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Psychic Literacy: & the Coming Psychic Renaissance
Exploring everything from visions, hunches, vibes, astrology, and the occult arts and sciences, to modern physics, geomagnetism and bio-electricity, Psychic Literacy is renowned artist and remote viewer Ingo Swann's grand overview of human psychic potentials.
- GenresParanormalMetaphysics
454 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2018
62 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 20, 2020
I first heard about this book when Gordon White, the creator of the chaos magic blog "Rune Soup," interviewed the editor, Brian Lord. Brian was a graduate student at the University of West Georgia, and he was cataloging Ingo Swann's papers for the Library's special collections. Among the scraps of papers, he unearthed the entire book, written in the late 1980s, but never published. (If you are an Ingo Swann fan, it's worth it to listen to the podcast, from May 2019). It's unclear why the book never saw the light of day; possibly Swann couldn't find a publisher.
Anyway, it's out now, and it's worth your time, if you're into the psychic work that Swann was engaged in. However, this is not a history of government psy studies, although he does write how far ahead the Russians were in such matters. He tells some great stories about himself, which are priceless. Does anyone remember the uproar when it was reported that President Reagan's wife Nancy used the services of an astrologer? If you were sentient in the 80s you could not have missed that story. Well, Ingo was working at the United Nations, and U Thant, the Secretary-General, brought his own personal astrologer and installed her in an office on Ingo's floor. The lady was kept very busy, as she took appointments from diplomats and other high-ranking officials who wanted a reading! This was all very hush-hush - no one wanted to admit that this was going on. Ingo's point is that even in this materialistic age, highly successful people use otherworldly means as well as hard work and smarts in order to get where they are. Just because you never hear about it doesn't mean it isn't happening.
In this book, Swann is trying to work out his philosophy about all this, and really doesn't arrive at any hard conclusions. He describes how he couldn't even arrive at a good definition of the term "psychic." He is attempting to address huge questions in an honest fashion. The best description of what this book is about comes from Brian Lord's introduction: "In a way, Psychic Literacy itself is a prophecy. It blazes past . . . . obstacles to offer a grand vision of a 'coming psychic renaissance' in which science and culture are no longer at odds with the reality of psychic phenomena."
In that, Ingo Swann was way ahead of his time. It's probably still too early, as some of the tools Swann speaks highly of, like astrology, are still dismissed by the mainstream. But if you are interested in exploring the mind of Ingo Swann (and what a mind!) this is a book you will want to read.
Anyway, it's out now, and it's worth your time, if you're into the psychic work that Swann was engaged in. However, this is not a history of government psy studies, although he does write how far ahead the Russians were in such matters. He tells some great stories about himself, which are priceless. Does anyone remember the uproar when it was reported that President Reagan's wife Nancy used the services of an astrologer? If you were sentient in the 80s you could not have missed that story. Well, Ingo was working at the United Nations, and U Thant, the Secretary-General, brought his own personal astrologer and installed her in an office on Ingo's floor. The lady was kept very busy, as she took appointments from diplomats and other high-ranking officials who wanted a reading! This was all very hush-hush - no one wanted to admit that this was going on. Ingo's point is that even in this materialistic age, highly successful people use otherworldly means as well as hard work and smarts in order to get where they are. Just because you never hear about it doesn't mean it isn't happening.
In this book, Swann is trying to work out his philosophy about all this, and really doesn't arrive at any hard conclusions. He describes how he couldn't even arrive at a good definition of the term "psychic." He is attempting to address huge questions in an honest fashion. The best description of what this book is about comes from Brian Lord's introduction: "In a way, Psychic Literacy itself is a prophecy. It blazes past . . . . obstacles to offer a grand vision of a 'coming psychic renaissance' in which science and culture are no longer at odds with the reality of psychic phenomena."
In that, Ingo Swann was way ahead of his time. It's probably still too early, as some of the tools Swann speaks highly of, like astrology, are still dismissed by the mainstream. But if you are interested in exploring the mind of Ingo Swann (and what a mind!) this is a book you will want to read.
