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The Miracle Workers: America's Psychic Consultants
Rare book.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
15 people want to read
About the author
Jess Stearn
62 books29 followersStearn was a Jewish-American journalist and author of more than thirty books, nine of which were bestsellers. As an author, Stearn specialized in sensationalist speculative non-fiction. His early work focused on outsiders and marginalized individuals such as prostitutes, drug addicts, and homosexuals. His later work focused on spirituality, the occult, and psychic phenomena. His most popular works were two biographies on the American psychic Edgar Cayce; Stearn was a conference speaker for the Association for Research and Enlightenment and a proponent of Cayce's theories.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 24, 2018
As always from Jess Stearn, a good overview with plenty of human stories. It does puzzle me why so many researchers feel the need to figure out whether information comes from telepathy, precognition, psychometry, distance viewing, etc., instead of just being satisfied with a general function of nonmaterial awareness.
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May 19, 2024
A POPULAR OCCULTIC AUTHOR LOOKS AT MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PSYCHICS
Jess Stearn (1914-2002) was an American journalist and author who was a conference speaker for the Association for Research and Enlightenment (AR&E).
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1972 book, “with the growing interest in the psychic, a new breed of oracle has come into vogue, the psychic consultants… They are the last-resorters, generally consulted only when more conventional practitioners---lawyers, doctors, teachers, and parents---have not been able to help. Increasingly, people consult them for every reason imaginable, health, romance, finances, or sheer curiosity. Where once only eccentrics, or the gullible, patronized psychics, captains of finance, college professors, lawyers, doctors, and Indian chiefs now solicit appointments. One may want to know if he or she is getting that job. Another is concerned about an inheritance. Still another asks if she will marry Jack or Joe. The wise psychic, like the psychiatrist, lets each find the truth in his own way.” (Pg. 4)
He continues, “In Hollywood, where the film industry has been hurting in recent years, a psychic who can see a job ahead for anybody in the acting profession may quickly acquire a great vogue… Like other professionals, psychic consultants work by appointment only. But unlike other professionals, many psychics do not have fixed fees, often accepting donations, which might run from two to twenty dollars, or scaling their price to the income of the client.” (Pg. 4-5)
He explains, “The psychic quality is not limited to professional psychics. In childhood, before training in logic and reasoning, children show strong intuitive impulses. Many adults, too, appear to have an atavistic hangover from a primitive time when man needed his instinct to survive in a hostile world. Some observers feel the psychic faculty may be reviving currently because man is once more in peril, this time from his own destructive thinking.” (Pg. 11)
He goes on, “nearly all psychic consultants agree that a Divine Intelligence rules the affairs of man. Without the spiritual, without some feeling of soul consciousness, the psychic factor seems a frivolous gift, in a class with sleight of hand. It is also not very durable. For as they abuse this gift, pressing for their own material advantage, coddling their vanity, psychics invariably dwindle in effectiveness. On the other hand, through dedication to others, many psychics are more effective with time.” (Pg. 12)
In another chapter, he observes, “Some psychics, healers for instance, appear to make things happen; others are content to be mere channels, as in predicting the future, usually stressing the optimistic, but… all have a desire to help their fellow man.” (Pg. 30)
He acknowledges, “In a world of materiality, seeking to maintain their own spirituality, many psychics are confused as to the price they should put on their services---if any. Most are all too aware of the danger of prostituting themselves for money. But the real peril lies in attitude, not in payment itself….” (Pg. 31)
He states, “Ironically, those who most frequently consult psychics about romantic possibilities exert very little initiative of their own to bring about rewarding relationships. But some… are seriously seeking help in finding the relationship they want.” (Pg. 110)
He explains, “The miracle of subconscious healing may occur in private settings, without witnesses, or before thousands, where… mass emotion seems to provide a hypnotic effect strong enough to impress itself on the particularly susceptible subconscious. In the camps of the evangelistic healers, I have witnessed miracles my eyes could hardly credit. … The cures are so radical that one could be forgiven for immediately suspecting collusion, no matter how much talk there is of Jesus. Not all are cured, and the mass0oriented psychic, the evangelist, reaches out only for those with whom he feels some electric rapport, passing over others whose need is perhaps greater but whose subconscious is not nearly as receptive.” (Pg. 144)
He acknowledges, “In the search for evidence of survival, any subjective experience is suspect on the grounds of wishful thinking. With my imagination I can visualize anyone I know who has passed on, and by sinking into the subconscious invoke conversations that are clearly offshoots of this imagination. What assurance did I have that the psychics weren’t doing pretty much the same thing?” (Pg. 190)
He argues, “As the interest in reincarnation mounts, sparked by an increasing need to feel some purpose in an all too brief lifespan, the interest in life readings… In some instances, these life readings have been effective in explaining the individual’s often inexplicable behavior to his own satisfaction, and have prepared him for events foreshadowed by his karma. To some, reincarnation explains everything that we otherwise have no explanation of… why then… are some talented musicians and writers… others skilled dancers, some seeming bred to fortune, others, through no apparent fault of their own, to misfortune? … With reincarnation, everything happens in orderly fashion.” (Pg. 213-214)
He concludes, “Beset at every turn by war, pollution, greed, and injustice, man seems to have lost touch with what life is all about---namely the enhancing of his own potential through self-awareness in a world whose greatness he is just beginning to glimpse. If we are not to destroy one another before we realize this purpose, we must proceed with prudence and insight, the psychics say, to weld together a world of one mind and one heart.” (Pg. 279)
This book will interest some who are studying occultic topics.
