My views on psychic readings.
Paranormal series: Dos and don’ts of channeling or does this fit my belief system?
Last post, I relayed my rare experience of getting a prediction that actually came true.
All that aside, getting answers to questions is not as quick and easy as just asking someone. At least, an answer that is useful and meaningful. Sometimes I can, for whatever reason, just see how things will pan out, and they do so as I foresaw, but it can be hit and miss. There are too many variables. But getting information on demand is not something I can easily do.
Now, I have heard of people who get very strong messages to pass on to others, and I would say that fall under the category of soul calls.
I’ve certainly had that from time to time, too. I’ll have a strong pull to pass on a message. I don’t know if the source is a guide, a departed one or just a call for what someone needs to hear, but when the pull is strong, I will always answer it.
Then there are the times when I do get an answer, and it’s not the one I was expecting. Sometimes I’ll get told that the person is making something up and I then feel like an idiot for believing them in the first place.
Even though I can sense truth, I tend to put myself in a space where I’m open to what someone tells me (as I do not judge), though at times, I often get a sense of anxiety when something isn’t right, but I tend to ignore it if the person seems to believe what they are telling me.
The problem then is, what do I say when I find out someone isn’t being truthful with me? Do I call them on it and tell them that they are embellishing their story or do I fade away from their lives?
Sometimes it’s just a matter of people exaggerating the truth.
The point really is, though, that just because you have a guide or you are in contact with a spirit, it doesn’t mean you have all the answers, or even some of them.
Generally, I find that there are several factors in getting correct information.
It depends on:
- Your own level of awareness.
- Your ability to ‘hear’ what is really being communicated to you.
- Not filling in the blanks for information you are not receiving clearly.
- Your ability to accept things that are not in your current belief system.
I’ve certainly fallen prey to all of the above at various points in my life. The stories told to me from my guides were ‘dumbed’ down at the time because I just couldn’t accept anything else. Even then, what was told was hard enough to believe (in spite of all the evidence supporting things.) When I received clarification later on, I found that it was the same story, except it was more fully fleshed out.
Sometimes, you just have to admit that you don’t know the answers, at least not yet. Sometimes it might take decades to reach a place where you do and sometimes it may not happen at all in your current life.
Letting go of preconceived ideas and ego can be terribly difficult, especially as we don’t like to be wrong, and we feel our own credibility is on the line. There’s also this odd perception that psychic people can do everything all the time and without any effort. That simply is not the case. I doubt there’s a single psychic out there that can be ‘on’ all the time without suffering severe burn out or will not get very ill because of it.
There have certainly been enough times where I’ve found out I’ve been wrong to make me question just how psychic I might be and just where those thoughts in my mind are coming from. Are they mine, or do they really come from a guide?
But then, I’ve also had really specific information given to me from time to time that I find out later that it was true.
Those are really wow moment for me. Generic information is easy. Anyone can do that. Specific information, now that’s a talent.
Anyone can say: My dear, I see you’ve had some trauma in your life, and it’s affected you.
Well, unless you’ve lived a charmed life that would certainly apply to most anyone. Now, if you could specify the type of trauma and when, then that’s another story.
Be aware of those who claim to be of the psychic world. Be critical. It’s okay to be wrong. It’s okay to not believe. Just because there are fakers out there, it does not mean everyone is fake.
Just remember, this is not an exact science.
But we are always learning, and being wrong is just as important as being right. Look at it critically. See how you felt at the time you received your information. Did it flow? Where there any anxieties? Did you feel any resistance in passing it on? Self observation is very important to success.
It’s okay to say: Yeah, it wasn’t right this time, but at least we’ve learned something from it.
Next: Psychic Empath or Psychic Skeptic?
Please share this with those who may find it useful.
Paranormal Series – responsibility or with great power comes…
I have to admit that I’m a big fan of skeptic and debunking sites. This might seem odd, especially considering that I would almost certainly be a target for them, especially with my pseudoscience and belief in the Bach Flower Remedies. (Which are just plants soaked in water to capture their vibrations, and yet… they work!)
But I believe they not only serve a valuable service, but are very educational.
I feel we need them.
Knowledge and understanding of how things work goes a long way to not being scammed by others.
There are just so many charlatans’ out there. I’m not talking about those who claim to have genuine psychic abilities, but those who scam people and they know they are doing it.
They prey on the vulnerability and desperation of others who are desperate for a sign of lost loved ones or are feeling alone and lonely.
I, personally, would rather such scammers be exposed, and people like myself also called into question if it helped even one person to avoid being pulled in by false hope and losing their money.
And while skeptics tend to target things that are not scientific, I also notice that they seem to somehow avoid things that can’t quite be explained. Maybe that’s because they can’t be really explained so it’s better to focus on those things that can be.
