Do you believe in psychics?

[EwwwwDavid]

I've been to a few psychics over the years and some things they've said have been weirdly accurate, some not so much.
I had a very tragic bereavement about 12 years ago and haven't seen one since but done things I was told almost predicted what would happen.
Does anyone have any similar stories?
Ps im very much atheist and not at all 'woo' but sometimes reflect on things that are weirdly accurate.

If you're not at all 'woo', you wouldn't have been to a few psychics over the years.

No-one is psychic, most are complete charlatans and a few (at best) are batshit and completely believe in what they're saying.

Study 'cold reading', it's absolutely fascinating. I can thoroughly recommended Derren Brown.

@WorraLiberty yeah you're right and I agree with you completely. Just wondered if anyone had some fun or weird stories. The psychic I went to see told me the name of my husband and son (before he was even conceived) and it's just a bit spooky I guess?!

I've only ever been to one who came even close to telling me about me/predicting a couple of future events but given my age at the time cold have been down to pure luck. The rest have been hilariously awful, not even good at cold reading. I'm the kind of person they least like because I will give them nothing to go on. Friends I know who have been to the same ones have said how amazing they were, but I know that's because they've literally told them all about Grandad, Auntie Maureen, their best friend etc.

What Worra said ^^

I'm not remotely woo and I don't believe in psychics at all.

They exploit vulnerable people.

Nope.
To quote Tim Minchin.. ( Storm...9 minute beat poem.. excellent)

By the way, why do we think it's okay for
People to pretend they can talk to the dead?
Isn't that totally fucked in the head?
Lying to some crying woman whose child has died
And telling her you're in touch with the other side?
I think that's fundamentally sick
Do we need to clarify here that there's no such thing as a psychic?
What are we, fucking two?
Do we actually think that Horton Heard a Who?
Do we still believe that Santa brings us gifts?
That Michael Jackson didn't have facelifts?
Are we still so stunned by circus tricks that we think
That the dead would wanna talk to pricks like John Edwards?

Just no. Cold reading is all it is.

No. I think at best they’re chancers who say a few vague truisms and at worst they’re conning vulnerable people.

My cousin is one. I believe she believes she is physic. I don’t believe she actually is psychic. In her defence she doesn’t make money from it, she only “psychics” for charity but she’s almost certainly batshit crazy.

The psychic told you the name of your son before he was conceived?
But how is that psychic? Hasn’t she just influenced you to use a name?

On the point generally, cold reading can get you a lot more than you realise. My sister went to one when she was of uni age so they took a guess and spoke of education(they were wrong but for a lot would be right). If you’re in your sixties plus, chances are one of your parents has died. Also the way you dress etc can give clues. The way you carry yourself etc. Also there are generally things that apply to everyone “you haven’t fulfilled your true potential. Things have held you back” etc

Absolutely not. And I think many of them are borderline criminal in how they take advantage of people in times of grief and difficulty.

Also how did she predict the name of your son? You chose it. Unless he was born and said ‘mummy it’s me Henry John, like that lady told you on the Blackpool promenade!’

Also, they’ll often guess you’ve lost a loved one/have a big decision coming up. Who else goes to see a psychic?

I used to believe. My dm died suddenly quite young. We were so close and of course I was devastated. I went to see one. He didn't give me anything solid ( something only my mum and I would know. Incidentally, have a password or phrase with your loved one like Houdini's widow did.
If your loved one passes and somehow gets this word or phrase to you, you're onto a winner). Look up cold, warm and hot ( social media / obituaries even a great source for them) reading on you tube. Holy Koolaid, Miklos Jakko ( excellent session with James Van Fraud). Also The Seatbelt Psychic debunked is fascinating.
I will say though a friend of mine went to see one after her dh was tragically taken. The morning after she bounced into the staffroom having had the best night's sleep ever and feeling enormously comforted. I wouldn't have told her he was a charlatan. In a strange way, even though he lied, he provided a service. Still a Fraud though.
Programmes like Colin Fry, Jon Edwards obviously heavily edited and are for ' entertainment purposes ' only. Ok. And don't get me started on Sylvia Browne.
Thanks for reading !!

No.

Having recently lost my Husband I saw a local Psychic fair advertised and spoke to a lady who gave a lot of very accurate information which I was surprised by - until finding out that the person who served her on her coffee break and chatted to her before I was called through was one of his friends

A guarantee of silence and a good test of a "Psychic" i think would to ask specific questions like the persons house number and car registration number of the person they say they are on about

I do. Honestly, most are probably frauds, but I had a tarot reading & my spirit "guides" were also present. The psychic was quite literally looking over my shoulder talking to these "guides" (it was creepy, tbh). Anyway, the psychic kept asking if I knew a person called 'jane' (not her real name), this Jane was going to be significant in my life somehow. Anyway, at the time, everything she said made no sense & seemed insignificant until about 3 weeks later, when it was revealed my husband was leaving me, after having an affair with a colleague called....you guessed it....Jane.

