Clairvoyant/ Mediums/ Psychics - Real or Rubbish?!

[DobbieFreeElf]

Hi All,

As title suggests, WDUT, is it real or are mediums just exceptionally clever hustlers?!

I recently went to a mediumship event, I'm exceptionally skeptical when it comes to these things and went more out of curiosity than anything else. The medium zoned in on me about half way through the event and started talking to me about a recently deceased friend. Now at first I was thinking, ok this could just be lucky stabs in the dark but she said nothing that didn't specifically make sense to either my friend, me or current situations (neither did she seem to get anything
"wrong" when addressing others in the room). There was just too much for it to be conveniently coincidental. I would like to see the medium again one-on-one but I keep telling myself I'm probably just being a fool!!!

What are your experiences?!

If its real, how come these "psychic gifts" can't be replicated under scientific conditions?

I just don't believe it is real otherwise one of the many many studies on this in controlled conditions would show something but so far none of them have shown even a hint that psychic powers exist.

They either tell you things you already know or a future prediction that if it comes true would have happened anyway and if it doesn't you forget all about it. Why waste your money on that?

It is cold reading, advance research, being fed information through ear pieces and also using the law of averages. You say you didn't give anything away but how would you know what your face or eyes are showing. I promise you there is a more logical explanation than spirits are telling this woman things about your life. I am always amazed at the art that goes into magic tricks and this is just that, a magic trick.

I once watched a programme with Darren Brown reading people’s personalities. He wrote personality traits down for each person and then handed everyone their own page. The group were amazed. He had many ‘hits’. He then asked each group member to swap their page with their neighbour and read it. He had written the same things on every page. When he read some of the ‘traits’ out, he had written things that apply to everyone such as ‘a happy person who has bouts of sadness’, ‘sometimes you feel people take advantage of your generosity’, ‘you enjoy company but value time in your own too’.

Saying that, I went to a medium before hoping to make contact with somebody who had died thirty years ago. The dead person had had a problem with their arm and had always held it in an unnatural and very awkward position. In the middle of the reading, the medium suddenly starting running her arm and then put it in the same position. She said the person who has entered the room told me to do this so you would know it was them!!!!! I was in utter shock and have never found an explanation to this. It was well before the age of social media and frequent internet use! I’d love to know if anyone could offer an explanation even now.

People who are 'exceptionally skeptical' don't pay money to go and see 'mediums' out of 'curiosity'.

Doyoureally

This is what I was talking about. There is an art to reading people, not everyone can do it, but after many years of research into the origins of all sorts of reading, I can honestly say it's done to get your money and nothing else.
As I stated above at least you used to gain some counsel when a woman asked you what you should do about a certain problem. You could read what you thought her problem might be. My aunties have told me lots, but I wasn't into it from being a reading point of view.

My friend went to see a medium many years ago, who said she could see my friend 's father standing behind her, wearing some sort of uniform. She said no way could it be her dad, as he worked in a corner shop all his life. Years later, she discovered he was not her real dad. Her real dad was a family friend, who had been a postman, back in the day when they wore uniforms! She remembered what the medium had told her, then had a thought : "Hang on.....so my dad is wandering around in the after-life, wearing a postman's uniform!"

I've seen three. Two were rubbish. But one of them told me something that I'd never told another person in my life. I have no idea how he could have possibly known. And the only explanation is that he was really a medium and really spoke to that person.

@Morgan12 can you give a hint as to what it was?

Personally I think the majority especially those who do it for money are fakes.

Watch programmes on the topic like derren brown (I'm not a particular fan of his as I think some of the stuff HE does is also irresponsible), MANY programmes on "tru story" type tv channels and also fiction like the mentalist, lie to me and white collar where things like body language, micro-expressions, social engineering and plain advance research (had you booked to go to this event? In which case an adept researcher can easily find out LOADS about you before the event just with bloody Google!).

BUT I don't think the fact there are many fakes means it's impossible for there to be genuine ones HOWEVER I don't believe it's supernatural. I believe that that the people able to tap into this skill are doing so because they can access one of the many parts of the brain we don't totally understand yet - same as some people are academically gifted or have excellent memory.

The brain (and other parts of the body) partly work using electrical currents, if we can transmit information via tv/radio/internet (which 200 years ago lets be honest would very much have been regarded as "magic") I believe it's possible some people are able to "translate" for lack of a better term, subconscious "signals" from other people's brains, we just don't understand how yet.

