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Cracking Open: Adventures of a Reluctant Medium
An International Book Awards Finalist, Cracking Adventures of a Reluctant Medium is hailed as one of the few honest, raw, funny, and relatable books about spiritual development out there. If you are interested in mediumship, this is a book you not only need to read but won’t be able to put down.
The twisted roller coaster ride called “opening up psychically” started for me the day my Grandmother died. That one pivotal moment changed me from a materialistic, business-driven agnostic to someone who doubted reality itself. I began to wonder if the brain I had relied on for so many years had finally set itself out to pasture. Talking to the dead isn’t a joy ride. It isn’t a theme park pass to chat with Elvis whenever you want, or a ticket to discover the long lost secrets of Atlantis. It’s a big responsibility, and a task I now hold dear to my heart. This book is about what happens when one stumbles onto the spiritual path. I present this book to you, raw, uncensored, and in detail—all the ups and downs of what it is really like to spend your days among the dead. You will find the hours of frustration and the moments of debilitating fear are also met with times of pure bliss when life unfolds to demonstrate the beauty of human potential. This book is not some fictional tale “based on a true story.” This is my life, and I share it with you.
The twisted roller coaster ride called “opening up psychically” started for me the day my Grandmother died. That one pivotal moment changed me from a materialistic, business-driven agnostic to someone who doubted reality itself. I began to wonder if the brain I had relied on for so many years had finally set itself out to pasture. Talking to the dead isn’t a joy ride. It isn’t a theme park pass to chat with Elvis whenever you want, or a ticket to discover the long lost secrets of Atlantis. It’s a big responsibility, and a task I now hold dear to my heart. This book is about what happens when one stumbles onto the spiritual path. I present this book to you, raw, uncensored, and in detail—all the ups and downs of what it is really like to spend your days among the dead. You will find the hours of frustration and the moments of debilitating fear are also met with times of pure bliss when life unfolds to demonstrate the beauty of human potential. This book is not some fictional tale “based on a true story.” This is my life, and I share it with you.
- GenresSpiritualityMemoir
285 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2020
142 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Isabeau Maxwell
5 books2 followersIsabeau “Beau” Maxwell is one of the leading spiritual coaches in intuitive development today. Isabeau brings deep channeled knowledge and personal understanding to the field of spirituality. She has helped people connect to their authentic, natural intuitive abilities for over 15 years.
Isabeau is an internationally known medium, author and teacher, touching the lives of people across the world. Known for her compassion and accuracy, Isabeau brings peace and comfort to many through her energy work, transformative sessions and teachings.
The founder of The SAGE Method, a life-changing, intuitive training program that teaches people how to open to their intuition and live an authentic, blissful life, Beau is also the creator of The SAGE Circle, Discovery Meditation and the author of Cracking Open: Adventures of a Reluctant Medium.
Having earned a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University with a major in mathematics and a minor in chemistry, Isabeau maintains a balanced perspective between this world and the next. Down-to-earth and easy to relate to, Isabeau offers safe space for students and clients to process the intuitive information they are provided.
Isabeau is an internationally known medium, author and teacher, touching the lives of people across the world. Known for her compassion and accuracy, Isabeau brings peace and comfort to many through her energy work, transformative sessions and teachings.
The founder of The SAGE Method, a life-changing, intuitive training program that teaches people how to open to their intuition and live an authentic, blissful life, Beau is also the creator of The SAGE Circle, Discovery Meditation and the author of Cracking Open: Adventures of a Reluctant Medium.
Having earned a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University with a major in mathematics and a minor in chemistry, Isabeau maintains a balanced perspective between this world and the next. Down-to-earth and easy to relate to, Isabeau offers safe space for students and clients to process the intuitive information they are provided.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 1, 2020
Mesmerizing
Not going to lie, I cried. I also laughed. Thank you Beau for sharing your beginnings with us. If you are a reader who is skimming through the reviews to see if you should buy this book; stop skimming, you should read this book. This is an emotional journey that is filled with truth about every day life and the different parts different people have to play in it. It can be intense, but it is also funny at times. Maxwell is filled with snark and sarcasm in a very endearing way. Through out this book the reader can feel her genuineness and truthfulness. It is beautifully written and sucks you in to the point of not wanting to put the book down. I highly recommend you read this book.
