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?!

Mediums are not a modern phenomenon, and pre-internet readings were still accurate enough to keep people interested, or the whole thing would have died out. Doesn't mean those those mediums were genuine, only that they had tried and tested ways of finding out about people.

But people will still chose to believe even when you point out the trickery. There's several "christian" mediums swanning around the US conning people as they go. One in particular, can't remember the name but it was linked on another thread, gave readings at one event.

It was very accurate, and caused lots of people to believe he comes from God. A journalist examined the whole reading (it was recorded) focussing on one couple, and managed to get everything the medium said and found it on the couple's FB.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, people still persist in believing this charlatan is genuine.

I think you have to ask yourself what is more likely, a psychic has a network of a few people who are able to access records/information, can make good guesses and also have the ability to read involuntary reactions in people.

Or a (seemingly large) number of people can speak to the dead or predict the future yet in the history of the world no one has been able to prove this in controlled conditions.

If you want to believe in this stuff you will. You will seize on the things they get right and forget the rest. Confirmation bias and all that.

Real or rubbish? - rubbish. They prey on the vulnerable - why else would you entertain seeing one - unless you were at a low point in your life?
They ply customers with generalised chat and conversation and wait to see what resonates. Then they pounce on the info subconsciously given away leaving an impression of accuracy.

The girls who were behind the founding of the spiritualist church admitted they blatantly made it up - the spooky happenings were a prank that got out of control. Still, so much money was being made out of it by then that the confession was discredited.

If you go to a spiritualist church the performing medium is given a dossier of the congregation who are regulars. It's so blatant that a 'memorial book' is on display for believers to leave messages to their loved ones and to (supposedly) ask for prayers.

She was hard to get appts with (she was very very popular).

So, plenty of time to make enquiries, then.

It's such a shame that people are taken in and despite being told still continue.
I don't know how some of it is done, it certainly doesn't need internet/social media to find stuff out. I know a couple who have never used the internet in their life, it's just them working from their transport and no assistant.
That's not to say it's real at all. I agree with the pp above, they prey on the vulnerable as those attending are always vulnerable. It makes me quite angry at times.

In your case she got lucky as she was able to find out something specific.

So she had s team who were able to find out information about someone who was thirty years dead, who was lying in a grave far from where the person had lived, whose children had already passed away. And do the same arm movements???? No.

I’ve been to many ‘fortune tellers’ over the years, taken what I wanted from the reading, in some cases (where old boyfriends were concerned) practically fed them the information. There wasn’t ONE that was genuine although I’m sure many thought they had a gift and many others were gifted readers of body language.

But the medium was different.

It's all a load of shit.

And about the arm movement - it's possible you were giving away hints yourself without realising. I know if I'm thinking about my gran I automatically do something with my hands that she used to do.

No really I wasn’t doing the arm movement. It wasn’t something anyone would naturally do and it would take some practice to do it. I wouldn’t have been able to any more than I’d have done cartwheels around the floor 😀

It has puzzled me for so long.

Like I said I know ‘fortune tellers’ are a crock of shit. I even had my own set of tarot cards at one time. I lost interest in them rapidly. I know that it is very easy to read cards and interpret them as you want them interpreted.

Drabarni hi, yes there's definite skill involved and a culture too. There are some interesting studies on why some people are better at "reading" people than others, even without specific training. One theory (which I happen to agree with due to own experiences) is that those who grew up in violent/abusive households read others moods/intentions quickly - because we had to! Self preservation! Not the only reason but certainly one factor

Doyoureally, yes psychics are in contact with each other and will research/pass on info to each other.

Why is that more unbelievable to you than literally being able to talk to dead people?

Not rubbish at all. I'm a psychic tarot reader, doing 1 to 1 readings and I'm confident 100% in what I do. I've never had a complaint yet

you only gave your name you say?

Some people are just hell bent on not believing and saying there is an explanation.

There is zero explanation for how a medium I seen knew what he knew. Because I'd never told anyone.

I do agree most of them aren't real but some are.

I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist monthly for ages now and a 1:1 reading with this lady costs the same as that. The acupuncture seems to have no affect so this month i’ll put that cash into a reading an let you all know how it goes!

Some very intelligent people have readings of all types and believe what they are told.
it's something you either believe in or not, even Queen Vickie went for readings, it's well documented, she was a darling to my ancestors, and it's well documented.
It's all entertainment and harmless until people actually start believing it's real.
Strongtea, your confidence and lack of complaints doesn't mean you know what you are doing, who taught you and what school of cards do you use?

Graphista

Can you send me a link please. I've read similar about Romany and their distrust of the gauja being the reason they could read well, with the culture of passing through places, and facing persecution.

I know a few people who read Tarot cards. Not as a way of predicting the future, but they work as a form of self-reflection, a way of meditating on yourself. They don't read for others, just use the cards as a form of therapy.

Multicolour

This is how I use my cards, they aren't predictions of the future for me. I read for friends but just explain what the cards mean, my interpretation and get them to come up with their own interpretation. I also read tea leaves and palms. I don't make anything up I have learned from traditional means of books, some very old and rare.

@MulticolourMophead I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, I was thinking about the psychosomatic/ placebo effect of a tarot card reading and even if it works to clear my mind and focus me on some parts of my life that need clarity/ a decision made about them then what’s the harm in using this as a tool... a mindfulness exercise, I like that way of thinking!

DobbieFreeElf apparently you should only use cards you've been given, not ones you've bought yourself. DD said it would at least make my birthday easy for her this year. 😁

My exH went to a medium a few years after his Dad has passed away very unexpectedly. He also took his mum. When they made the appointment the medium would only take their first names - no surname, no address, no details of people they wanted to contact.

Ex found the experience very positive, was told some pertinent information that no one else could have known and came away comforted in the knowledge that his dad was happy and hanging out with his own dad.
ExMIL was told similar stuff but came away absolutely boiling with rage that her husband had the cheek to be happy on the other side while she had been left alone to deal with all the shit in life. She has never got over this anger and I feel really sorry for her husband when she dies if he's waiting for her as he will get a good battering!!!

The medium never took any money and it was pre internet and smart phone days. Yes he could have scrolled through all the death notices in the local paper to find the relevant names but would have had to go back several years and there are LOTS of death notices! he could have had a source at the private birthday party he mentioned with a very unusual cake but its unlikely.

I believe that whilst there are charlatans masquerading as mediums, there are people who can genuinely communicate with people who aren't living on the earth. I don't know how. I do believe that humans are not meant to know everything and that not everything can be explained by science