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Generally, I think there are fake mediums who cold read or who actually have a gift and can do a relatively accurate reading. Some say that kids or dogs are able to see apparitions. The "third eye" as it is called. My girlfriend said she was able to see things as kid but eventually this faded. She went to a group reading once and this woman told her she had the gift but she somehow closed it off. Apparently there is a way to open it again, which I find to be a potentially scary thing.
I wanted to get a reading done myself. I did some researching for a real deal medium in my area. I came across one person and the reviews made it seem worthy of getting done. One reviewer wrote that she did accurately pull some things from her life and that the medium managed to predict an event in her future that did come true.
What is your take on this?
Until the psychic hot line calls me knowing everything that there is to know about me, they are phonies.
I am one, so at least I know there's one legitimate medium in the world.
Well, come to think of it, I would have to say that there are at least three legit mediums I know of including me. I get readings from another medium, and she's legit too. I also once attended a week long training seminar with James Van Praagh and got the most amazing reading of my life from a young woman who had never done a lick of intuitive work in her life. She was a hair stylist and this seminar was her first foray into intuitive work. With zero input from me, she brought through my grandma in detail, including the exact type of houseplant she grew, that she had a cat she didn't get along with, a white shawl we had bought her, and a lot of other information that was spot on but too random to guess.
It's not an easy path to be a called to be a medium and work hard at developing your skills when there are so many fakes around and people aren't willing to look beyond that. I always think of that saying, "If not for real gold, there would be no counterfeit."
I agree with this. There are some people who really have it and a billion who are pretending to.
For cryin' out loud, that was NOT "spirit information". That was history. Sheesh!
Yes, it was history! As I explained. But it was good information.Maybe you missed my earlier post.
Mediums and psychics have to provide good information, on some level. They're in business! They depend on word of mouth.
In the old days, when grizzled old detectives pulled a psychic into the station, she gave them a story based on having read newspaper articles, researched above and beyond what she found out, reading facial expressions, and so on. The information was good! It was based on research. Much of the fancy psychologist information today is psychobabble and twaddle. Sure, the medium was a charlatan. But she was a good detective.
The issue people have here is that mediums and psychics lie about how they do things. Yes! They do! Agreed! But the information they produce is often good. It has to be. They depend on word of mouth to get more customers. "You won't believe what that medium on Broadway knew about me!" The medium on Broadway gets more people to walk through the door.
Before the $53 million dollar embezzlement in Dixon was discovered, a neighboring town's financial professional was suspicious. He sent a letter to Dixon. It's in the documentary about the embezzlement. Dixon evidently took no action or insufficient action on the letter. Now imagine the letter found it's way into the hands of a medium. She sees a business opportunity. She does her homework, puts two and two together, and figures out who the embezzler is. Not hard to do, given the ostentatious lifestyle of the embezzler. The medium calls a press conference and says, "I've talked to the dead. They told me where all the money in this town is going!"
Of course she didn't talk to the dead, BUT HER INFORMATION IS GOOD. Again, it's in her best interest. She's in business. She's trying to attract customers. You going to play smart guy in the back row? "Ha! She's just a medium. Pure nonsense!" Doesn't sound smart to me. Sure, mediums and psychics are charlatans on some level. But some of them, at least, dig up interesting, true stuff.
If I'm a police officer, I call in psychics at every opportunity. I know they're lying about how they do things, but they do good research! It's like a college professor putting teaching assistant grunts to work for her. Do I get equally valuable information from a psychologist? In the vast majority of cases, no, I don't. Psychology is your true, "ooh, eeh!" stuff. At least the medium's conclusions are evidence based, even if she lies about her methods.
A little general knowledge about human nature could probably qualify anyone as a psychic or medium.
There probably are a lot of fakes, because there is such a big demand for consolation. However, I think there are many more who are confident in their powers, while most of the time they are just using common sense and cold reading.
