Diary of an Uncertain Psychic

by Deena I.J. Newman

In Diary of an Uncertain Psychic, artist-anthropologist Deena I.J. Newman explores the life and lessons of Elizabeth, a California psychic and radio talk show host. Through vivid graphic narrative, this detailed account tells a story about images through images.

Elizabeth experienced a continuous flow of inner images, In Western culture, the phenomenon of spontaneous inner imagery is often considered unusual or abnormal. Newman challenges this perspective by suggesting that many people experience spontaneous visual, auditory, and kinesthetic imagery and contends that such imagery may be a potential key to understanding psychic and mental processes. These images are interpreted differently across different cultures – as spiritual messages, omens, sources of scientific and artistic inspiration, psychological insights, symptoms of mental illness, or simply nonsensical productions of the mind.

In visualizing these images on the page, this book invites readers to delve deeper into the complexities of inner imagery – both within psychics and within themselves. This graphic work captures the film-like inner images commonly experienced yet frequently overlooked, revealing the uncertainty involved in translating between images and words. Newman reflexively explores Elizabeth's and her own experiences to understand this process of translation.

256 pages, Hardcover

Published July 22, 2025

Reviews

[Carol Mendoza]

I really enjoyed this unique book. It is thought-provoking and beautifully illustrated.

[Earla]

I loved this book!! I believe I found out about it through the Graphic Medicine International Collective. I'll always appreciate knowing this book is out in the world, bringing this topic to light with images and in-depth research.

Diary of an Uncertain Psychic by Deena Newman is simply remarkable - her watercolour sketching, her well-researched deep dive - Incredible! I am grateful for Deena's breadth of knowledge, which she shares about this topic, and I will share this book with friends who have a similar interest in inner spontaneous images.

I need to mention her extensive notes, which are a book unto themselves, and the bibliography - there will be new 'deep dives' for me there. I've read Visual Thinking by Temple Grandin and will try out Blink by Malcom Gladwell, What Do Pictures Want by W. Mitchell and Life Beside Care by Lisa Stevenson.

I have to face it - were I to be placed on a deserted island with this book and access to all the bibliographical titles mentioned, I'd be a happy person.

I loved her vocabulary. I need to look up a few words to learn more: Ethnographic, avaricious, multivalent, hypnagogic, abeyance and ameliorate. All new to me.

And the images! I'd love to learn of Deena's process from text to sketch to paint to print!

Deena depicts so many interesting images in her drawings; such an ouroboros - a snake swallowing itself symbolizing wholeness or infinity on page 140, then listed in the notes - yet another thing I learned in this book.

I loved learning about specific terminology, such as 
cryptomnesia (memory bias that causes current thoughts to be (wrongly) experienced as novel or original inventions) - who knew? I didn't!

I'd still like to learn what she meant when Deena uses the term 'Scandinavian keeping the dust' on page 169.

I'll be seeking out more books like this! Thank you to the publisher for this book - https://utppublishing.com/series/ethn...

[Ann]

I have never sought out books about psychic phenomena. My knee-jerk skepticism keeps me from looking into the subject. But fortunately Newman’s book came to me from a dear friend (and I have now given it in turn to many friends who likewise are not likely to seek it out, or give it a second glance in a bookshop window).

Diary of an Uncertain Psychic poses questions I had never come close to asking: What is mental imagery? How does it affect our life -- intellectually -- emotionally? In addressing these questions Newman introduces us to real people. This is not a disembodied conceptual discussion – although the author does delve into the concepts as a true scholar does. She introduces us to Elisabeth, the subject of her PhD research – a unique person, with unique abilities – the kind of person few of us would have the privilege of not just meeting, but becoming close to, close enough to really learn about and learn from.

The author addresses these questions the way a dear friend does, who is also a brilliant mind. Her words and images draw you in, and keep you turning pages, turning over ideas, entering into the mulling over of these notions long after reaching the end.

I call this book is a page turner because I literally could not put it down. Something that has not happened to me in a long while. In fact I accelerated in the first half, taking in the fascinating material with impatient curiosity. But then realized that I had to slow down, to put off reaching the end too soon. In slowing down and in re-reading it, I was able to savour the beauty of this special work; the captivating, questioning conversation of it; the warmth of it.

Reading this book – experiencing this work of art – is like visiting a best friend, a best storyteller, and a welcoming host, all with the joy of encountering and contemplating and fascinating questions about the mind and the human heart.

[David Shorter]

You probably won't know what to think of this book when you start it. I didn't. I wasn't sure what I was reading. I knew it was a graphic novel. And "ethnographic" told me it was from a social scientific perspective, or at least that the author was interested in what counts as "authenticity" and "authority." But like a dream itself, the book starts to make sense in spurts and glimpses. Before you know it, you start to see that what's taking place is the book is having the impact on us, the readers, as the psychic world did to the author: slowly unfolding and at times in confusing ways. What a ride. The book was a lot like life itself, you have to be up for the ride. And there are moments in the book that come through as "a ha" moments about the cosmos. You definitely get a sense toward the end that you might yourself have been opened up a bit more to the world of possibilities. If you have ever wondered if you might be psychic, or what to do if you think you are, this book will feel like a best friend. I have read a lot of books by and about the world of psychics, but none have felt so genuine in their confusion, at times ambivalence, and yet the divine connectedness of the journey.

[Ruth Mandel]

If there were 6 stars, I would have given it 6. A remarkable book, it defies simple categorization. It should be read, and re-read, on many levels. The art is extraordinary, especially the way it is juxtaposed with the story. In part a memoir, in part an ethnography, in part a profound philosophical exploration of consciousness, dreams, memory, visions, symbols. It invites readers to examine and challenge their own preconceived notions of the phenomena we generally ignore, but give life added meaning. I literally couldn't put it down, and read it through the night.