Do you believe in Mediums?

[Snowballs138]

Some years ago I went (very sceptically) with a friend to see a well renowned Medium. I had waited almost 2 years to see her. I booked the appointment via telephone on a withheld number. I Gave only my first name which isn't unusual and no other information.
As I say, I was a very sceptical and pretty much a non- beleiver, but just went along with a friend to see what it was all about and a giggle. I had previously lost my husband quite young in a very unusual way. The woman seemed to know a lot about this and even specified that it was abroad, an accident and he was surrounded by water, which he was 🤯 she then went on to say he was with her and was trying to tell her a nickname he used to call me so that I would believe he was there. I was completely confused as I couldn't remember any nicknames that he had for me (non to my knowledge). So this is where I had her, or so I thought! I said no, there has never been a nickname. He never called me anything other than my Christian name. She then said she would give me the first letter of the nickname. I just looked at her blankly and said no. She then shot out the nickname and I was completely and utterly blindsided. It was a ridiculous name. I won't say it on here because it's embarrassing and silly 🤣 but it's something in humour that he used to call me when it was just the two of us (and very unusual/not guessable for her AT ALL). I had totally and utterly forgotten about it. So how could she have known this if even I had forgotten and absolutely nobody else knew? I've never to this day been able to understand how she could know. She also went on to say several other things were that were outstandingly accurate and things that nobody else could possibly have known, for example I was in the middle of a private dental claim which she said was legal (I was) and that I would receive a substantial payout very soon (I did). She told my friend she was pregnant (she was, 6 weeks, but had told nobody bar her DH) This one visit to this Medium changed my entire belief system regarding mediums and the spirit world which I never thought would be possible. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

The sensible part of me says it's a load of old tosh, but then I saw someone quite a few years ago who was astonishingly accurate.
I was supposed to be going with my friend, I was just going to keep her company really, and she backed out at the door so I went in anyway.
I'm aware of cold reading so wasn't overly impressed with what she was saying, until she went on to my future. She said some seriously specific things, all of which are on tape. It all came true. She predicted how and where I would meet my husband, and how many children we would have. She even mentioned the colour of the living room walls. Absolutely bizarre. I have no explanation.

My mum was a massive sceptic but came home one night after a night out with workmates absolutely shook. A medium had told her some stuff that she'd not told anyone here (she was originally from another part of the country). It wasn't anything bad, but very specific to her situation.

I heard a tv medium possibly Debbie someone? Describe it as a spectrum of sensitivity. Most of us can sense when someone is sad, highly sensitive people can sense why. We all know and believe that animals can sniff out cancer and pregnancy but are shocked when humans can. We all know that ai can read thoughts and even produce images reading people's minds but are shocked when humans can. Why? Surely that is the final piece of the jigsaw. That thoughts can be read fairly easily. That the group consciousness that makes us innately aware of certain things works at a different level in some people.

There are endless threads on here where people "felt something off" about someone and avoided them and was later proved right. Did they read their mind then? Why is it ok to Believe in instinct but not mind reading? I think the answer is money. A huge distrust of people reading minds for money. A fear of being scammed. Actually, this is the wrong question to ask.

Are there people who can read minds and memories? Probably. Multiple people have stated that there are.

Are there people who scam people through fortune telling? Also probably.

Are there people who get great comfort and support from mediums whether they are genuine or not? Also probably.

Multiple different things can simultaneously be true. The problem with this thread is that people want a yes ir no. Black or white in what is a grey area.

If you genuinely believe that instinct is hardwired into us, why can't you believe that sensitivity can also be hardwired in?

How do herds of horses or flocks of birds all work as one? Do they have a psychic group mind?

I don't pretend to know the answers but I am wise enough to listen, to learn and to keep an open mind.