Fact is, things that are faked are easy targets. They can, and should be debunked. They need to be exposed.
The main problem is that most don’t want to hear it. The only ones who seem to be interested in such things are those who are already convinced it’s all fake.
It’s just astounding how people will jump to a psychic’s defense, even when said psychic is clearly shown to be wrong over and over again.
People will defend them by saying that they are just passing on messages from beyond, and they shouldn’t and can’t be held responsible for the information they are given.
Well, I beg to differ.
Let’s say, just for a moment, that these are not cold hearted and calculating phoneys that don’t have a psychic bone in their body.
Let’s say that it’s a genuine medium. (I’m going to be generous and give them the benefit of the doubt.)
Let’s assume that they really are hearing messages from beyond. Are they running them though any type of filter or do they just blurt them out and pass them on like people who pass on gossip or urban legends by e-mail without checking to see if there is any truth to them first?
If not, why not?
Do you repeat everything you hear someone say as fact? I’d certainly hope not. You might not have all the answers, but I’d hope you’d spend a little time doing some research, or even looking at if the information received is even plausible or not.
You might then say, well, when they’re talking to an audience, they’re under pressure to perform and they don’t have time to go and check things out.
And I say in response that they have a truth filter. Their feelings and their ‘gut’ tell them when something is right. They may have learned to ignore it, but everyone certainly has that ability. (And most tend to ignore it!)
In the end, these people are responsible for what they tell others. And while I’m not saying that the person who is receiving the information has no responsibility (and they certainly do) they do listen in good faith and trust that what is being said is really being passed on from the other side.
You would not tolerate this kind of service from someone in a real profession. If you hire an electrician to fix your wiring, and he just stands there and waves his hands around for a few moments, then claim it’s all fixed and charges you $300.00, you’d kick him out of the house.
Of course, as I said, I’m being generous here and giving psychics the benefit of the doubt that they are genuine.
Most of the time they aren’t and are just giving what is termed a cold reading, which is a reading that has generic information that could pretty much fit anyone and more often than not, the one receiving the reading will help them clarify what is right. (This is why street psychics insist you take of your sunglasses, so they can see your eyes and reactions.)
Anyone can give a cold reading and have a very high chance of getting things right. What’s more, these so called psychics know it.
Everyone has a responsibility for what they do and say. No one can sit back and say they don’t. A person who tells your fortune is just as responsible for what they say as the person who is receiving the information and has to decide how true it is for them.
However, it’s still heartbreaking and frustrating to watch people being duped.
Next: There was this one time I predicted a winner…
Related articles
- Cold reading (sethgodin.typepad.com)
Please share this with those who may find it useful.
Should we charge for our services or make room for my ego. (part 4)
Now, the original question I posed in the previous entry was: Does accepting money for using our psychic gifts deplete them?
I was taught that yes, it certainly does, however after many years of observation, I believe that no, it doesn’t.
As mentioned, money is a tool and there is nothing wrong with being paid for a service you provide.
But, you may ask, what about all those stories about people who lose their power once they start charging?
In my own case, in the mid 90s, in my attempt to grow and heal myself, I saw a couple of psychic healers.
At the time, it was $60.00 a session, which was a fair amount for me back then and I saw them at least once a week. (Though one was in 1995 and the other in 1996.)
Both were very impressive when I started going to them, but by the end, they made me feel like I was just a cash cow. (Though the second one I only saw her for three months.)
Nothing really got resolved and their system was set up so that no matter what you did, it could be taken as a negative or a problem to be fixed.
For instance, the first one I saw had this system where at the beginning of each session, I had to pick four cards from the Californian Flower Essence range. She used that as what needed to be done for that session.
However, as I made progress, she did not stop using it, and I realized that no matter what happened, being forced to choose four cards was always going to suggest I had problems that needed to be fixed.
She also become more invalidating and egotistical as the year went on, and in the end, my intuition screamed at me to get out and stop going.
Being an Empath, I found this very hard to do at the time as part of me felt guilty about it, and didn’t want to offend, , but one day she told me that I wasn’t a spiritual person on a spiritual path, and I knew that was my last session. After all, I had pretty much dedicated my life to the pursuit of knowledge and helping everyone I could.
As it was, I had another psychic healer who I was going to see, who happened to be an old family acquaintance who told me she could help me, and so I agreed.
In fact, while I know this lady was very psychic, it turned out that she was after my powers. She told me I was powerful and and she made several attempts to try and convince me to board with her in her house and become her student.
My intuition also gave a very strong ‘no’ to this, and she became angry and offended.
As negative as those experiences ended being, though, they were critical to my path, and timing was everything so certainly no regrets.
What it did teach me was that the more success these people seemed to have, the more their ego appeared to take over.
They could admit no wrong. They could not be told that something might not be right. They certainly weren’t happy to listen to anything I might have to say, and both would attempt to invalidate what I was feeling.
