To not know what to think of Mediums

[Skeptical]

DH comes from a family of mediums and I don't quite know what to make of it!

When I met DH and found out about it I was a bit but I fell in love with him anyway. We have since married and had a baby together. DH is pretty low key about the whole thing but his Father, Sister and Brother are all mediums too.

My thoughts on Mediums have always been that either they are lying, deluded or maybe, possibly telling the truth (but have never really believed IYKWIM).

I think DFIL is both deluded and a massive attention seeker so he fits into my previous thoughts on mediums. However I adore DH, have massive respect for DSIL and I know that my DBIL hates the whole scene but claims that "they" won't leave him alone and is desperate to make them go away!

My mind boggles about the whole thing and they are convinces that it is really happening to them. Is it? I don't know!!

AIBU to be a bit about this part of my DH's life?

But we do know. Mediumship has been demonstrated to be false. There is no proof otherwise.

Thanks for all the replies, I find myself actually more on the maybe side - my DH will be pleased!!

For all the who say deluded or lying, how would you feel about it if someone you loved and cared about claimed that they had this "gift"?

Oh, and my IL's don't charge for any reading and think its disgusting when people do.

I'm still not convinced entirely and think I will always be

'Just to clarify, Lamorna, which people have an extra sense? How can it be measured? How are we to distinguish these special people from charlatans? '

That is the whole point-we don't know which people, it can't be measured and we don't know which ones are charlatans.
My whole point was that I am open minded, I think that it is possible that some people are psychic and I certainly know of some unexplained incidents from sane sensible people, and that if OP's DCs or grandchildren come out with things they couldn't possibly know she will be able to surmise that probably her ILs are psychic to some degree.
I am open minded enough to be a bit scared of the whole subject and I would stay very clear, whatever the temptation.

A is healthy - until we know precisely what we're dealing with I don't think it would be sensible to disregard anything. Someone earlier said that perhaps it was an ability to read minds - maybe that's it. I know I wouldn't like it if any of my family members had this 'gift' - but if they were able to provide very detailed information beyond the usual "I see a journey across the water for you" then I'd probably be like you, OP.

"Oh, and my IL's don't charge for any reading and think its disgusting when people do."

I never understand this, there are so many other rewards than money.
They obviously get something from it, whether it's just plain attention, or maybe a sense of power ,or the fact they makes them feel needed.

I'm a skeptic, the more I read the more skeptical I get.
There used to be a "medium" on another board I frequented. She loved the attention of be called for a reading.
People used to say she was accurate ie she knew the name of my grandfathers (there had been a thread on grandparents names recently[grin}

There is a talk radio presenter called Iain Lee who got a email from a medium who had said that he had dreamed about him. Iain rang him up and couldn't believe how accurately this medium had described his house.
Iain had been talking about stuff he was selling on ebay in the last few days. One was an unusual item and could easily found on ebay. Looking at the photos of the things he was selling you could see everything this medium described.
I emailed him and pointed this out and he was very upset that he had been targeted.

Why had this medium contacted him, nobody knows he wasn't in it for money.

What's with all this "oh, we should be open-minded stuff"?

When you see a magician, do you leave 'open-minded' about their ability to saw their assistant in half then reassemble them?

It's a bloody trick! Why be more open-minded about one than the other?

I love a good ghost story but I don't believe in mediums. They prey on people, I think they all do. It could be the money but I think it's also the validation of 'specialness' that they get from what they perceive is 'helping' people.

For some people who go to them it's just a bit of fun but for others who are heartsick in some way, it's really awful that they are preyed on when they are vulnerable.

It ought to be regulated I suppose.

We should be open minded in terms of we don't know how it works (in every case). Otoh, we can pretty much work out how the sawing in half thing works.

Open minded yes, but not 'empty minded'. So called mediums can do a lot of damage and if there are genuine ones they are really in a minority.

Some people who've had a reading tend to 'fill in the gaps' after the event. They disregard the stuff that doesn't quite 'fit' or they make it fit somehow. My friend does this. She loves to go to them and I think she's a bit hooked on it somehow; every decision (minor or major) needs a consultation.

No, that's not healthy - empty minded, definitely. An open mind though can be healthy. For example, I don't believe that a truthful politician exists - however, there may be one out there, so I remain open minded on that issue too

You know what they say - if you're too open minded your brain falls out.

Some people definitely have a genuine gift.

And if you're too closed minded you don't learn anything.

We all know there are a huge number if charlatans out there who are skilled at cold reading and body language interpretation and mercillously use this to exploit the grief stricken and vulnerable.

There are though, I believe, a whole other group who are unaware that they are not psychic they are just particularly adept at reading physical cues. This might be a hereditary sensitivity but is more likely I think to be learned behaviour from parents built the same way and with belief that they are psychic, who 'help' their children to understand their 'gift'

And then there are a few things that are completely unexplainable. I saw a medium at a desperate moment last year, lots of generalising then a very scary, very accurate comment out of the blue with no prior fishing. Correct name and specific details. This medium has also given precise details to others I know.

I've seen Derren Brown. I am extremely skeptical, but I can't explain this.

But we do know. Mediumship has been demonstrated to be false. There is no proof otherwise.

Exactly!

Wingandprayer - couldn't agree more.