Not going to lie, I cried. I also laughed. Thank you Beau for sharing your beginnings with us. If you are a reader who is skimming through the reviews to see if you should buy this book; stop skimming, you should read this book. This is an emotional journey that is filled with truth about every day life and the different parts different people have to play in it. It can be intense, but it is also funny at times. Maxwell is filled with snark and sarcasm in a very endearing way. Through out this book the reader can feel her genuineness and truthfulness. It is beautifully written and sucks you in to the point of not wanting to put the book down. I highly recommend you read this book.
August 1, 2020
Inspiration and Balm for the Soul
A book that truly grabbed me! Read it cover to cover Friday. Thank you for sharing this inspiring work. It is a balm to some of my own bumps and bruises incurred on the ride to Divine connection.
A book that truly grabbed me! Read it cover to cover Friday. Thank you for sharing this inspiring work. It is a balm to some of my own bumps and bruises incurred on the ride to Divine connection.
November 13, 2022
It’s hard to imagine shopping at the local grocery store and encountering a group of spirits in the cracker aisle, yet that was just one step on Beau Maxwell’s fascinating journey to recognizing and embracing her abilities as a Medium. Beau’s story is heartfelt, she has a healthy sense of humor that makes the book enjoyable. I found myself becoming ever more curious about unseen entities as her adventures unfolded. Beau revealed the pitfalls of doing readings at the county fair, the pain of dealing with jealousy from other professional readers, and her bumpy transition into a new line of work that included ghost-busting stuck souls from haunted houses.
What made this autobiography most compelling for me was Beau’s quest to fulfill her purpose. She realizes that this mediumship is her purpose and it’s not going to be an easy path. There are underlying themes of how she is coming to terms with problematic family relationships…we all have those is some form or another. She also is learning that she doesn’t have to share everything that picks up on from the spirits, and she has a few experiences instilled in her a code of ethics about the sharing of information. And who knew there was even a market for ghostbusting haunted houses! But her book made is sound like that was something she does on the regular. Beau doesn’t suit up and strap on a proton-pack for her form of ghostbusting, but rather, she evokes a form of spiritual protection she calls “GPC,” ground, clear, and protect. Mostly, she busts the vaporlike beings with love or in a tough-love kinda’ way.
This book came to me by way of Beau’s class on deepening your Intuition. It arrived along with the course materials as extra-curricular reading. From her workshop, I learned the difference between psychic abilities and mediumship. An intuitive or psychic can access guidance from various beings and timelines. So it could be someone from the future, or an alien, or a spirit guide or angel. A medium depends on whatever spirits or entities show up for them, and these are spirits who have past earthly lives. So the information that mediums share is very shaped by the spirit’s human identity or personality in their past life or lives, although from their higher perspective. As long as they have crossed over and are not stuck like a poltergeist—they see things through the lens of love.
A subtext I found running through Cracking Open was the importance of claiming one’s sovereignty. This resonated with me, because I struggle with absorbing the pain and emotions of others and giving my power away. Beau fearlessly works with ghosts and spirits stuck in their transition to the other side by simply commanding them, or alternatively, acting as if she has superpowers…for example to imagine a protective bubble, or wings to fly away from the more sinister and ill-tempered beings.
Beau describes the experience of one negative spirit attaching to her and how she realized she was carrying around energy that wasn’t hers. There’s a chapter in the book called Always Use Protection. Beau is feeling out of sorts, and she visits her friend Joseph, and he says,
Wow. That is such a truth bomb, there, in dealing with life obstacles. How when we recognize them, that’s most of the effort required for them to dissolve.
Her story made me more aware of how everything is energy. As an empath, I am still learning how not to succumb to life’s energy vampires. Being sovereign and standing in our own power can be as simple as saying it out loud. Owning it with our words, our voice, and our vibration. By learning how to resonate with a different frequency, we take ourselves to a different level. We become a little closer to who we really are.
That, for me, was the big takeaway of this very fun read. I can step forward and claim my power. I don’t think my calling is to be a medium, but I do feel more empowered thanks to reading this interesting and fun book. Thanks, Beau, Five stars for me.