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January 12, 2021Important Insight into Psychic Phenomena from a Professional Psychic
As a long time student and author in the field of the paranormal--although self-taught as seems to be the only way in this field, which rarely gets the full recognition it deserves--I regard Ingo Swann's, Psychic Literacy and the Coming Psychic Renaissance as a must read for everyone involved or interested in psychic phenomena, which should include the majority of human beings, since psychic ability is inherent, even if undiscovered, in all of us. What we now call paranormal must, by necessity, become normal. As Brian Lord says in the book's introduction, "In a way, Psychic Literacy itself is a prophecy. It blazes past all these obstacles to offer a grand vision of a 'coming psychic renaissance' in which science and culture are no longer at odds with the reality of psychic phenomena."
Prolific author Colin Wilson adds about Swann: "Because he is a born psychic, he can go straight to the heart of the matter with the certainty of one who knows exactly what he is talking about, and the problems seem to dissolve away. "
Since a proper vocabulary for the psychic field yet to be fully developed, I appreciated the time and care Swann takes in defining his terms, even including a glossary of his own making. Although some readers may find his attention to detail a bit text-bookish and long winded, his goal, as his title announces, is psychic literacy, and that takes concentration to obtain. But the effort is worth it. Highly recommended.
As a long time student and author in the field of the paranormal--although self-taught as seems to be the only way in this field, which rarely gets the full recognition it deserves--I regard Ingo Swann's, Psychic Literacy and the Coming Psychic Renaissance as a must read for everyone involved or interested in psychic phenomena, which should include the majority of human beings, since psychic ability is inherent, even if undiscovered, in all of us. What we now call paranormal must, by necessity, become normal. As Brian Lord says in the book's introduction, "In a way, Psychic Literacy itself is a prophecy. It blazes past all these obstacles to offer a grand vision of a 'coming psychic renaissance' in which science and culture are no longer at odds with the reality of psychic phenomena."
Prolific author Colin Wilson adds about Swann: "Because he is a born psychic, he can go straight to the heart of the matter with the certainty of one who knows exactly what he is talking about, and the problems seem to dissolve away. "
Since a proper vocabulary for the psychic field yet to be fully developed, I appreciated the time and care Swann takes in defining his terms, even including a glossary of his own making. Although some readers may find his attention to detail a bit text-bookish and long winded, his goal, as his title announces, is psychic literacy, and that takes concentration to obtain. But the effort is worth it. Highly recommended.
January 4, 2023
Quite an interesting book! We're no expert in this field- just dabbling really, but had previously shared a lot the popular misconceptions that are logically dispelled in this by Swann here. Some useful vocabulary and concept building as well. Planning to read more from him in the future, RIP!
October 19, 2020
Brilliant and ground-breaking. I rated it only 4 stars because it's a bit dated by now. But a classic!
August 23, 2021
This book is the first Swan book I’ve read, and it looks like the circumstances surrounding the publication of this book allowed a mindful editing process, as the author was dead and the book was found by an academic researcher among his papers.
So if you come it understanding the circumstances of publication, you’ll see the final book is presented as self-help for mystics told through Swan’s memoirs—don’t ignore your own inner psychic information!!
This book fills a gaping hole in the contemporary publishing genre—in my opinion that genre should splinter to coping & self help for people who struggle to accept and honor their ‘ESP’.
I’m listening to the audiobook. The narrator works well with the style of the book and tells the memoirs in a really effective voice.
So if you come it understanding the circumstances of publication, you’ll see the final book is presented as self-help for mystics told through Swan’s memoirs—don’t ignore your own inner psychic information!!
This book fills a gaping hole in the contemporary publishing genre—in my opinion that genre should splinter to coping & self help for people who struggle to accept and honor their ‘ESP’.
I’m listening to the audiobook. The narrator works well with the style of the book and tells the memoirs in a really effective voice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 15, 2023
Interesting book. Ingo Swann's work for the military is what led me here. The evidence for remote viewing is Interesting but I still have a lot of resistance towards the field in general. It was a good book to read though just to keep my ideas about reality limber
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews