Has anyone ever seen a medium? AIBU to now believe that some people have psychic ability?

[abitspooked]

I recently saw a psychic medium and I sound say about 80% of what she said was accurate. Some things were actually startling. She knew nothing about me before I went in, except for my first name. I can’t believe some if the things she could see inc. names and details about relatives on the ‘other side’ (even though these are from a different culture / language). Other very accurate details too. I couldn’t believe it.

Had anyone else had a similar encounter? I was open minded before I went but am now convinced that some people have psychic ability, based on my own direct experience. AIBU?

I think it’s rare

did you pay in cash? Was she local and might have knowledge that way?

did she ask questions? This is a biggie.

Ahhhh … the monthly “woo” thread is here!

No she asked no questions before she started. She even told me to say nothing.

I always find it curious that many people give “they got everything about me right” as the measure of satisfaction for a psychic or clairvoyant visit. I already know that my uncle is called Brian, that my mum’s name begins with A, that I’ve got a big trip planned soon, that my ex and I broke up, and that my grandad before he died had pain but is now at peace and that he loved/s me. Etc etc. Why would I want a psychic for information I already know about? As a client, what do you think is actually the purpose of psychics telling clients this stuff? Surely this is the most underwhelming aspect of it all, that their party piece is giving utterly pointless information?

I'm a very experienced psychologist and I do a 'psychic' routine for a laugh sometimes. It is a combination of cold reading and knowing enough about enough people to be able to make predictions about new people when you meet them. It is a scam - most are fairly harmless but some very harmful. Be careful OP.

It wasn’t pointless at all (in my case).
There was one relative who ‘came in’ (she gave her name which is fairly unpronounceable to many English-speakers) to say something very specific about my childhood which virtually nobody else knows about outside some members of my immediate family. And even they never talk about it - it was 40 years ago in another country!

I believe in some peoples power to read a person's future. My aunt is very good and in 2015 read my tea leaves fairly accurately.

I think there are some people who can and do have these abilities.

Most are charlatans that feed off peoples grief. I've seen a few out of curiosity, and with minor exceptions felt it was a waste of money, in particular one had absolutely no gift and was just an unkind man trying his luck. I have stopped as a result.

But you already know about that something specific from your childhood. So why do you need a medium or psychic to tell you again? What have they actually brought to your life by doing it, except using it as a suspect convince you they have magical powers?

Aha! You might have got a real one.

it’s only if you have no link - I saw one abroad who told me past and present and future- she basically said “sit down, shut up, I’m talking”. 😂

Just walked in and paid cash. Amazing stuff. Until afterwards, I didn’t know psychics ask questions. What is that about!

She can now be credited with being right about when dad would die and that mum would outlive him and have several near death incidents.

I mean, she might have made it up but I don’t think many psychics want to tell a 20 something when their parents are going to die….they usually steer away from the negative but some of what she said, especially about me and my career, was not easy to hear.

I went to one about 20 years ago. I don't, as a rule, believe in spirits, but went to keep a friend company.

It wasn't so much what he told me would happen, I took that with a pinch of salt, it's what he told me about me and my family that startled me. This was before social media and I went on a whim last minute. But he told me things that had happened and information that he couldn't have known, not generalisation's but accurate information.

I took notes and every few years I take a look. Some events he said were going to happen were way off the mark, others were scarily accurate.

I have an open mind now but I'm not sure what I believe, it was a comforting experience, not at all frightening

In these threads the OP never actually reports what the psychic actually said.
I expect they don’t want to hear that <childhood thing> isn’t that unusual.
For example, I know a lot of people with a near drowning in their family in their childhood - I was chatting to a large night out of school mums and everyone was, “wait - me too!”

Charlatans feeding off grieving people desperate to know their loved ones are OK and fooling them into believing. They're dead, let them rest in peace. Why do people need to know that Aunty Mary or Uncle Fred is "coming through"?

I'll start adopting an open mind when even just one of these self proclaimed psychics or mediums proves their ability under test conditions. As yet it hasn't happened, even though it would be so simple to do and prove.

Mix of cold reading, existing knowledge, probing without the individual realising and using vague statements that an individual attributes meaning to.

Anyone with genuine ability in this area would not / should not make money from it. A lot with genuine ability sadly do though, which is immoral the rest are just scammers.

I don’t believe in it. I know a couple of ‘mediums’. They’re nice enough people who appear to genuinely their own nonsense, but it’s clearly bollocks.

Psychics read others' minds or see into their lives and may also have other extra sensory perception; whereas mediums channel the dead.
They're two different things.

Both absolute bollocks.

My ex has a cousin who is a medium. He just does alot of research on you from your name and any details he can get.

At least most are scammers. But I don't know enough about the afterlife to say all of them are.

I've witnessed people go to mediums who cold read them (in person and heard the recordings) and they come out saying "stuff they couldn't have known" "frighteningly accurate" "incredible detail".

In reality, it was good cold reading and they've constructed false, biased and inaccurate memories whilst giving away huge amounts of information to the "psychic".

There's a reason not a single person has ever proven their ability under test conditions.

I went in and she explained how she works. She told me to give her no info at all about why I was there. She also told me to record the session as some things might not make sense there and then but would in the near or far future.

I can’t tell you what the situation was from my childhood but a relative ‘came in’ and talked about it specifically. It is not common - at all! The relative also gave her name which nobody could guess in a million years. How could they?

She knew a lot about my children - it was astonishing. Very specific - eg. ages, interests. She brought them in. I didn’t mention anything about even having kids.

@MartinsSpareCalculator
”Mix of cold reading, existing knowledge, probing without the individual realising and using vague statements that an individual attributes meaning to.”

should add, the lady had her eyes closed while telling me things about my past, present, future.

it was voluntary donation but I do know of one who would not take money at all. I couldn’t go to him as he knew a little bit about me.

I tried again without knowing it was a norm for them to interact. Not at all how it should be IMHO. Walked out telling her I wasn’t going to give her money to ask me questions.

never wanted to see a spirit medium. I am interpreting psychic as “fortune teller”.

have known a lady pay mediums all over London for a message from her dead sister, which she never got. I politely suggested she not part with her money again, poor lady.

@abitspooked was it future stuff you were after?

I think there are a lot of charlatans out there.

But I do, absolutely believe in it. I go to one occasionally, he says he doesn’t tell the future, that’s not what he’s there for, he just wants to give you proof of the afterlife and that your loved ones are well. He’s so good - the first time I saw him he gave me the names of two relatives who have died. He told me the names, no hesitation or “I’m getting a name with the significant letter of A” rubbish - both of their full names. There’s no way he could have known them. He’s said a lot of other things since then, and so I feel like I know he is genuine.

@abitspooked I`ll just leave this here for you to watch

Honestly, I just went with an open mind, not knowing what to expect.