Jess Stearn (1914-2002) was an American journalist and author who was a conference speaker for the Association for Research and Enlightenment (AR&E).
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1972 book, “with the growing interest in the psychic, a new breed of oracle has come into vogue, the psychic consultants… They are the last-resorters, generally consulted only when more conventional practitioners---lawyers, doctors, teachers, and parents---have not been able to help. Increasingly, people consult them for every reason imaginable, health, romance, finances, or sheer curiosity. Where once only eccentrics, or the gullible, patronized psychics, captains of finance, college professors, lawyers, doctors, and Indian chiefs now solicit appointments. One may want to know if he or she is getting that job. Another is concerned about an inheritance. Still another asks if she will marry Jack or Joe. The wise psychic, like the psychiatrist, lets each find the truth in his own way.” (Pg. 4)
He continues, “In Hollywood, where the film industry has been hurting in recent years, a psychic who can see a job ahead for anybody in the acting profession may quickly acquire a great vogue… Like other professionals, psychic consultants work by appointment only. But unlike other professionals, many psychics do not have fixed fees, often accepting donations, which might run from two to twenty dollars, or scaling their price to the income of the client.” (Pg. 4-5)
He explains, “The psychic quality is not limited to professional psychics. In childhood, before training in logic and reasoning, children show strong intuitive impulses. Many adults, too, appear to have an atavistic hangover from a primitive time when man needed his instinct to survive in a hostile world. Some observers feel the psychic faculty may be reviving currently because man is once more in peril, this time from his own destructive thinking.” (Pg. 11)
He goes on, “nearly all psychic consultants agree that a Divine Intelligence rules the affairs of man. Without the spiritual, without some feeling of soul consciousness, the psychic factor seems a frivolous gift, in a class with sleight of hand. It is also not very durable. For as they abuse this gift, pressing for their own material advantage, coddling their vanity, psychics invariably dwindle in effectiveness. On the other hand, through dedication to others, many psychics are more effective with time.” (Pg. 12)
In another chapter, he observes, “Some psychics, healers for instance, appear to make things happen; others are content to be mere channels, as in predicting the future, usually stressing the optimistic, but… all have a desire to help their fellow man.” (Pg. 30)
He acknowledges, “In a world of materiality, seeking to maintain their own spirituality, many psychics are confused as to the price they should put on their services---if any. Most are all too aware of the danger of prostituting themselves for money. But the real peril lies in attitude, not in payment itself….” (Pg. 31)
He states, “Ironically, those who most frequently consult psychics about romantic possibilities exert very little initiative of their own to bring about rewarding relationships. But some… are seriously seeking help in finding the relationship they want.” (Pg. 110)
He explains, “The miracle of subconscious healing may occur in private settings, without witnesses, or before thousands, where… mass emotion seems to provide a hypnotic effect strong enough to impress itself on the particularly susceptible subconscious. In the camps of the evangelistic healers, I have witnessed miracles my eyes could hardly credit. … The cures are so radical that one could be forgiven for immediately suspecting collusion, no matter how much talk there is of Jesus. Not all are cured, and the mass0oriented psychic, the evangelist, reaches out only for those with whom he feels some electric rapport, passing over others whose need is perhaps greater but whose subconscious is not nearly as receptive.” (Pg. 144)
He acknowledges, “In the search for evidence of survival, any subjective experience is suspect on the grounds of wishful thinking. With my imagination I can visualize anyone I know who has passed on, and by sinking into the subconscious invoke conversations that are clearly offshoots of this imagination. What assurance did I have that the psychics weren’t doing pretty much the same thing?” (Pg. 190)
He argues, “As the interest in reincarnation mounts, sparked by an increasing need to feel some purpose in an all too brief lifespan, the interest in life readings… In some instances, these life readings have been effective in explaining the individual’s often inexplicable behavior to his own satisfaction, and have prepared him for events foreshadowed by his karma. To some, reincarnation explains everything that we otherwise have no explanation of… why then… are some talented musicians and writers… others skilled dancers, some seeming bred to fortune, others, through no apparent fault of their own, to misfortune? … With reincarnation, everything happens in orderly fashion.” (Pg. 213-214)
He concludes, “Beset at every turn by war, pollution, greed, and injustice, man seems to have lost touch with what life is all about---namely the enhancing of his own potential through self-awareness in a world whose greatness he is just beginning to glimpse. If we are not to destroy one another before we realize this purpose, we must proceed with prudence and insight, the psychics say, to weld together a world of one mind and one heart.” (Pg. 279)
This book will interest some who are studying occultic topics.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews