Recently finished listening to "Infinite Quest" by John Edward. First off, let me state that I hate audio books. I find them distracting while driving or performing other tasks. I don't even like listening to music while I'm driving in Denver traffic. Regardless, even though this could be deemed almost an introductory level of instruction it held my attention and I listened to 2 discs daily until it was done. Then I listened to it again. I found the presentation enjoyable and compelling. John did a very good job with this unabridged reading.
A lot of folks, my girlfriend amongst them, are of the opinion that John is a huckster who scams folks by doing "cold readings." I have never met or spoken with John, but I've seen his show many times. I know how scams work. I am familiar with dozens of psychics who have run a variety of scams. Some folks are of the opinion that my own psychic skills are fairly well developed when it comes to "reading" people. John is no fake. He is the real thing. His instruction is solid and I endorse his teachings as valid and positive for anyone who wishes to develop their skills further. Even though he repeatedly endorses his website -- a big red flag -- I checked out that site and it is worthwhile and not some moneymaking scheme. John is a decent and trustworthy individual -- a rarity in the world of professional psychics.
Now that I've told you how great I think his work is, it is time for the ounce of criticism. As we disagree on a number of issues I am going to keep this extremely brief and only touch on three points I feel are of great importance.
First, John makes a statement to the effect that we cause whatever happens to us through our thoughts and actions as well as conscious decisions made by our soul before this incarnation, specifically where and to whom we would be born. This is a valid statement, to a point. I do not believe that everyone has the ability to specify the circumstances of their birth. There are tens of thousands in this country alone who are born into monstrous conditions of continual pain, abuse, hunger and squalor. While some ascetics and martyrs may well choose such an incarnation, most folks would not. While John never took this concept to obscene extremes, another well known guru (who I will NOT name here) has actually said that rape victims "chose" to have that experience. It is a slippery slope and I feel there is a lot of grey area here. What applies to a more evolved soul likely does not apply to one whom the Universe feels is ill equipped to decide their own fate. As John would say, "Point made."
Second, while John speaks of psychic self defense and warms against dark energies and using tools like talking boards, he leaves the impression that all you are dealing with is human spirits. Absolutely no mention of non-human entities was made. Perhaps that topic was considered too disturbing and advanced? I would very much like to read a more advanced text by this author specifically on the topic of psychic self defense. He barely scratched the surface here.
The other criticism I have is that John mentions the use of runes as something novices can experiment with for divination purposes. Yes, I know that every New Age store sells rune sets and many folks have dabbled with them without incident. Rune stones are fairly safe to use, this is true. BUT, dare you to carve runescripts or bindrunes you can inadvertently do significant damage to yourself as well as others. Runes are powerful and potentially dangerous. Not something I would recommend for novices to delve into. But, as I stated previously, as long as you don't progress past doing readings with pre-carved stones it is relatively safe.
All that being said, this is easily THE BEST introductory guide to psychic development I have ever seen -- and I've seen dozens. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