I'm an atheist too, but I keep looking for things to change my mind. I want to believe in something higher but just cannot find any real proof. So in my search, I've also been to psychics. Just like your experience, some have been scary accurate and some were obvious cold reading/pulling stuff out of the air.

One psychic accurately predicted the punishment of a bully supervisor (she was fired in a spectacular way) and also predicted around the time of year I would meet my husband. Coincidence? Maybe. But the predictions that came "true" were just so close to the actual real life situation/event.

As a side note, I've also been to a medium. She told me things about my parents that no one could have known ever. She told me how me and my dad used to stand out on the patio feeding the squirrels while smoking our cigarettes. That was such a small thing that I never mentioned that fact to anyone.

When my son died I saw a psychic. She is reasonably local to me geographically but she knew things about me from when I was a child - where I originally came from - and she said that within minutes of meeting me and nobody could have told her this. She told me facts about my partners family that were astounding. She had no idea who he was at all. She did not and does not know his name. She could not have found out where he came from at all. She told me things about his family that came true such as things that were going to happen and they did. There was going to be a family argument between his two sisters which would ruin a holiday, and she warned me to stay out of it. She gave details. She was spot on.
She admitted to me that she knew about my son, because of my name, but she talked to me about him in such a way that gave me comfort. She told me no lies.
She has told me things that will happen in the future.

Because she knows about my son when I have seen her she tends not to talk about him as it is too easy to make something up to give me comfort, but she has said one or two things which have rubber stamped what I already knew and so I have returned to see her more than once.
I know I am not being played. I do not ask her to tell me if I will win the lottery. She is massively generous with her time and talks about lots of things which are nothing to do with me at all.
Yes she has asked me questions, but the information she volunteers is not based on what she asks. She only asks for confirmation which I answer either in the negative or the positive.

Is she a fake? If she is, she is a very good one.

Is she a fake? If she is, she is a very good one.

To be honest I would say she probably is a fake, yes. As you say, she already knew of you so would have been easy to discover other things. I’m so sorry to hear about your son but it does sort of back up what I’ve said above - it’s only those in desperate grief or turmoil who tend to turn to these people.

However, I do think it’s less harmful if you look at it like (just an example) playing fruit machines. You okay a fruit machine and you shouldn’t expect to win, you’re paying for the fun of playing. Then it isn’t as harmful. Same with psychics, I suppose rather than paying for their psychic ability you’ve paid for the comfort she gives you in how she speaks to you.

I honestly think it should be illegal to tout yourself as psychic. Preying on vulnerable people. Disgusting excuses for human beings.

You won't get many people admitting they believe OP because the anti woo bully brigade always descend on threads like these.

My sister who has been to a few records her sessions with psychics and sends them to me. I think she wants to convince me but there are so many questions and statements which are false. Also the way they get to truths make me realise if you really wanted to believe you’d just forget all the inaccuracies but remember that they magically knew about the time you went fishing with your dad- even though they’d started with saying they were picturing a pet fish and you’d guided them to a memory unawares.

When I hear stories of them knowing something so specific I find myself wondering what the recorded session would be like.

I don't believe in psychics - especially after seeing Derren Brown - however, many years ago a friend and I had gone to a bar after work, it was almost empty apart from us and an old man. He came over to me when my pal had gone to the toilet and said 'I can tell your fortune.' I thought he was drunk and played along, however he told me things that NO ONE would have known, incl my childhood nickname in the family.

It was very, very weird.

I do believe.
I've seen quite a few over the years. Some were quite obviously charlatans but three stand out

1. Knew the occupation and nickname of someone. They also knee that he worked in a different environment than his qualification would suggest (I am being vague, they were specific).
2. I was 36, single and living happily up north. This one said I'd marry at 40 and move to London. I dismissed it as I hadn't met anyone and hated London. It happened.
3. This one asked specifically about a silver tea or coffee service that had been stolen during a funeral. I dismissed it and thought nothing more of it until I was listening again to a recording I made. I mentioned it to mum and she said, yes, this happened at my grandma's wake, but nobody had told me as I was already obviously very upset.

You could dismiss two as a lucky guess, but 1 and 3 were very, very specific.

I am not a psychic as a job but I regularly get visions that come true so I believe people can be psychic in general. I can’t control mine and they are usually about trivial things that aren’t very useful, but I regularly see future events. My grandmother was also psychic in the same way that I am. That said, I know there are fakes out there.