From Skeptic to Intuitive: The Journey of Douglas James Cott

Douglas James Cottrell, Ph.D. (1949 – present) is an ordinary man who demonstrates extraordinary abilities. In 1975, his mind was opened to the possibilities of intuitive phenomena when a co-worker at the Toronto Star newspaper handed him a book about Edgar Cayce, an American intuitive who practiced in the early 20th Century. At that time, Douglas was quite a skeptic, but he was desperate to find help for his young daughter, Cheri-Anne, who had been living in a handicapped children’s institution for four years.

Cheri-Anne had been suffering with a number of seemingly unrelated medical conditions, and was prone to grand mal seizures. Douglas and his wife, Karen, were overwhelmed. They eventually relented to the medical opinion of the day and sent their daughter from their home in Toronto to Plainfield Children’s Home near Belleville, Canada (approximately 200 km away). They were told to get on with their lives. However, they refused to give up hope, despite the fact that the doctors at the time had given Cheri-Anne a life expectancy of twelve years. She was only two at the time. 

The book that Douglas had been given, There Is A River: The Story of Edgar Cayce, recounted the history of an American man who lived at the turn of the Twentieth Century, famous for demonstrating the remarkable ability to describe someone’s health condition while he was in an altered state of consciousness. Though uneducated, in this hypnotic trance, Cayce gave recommendations to treat numerous health conditions which often baffled the greatest thinkers of the time. These “readings” were the subject of numerous books. Unfortunately for Douglas and Karen, Cayce had passed away in 1945.

By a cosmic coincidence, shortly after reading this book, Douglas was in his workshop when he had the urge to go upstairs and turn on the television. The program that was on was called “World of the Unexplained” with host Allen Spraggett. Spraggett was interviewing an American man named Ross Peterson, who had been called “the new Edgar Cayce.” Douglas knew that he and Karen had to see him. In short order, he had his first-ever intuitive reading. Needless to say, it not only met his expectations, but it confirmed all his hopes and dreams that there really is something more to our world. This single experience started Douglas on a path that changed his life, and the life of his family, forever.

In a deep meditative state similar to sleep, Ross was able to discuss Cheri-Anne’s condition from hundreds of miles away, as if he were reading her medical chart. Speaking in a dry, steady monotone, Peterson described neck trauma that Cheri-Anne endured at birth, which was causing the seizures. This was information he could not have known or guessed. In this meditative state, Peterson made numerous suggestions for treatment and assured Douglas and Karen that their daughter, although unable to communicate through speech, was quite intelligent and aware of what was going on around her. On the strength of that single consultation, Douglas and Karen defied the medical community and withdrew their daughter from the institution. They applied the remedies Peterson suggested, and her life was spared. Cheri-Anne never fully recovered from her four years in the institution, but she was happy and lived until the age of thirty-eight.

In that intuitive reading, Peterson told Douglas that he, too, could practice this meditative trance, if he wanted to. “Ye have been a prophet of old, and ye will be a prophet of new,” he said. Douglas knew that he had to make the attempt to find out what intuitive ability he had. “If only one child is helped," he said, "it will be worth it!”

Inspired by this genuine experience, twenty-six-year-old Douglas began to study everything he could about the unseen world – from chakras and the aura to energy healing, dreams, and meditation. Aided by his family doctor and his chiropractor (both followers of Cayce), he began conducting experiments. He was young, determined, and driven to persist. He wanted to prove to the medical community that this phenomenon could help save lives. But he needed evidence. The doctor and chiropractor were able to verify that what Douglas was "seeing" in his meditation experiments was not imagination or guessing, but real information about real test subjects.

As his confidence and trust in this ability grew, Douglas was able to learn to enter deeper and deeper levels of consciousness, and the quality of the information became even richer. Under Peterson’s mentorship, these experiments grew into intuitive readings that Douglas gave to friends and acquaintances. In short time, he decided to devote his life full-time to giving what he calls Quantum Meditation™ Consultations to thousands of clients from all walks of life. 

Today Douglas is focusing his efforts on spreading his knowledge and helping others to improve their outlook on life. He also has demonstrated the ability to heal others through "Virtue" healing from God. The purpose of the HOPE Conferences is to help others find hope in their daily life and to know there is a God that can heal them and bring them peace in their daily life.