I've had readings "for fun" and for almost all of the time it was clear it was cold reading etc. But ONE experience I had was someone who I met through a friend who had NO advance notice of so much as my first name, didn't do it for profit but was just known in her own circle for her ability and the stuff she got straight off NO guessing was AMAZING. Including VERY unusual family middle names and oddities about relationships within the family - eg that someone was raised by who they thought were parents but were actually their grandparents something I didn't even know! But which my mother confirmed after a chat. This lady also made some predictions for me and bar one which is yet to occur they have all come true and couldn't have been influenced by my knowledge eg my now ex husbands grandfathers heritage which I didn't know until after we married.

I also have a friend who has precognitive dreams. Mainly about pregnancies and she is always right about when baby will be born (including early and overdue ones) and the sex. Occasionally she'll get ones about dangers and will try and forewarn people if she can - not always easy but those closest to her know to pay heed. Her husband was supposed to be on a train for a work trip and she got a dream of that kind and he changed his travel arrangements. If he'd been on the train he was originally meant to be he would likely have been injured if not worse.

And yes I do think it's wrong the way the paid ones prey on the bereaved which is why I haven't been involved with anyone like that in decades now.

"Very many specific things about my friend, her hair, her body shape, her interests, things about her that I had always thought in length about, how suddenly she died"
Presumably as many of us do now your friend had an online presence? I can imagine much of that VERY easy to check on eg Facebook or even linked in or similar, also YOUR online discussion of her, photos of the 2 of you together, your discussing your bereavement.

"She said that there had been some chatter of a new car in my household and specifically something about a BMW... our BMW died about 2 months ago and we have been going round in circles deciding if we should get a new car to replace it..." Again very easy to check what car you drive, either online or if you still HAVE the bmw in person on day of event by observation by plants or CCTV and the age of the car etc - plus YOUR response when she started talking about it, subconsciously nodding/shaking your head when she gave info etc

"We gave nothing but our name's on the door." How far in advance did you book? Because really it takes no time at all, a few hours maybe with Internet to get a lot of info

"because I am so skeptical I was very neutral and I gave little reaction" many reactions are minimal and subconscious but innate. "Lie to me" looks at microexpressions which can last fractions of a second yet people skilled in facial reading can pick up on them.

"I've a significant family date in every month for example!" Exactly! I'm the same! But in addition we have in the family 2 "bad" months when we dread unexpected calls as they're when we've lost people - but wouldn't be hard for someone to gain this info from our social media posts! Comments like "well it's bloody April (not a real bad month) isn't it! Always jump at calls then"

"but my profile is (should be) private." Privacy is an illusion these days. My mum won't "do" online banking as she "doesn't want some hacker stealing all my money" she won't have it that actually the bank will ALREADY have put all her info online she just can't access it herself! That banks have among the best digital security, but nothing's perfect and that actually if she did bank online rather than what she does - which is read her paper statement once a month! - she would know far sooner IF her account was compromised (or indeed if there's a mistake - which has happened to her a few times with certain bills ending up unpaid and she's ended up with charges etc)

It's scarily easy to access the most "confidential" information electronically. My friend's husband this is his job (digital security for a bank) AGES ago even before social media he scared the shit out of my previously naive self by being able to - with ONLY my name and dob - accessing all kinds of info about me using a normal PC and dial up Internet! This included medical data including my last prescription and when I'd collected it! That was a wake up call!!

I have privacy settings as high as possible BUT I also know they aren't completely secure and so am careful about what I post.

"She would have to have the most immense memory to remember the faces of the 6/7 people in the audience and information specific to them..." She could have an amazing memory some do and some develop their memory skills BUT she could also have an earpiece with an assistant feeding her the info.

"now she wouldn't have had time to do any research before this session and my friend said she was eerily accurate also" again - how far in advance did attendants book?

Entirely possible a "file" was created ahead of time for each attendant with not that much time required. You have no idea how many people she employs to assist her.

"she didn't have any time for the final chap!" Who YOU didn't know? He could be a plant

It's real entertainment, in fact they are required by law to publish this/ make customers aware.
Some are good and get lucky, or have worked and studied well from their family.
I come from a long long line of a famous clairvoyant family. Whilst it wasn't for me I've seen the amount of practice they have from childhood, it's part of their culture.
If they please their customers and they are satisfied and feel they got good value then where's the harm?
However, I realise many aren't genuine and go to extreme lengths to con you.