I think there are a lot of charlatans, but I’ve been to one I believe is actually a medium. Walked through the door, hadn't sat down and he gave me the name of my dead mother’s sister (think Shirley, but that isn’t the real name). I gave him no details, he did not question me. Proceeded to give me 5 more names of my mother’s family, most of whom have been dead over 30 years. One great great aunt name was not correct - similar but not exact. Told me something about my paternal grandfather (dead over 40 years) that I said was wrong. When I spoke to my father later it was right, but I never knew it. Gave me a detail about my mother’s death that had been playing on my mind related to medical equipment, and what she was dressed in for burial and colours. Overall did I believe him? Yes. If he could be bothered somehow investigating my family for long dead people who all had different surnames and no social media connections, he earned every penny of my 50 pounds.

I absolutely do.

id gone out for day drinks with neighbours just before Covid hit. I’d gone outside for a vape & said to this lady ‘oh I like your dress’

she then asked me ‘do you have a child in spirit?’ I was kinda shocked but said yes. She apologised and said I see another baby, a girl, in your future. I laughed and said my now exh has been sterilised.

she said no, not with your husband. Someone else. Name begins with C.

had no plans to leave exh at that time, but march 2021 I did, my bf name begins with C and we have a baby girl

so yeah, I believe 100%

had some other ‘woo’ experiences as well

...and after you've done CP35 can you get a spirit to tell you my favourite colour?

I'm aware of cold reading so wasn't overly impressed with what she was saying, until she went on to my future. She said some seriously specific things, all of which are on tape. It all came true. She predicted how and where I would meet my husband, and how many children we would have. She even mentioned the colour of the living room walls. Absolutely bizarre. I have no explanation.

Do you think you could have subconsciously made her predictions come true?

Many are frauds, but some are genuine. I am not a medium, but I do occasionally receive messages. My kids are always amazed when a prediction from spirit comes true! Sometimes I see spirits as solid humans, sometimes they're invisible and I hear or feel them. I often think about doing a mediumship course, because I would love to pass on more messages.

I am too a medium and I wanted to reply to you purely to show my support as you are probably going to get the same kind of replies that I got. Unfortunately that's the world we live in isn't it. Keep up the good work. 🥰

But reading minds, sensing feelings or that something is "off" about someone is not what clairvoyants/psychics/mediums are said to be doing here.
They're credited with conversing with and passing on messages from the dead, seeing into the past and, ridiculously, seeing into the future; to the extent that future partner's first initials (it's always first initials, never names) and number and sex of children are "foretold".
This is a long way from a dog sniffing out cancer or sensing that its owner is sad.

Personally, I don't really believe in them.

I went to a wedding where the bride hired a mentalist who did card tricks/ sleight of hand/ cold reading as entertainment.

He walked up to me and asked me to think of 2 words. I tried deliberately to think of something 'non-wedding', so I thought of the words 'horizontal' and 'giraffe'.

He guessed both words straight away without me saying anything, so it shows how amazing cold reading can be.

It was a clever trick and I don't know how he did it, but it was just that, a trick. He didn't claim he was psychic or magic. But I can see that some unscrupulous people with the same ability might do that.

Im not saying all mediums are unscrupulous. There may be genuine ones, but it's not something I've personally encountered. I keep an open mind about such things though, I'm open to having my mind changed.

Let's say it IS real.

Nevertheless, you're more likely to encounter a cold-reading fraudster than an 'actual' clairvoyant.

I believe and regularly attend them, but I also take some of it with a pinch of salt and accept it as a form of entertainment. I think you can be both a believer and a sceptic.

I remain of the belief they are charlatans - A friend has been a number of times since she lost her son and hands over her money. But it gives her comfort and if it gives her some peace, so be it.

Many years ago I too went to a card reader "for a laugh". Only it really wasn't. No names given, no fee asked other than a small gift of maybe flowers or something from where you worked. She turned the cards quickly and said "You turn the key at number 3". "Who is the man in uniform?" "Who is xxx and why does he live away from home?" That was in the first minute.

