Few topics are as controversial as the existence of ESP—and for so little reason. Not only has this faculty been demonstrated in hundreds of careful experiments by reputable researchers; it is experienced with increasing regularity by most people. We call it “hits,” hunches, gut feelings, creative inspiration; we even joke about it, but we would be ashamed to say we use and enjoy it. This despite several decades of polls and surveys indicating that most of us have had “extrasensory” experiences and believe in them … and that the better-educated are even more convinced that the phenomenon is real.
Our failure as a society to acknowledge this fundamental ability may be a mark of our general reticence in mapping inner realities: dreams, imagery, memory, thoughts, feelings, the creative process itself. It’s as if half of life is relegated to second-class status. Habitual patterns of communication make our collective life a facade of a facade.
We speak to each other, but we seldom voice the deeper thoughts behind our speech. We ask “How are you?” as if we could not see and sense the well- or ill-being of the other. We remark on or envy the charisma of some people, without wondering about the nature of their radiant energy; it is as if a vital mode of communication, the use of our inner senses, were nonexistent or a mere trick.
In the years I have studied the phenomenon of high creativity, I have been struck by the naturalness with which visionary people use their unexplained perceptual abilities. Creatively successful people, whether artists or entrepreneurs, readily acknowledge the importance of hunches and inner “guidance.” In a recent survey of the chief executives of the fastest-growing companies, all named the same “greatest regret” of their career: the occasions when they failed to heed their intuition.
In this book, Ingo Swann has made yet another contribution to our collective good. The gifted artist who helped pioneer the methodology for “remote viewing” research now offers a simple and freeing perspective on ESP. It is real, it is natural, and you can readily discover it in yourself. You can even repeat and refine your experiments.
His writing style is characterized by the same gentle, nonjudgmental approach essential to reliable ESP. He points out, explains, describes; he doesn’t preach.
It is rare for an artist to know, let alone reveal, his creative process. It is even rarer for a gifted psychic to demystify his specialty. In Natural ESP, Ingo Swann does both. Besides showing us the strategies for “picture drawings,” he also reveals the scientific, analytical side of the creative mind as he sets out the historic case for mind-to-mind communication.
Whether the reader is convinced that ESP is natural or is merely curious, this wise and useful book will engage the mind with fresh, exciting possibilities.
Marilyn Ferguson
Los Angeles
June 1986