Hardly anyone has carried mediumship as deeply into American television as James Van Praagh: his debut "Talking to Heaven" became a New York Times bestseller, CBS filmed his life story with Ted Danson in the lead role – and as executive producer he co-developed the series that gave the medium's profession a face worldwide: the "Ghost Whisperer". Yet his path began in the last place one would expect conversations with the departed: a Catholic pre-seminary.
The boy from Bayside
Van Praagh grew up as the youngest of four children in a traditional Roman Catholic family in Bayside, in the New York borough of Queens. At fourteen he entered pre-seminary – the path to the priesthood seemed set. That he left it he attributes to an inner experience: a voice whispered to him, "God is much bigger than these four walls – you must leave and find God outside in the world." He left. Instead of theology came college and, eventually, the move to Los Angeles, where he hoped to make it in television – behind the camera, not as what he became.
Brian Hurst's prophecy
At 24, Van Praagh attended a sitting in Los Angeles with the British-born medium Brian Hurst. There Hurst predicted that he would develop mediumistic abilities himself within two years – and that the spirit world would support him in "changing the consciousness of the planet". The scene is no marketing legend invented after the fact: Hurst himself told it on his own website throughout his life, and Van Praagh confirms it in his books. The prediction came true – Van Praagh began sitting in small circles, developed his abilities, and has described himself ever since as a "survival evidence medium": a medium whose work aims to give verifiable details that point to the survival of the departed.
"Talking to Heaven"
His first book appeared in 1997. "Talking to Heaven" climbed to the top of the bestseller lists and made the name Van Praagh known across the country overnight; appearances with Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil and on the "Today" show followed. It was not to remain his only book: "Reaching to Heaven", "Healing Grief", "Adventures of the Soul" and further titles have been translated into 25 languages and appear in more than 30 countries. The Watkins list of the hundred most spiritually influential living people includes him year after year.
The man behind the "Ghost Whisperer"
Alongside the platform, Van Praagh built a second career that sets him apart from almost all his colleagues: that of a television producer. After appearing as the resident expert on life after death on the show "The Other Side", he was given his own talk show, "Beyond With James Van Praagh", in 2002. That same year CBS filmed his life story as the mini-series "Living with the Dead", with Ted Danson as Van Praagh – the network's highest-rated production in two years, as CBS reported at the time. "The Dead Will Tell" followed in 2004. And in 2005 the series went on air that he helped develop as executive producer and whose title has long become proverbial: "Ghost Whisperer" with Jennifer Love Hewitt, for five seasons one of the most successful mystery series of its time.
The teacher
Like Lisa Williams, Van Praagh drew the conclusion from his own fame to pass the knowledge on: his "James Van Praagh School of Mystical Arts" offers online training and certification courses in mediumship, psychic perception and spiritual coaching; he has taught at the Omega Institute for a decade and a half, joined by the podcast "Both Sides Now and Beyond" and live evenings worldwide. Nor is he a stranger to the German-speaking world: at the Basler Psi-Verein he appears on the same speaker list as Gordon Smith and Lisa Williams. His path – from seminarian, via the prophecy of an older medium, to the producer who brought mediumship into prime time – is one of the most unusual biographies this field has produced.
Sources: The About page of vanpraagh.com; the website of the medium Brian Hurst (on the prediction); the CBS News feature "A Ghost Whisperer Expert"; the speaker biography at the Omega Institute; and the speaker list on bpv.ch. Statements about inner experiences and predictions report what those involved themselves describe.
For more, see our curated knowledge collection – it gathers further articles on mediumship, TV mediums and training paths.