I lived at number 3, the man in uniform was my police sergeant dad and xxx was my brother who moved away as he was gay. It just gave me a shock. No names given and at the time no social media. I don't see how that could have been cold read in any way. If you can explain, please tell me.

who is the man in the uniform?

I'm sure nearly everyone here has someone in a police/army/fireman/paramedic uniform in their life. Would an Asda uniform count?

Yep, uniforms. I went out of interest to a spiritualist meeting with DH around 32 years ago.

The medium spoke to me and said there was a man in uniform. I nodded. She asked if it was my grandfather, and was he was in the war. Well, this would describe a huge amount of GFs of people my age! Anyway, she went too far with this and mentioned British and Scottish flags.
Her face dropped when I said "No, he was Polish"

She also told me I was pregnant. I was 9 months gone and the size of a house at the time!

Exactly. In the UK most people would have someone who was in WWII.

@Humanlifeform Nope, I wasn't wearing new shoes, I'd just chucked on a pair of old trainers with the jeans I was wearing.

No anniversary at the time. Also, I hate gardening, am very pale and burn easily. My friend dropped off the bedding plants in the hope I'd at least do a few pots. I didn't!

But all very plausible but just doesn't work. She also knew what regiment my grandfather had been in. I genuinely am not on any social media except for here. She knew I had a DC who collected rubber bands from the post.

The other mediums I saw were full of rubbish, that's why this one stuck out.

Got to admit, I went to one earlier this year. A fairly well known man who lives nearby so I thought I'd give it a go.
A fair bit of it was fairly loose, though he did hit on a couple of things but what really got me was when he mentioned the name of a town. I was genuinely baffled, but he insisted it meant something to my (now deceased) dad. Went home and looked through all of my mum's old stuff - she had a big box of letters and info when she died - and, there at the bottom, a letter from my dad from a really obscure town I had no idea he had been to.

That was definitely ...odd.

For heaven’s sake, ‘you turn they key at number three’ is one of those general statements that could be interpreted as anything from a home to a workplace to a locker number to a car key where the number three features in the reg number/postcode/ third floor etc. A lot of men wear uniforms — again, a general statement that someone could interpret as being about a grandparent who served in WW2, any male friend/relative who was a soldier, Navy, cop, chef, fireman, Scout leader, paramedic, nurse, cabin crew, security, Norland nanny etc etc. And she didn’t tell you who X was, she asked you.

Honestly.

One thing I find fascinating is them asking in the North of England if anyone has a grand/great grandparent with a missing finger. In industrial towns-especially weaving towns loads of people would have lost a finger.....

So a lot of it was ‘loose’, and the only hit was a random town name he insisted ‘meant something’ to someone dead, so you couldn’t check, and you went home and did a big search until you found a mention of this town in a letter — you’re the one putting in the work there. The ‘psychic’ was just throwing out random stuff. If you hadn’t done all that searching, that would have remained another element of ‘loose stuff’. Think about it. Why would your father’s spirit be trying to communicate to his living child the name of a town he had lived in decades earlier?

Yes, I bet touring ‘psychics’ don’t ask that one in the well-heeled bits of the Home Counties.

Not saying it turned me into a massive believer, but out of however many thousands of places in the country - weird that one obscure town was mentioned. Just struck me as a bit bizarre. I never knew my dad so I would rather have had a bit more, that's true!!

Derren Browne has explained exactly how this sort of trick is done. I can't remember the details, but I'm prepared to bet that either he had planted the idea of those words in your mind beforehand, or he had heard some conversation around you about that.

Well, exactly. If mediums with power to communicate with the dead existed, we would know where all the Moors murderers' victims were buried, what happened to Lord Lucan, whether Lee Harvey Oswald was working on his own, and the answer to many other mysteries. Yet, strangely, even though that sort of work could only enhance a medium's reputation, none of them seem to be up for doing it.