Quick Specs
- Author: Melanie Barnum
- Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
- Format: Hardcover, pocket size
- Page Count: 264 pages
- Dimensions: 5″ x 6″
- Skill Level: Beginner through intermediate
- Best For: Anyone new to psychic development or looking to systematize existing abilities
An Approachable Entry Point to a Serious Subject
Psychic development as a formal practice has roots in the 19th-century Spiritualist movement, which produced detailed protocols for developing and testing clairvoyance, mediumship, and telepathy. More recent decades have seen both popular intuition-focused self-help books and serious empirical research from institutions like the Rhine Research Center.
Melanie Barnum’s approach draws on her two-plus decades of professional practice to produce a beginner-friendly but substantive guide. She frames psychic ability as a spectrum available to everyone and sequences her exercises to build on each other in the way a skilled teacher would, rather than presenting them as isolated techniques to try at random.
Why the Little Books Format Works Here
The Llewellyn’s Little Books series uses a compact hardcover format that is genuinely portable: 5 by 6 inches and 264 pages. The size encourages keeping it close rather than on a shelf, which matters for a book built around frequent short exercises. Barnum writes conversationally, with personal anecdotes from client sessions and her own development, and reviewers consistently note the book reads like a direct conversation.
How to Use Llewellyn’s Little Book of Psychic Development
Three practices for building and sustaining psychic development with this guide.
- Start with the Framework Chapters
Read the opening chapters on what psychic development means before attempting any exercises. Barnum defines her terms carefully, and her framework prevents the most common beginner mistake: mistaking ordinary gut feeling for something more exotic.
- Follow the Exercise Sequence
Work through the exercises in sequence rather than skipping to the abilities that interest you most. Barnum sequences them deliberately, starting with energy awareness and meditation before moving to clairvoyance and psychometry. Follow the
- Journal Throughout Your Practice
Keep a journal alongside your reading and record your experiences with each exercise, including ones that produce no result. Barnum emphasizes that null results are data, not failure. Reviewing your notes after weeks reveals patterns in how your
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this book because Barnum avoids the two failure modes common in this category: vague inspiration with no practical content, and rigid dogma with no flexibility. This one actually teaches, and the pocket format means it travels well. Browse my mind, body, and soul books for more development titles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Melanie Barnum is a psychic medium, author, and speaker based in Connecticut who has worked professionally as a psychic for over two decades. This is the second in the Llewellyn's Little Books series, a pocket-sized hardcover published in 2017.
Yes. Barnum frames psychic development as a birthright available to anyone, not an exclusive gift. The exercises start from basic energy awareness and build incrementally. Intermediate readers may find the first half useful for reviewing their own existing abilities.
The book covers energy, meditation, and symbols, then moves through clairvoyance, clairaudience, claircognizance, clairsentience, psychometry, mediumship, and psychic tools. Each chapter includes practical exercises and journaling prompts.
Llewellyn's Little Books is a series of compact hardcovers on spiritual topics. Each volume is approximately 5 by 6 inches. The small format does not mean shallow content; this volume is 264 pages with substantial exercises and it travels easily.
Great little book , very warm energy , guiding tools to enhance your gifts , absolutely love n would recommend.