Remote Viewing Secrets: A Handbook
By Joe McMoneagle
Reviewed by Skye Turell
(This review appeared in Aperture, Vol. 1, No. 2, the newsletter of the International Remote Viewing Association.)
"Someone who wants to be a remote viewer should have balance - should always fall somewhere in the middle. " - Joe McMoneagle
In Remote Viewing Secrets, Joe McMoneagle performs quite a balancing act. The book is indeed a handbook-the most authoritative and detailed guide to the field thus far. More importantly, for those already familiar with the basics, McMoneagle wades straight into the middle of the most polarized, hotly debated issues in remote viewing today. "In writing this handbook, I hope to clarify for the reader where real difference lies and where it doesn't."
Is anything "psychic" properly called remote viewing? Is everyone equally capable? Does training help, and if so, what kind? Do students and operational remote viewers have to stick with the scientific protocols, or are those notions old-fashioned? Doesn't an emphasis on scientific method contradict what is essentially a spiritual undertaking? Is the ability to remote view connected to one's spiritual level of development? it's better to be right-brained, right?
Understanding the context in which these issues arose, and clarifying definitions and misleading statements that have caused confusion, together go a long way towards integrating seemingly opposing points of view. These discussions are highly detailed. We are not talked down to; in fact, we are expected to absorb new ideas and make subtle distinctions. "You must, above all else, sustain your ability to think critically, to ask questions, to maintain a healthy skepticism, and to walk the centerline of acceptable reality," says McMoneagle.
In his view, the "re-mystlfication" of the field has led to unreasonable expectations on the part of viewers and the general public. The media is largely to blame, but sometimes the culprits are "people who claim to be remote viewers, but who clearly do not understand what it really is."
It is hard to imagine someone coming away from Remote Viewing Secrets without a vastly improved understanding of "what it really is." The section on targets and tasking, often an area of many disputes, is detailed and authoritative. This section should be required reading for every remote viewing student.
Remote Viewing Secrets is not dry and textbookish, however. In fact, a significant portion of the contents deals with self-growth and the more spiritual aspects of the field: remote viewing as martial art. The book achieves a very satisfying balance between knowledge about the field and the more experiential
The proper attitude about the field lies in the experience and attitude of remote viewing itself. "Remote viewers have to be so 'neutral' that they flow like water wherever they have to How in order to seek ground truth. Adding a single thought or desire as to where that should be, or how it might be, will automatically put them somewhere else."
Remote Viewing Secrets: A Handbook, by Joseph McMoneagle (2000), Hampton Roads Publishing; Charlottesville, VA. ISBN 1-57174-159-3