I’ve seen plenty of good psychics and healers who do charge, and they are genuine and while they certainly don’t always get it right, they are sincere, and do provide the information they need to when they need to. (On an interesting note, those people offered their readings to me for free, which was appreciated at the time.)
Being humble (not falsely humble, which is irritating), trying to help and lift others, and not separating yourself out as special and better will prevent losing any gifts and abilities you have.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, then just say so. It might not be what they want to hear, but it will be what they need to hear.
If you were wrong and they tell you, then accept it. You can justify your reading six ways from Sunday, but all that does it hurt your powers and bring such things into disrepute.
There are already too many scammers out there on the market and they already do more harm to our credibility than you can imagine.
Sceptics are having a field day and dismissing us all as frauds, charlatans and self-deluded kooks. And I don’t blame them.
Stay true to yourself. It doesn’t matter if you charge or not. What matter is that you’re honest and you don’t let your ego take over.
Next: What if nobody took anything for anything?
Please share this with those who may find it useful.
Psychic reading: Tips on what to look for or those readings leave me cold.
Sylvia Browne being in the news in regards to her wrong reading about Amanda Berry being dead is a cautionary tale about psychics.
This isn’t going to be a blog ragging on these kinds of people. There are already enough of them out there on this subject, and, anyway, psychics who scam with cold readings really annoy me because they hurt people, and also those who are truly genuine psychics by bringing them into disrepute.
This topic is about those who actually do have some abilities, but are not discriminatory about their sources.
There’s an odd perception by the public at large that if something comes from a spirit, or a guide, or a ghost, or what have you, it must be true.
Those who believe in psychic readings will latch onto every piece of information they receive, which can be to their detriment.
There are certain things that really one should bear in mind if one ever consults a psychic.
The future is not set in stone. In fact, there is no future as such. (Yes, the old time is an illusion thing) All there is, is the eternal ‘now’ it’s being created and recreated every moment by our thoughts, words and actions.
A psychic reading might well pull you onto a path you did not intend by making you create what you expect to happen, based on that information.
Remember, reality creates belief, and belief create reality.
There are many beings and entities out there on the astral levels. Not all of them are interested in working for the good of people, and some are just mischievous, or even malevolent.
Also, just because a psychic is passing on a message, it doesn’t mean they actually have the full story. One thing I have learned from my own experiences is that bringing down information to this level is really a challenge. Often, one needs to be attuned, and sometimes the information coming through is clearer than other times. And really, you simply can’t be ‘on’ full time. Not unless you are willing to risk psychic burn out, which is a very unpleasant state to be in.
And supposing, just for the sake of arguments, your messages are crystal clear, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the entity delivering the message actually knows what they are talking about. Not everything is clear to those in the astral, and not all information is readily available. At least, not on this level.
I know when I need to find out information, I have to ask my guides to look into it, and a few days later, I will get an answer if they are successful. Sometimes, it can take years!
I am pretty sure that there are genuine psychic readers out there, based on my own experience.
A few years back, I attended a Mind, Body and Spirit Expo with a couple of people I had met in a spiritual chat room.
In the afternoon, there was a man called Jason McDonald (If I recall the name correctly) who was doing group spirit readings. Needless to say, I was quite skeptical, as I am want to be.
However, he said he was getting the smell of freshly cut lawn, and asked if that meant anything to anyone. It did to one of the ladies I was with, and she was told it was her father and she got some messages passed on.
Afterwards she said that before the readings, she had asked her father that if he came though, to indicate it by using freshly cut grass.
After the session, the other lady, Maureen, said she wanted to find out if he was genuine, and so she want to where a group had gathered around him to ask him questions.
I was hanging around in the back with her, when Jason asked if there was a Maureen in the crowd. She went up to the front, and then, for no apparent reason, I was called to join her.
He asked us what we were looking for, but I had no answers to that question. I can’t recall Maureen’s response, but suddenly he said: Hang on, you’re just testing to see if I’m genuine or not.
As I was walking away, I felt a presence right behind me. I felt it was probing me to find out who I was. I probed it back and it became aware that I could sense it, and left right away. My sense was that it was a lower level being or entity that while, not malicious, was not considered on a guide or angel level either.
So I’m pretty sure that genuine readings do exist.
If you ever get one, just remember to run everything through your feelings. If it doesn’t
feel right, it’s not the information you need.
Related articles
- When Psychics Fail: The Sylvia Browne and Amanda Berry Fiasco (skepticalteacher.wordpress.com)
- Sylvia Browne exposed as a fake. Again (skepulation.wordpress.com)
- Psychic Who Said Amanda Berry Was Dead Silent After Berry Is Found Alive – Yahoo! (coralvillecourier.typepad.com)
