...to think that clairvoyants/tarot readers etc are just a load of crap?!

[candyandyoga]

So, friend is having a tarot/clairvoyant night and asks if I want to come. When I was younger I used to really believe it all this but now, I am very cynical and think there are very very few genuine 'fortune tellers' out there - if any...

Aibu to think that this is all just a load of old shit or are there really people out there who can tell us our future?!

[Sparhawk]

Learn to be a psychic in 10 easy lessons!

[SolidGoldBrass]

The ones who get all squealy and foot-stampy in defence of woo-peddlers - is this because you are, yourselves, con-artists? Is it because you are reluctant to acknowledge that you have been conned? I can appreciate that it might be upsetting to realise this, particularly if someone conned you when you were at a very low point eg recently bereaved.
Or are you just basically dim and gullible?

It's like believing in gods: the more people scream and shout that their imaginary friend REALLY IS REAL HOW DARE YOU LAUGH, the more likely it is that they know perfectly well that it's utter bullshit but have invested so much time and energy in it that they can't bring themselves to admit any doubts.

[WhispersOfWickedness]

Just to lighten the thread a bit, my favourite clairvoyant story was from a colleague who went to a show. The clairvoyant picked out the largest woman in the room and said 'I sense you have been on a diet recently'

[TheCutOfYourJib]

So do all you sceptics not believe in an after life?
Nope , dont believe in an after life.
I just generally don't believe in fairy stories.
I can see how people want to, as it is so comforting to think you will see your loved ones again but no, when we're gone, we're gone.

[Heebiejeebie]

Hmmmm, I foresee conflict in this thread.

[Mia4]

YANBU I think there's far too many possible futures based on our choices and others to predetermine anything.

I have known a few people who've had dreams that seem prophetic and they've shared them, or had a deep feeling- but these people don't charge money, they just share with family and friends and in one of their case, was very uncomfortable and upset by it all.

The ones who charge and make professions are mentalists, they are very adapt or sometimes shockingly rubbish and just trying to make a buck by fancying themselves as mentalists.

[OrlaKiely]

yanbu, it is all a complete load of shit. It's usually a big con as well.

[EllaFitzgerald]

I've had quite a few readings but, in my defence, I was an awful lot lot younger!

My last one was with a chap who told me that I'd bought a property in Britain and would be looking to buy in Spain within the next year. Reeeally? I've just paid you £25 to tell me a load of tosh. Clearly I don't have the level of financial astuteness necessary to own two properties by the age of 25!

[ophelia275]

Years ago I went to see a "psychic" who used to have his own segment on a very popular radio station. On the radio he seemed to be quite accurate, describing things in callers homes and things that had happened to them. Being young and naive and not knowing much about cold reading, I went to see him when he was holding his psychic sessions in a hotel in London for which you had to make an appointment and he would give you a reading for payment.

He was one of the nastiest, greediest, most aggressive individuals I have ever had the misfortune to meet. He grabbed my watch and started doing a cold reading which sounded like something he had learned by rote and he sounded extremely bored and annoyed. When I politely questioned some of the things he was saying (which were not remotely accurate) he ordered me out of the room and said he would not deal with me any longer. He was a complete psycho (he even looks the part) and unfortunately he is still out there, conning vulnerable people out of their money.

[AgentZigzag]

If the problem some people have with clairvoyants/tarot readers is that they're preying on people at a vulnerable and distressing time in their lives, it's a bit shit to pile it on them more and start calling them 'dim and gullible'.

I've never been to anything woo or believe there's anything in it, but I know what desperate feels like and how doing things that might seem ridiculous to other people can genuinely help, even if it's just for a short time.

[popcornpaws]

I read all of a certain psychics books and thought they were amazing and found comfort in them.
Went to see him live and couldn't believe what a load of shite it was.
Left feeling angry that i had believed what he wrote in his books, he seemed so genuine etc.

[squoosh]

I do think people exist with genuine psychic ability, in that someone might have a one off premonition of something that is going to occur. I also believe that 99% of people who do charge for these services are nothing more than charlatans.

As for people who defraud the grief stricken, well they're nothing more than scum.

[SolidGoldBrass]

Squoosh: But that's simply rubbish. There is no way that people can predict the future because of their Speshul Powers. 'Accurate predictions' are a mixture of coincidence and hindsight - we all speculate about the outcomes of different things and sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don't.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

FarBetterNow Am I right to believe you believe in an afterlife?

If so, what part of us can enter this afterlife? Can an animal enter? Any animal? An insect? A flea? A flower? A microbe? A bacterium? Where do you draw the line and why doesn't anyone see ghosts of ants?

Why don't cats have religion?

[squoosh]

You're entitled to your opinion as I am to mine.

[FarBetterNow]

There are thieves, charlatans and crooks in all walks of life including:
Cosmetic Surgery
Dentistry
Private Medicine
Banking
Big pharma
Oil /Petrol Industry
MPs
Law
Police
The Church - all denominations
Estate Agents
County Councillors
Advertising
Telecommunications
Etc Etc

Before I am asked, no I do not take money or do readings etc.

[CrapsWithBears]

What's your point, why is it relevant that there are charlatans and crooks in other industries?

[overprotection]

Lol @ people who claim the vast majority of psychics are fakes but that one or two are 'for real', as if that gives them some sort of credibility.

Then again it's similar to the mindset of anybody who follows organised religion "oh yeah, Islam/Judaism/Hinduism/etc are all a load of old shit, but Christianity, yeah that's deffo for real".

[FarBetterNow]

ItsOkay: Re afterlife: All animals enter the afterlife.
Heaven wouldn't be good without animals!
I think the difference is that in heaven all life exists in harmony.
Fleas don't bit. Lions don't kill other animals to eat.

I don't know why we don't see ghosts of ants.
Maybe they don't have the need to stay here.

I don't know why cats don't have religion.

As Squoosh says we are all entitled to our opinions.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

FarBetterNow why has no one ever managed to pass the James Randi challenge here?

[CrapsWithBears]

Well apparently not, since people who don't like psychics are closed minded.

[ItsOkayItsJustMyBreath]

It could be because religion is manmade?

I heartily recommend A C Grayling's The God Argument for anyone with questions.

[notbotheredreally]

i dont believe anyone can tell you your future , but i do believe some messages from a few mediums that i have seen .

[FarBetterNow]

Bears: It's relevant as some posters are saying ALL psychics are frauds and scum.
Some maybe, as in all other walks of life.

The psychics I know are NOT scum or money grabbers.
They are very caring people.