Doris Stokes anyone? I don't know how she could sleep at night, preying on the vulnerable like that. I feel sick thinking of her. They find a way to con you, they always have.

Graphista

I'm on a nc, hope you are well, we have spoken before.

You have hit the nail on the head identifying the skills that some learn from childhood. Some of my lot know exactly what I am thinking and can read me like a book, especially if they haven't met me. I don't think I'm giving anything away but my body language mannerisms, accent, and I'm told gait? all help to build up a picture, along with many other things.

Drabami The example I gave about the medium holding her arm innthat particular position, a time long before social media and concerning a person who had been dead for thirty years - how did that medium do that? I’m so skeptical about these things being nothing other than body language/talking so much that something is bound to stick but the arm was so specific. It really shocked me at the time.

My friend went to see a medium many years ago, who said she could see my friend 's father standing behind her, wearing some sort of uniform

When was your friend born? National Service calls ups only ended at the end of 1960 so anyone born up to the late 70s or even later is likely to have had a father who wore a military uniform or some sort.

Complete and utter shit.

I don't know how she knew and understand it would have had a big influence on you.
Unless you were upset by her and you feel the price was worth her skills then I don't believe you were ripped off.
Were you told or made aware it was entertainment.

Yes I was upset tbh.

I don't believe I was ripped off as I went in there voluntarily. She said something else about something quite specific which scared me. She talked about a young man who was 'in the room'. She said he was a relative who had died at a young age and told me he was approx x age now. It was the age he would have been if he had lived.

The arm movement upset me because I hadn't seen it in years and then quite a lot of what she said was upsetting. She didn't 'forecast' the future or if she did, I don't remember any of that. I was very shaken for a long time after the reading.

I believe she found out about you somehow and am sorry you were upset.
I can't tell you what to do but please be careful, and think twice before seeing one again. I feel angry on your behalf.

On a lighter note, I too have seen a sign on a fortune tellers door closed, due to unforeseen circumstances

If you accept that people, such as Derren Brown, can be totally convincing yet use trickery then why does the same not apply to all people claiming these powers?

I really dont understand the X is fake but Y is totes genuine argument. Maybe Y is just better at their trickery than X?

Grimbles The woman I saw couldn’t possibly have found out anything about me. I didn’t even have an email address at the time and she was from a city far from where I grew up. The people ‘in the room’ had been dead for thirty years. There was no ‘internet trail’ from them. There wouldn’t even have been mobile phone numbers. The person who had s problem with their arm was old.

The medium was found by word of mouth. I don’t think she ever ‘advertised’.

I’m reluctant to say x is real but the rest aren’t. But this woman’s ability/gift/trick is very difficult to understand and explain.

So you just randomly turned up to this medium who lives in a city far away from you? No appointment needed at all?

Even pre-internet it wasnt too difficult to find out 'unknowable' information about people - especially if you were part of a network who's livelihoods depend on knowing the unknowable.

I had an appt. At the time, I’d have made the appt from a phone in a rented flat.

The phone wasn’t under my name and I wouldn’t have been there long when I made the appt.

I lived/live in the city but am not originally from here. She’d have known that straight away from my accent but I doubt she’d have known from my accent where I was from as it isn’t from anywhere with a strong accent.

The medium was quite old herself.

She spoke about people who had died many years previously. A long time before mobile phones or the internet.

Unless she toured the country to track down my original address, visited graveyards and found old graves (one of which was/is unmarked) and met other people who had described in detail about the then dead person’s particular arm movements (most of whom would have been dead by that time too as they were older people) I just cannot account for it. Fir what I paid her, probably £20 pounds (but I can’t remember the price), it would have been a tremendous effort for her for a small enough fee. She was hard to get appts with (she was very very popular). If she was doing that for everyone who visited her I can’t imagine her or anyone going to do much trouble!

She wouldn't have needed to tour the country, just get into contact with a few people who can research. Psychics keep records of their clients and pass info on and will also look up for others. As I said, their whole livelihood depends on it.

In your case she got lucky as she was able to find out something specific. If there was nothing then she would have done the whole generic reading instead.

Con artists praying on vulnerable people.