A Teacher
James Van Praagh
A television medium who made talking to the dead feel like prime-time conversation for millions of grieving viewers.
The transmission
James Van Praagh is an American author and television personality, born August 23, 1958 in Bayside, New York, who describes himself as a clairvoyant and spiritual medium.
His 1997 book ‘Talking to Heaven’ became a New York Times bestseller and helped bring mediumship into mainstream popular culture. He produced and appeared on television projects exploring survival of consciousness, including the CBS miniseries ‘Living with the Dead,’ and has written numerous follow-up books on the afterlife.
What they gave
Mediumship for the masses: His 1997 bestseller “Talking to Heaven” brought after-death communication into mainstream popular culture.
- Television survival work: Produced and appeared in projects like the CBS miniseries “Living with the Dead,” exploring survival of consciousness on prime-time TV.
- Evidential demonstration: Normalized evidential mediumship for a mass 1990s and 2000s audience.
- Prolific afterlife writing: Followed with numerous books, including “Reaching to Heaven” and “Adventures of the Soul.”
The line they stand in
Taught by / Influenced by: The nineteenth-century Spiritualist movement and its platform mediumship; the direct-voice medium Arthur Ford.
- Taught / Influenced: A generation of contemporary television mediums, including Matt Fraser.
Revelations they taught
Essential Works
- Talking to Heaven1997
- Reaching to Heaven1999
- Ghosts Among Us2008
- Adventures of the Soul2014