of Canada and for many years was on the executive of The Writers' Trust, a charitable organization for the support of Canadian authors and literature. Fraser lived in Toronto, Ontario.