'Conan Doyle's Wallet' by Patrick McNamara

Horror, supernatural and paranormal fiction is among my favorite literary genres. It has been with me since I started to read on my own. First, there were fairies, magical creatures, talking animals and wishes-come-true. As I grew older, I started reading hard-core horror stories which never failed to scare me, but only for a little while and mostly just provided the thrill of being scared but not really taking any of it seriously. On the other hand, I have always stayed away from paranormal non-fiction. Precisely because it is non-fiction and what I would read may actually turn out to be true. Therefore, when Conan Doyle’s Wallet by Patrick McNamara landed in my hands I was wary about reading it, to say the least.

Mr. McNamara is a psychic-medium and his book, Conan Doyle’s Wallet is about his experiences as a medium/psychic. The idea for this book began to take shape after McNamara purchased Doyle’s wallet at Christie’s auction. Through the contents of the famous author’s wallet, Patrick established a spiritual connection with Arthur Conan Doyle. The book showcases Doyle’s revelations on spiritual life and provides a reader with deep questions about and equally deep answers to life on earth and life after death.

The ideas presented are definitely controversial and at times difficult to accept or comprehend. It is important to approach the book with an open-mind and as Mr. McNamara encourages, to at least be willing to question the improbable. The main concept is that of life after death and what happens to us when we die. As a psychic, Patrick gives a reader many examples and proofs that we are indeed spiritual beings, who take on a physical form and after death go back to being spirits. The book is very well written. The author uses simple language, which I personally appreciated the most. Without any convoluted phrases, difficult to understand words or sentences, it is much easier to allow oneself the possibility to comprehend and consider the supernatural concepts. My favorite was probably the wonderful in its simplicity explanation of the Law of Attraction. I have read countless books on that one and I could never quite get it, many writers struggled to write whole books about it and in the end I still thought: ‘Huh? That doesn’t make sense.’ Patrick McNamara’s explanation allowed me to finally breathe with relief, thinking instead: ‘Well, now that’s simple enough. Now I get it.’

Even leaving the paranormal experiences aside, Conan Doyle’s Wallet is very educational and informative. Mr. McNamara gives us a nice biography of Sherlock Holmes’s creator. I was amazed to find out all the facts about Doyle about which I had no idea before (that he wrote historical novels, that he spent most of his fortune on spiritual journey and discovery, just to name a few), I was given a glimpse into the life of the famous magician Houdini and his quest to disprove the afterlife and, as my personal best, I was given perhaps a little bit of reassurance that there is no need to fear the spiritual beings or ghosts.

Conan Doyle’s Wallet should be read by all, the skeptics, the believers or the spiritual seekers as myself because even if you do not agree with the concepts put forward in there as a whole, there are bits and pieces that you can pick out of it and use to your advantage. The idea of afterlife may give you hope that not all is lost, may give you a direction of where your life should be heading, and last but not least may compel you to practice the commonly repeated but not always taken seriously karma, the ‘what comes around, goes around’ attitude to life.

Favorite quote from the book:

"The imbalance is immense between the material and spiritual aspects of life. The material world carries much more weight these days. There is too much pressure and loss of innocence; young people are growing up too fast, leaving a vacuum of respect and self-discipline, and spiritual connections."

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge

Link: Patrick McNamara