Psychic Development for Beginners (An easy guide to releasing and developing your psychic abilities.)
William W. Hewitt. Pub: Llewellyn
Worldwide (2008)
Exam board: AQA-A

Before I begin, please do not be put-off by the title of this book. I am a psychologist, I recognise the importance of science and validity, but this little gem at only £6 from Amazon is worth getting.  Why? If you are looking for a cheap but cheerful resource to add towards the introduction of the new Parapsychology unit in AQA A A2 then you could have some nice introduction/ice-breaker sessions to set the tone for the rest of the course.

The book consists of 26 short chapters which give plenty of techniques that your students can attempt to use. It gives insight into the areas of Clairvoyance, Telepathy, Psychic healing and even Communicating with animals and spiritual entities! These topics will offer endless debate about the ‘scientific evidence’ (or lack of) and will get your students thinking about the seriousness of this topic area in general.

The book starts with some general questions which you could use in your class such as: Have you ever had a hunch that was true or accurate? Have you ever known who was phoning you before you picked up the phone? Have you ever had a sudden feeling enter your mind that you should, or should not do something and found out later that you should have listened to your feelings? These questions are followed by brief accounts of topics such as altered states of consciousness and even a chapter on helping you to become a Psychic! There are some fun exercises on Visualization, and Hewitt (who is a clinical hypnotherapist), has written a book which allows you to master a variety of psychic techniques.

My own view (for what it’s worth) is that you could use some of these methods and then introduce the more serious side towards questioning the validity of these concepts. In total you get more than 44 fun and simple activities and 28 case studies which explain these methods, so you will have some fun if nothing else!

Trevor Dunn (Cambridge)