What made this autobiography most compelling for me was Beau’s quest to fulfill her purpose. She realizes that this mediumship is her purpose and it’s not going to be an easy path. There are underlying themes of how she is coming to terms with problematic family relationships…we all have those is some form or another. She also is learning that she doesn’t have to share everything that picks up on from the spirits, and she has a few experiences instilled in her a code of ethics about the sharing of information. And who knew there was even a market for ghostbusting haunted houses! But her book made is sound like that was something she does on the regular. Beau doesn’t suit up and strap on a proton-pack for her form of ghostbusting, but rather, she evokes a form of spiritual protection she calls “GPC,” ground, clear, and protect. Mostly, she busts the vaporlike beings with love or in a tough-love kinda’ way.
This book came to me by way of Beau’s class on deepening your Intuition. It arrived along with the course materials as extra-curricular reading. From her workshop, I learned the difference between psychic abilities and mediumship. An intuitive or psychic can access guidance from various beings and timelines. So it could be someone from the future, or an alien, or a spirit guide or angel. A medium depends on whatever spirits or entities show up for them, and these are spirits who have past earthly lives. So the information that mediums share is very shaped by the spirit’s human identity or personality in their past life or lives, although from their higher perspective. As long as they have crossed over and are not stuck like a poltergeist—they see things through the lens of love.
A subtext I found running through Cracking Open was the importance of claiming one’s sovereignty. This resonated with me, because I struggle with absorbing the pain and emotions of others and giving my power away. Beau fearlessly works with ghosts and spirits stuck in their transition to the other side by simply commanding them, or alternatively, acting as if she has superpowers…for example to imagine a protective bubble, or wings to fly away from the more sinister and ill-tempered beings.
Beau describes the experience of one negative spirit attaching to her and how she realized she was carrying around energy that wasn’t hers. There’s a chapter in the book called Always Use Protection. Beau is feeling out of sorts, and she visits her friend Joseph, and he says,
“I think you might have an attachment”
“Attachment?” I started to panic. “What the heck is an attachment?”
“It is when you pick up a spirit, like a hitchhiker, but they don’t have the best intentions,” he explained.
I looked down at my body and saw nothing. “Wouldn’t I see it?
“Nope. The last thing a hitchhiker wants is for you to spot them. If you do, the ride is over,” he said.
Wow. That is such a truth bomb, there, in dealing with life obstacles. How when we recognize them, that’s most of the effort required for them to dissolve.
Her story made me more aware of how everything is energy. As an empath, I am still learning how not to succumb to life’s energy vampires. Being sovereign and standing in our own power can be as simple as saying it out loud. Owning it with our words, our voice, and our vibration. By learning how to resonate with a different frequency, we take ourselves to a different level. We become a little closer to who we really are.
That, for me, was the big takeaway of this very fun read. I can step forward and claim my power. I don’t think my calling is to be a medium, but I do feel more empowered thanks to reading this interesting and fun book. Thanks, Beau, Five stars for me.
August 8, 2020
Awhhmazing!
This book was fun, down to earth, and beautiful. My favorite part was when Beau had this bright beautiful realization of what she truly wanted in the middle of what seemed like a mental health crisis. And the chapter that focused on Carol was profoundly beautiful.
I enjoyed so much about this book. It was easy to read, kept my attention, and was awhmazing learning experience. I truly enjoyed it.
This book was fun, down to earth, and beautiful. My favorite part was when Beau had this bright beautiful realization of what she truly wanted in the middle of what seemed like a mental health crisis. And the chapter that focused on Carol was profoundly beautiful.
I enjoyed so much about this book. It was easy to read, kept my attention, and was awhmazing learning experience. I truly enjoyed it.
July 26, 2022
Well told
This is a wonderful book! I was completely absorbed in Isabeau Maxwell’s story. I was fascinated “hearing” the author’s clear voice as she shared her training in such a clear and powerful way. I fell in love with her family, her grandmother and her main guide Big Dog! I’d never heard of “Collectors” and had always assigned that role, in my mind, to angels or ancestors. I highly recommend this book. It is a story well told that is worth your time.
This is a wonderful book! I was completely absorbed in Isabeau Maxwell’s story. I was fascinated “hearing” the author’s clear voice as she shared her training in such a clear and powerful way. I fell in love with her family, her grandmother and her main guide Big Dog! I’d never heard of “Collectors” and had always assigned that role, in my mind, to angels or ancestors. I highly recommend this book. It is a story well told that is worth your time.
