HOW DO PSYCHIC ABILITIES WORK . . . AND HOW CAN YOU TELL IF THEY’RE REAL? Celebrity psychic and #1 New York Times bestselling author Sylvia Browne takes a fascinating look into the history of psychics dating from biblical times as she reveals the truth about spiritual phenomena like witches, talking boards, angels, astral projection, and more. Did you know . . . • If someone tells you that an object is “haunted,” they are probably fooling you. Objects can retain impressions of prior owners, but they don’t contain the spirits of those on the Other Side. • If you get rid of one item in your house, it should be the talking board. Using one is like leaving your front door unlocked, inviting anyone (good or evil) to waltz right in. • Sylvia didn’t believe in “living ghosts” until she had a terrifying experience that changed her mind. The phenomenon called a doppelgänger happened to her more than forty years ago. • It’s possible to tell if a psychic is giving you a good reading or just following a script. A few key phrases can give away a fake. Through a wealth of personal stories and research into the lives of great psychics, Sylvia offers solid advice on how to put valid procedures to use and ignore the rest. The Secret History of Psychics explains how you can spot a fraud and shows you how to tap into your own legitimate psychic skills! Sylvia Browne grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and revealed her psychic gift at the age of three, announcing that her grandfather was dead (he was) and predicting she would have a baby sister in three years (she did). Browne began her professional career in 1973 with a small meeting in her home. Within a year Browne’s practice had grown so much that she incorporated the business as the Nirvana Foundation for Psychic Research. Browne was a true professional: she maintained required business licenses, was a member of a national consumer protection agency, and donated a large portion of her time to charitable organizations and also worked with police to investigate missing persons and other criminal cases. She consulted with police and FBI on several high-profile cases, including the disappearance of Chandra Levy and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. She was the president of her business, now known as the Sylvia Browne Corporation, Browne also founded her own church, the Society of Novus Spirit. Her most recent business venture was The Sylvia Browne Hypnosis Training Center, where her unique, proven hypnosis methods for personal and professional use are taught. With twenty-two New York Times bestsellers, Browne was an accomplished author of more than 46 books. She appeared regularly on the Montel Williams Show for seventeen years, and was a frequent guest on Larry King Live , traveled the country at sold-out lectures, and regularly appeared in the print media. She lived and practiced in California, where she passed in 2013. The Truth About Psychics 1 MY OWN ODYSSEY BEGINS I can’t imagine my life as a psychic without a lifetime equally devoted to God and spirituality. But then, I can’t imagine any life on this rough earth without the comfort, healing, purpose, and joy to be found in God’s arms and in spirituality, where His infinite mysteries and answers lie waiting. I was lucky (although I would never have used that word when I was a child). I never had to wonder whether the spirit world existed. I knew it did. I saw it, I heard it, and I sensed it all around me, whether I wanted to or not. Without my brilliantly psychic and deeply spiritual grandmother Ada Coil there to explain what was happening and build a bridge between my unique reality and the sanctity of where it came from, I’m sure I would have lost my sanity. (There are those who would argue that the debate about my sanity rages on, but I stopped listening to them decades ago.) Grandma Ada educated me about the gifts I was born with and helped me appreciate them instead of fearing them. She also taught me never to stop questioning, learning, studying, and exploring every aspect of spirituality that keeps our genetic connection to God thriving and relevant. She inspired the spiritual journey to which I’ve devoted my life and gave me her clear footsteps to follow as I started, just as this book is my way of giving you mine. As some of you already know, I’m a third-generation psychic. Among my particular gifts from birth were clairvoyance (the ability to see beings that originate in other dimensions) and clairaudience (the ability to hear voices and sounds that originate in other dimensions). For added flair, I was even born with a caul, or fetal membrane, around my head, which according to ancient legend is the sign of a psychic child. So when the spirit world came to me long before I would ever have thought of seeking it out, I didn’t understand it at first, but there was certainly no mistaking it. I was five years old when I had my first psychic vision. We were at a fam