An Interview with Ellen Dugan

1. You've written over fifteen books on Paganism and witchcraft, and you are known as the "Garden Witch." Yet, your new book The Natural Psychic focuses on the psychic realm and intuition. What inspired you to write The Natural Psychic?

Call me psychic, but somehow I knew you were going to ask that. I discovered the Craft over three decades ago, when I was searching for a way to get a handle on my own psychic abilities.

After twelve years of cranking out a total of sixteen non-fiction books on witchcraft, it was time for a break. I have always combined my psychic abilities with the Craft. I even wrote about this particular topic in depth in my book Natural Witchery.

When my Witches Tarot was released, I lectured on the tarot and how to perform clairvoyant readings across the country. After listening to the questions from the fans, I knew it was time to tackle the subject of psi-development.

However, I wanted to do it my way. As a non-denominational book. With NO religious slant to the information. That way anyone—Witch, Pagan, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Agnostic, or Spiritualist—could pick up the book and get some practical, straight up, and honest information.

2. The Natural Psychic is designed to help us develop our psychic skills and navigate the psychic realm. Why is this important?

Because psychic abilities are natural. They are a part of our genetic makeup. We all have instincts and intuition, but understanding how it all works, can be a daunting quest.

Often people are afraid. Afraid to explore, afraid to question and to understand. Most often that fear comes from worrying they are somehow going against a religious belief of some flavor.

The point I make right off the bat in this book is that your religion has NOTHING to do with your psychic abilities. You are who you are, and your abilities are yours to explore—no matter what your religious affiliation.

3. You're known as the "Garden Witch," with many books on gardening and the seasons. Do you find that increased psychic abilities help in the garden as well as in other areas of life?

Here's a fun fact: Out of the eighteen books I have written, only four of them are on the topics of plants, herbs, and gardening. I also have started a new series of paranormal fiction, called "Legacy of Magick." The first novel was released in February, and the second novel in the series will be released this summer.

4. What do you hope your readers will take away from The Natural Psychic?

That everyone has psychic abilities. It's up to you to put the work in and to figure out what you have on board and how to best work with them. This starts by understanding psychic experiences, which I call the 3 P's: Premonition, precognition, and postcognition. Once you understand that, then you go onto to understanding how your psychic abilities manifest. I call this the 5 C’s: Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Claircognizance, Clairsentience, and Clairtangency.

The Natural Psychic is a fascinating and fun book! Be prepared to laugh, learn, and grow. There is nothing scary about psychic development. Challenge yourself and see what you can learn about yourself, and then apply those talents to your everyday life.