As a psychic medium, James van Praagh has an extraordinary ability to communicate with the world beyond. In this book James combines inspiring accounts of his amazing communications with spirit with a practical program for expanding our own innate psychic abilities. He explains that the spirits can serve us as teachers, companions, creative inspiration and even offer protection, once we learn a few simple techniques, including how to strengthen one's aura , how to recognize signals from spirit, how to overcome fear, how angels help us, and how to protect ourselves from harmful energies.

2. As a psychic medium, James van Praagh has an extraordinary ability to
communicate with the world beyond. In this book James combines inspiring
accounts of his amazing communications with spirit with a practical program
for expanding our own innate psychic abilities. He explains that the spirits can
serve us as teachers, companions, creative inspiration and even offer
protection, once we learn a few simple techniques, including how to strengthen
one's aura , how to recognize signals from spirit, how to overcome fear, how
angels help us, and how to protect ourselves from harmful energies.
Excerpt from
HEAVEN AND EARTH: Making the Psychic Connection
CHAPTER 2
THE SIXTH SENSE
Using Intuition to Receive Information From Spirit
First of all, let me say that we are born with six senses, not five. The sixth sense, the one
most of us don't know how to apply in everyday life, is our intuition, inner voice, or psychic
awareness. We all have this power, but for many people it remains repressed. Our sixth
sense relies on our intellect, our five senses, and our emotions, and works in conjunction
with any or all of them. Not only do clairvoyance, telepathy, and other psychic phenomena
filter through our intuition, but artistic inspiration, mystical religious experiences, and
creative problem solving do too. All are aspects of intuitive functioning.
Intuition is a sense of knowing, and this knowing comes from within. This sense of knowing
is spontaneous; it is not a question of analysis. If you put too much effort into trying to be
intuitive, you will impede the process. In other words, intuition is not something that you
can make happen. It just happens. You can learn to become aware of it happening.
Intuition occurs when our minds are relaxed and not concentrated on a particular job.
Usually when we let go of a problem, the answer we seek comes through. For example, I
have a habit of misplacing my keys. It's a common occurrence. And as soon as I stop
looking for the keys, there they are. It's the same with intuition.
Everyone has had an intuitive experience. For example, maybe you were thinking of a
certain sweater you wanted to buy for someone. You happen to walk down a street you
usually bypass, and there in a store window you see the exact sweater, and it's on sale!
Something led you to go down that street to that store to find that particular sweater. That
something was your intuition. It can lead you to finding the right thing at the right time, and

3. it can lead you to the spirit world.
Often people think of me as some sort of miracle worker, but there is nothing superhuman
about speaking with the dead. The only difference between me and you is that I have
learned to use my sixth sense incredibly well. Like other people who are considered
physically gifted, I have merely learned to distinguish my inner voice and the voice of spirit
from the multitude of opinions and beliefs swirling through my mind. Any psychic will tell
you that it takes observation, reflection, and trial and error to develop a strong intuitive
sense.
Think of the first time you tried to drive. You had to begin with the basics, study and listen
to the instructor. The first time you sat behind the wheel, you had to distinguish the
accelerator from the brake pedal and become familiar with what happens when you put
your foot on either one. You learned how to slow down, to stop, or to go in reverse.
Intuition is like any other skill. The more you use it, the better you are at it, the more
confident you become, and the smoother the journey. You will find that using your intuition
will enhance every aspect of your life.
Yes, perhaps some have a special inclination toward psychic awareness and some have
refined it to a master level, but just the same, everyone has intuition. Like everything else
in life, it is up to you to train your intuition to whatever degree you are willing to reach for.
I am frequently asked, "How do you know that it is spirit giving you information and not
your own imagination?" In the beginning of my development as a medium, this was the
hardest thing to determine. Like everyone else, I was so used to listening to my mind for
the answers that at first it was difficult to rethink information that came through which is
necessary in order to discern between my own mind chatter and the information coming
from spirit. To be discerning, you have to pay attention to yourself. I usually tell my
students, "To thine own self be true." In order to get in touch with this sense of
knowingness, you must begin by having an intimate relationship with yourself. The more
you understand your own motives, ideas, and beliefs, the easier it becomes to separate
what is yours from what is spirit's.
Interpreting Intuition
There are many levels of intuition, just as there are many levels to ourselves. No one
pattern fits every person. Start with interpreting your thoughts and feelings. You will have
to be honest with yourself. You, more than anyone else, must know what's going on inside
you.

4. On the physical level, we may feel bodily sensations warning us of danger or threat. For
instance, a friend of mine named Penny told me about a time when she was planning a trip
to meet her daughter in Paris. From there, they were going to rent a car and tour the South
of France. She had made her plane reservations and car rental arrangements and bought
several tour books to take with her. About two weeks before her departure, she began
having terrible stomach cramps. They came out of the blue and didn't connect to any
illness.
She said, "I had had that problem once before. I think it's fear, like a warning system in my
body." The cramps persisted, but she decided to go on the trip anyway. "I wasn't afraid of
the plane crashing, but I knew it had to do with the trip."
When she arrived in Paris, it was raining.
"It rained most of the time we were in France, and I wondered if that had anything to do
with the cramps. But I didn't think so. Finally, the answer came the last week of the trip. We
were driving into Cannes, and it was still raining. I had stopped for a red light at the bottom
of a hill. When I looked in my rearview mirror I saw this car barreling down toward us, and I
knew it wasn't going to stop in time. I turned my eyes forward and said a quick prayer just
as the car slammed into our rear end. Luckily, I always made sure that my daughter was
wearing her seat belt. If she hadn't been this time, she would have been hurled through
the front window. As soon as the car hit, I knew that this was the fear I had been feeling. In
a way, I was relieved because it was over. My daughter had to be taken to the hospital, but
she was all right, just had a neck strain."
...Bodily responses are definitely a source of intuitive information. Learn to listen to them,
or at least notice them. As for my friend, she was a very aware lady, in touch with herself
and her feelings.
...Just as the physical body sends us messages, so do our emotions. People often tell me
that when they first met their husband or wife, they knew he or she was "the one." Usually
this happens in spite of preconceived notions about one's ideal lover.
...On the mental level, intuition usually comes in images. This is the level of creative
problem solving. Inventors often claim that their inventions come to them in daydreams,
night dreams, or when they are not focusing on the problem. People in top management
positions usually say they get a "gut feeling" about a certain decision. The ability to know
intuitively what will succeed definitely adds to a person's success rate in business.

5. Last but not least, there is such a thing as the spiritual level of intuition - the mystical
experience of knowing. This is the glimpse into the true reality of our existence. Moments
of spiritual intuition are unforgettable.