August 8, 2020
Cracking Open: Adventures of a Reluctant Medium by Isabeau Maxwell. Beau’s voice throughout this journey is very clear. She is reassuring, informative, humorous and gives one a glimpse of what is possible. This is not a task taken lightly but with care will be an amazing experience.
August 19, 2020
A Kindred Spirit
Beau shares the story of her path to mediumship in an honest and entertaining way. It is a story anyone who “doubts” their own abilities/gifts should read to help o Er one their blocks.
Beau shares the story of her path to mediumship in an honest and entertaining way. It is a story anyone who “doubts” their own abilities/gifts should read to help o Er one their blocks.
August 25, 2020
Confirmed and enlightened
Hope, love, faith,peace, forgiveness, trust, strength is what I come away with. Thank you Beau! I wish everyone in this world would read your book. What a difference letting go of fear would make on all of us!
Hope, love, faith,peace, forgiveness, trust, strength is what I come away with. Thank you Beau! I wish everyone in this world would read your book. What a difference letting go of fear would make on all of us!
March 12, 2023
Wow! Just wow!
A fantastic and wonderful read. Gives you a clearer understanding of what a medium experiences, especially a reluctant one. Will make you laugh and it will make you cry. An utterly beautiful and wonderful story.
A fantastic and wonderful read. Gives you a clearer understanding of what a medium experiences, especially a reluctant one. Will make you laugh and it will make you cry. An utterly beautiful and wonderful story.
April 17, 2024
WOW Amazing book.
I have never cried so much while reading a book. This brought so many things to my surface for the first time. I so thank her for writing of her fear, reluctance and her bravery. I will try to honor her journey.
I have never cried so much while reading a book. This brought so many things to my surface for the first time. I so thank her for writing of her fear, reluctance and her bravery. I will try to honor her journey.
August 6, 2020
Interesting on many levels.
August 15, 2020
Great book
This book is so interesting. I found it hard to put down. Highly recommend if you're into books that discuss spirituality and intuition.
This book is so interesting. I found it hard to put down. Highly recommend if you're into books that discuss spirituality and intuition.
August 15, 2020
Wow! Exceptional
I absolutely loved the book! It was a page turner that captivates the reader in a way that keeps you wanting more. I only wish it didn’t end. Great work Beau!
I absolutely loved the book! It was a page turner that captivates the reader in a way that keeps you wanting more. I only wish it didn’t end. Great work Beau!
September 7, 2020
Review
I loved the book!! It’s amazing to read about what Beau can do! I’m intrigued by her abilities. I would definitely recommend this book to friends and family .
I loved the book!! It’s amazing to read about what Beau can do! I’m intrigued by her abilities. I would definitely recommend this book to friends and family .
September 9, 2020
Highly Enjoyable Read
Brilliant, loved this book, couldn't put it down. Very clearly written. Positive in it's entirety and very comforting. Highly recommended.
Brilliant, loved this book, couldn't put it down. Very clearly written. Positive in it's entirety and very comforting. Highly recommended.
September 28, 2020
Love this book Love this author!!!
What an amazing insight to an unorthodox calling. Isabel you are an inspiration for all our souls on this life journey. Thank you
What an amazing insight to an unorthodox calling. Isabel you are an inspiration for all our souls on this life journey. Thank you
January 29, 2021
Very helpful! Thank you
February 11, 2021
Amazing.
This book has really opened my eyes and made me think about my own spirituality. Such a great read! 10/10 recommend this book.
This book has really opened my eyes and made me think about my own spirituality. Such a great read! 10/10 recommend this book.
Read
April 20, 2021This is a wonderful little, entertaining book! It was so much fun reading about the author's spiritual growth.
March 23, 2024
great book
It takes u in n is like speaking w/a friend. I tried the link at end of book but said it didn't exist I was looking forward to it so that was disappointing
It takes u in n is like speaking w/a friend. I tried the link at end of book but said it didn't exist I was looking forward to it so that was disappointing
April 5, 2024
WOW
What an amazing story. Beautiful. Beau...Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I couldn't put the book down.
What an amazing story. Beautiful. Beau...Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. I couldn't put the book down.
September 3, 2020
Devoured in a weekend
A light and uplifting read! Such a little talked about topic that is rarely discussed amongst communities. I loved it!
A light and uplifting read! Such a little talked about topic that is rarely discussed amongst communities. I loved it!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews