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.

@OhWhyNot

I would happily have my personal spooky story debunked

It was an experience that unsettled me and years later I still can’t make sense of it

I would certainly like sense made of it

Give us the details then and we’ll do it.

I saw a person I knew his name I could describe what he was wearing and a strange habit he had (this was caused through dementia)

This was my friends great grandad - he wasn’t spoken about in the family a person they would rather forget

I may have heard his name that was about it

@Brighton5555

Called one once . First thing she said is ‘ I have a Jimmy / James and he’s asking for John.

John was my then husband and Jimmy was his dad who died when he was 17. Not sure how you can get that from a call and this was before Facebook times and people sharing everything on social media

Another time I saw a lady who told me I was always meant to have 4 kids but she saw me not going through with the third pregnancy. I was very anti abortion and couldn’t wrap my head around that I wouldn’t go through with it .. many years later pregnancy number 3 was a baby who couldn’t survive due to a extremely rare chromosome issue and I medically terminated at 18 weeks , baby 4 followed him 5 years after that pregnancy didn’t happen and he was my final baby.

If I was going to stab in the dark I’d say ‘I have a Jimmy/James and a John.’ Or ‘a Mary and an Elizabeth/Lizzie.’

I mean we have a James and several Johns in our family. I’d guess most people know at least one James and one John. In your case it just happened to hit exactly the spot, but most people will cast around and think ‘John, yes my great granddad/uncle/neighbour is John!’

Also I think people massively underestimate how easy it is to find people on social media. Some people share their whole existence on there, so it would be just the ticket for a psychic expecting you on the Friday to do a bit of digging on the Thursday. One photo with a caption of ‘rip Grandma Liz, can’t believe you’ve been gone four years’ and the psychic is suddenly describing the exact apron Granny Liz used to wear and how she’s been gone four years but still loves and misses you.

@OhWhyNot

I saw a person I knew his name I could describe what he was wearing and a strange habit he had (this was caused through dementia)

This was my friends great grandad - he wasn’t spoken about in the family a person they would rather forget

I may have heard his name that was about it

That’s not enough detail - how did this conversation come about if they didn’t talk about him?

My mum and I were staying at my friends grandmothers house (in different part of the country) first night on a weekend trip I had never been there before

The experience happened just as I was falling asleep so dream like but it wasn’t a dream. I saw a man in formal clothes I could describe him, I knew his name I don’t know how I just did

I told this over breakfast as I thought at first I had seen or had a very vivid dream about my great granddad because of the name (same name and that made sense to me) my mum asked me what he looked like and who i described was not my great granddad it was my friends

Friends grandmother went the colour of what we think a ghost looks like

@OhWhyNot

My mum and I were staying at my friends grandmothers house (in different part of the country) first night on a weekend trip I had never been there before

The experience happened just as I was falling asleep so dream like but it wasn’t a dream. I saw a man in formal clothes I could describe him, I knew his name I don’t know how I just did

I told this over breakfast as I thought at first I had seen or had a very vivid dream about my great granddad because of the name (same name and that made sense to me) my mum asked me what he looked like and who i described was not my great granddad it was my friends

Friends grandmother went the colour of what we think a ghost looks like

So your great-grandad and your friend’s great-grandad had the same name? How did you (a child) describe this man to your mum? How old were you? How old would your great grandads have been?

@Kanaloa yes, & if your profile is locked, but a sister or cousin has liked a photo & has posted about Granny Mary, they’re in business.

My mum always called her granddad Granddad X

I’ve seen many pictures of him and he was very often spoken about I never remember meeting him but I did when very young

I just jumped to that conclusion I guess because of the name. When I was asked to describe him I realised myself i wasn’t talking about my great granddad

Probably they were around the same age

I was 16 or 17 at the time not a young child

@OhWhyNot

My mum always called her granddad Granddad X

I’ve seen many pictures of him and he was very often spoken about I never remember meeting him but I did when very young

I just jumped to that conclusion I guess because of the name. When I was asked to describe him I realised myself i wasn’t talking about my great granddad

Probably they were around the same age

How did you know you weren’t talking about your own grandad?

Actually, @Kanaloa, if super invested & I had 3 days plus, with your name I could get Mary’s birth & marriage cert & infer a lot. Say Mary was a nurse in Ottery St Mary marrying a dentist, well there is a lot you could spin & many would sit there aghast.

@SeafrontBingo

Actually, *@Kanaloa*, if super invested & I had 3 days plus, with your name I could get Mary’s birth & marriage cert & infer a lot. Say Mary was a nurse in Ottery St Mary marrying a dentist, well there is a lot you could spin & many would sit there aghast.

Oh yes, it’s actually quite a skill. My BIL is very into making his family tree, it’s like his hobby, and he’s found out all sorts about his great grandparents even, when my pil didn’t even know about them!

No I don’t believe them. A family member has worked as a psychic for years and I just go 🙄 when I hear about it.

I'm a bit intuitive and fascinated by psychics and mediums. At the end of the day though they are selling hope and comfort. I can see why the readings could become addictive.

I saw a medium once who told me things about a relative that had passed away that he couldn't possibly know.

I had a psychic phone reading. A lot of what she said about my situation was true. Her prediction hasn't come true though. I won't have another reading.

People seem to have not understood

I called a physic

She said immediately I have a Jimmy / James .

And he’s asking after John.

John was my husband
His dead father was Jimmy

I don’t see how she could come up so accurately within 15 seconds of a call.

Are the common names yes

But to have Jimmy asking for John
And that he his son

I think when I started to describe what he looked like

I was freaked out by the experience especially knowing the name

@Brighton5555

People seem to have not understood

I called a physic

She said immediately I have a Jimmy / James .

And he’s asking after John.

John was my husband
His dead father was Jimmy

I don’t see how she could come up so accurately within 15 seconds of a call.

Are the common names yes

But to have Jimmy asking for John
And that he his son

People have understood, they’re just pointing out that they’re extremely common names.

@OhWhyNot

I think when I started to describe what he looked like

I was freaked out by the experience especially knowing the name

This is exceptionally frustrating: how did you know? What characteristics made you think, oh hang on, that can’t be my grandad who was called Jack but that made your mum say ‘oh that’s Claire’s grandad Jack!’?

What I described was an old man slightly hunched over he was wearing a suit overcoat and a trilby hat

My mum that said no granddad always wore a flat cap (he was a Yorkshireman lot to say all wear flat caps before anyone says anything)

My friends nan said that sounds like my dad

She said immediately I have a Jimmy / James

Note the have, as opposed to married to, daughter of or anything else too specific

With such a common name most folk will "have" one, and even if it was a vague friend, neighbour or something, the "psychic" could have claimed a hit just the same

All in all, as good an example of confirmation bias as I've seen

@OhWhyNot, honestly, that sounds like people leaping to far-fetched conclusions about a vivid dream had by a teenager, not some kind of inexplicable supernatural event.

@OhWhyNot

What I described was an old man slightly hunched over he was wearing a suit overcoat and a trilby hat

My mum that said no granddad always wore a flat cap (he was a Yorkshireman lot to say all wear flat caps before anyone says anything)

My friends nan said that sounds like my dad

Ok, I’ve asked enough times.

Here’s my theory: you described a dream you had about an old man, using a name lodged in your subconscious of your great grandad, who had a name common enough to be shared by your friend’s great grandad. You told your mum about it at breakfast, she said ‘your grandad wore a flat cap’ but your friend’s gran said ‘oh my Jack wore a trilby hat but even though we never, ever speak about him, I’ve brought him up here because of the dream of this sixteen year old in my house about a man wearing a hat’.

I mean, it’s hardly the mystery of the century is it?

@OhWhyNot

What I described was an old man slightly hunched over he was wearing a suit overcoat and a trilby hat

My mum that said no granddad always wore a flat cap (he was a Yorkshireman lot to say all wear flat caps before anyone says anything)

My friends nan said that sounds like my dad

But that’s a very generic description, @OhWhyNot — surely that could be virtually any elderly man?. I’m pursuing this because you said up the thread that you’d like to have your experience debunked.

I genuinely don’t think there’s anything to debunk. You had a vivid dream. You described it and someone leapt to the conclusion you’d dreamt about their relative.

Well I would have said the same but there were other details

But I’m not here to convince anyone