Then there are some who really see and hear spirits, and have since they were children. A young child doesn't think about conning people by pretending to be psychic.
I think a slight degree of psychic ability is very common, if not almost universal. But a strong ability is probably rare. And being able to turn it on at any time might be impossible.
Some people "know" that there are no spirits. They "know" that when the body dies consciousness dies, because consciousness is created by the body. They "know" there are no gods, no devils, nothing except what they can see, hear and touch.
How do they "know" all this? They learned it from someone they trust. Maybe famous authors or some of their teachers. Someone they trust and believe.
They "know" with complete certainty, because the human experts they learned it from are seen as infallible.
my wife does it sometimes for friends and they usually get hooked and keep coming back for more 'advice'.
she doesn't charge for it so she has to cut them off after 3 readings.
People always look at her differently afterward. like there's some reverence for what she can see. The thing is, most of the time what she can see is useless.
Our oldest daughter went on a first date when she was about 10 hours away from home for her summer internship. My wife got some visions and immediately called her to ask where she was and who she was with. during the call she informed my daughter that she could see that she was in an open area and the person she was with had bad teeth and a gold colored car. my daughter was freaked out about her accuracy even though we all know she can do that.
one time she was reading for a newly married coworker and told him, don't worry, this one is much better than your first wife and he said 'this is my first wife' and she thought to herself... 'ooops, too soon'
Generally, I think there are fake mediums who cold read or who actually have a gift and can do a relatively accurate reading. Some say that kids or dogs are able to see apparitions. The "third eye" as it is called. My girlfriend said she was able to see things as kid but eventually this faded. She went to a group reading once and this woman told her she had the gift but she somehow closed it off. Apparently there is a way to open it again, which I find to be a potentially scary thing.
I wanted to get a reading done myself. I did some researching for a real deal medium in my area. I came across one person and the reviews made it seem worthy of getting done. One reviewer wrote that she did accurately pull some things from her life and that the medium managed to predict an event in her future that did come true.
What is your take on this?
I would go by the words of Mr. James Randi who had a million dollar challenge for anyone who could prove any sort of supernatural powers. He had the challenge for many many years. No one ever collected the money. And all the popular mediums of the time wanted nothing to do with his million dollar challenge. He said there are two types of people. One groups believes they have this gift. The other group knows they do not. And neither actually does.
These people do have one gift. The gift of being able to fool gullible people.
I would go by the words of Mr. James Randi who had a million dollar challenge for anyone who could prove any sort of supernatural powers. He had the challenge for many many years. No one ever collected the money. And all the popular mediums of the time wanted nothing to do with his million dollar challenge. He said there are two types of people. One groups believes they have this gift. The other group knows they do not. And neither actually does.
These people do have one gift. The gift of being able to fool gullible people.
James Randi is a fanatic. It would be a mistake to put all your faith in his opinion.
I had actually tried to find out why no one won his prize, when there are scientists who are absolutely sure their research shows paranormal abilities can be real. Some people have said Randi would never test anyone he thought might be real, and that he was deceptive in all kinds of ways, determined to prove psychic abilities are impossible.
So I would be skeptical. Randi had a tremendous impact, and some of the big parapsychology labs closed, maybe because of how he influenced public opinion.
He supposedly discredited Uri Geller completely on national TV. But you can read lots of stories about Geller that insist he had real powers.
It is also often said that psychics were unable to function if Randi was present. Like he gave off anti-psychic vibrations or something.
Well who knows. But I would be very skeptical about Randi. His whole career and reputation depended on extreme materialism.
If you look at both sides, you would see there is a tremendous amount of evidence for the paranormal. Yes a lot of it is anecdotal. But the evidence against isn't experimental either.
He supposedly discredited Uri Geller completely on national TV. But you can read lots of stories about Geller that insist he had real powers.
He totally did. I saw this video a few years ago, and didn't know either of them. It wasn't until you said "Uri Geller" that I thought it might be that same video. He absolutely destroyed Uri Geller:
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